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Chewing Gum

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Spearmint

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Does chewing sugar free chewing gum have the ability to cause drops in blood glucose levels?

It might just be co-incidence but took the kids out again for the day yesterday, same thing happened as last time with my daughter, unexpected hypos.
I was doing more tests and monitoring more closely after the last day out, i realise it could just be the effects of excitement but on both days she was chewing sugar free gum while travelling.
Yesterday morning she went from 10.4 to 3.7 in the space of an hour and i wondered if that was due to her chewing gum which might have made the food digest more quickly???
Same problem on the way home while she was chewing gum, constantly going hypo until i took the gum away from her and she was then fine!

It could all just be co-incidence but thought it might be worth mentioning on here to see if anyone else has noticed the same.
 
Interesting question but I've not heard of chewing gum causing hypo's, I chew sugar-free gum most days and have never noticed it effecting my bg, perhaps others may say different. Could the hypo just be due to increased exercise/activities?

Nigel
 
Hmmmm. I have never noticed this..but then again, haven't chewed gum much recently.

It is possible though??? I am interested to see what others have found.
 
noblehead said:
Interesting question but I've not heard of chewing gum causing hypo's, I chew sugar-free gum most days and have never noticed it effecting my bg, perhaps others may say different. Could the hypo just be due to increased exercise/activities?

Nigel
Click to expand...

Both mornings she was sat on a train

The early evening hypo she had 22g of carbs in the form of jelly sweets when she tested 4.1 an hour and a half after dinner, she put her chewing gum back in and half an hour later she retested and was 3.7, at that point i took the gum away and she had another 22g of carbs and was fine which was what made me wonder if the gum was speeding up digestion and therefore pushing the sugar through her body too quickly for it to have an effect
 
Spearmint said:
Both mornings she was sat on a train

The early evening hypo she had 22g of carbs in the form of jelly sweets when she tested 4.1 an hour and a half after dinner, she put her chewing gum back in and half an hour later she retested and was 3.7, at that point i took the gum away and she had another 22g of carbs and was fine which was what made me wonder if the gum was speeding up digestion and therefore pushing the sugar through her body too quickly for it to have an effect
Click to expand...

I can see where your coming from. The enzymes in saliva help break down the food when chewing, I suppose in theory if you chew gum immediately after which produces saliva and you are swallowing these.....then yes it could speed up the absorption.

When treating a hypo it's best to treat with fast acting glucose then follow-up with a snack (10g of carbs) 15-20 mins after when bg has returned to normal, this could be in the form of bread should you choose, this stops bg dropping again which can happen when the glucose passes through.

Best to keep the chewing gum on the shelves for now!

Nigel
 
I have to take her to London tomorrow for an appointment, it will be by train so i will leave the gum at home and see what happens!

When she was on premix i used to do that, sweets then 10mins later biscuits
I was told on basal/bolus she only needs the fast acting to get her up and nothing to keep her up as she should just stay up :?
Most of the time that works ok, maybe it depends on time of day???
On Friday at school, she dropped to 2.8 at 9:45am, she ate 2 packs of haribo 22g and a cereal bar 15g and was then 18.7 at 12pm
I realise some of that could have been glucose from the liver but to me she overtreated that hypo, i have written in the book she carries in her bag that 10g will raise her 4 to try and make it easier for her when i am not around but she does not follow it!
 
Spearmint said:
I have to take her to London tomorrow for an appointment, it will be by train so i will leave the gum at home and see what happens!

When she was on premix i used to do that, sweets then 10mins later biscuits
I was told on basal/bolus she only needs the fast acting to get her up and nothing to keep her up as she should just stay up :?
Most of the time that works ok, maybe it depends on time of day???
On Friday at school, she dropped to 2.8 at 9:45am, she ate 2 packs of haribo 22g and a cereal bar 15g and was then 18.7 at 12pm
I realise some of that could have been glucose from the liver but to me she overtreated that hypo, i have written in the book she carries in her bag that 10g will raise her 4 to try and make it easier for her when i am not around but she does not follow it!
Click to expand...


In your daughter defence :D :oops: I am the same...there is something that happens when I am hypo, its like a fog I guess. Rationally I know that a little bag of haribo (yes, I am a fan too) will do the trick, but for some reason, I confuse speed with amount. I want to feel better, NOW!!!! so I have to eat now, and when it hasn't worked within 5 minutes, I have to have some more.

It is stupid. I know that, and most of the time I resist, but sometimes, I just have to eat more..even stuff I can't stand the taste of, as my over riding desire is not feel so horrible. my mum used to think it was me thinking yippeee, sweets, but it really wasn't.
 
PS, I know that your daughter doesn't need defending...just wanted to say she is not alone with over treating hypos!
 
