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Dextro Energy Tablets

T

tinyf

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hello, I'm new here but have had Type 2 Diabetes for a few years now. I carry some Dextro Energy tablets around with me in case of a hypo. Can someone please advise how many of these will raise my blood sugar level? Thanks.
 
tinyf said:
Hello, I'm new here but have had Type 2 Diabetes for a few years now. I carry some Dextro Energy tablets around with me in case of a hypo. Can someone please advise how many of these will raise my blood sugar level? Thanks.
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Hi @tinyf , welcome to the forum.
According to your profile, the only medication you're on for your diabetes is metformin, which is not a medication associated with hypos.
Do you have a particular reason to expect going too low?

And to answer your question: I'm a T1 diabetic and use insulin. Most hypos I have only need a quarter to a half dextro tablet, other people need a bit more. It also depends on the hypo.

Do you use a meter to test your blood glucose?
 
tinyf said:
I carry some Dextro Energy tablets around with me in case of a hypo. Can someone please advise how many of these will raise my blood sugar level? Thanks.
Click to expand...
There wouldn’t be a standard answer for this, because there would be too many variables. For example how low the blood glucose level had been, to cause the hypo, What else had been consumed, any meds ,exercise.

Best way to know how you would respond to eating these, or anything, would be to test blood glucose levels before and after. Though best not to experiment unless you are actually experiencing hypos.
 
Antje77 said:
Hi @tinyf , welcome to the forum.
According to your profile, the only medication you're on for your diabetes is metformin, which is not a medication associated with hypos.
Do you have a particular reason to expect going too low?

And to answer your question: I'm a T1 diabetic and use insulin. Most hypos I have only need a quarter to a half dextro tablet, other people need a bit more. It also depends on the hypo.

Do you use a meter to test your blood glucose?
Click to expand...
Thank you Antje77. I'm no expert as far as Diabetes is concerned but I suspected I'd had a hypo after I had a banana and toast for breakfast and found myself sweating. I took a couple of the Dextro tablets and it seems settled now.

Are you saying I shouldn't expect a hypo unless I have Type 1 diabetes?

Any thoughts or advice from you or anyone else is appreciated. I'm also an asthma/COPD sufferer and am about to be assessed for Parkinson's. It all seems to be happening at once and i'm not finding it easy to keep on top of it.
 
tinyf said:
Thank you Antje77. I'm no expert as far as Diabetes is concerned but I suspected I'd had a hypo after I had a banana and toast for breakfast and found myself sweating. I took a couple of the Dextro tablets and it seems settled now.

Are you saying I shouldn't expect a hypo unless I have Type 1 diabetes?

Any thoughts or advice from you or anyone else is appreciated. I'm also an asthma/COPD sufferer and am about to be assessed for Parkinson's. It all seems to be happening at once and I'm not finding it easy to keep on top of it.
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Sorry, Antje, I forgot to mention that I don't use a meter to test (too expensive) and have been unable to find my testing strips for the blood tests. I've ordered mor but it's been a while since I did a test although a paramedic said my blood sugar level was normal when I had to call an ambulance last week when I was experiencing pain and difficulty sleeping with constipation.
 
Hi @tinyf

Are you on any medication specifically for your diabetes, it’s helpful for members to know as advice will vary depending on your meds :)
 
Hi, both banana and toast are food which are more likely to increase blood sugar rather than cause a hypo, but the best way to be sure is to test at the time.

It is very unlikely for a type 2 on Metformin only to have a hypo which needs treating. But other medications given to type 2 diabetics can cause hypos. Are you on any other medications for diabetes?
 
Lakeslover said:
Hi, both banana and toast are food which are more likely to increase blood sugar rather than cause a hypo, but the best way to be sure is to test at the time.

It is very unlikely for a type 2 on Metformin only to have a hypo which needs treating. But other medications given to type 2 diabetics can cause hypos. Are you on any other medications for diabetes?
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Thank you, lovinglife and Lakeslover. I'm only on Metformin for the diabetes. I was aware that banana and toast was carb-high but with so much going on in my medical life at the moment I'm finding it all a little too much to remember. I've got a Parkinson's assessment tomorrow> I'm apprehensive about what that will reveal but it is necessary, of course.
 
I carry Dextro tablets but I'm on Gliclazide. If my blood sugar drops below 5 I'm in danger - hypos can come on really fast.
Metformin doesn't work in the same way and so is safer. Sadly I'm allergic to metformin :confused:
 
Antje77 said:
And to answer your question: I'm a T1 diabetic and use insulin. Most hypos I have only need a quarter to a half dextro tablet, other people need a bit more. It also depends on the hypo.
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So few/little @Antje77, are these the same dextro tablets I'm thinking of? c.4g of carbs per tablet?

I'd certainly need more than that (I'd go for at least 3 for a total of 12g of carbs for starters, though quite possibly more depending on how I feel), and if I'm stuck with eating dextrose tablets I've probably wasted another 10min (and gone progressively lower) searching for some more palatable alternative too! ;)

Edit: Sorry for taking the thread off-topic and talking about what T1s on insulin do, of no relevance to the OP in all likelihood!
 
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When I was getting repeated low blood sugar episodes I needed 4 dextrose tablets to bring my blood sugars back up. I could gag thinking about the taste of them.
 
SimonP78 said:
So few/little @Antje77, are these the same dextro tablets I'm thinking of? c.4g of carbs per tablet?

I'd certainly need more than that (I'd go for at least 3 for a total of 12g of carbs for starters, though quite possibly more depending on how I feel), and if I'm stuck with eating dextrose tablets I've probably wasted another 10min (and gone progressively lower) searching for some more palatable alternative too! ;)
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I took it to DM as to not derail this thread, us both being on insulin. ;)
 
tinyf said:
Are you saying I shouldn't expect a hypo unless I have Type 1 diabetes?
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Hypos are typically caused by too much insulin in the system, so tend to be suffered by insulin users and also users of some drugs such as gliclazide, which stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin.

The official line on metformin is that it doesn't induce hypos unless combined with other meds but there have been some diabetics posting here who have disputed this. (https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/hypo-on-metformin.170767/)

But there are other conditions which can cause hypos (eg reactive hypoglycemia in which carbs make your body produce too much insulin) so it's not impossible that you had one, just slightly surprising (to me). And of course without a bg test you don't know whether you had a hypo at all. (Lots of conditions can cause sweating.)

For insulin users, I believe the "standard" recommendation is an initial 3 or 4 dextrose tablets, but it can vary from person to person and also on your insulin regime (I need less than I used to now I'm on an insulin pump).

What is a hypo (hypoglycaemia)?

A hypo is when your blood sugar level, also called blood glucose level, drops too low. This is usually below 4mmol/l. A hypo, also called hypoglycaemia, can happen quickly. So it’s important to always have hypo treatments with you. It's also important to know what the signs are and how to treat...
www.diabetes.org.uk www.diabetes.org.uk
And of course, that is a recommendation for insulin users, not for people that have something else going on that causes a hypo.

I agree @Melgar they don't taste good, but I find that an advantage because I'm not tempted to take more than I need....

Good luck with your assessment @tinyf
 
"I agree @Melgar they don't taste good, but I find that an advantage because I'm not tempted to take more than I need...."

@EllieM so true !
 
I have the Dextro Energy Tropical Flavour. I think they're tasty. I got a big box of them off Amazon.
 
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