Oh i completely understand that, that low feeling must be horrible and yes the quicker you can get rid of that the better!
I have overtreated her hypos in the past, mainly at night!!
When she was on premix, she was only having 2 units morning and 1 unit evening but every other night she would get up 2 hours after going to bed feeling low, i would give her something, wait 20mins and retest but she would drive me mad constantly saying i still feel really low i need something else so i would give in to her and give her more to get rid of her back to bed :oops:

Now that i know how many grams of carbs raise her by how much i am much stricter with her!!
Today she dropped to 3.3 at 11:20am so i gave her half a cup of apple juice and ignored her pleas for more, she was then 5.9 before lunch at 12 so what she had was exactly right :)
 
Spearmint said:
When she was on premix i used to do that, sweets then 10mins later biscuits
I was told on basal/bolus she only needs the fast acting to get her up and nothing to keep her up as she should just stay up :?
Click to expand...

Even on a basal/bolus regime you should still follow-up slow acting carbs, when I did the DAFNE course this was stressed to us on the afternoon covering hypoglycemia.

Nigel
 
noblehead said:
Spearmint said:
When she was on premix i used to do that, sweets then 10mins later biscuits
I was told on basal/bolus she only needs the fast acting to get her up and nothing to keep her up as she should just stay up :?
Click to expand...

Even on a basal/bolus regime you should still follow-up slow acting carbs, when I did the DAFNE course this was stressed to us on the afternoon covering hypoglycemia.

Nigel
Click to expand...

Ah thanks Nigel, i shall do that in future if it is a while til the next meal.
The ins and outs were not really explained to me, it was a case of: you've already got novorapid so here's some levemir and another pen, start on these doses and see how you go.
That was all i was told!!
 
Spearmint said:
noblehead said:
Spearmint said:
When she was on premix i used to do that, sweets then 10mins later biscuits
I was told on basal/bolus she only needs the fast acting to get her up and nothing to keep her up as she should just stay up :?
Click to expand...

Even on a basal/bolus regime you should still follow-up slow acting carbs, when I did the DAFNE course this was stressed to us on the afternoon covering hypoglycemia.

Nigel
Click to expand...

Ah thanks Nigel, i shall do that in future if it is a while til the next meal.
The ins and outs were not really explained to me, it was a case of: you've already got novorapid so here's some levemir and another pen, start on these doses and see how you go.
That was all i was told!!
Click to expand...


Hi Spearmint

I think confusion can come over the term 'bolus/basal' which is used to describe insulin delivery in pump therapy and also in MDI. If using a pump, long acting carb is not needed in addition to fast acting sugary stuff because people can adjust the basal rate of insulin very easily. All pump users need to do is just eat or drink something sugary to treat a hypo and that's all as long as the next bg test they do is ok. For people using MDI they should as Nigel said, eat a longer acting carb in addition to the sugary stuff because they are using a longer acting basal insulin which works independant of the fast acting bolus insulin. Treating hypos with MDI is more or less the same as using biphasic insulin (twice daily). :wink:
 
How very odd yet interesting.

You've either cracked it, or it's a very strange coincidence.

I would be more inclined to say the second hypo was a re-bound hypo.

It's made me ponder about if it's happened to me, if it has i certainly haven't made the connection yet.

Totally agree on some follow up slower carbs as quick acting carbs can drop back as quick as they corrected the hypo.

I usually tend to have some slower carbs if i'm more then an hour away from a meal. Or if i'm due to be active, say if i hypo at work and it's not long before dinner, i'll still have a little something just incase.

Up to you what you decide though, if she tends to drop back down quickly it may be wise to give her something to keep her going regardless of meal times.

It's easy to rebound back into a hypo, especially as either extra exercise or insulin has made her go low, there's no saying that theres not more insulin in her system which can take her lower, or exercise can further affect the body making her go lower still.

I usually keep a stash of freddo's around, they are 10g in carb and fairly slow acting, 10g raises my BG about 3mmol so if i can get myself up to 4-5mmol with glucose then i have a freddo so i'll go no higher then 8-9mmol hopefully and usually drop back a little so i'm on target again.

Like most things with diabetes it's trial and error and figuring out what works best :)
 
Originally i thought it was just the excitement of going on trains!!
But the 2nd time it happened it got me thinking....

Today's train journeys to London and back:
No chewing gum, no sugar free sweets, just water
No hypos

I know it could still be co-incidence but i think i will ban chewing gum for now!
Unless she is high, might be worth a try to lower her levels :lol:
 
I am a student in Indiana and have actually researched this topic a little bit. Some Indianapolis doctors say sugar free gum is fine but there is an ingredient called aspartame which may be something to research and watch out for. Sometimes it's not always the amount of sugar in foods but the amount of carbs. Try finding a gum that is made with Splenda instead. Hope this is helpful.

** A
 
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