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How does this happen

Dixon1995

Well-Known Member
Messages
286
Location
England
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
My blood sugar was 7.8 before driving, I went driving and was stuck in traffic for 45 minutes, 30 minutes into it, I checked my blood sugar and it was 4.7, so I ate 2 starbursts to raise it above 5 as driving below is illegal...

Then checked it again and it was 7.6 , so 2 starbursts raised it by 3mmol/l, so I took a 1 unit correction, then it went up again to 8.4, so once again took a 1 unit correction with my tea

All that from 2 starbursts, what the
 
Because...

(BTW driving below 5 isn't illegal. Driving while hypo is, hypo is commonly defined as < 4, but it's recommended to be above 5 to avoid things going wrong).
 
Dixon1995 said:
2 starbursts raised it by 3mmol/l,
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Here is a discussion from the OTHER Forum about what to use to correct a hypo. https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/starbursts.5492/
I see that they say Glucotabs are available on prescription, which I presume would be free for you? It seems to be widely advised that sweets are too high in carbs to be used and Glucotabs or similar are better for fine tuning. But I'm afraid I have no personal knowledge of this. I only know what I have read in Dr Bernstein's "Diabetes Solution" and in Adam Brown's "Bright Spots and Landmines" (available free in online print version and as an audio book - highly recommended).
 

But surely that’s about right for a good hypo treatment if you were actually hypo???
Taking a total of 2units as a correction after...for me I wonder whether you had finished driving by then or pulled off or at home or still stuck in queue. And at what time after the starbursts that you took those corrections.

Personally for me a correction at 8.4 I would not do within 5 hours of eating the starbursts...
 
evilclive said:
Because...

(BTW driving below 5 isn't illegal. Driving while hypo is, hypo is commonly defined as < 4, but it's recommended to be above 5 to avoid things going wrong).
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I was told this from a nurse so I have been misinformed my bad
 

Well I have been told from my hospital team on a DAFNE course about Hypo treatment which included Jelly babies and lucozade or orange juice, lucozade tabs. I wouldn't waste NHS money having glucotabs on prescription, I usually buy some from the chemist, but ran out and starbursts were all I had.
 


Hello, I was a little vague. I had safely pulled over after 30 minutes of driving at 5:45pm to check sugars at 4.7. I only ate 2 to raise sugars above 5, I don't usually take starbursts to raise my sugars, but that is all I had. I checked 1 hour later while shopping as I had a headache and one of my hypo symptoms is a headache, but it was 7.6, so took 1 unit correction, possibly made a mistake there.

Checked it when I got home at 8:30pm for it to be 8.4, and then ate my tea at 9:15pm, had my insulin, and added a 1 unit correction onto it, almost ready to check again in an hour or 2 before bed.
 
I have seen it mentioned here that the recipe for Lucozade has changed (I presume to contain less sugar). Something to be checked by anyone intending to use it for corrections.
 
Alexandra100 said:
I have seen it mentioned here that the recipe for Lucozade has changed (I presume to contain less sugar). Something to be checked by anyone intending to use it for corrections.
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True, I still have a few bottles of the full sugar version in my fridge, I doubt very much after they are gone that I will ever use lucozade again, I do prefer liquid as it reacts quicker imo.

Thankyou for the advice I will look into what you wrote above
 
OMG, what a hassle!!!
 
Dixon1995 said:
I was told this from a nurse so I have been misinformed my bad
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I think it's a fairly common thing to be told. It's a good recommendation, so worth doing, but I think it's also worth knowing that eg you weren't actually driving illegally at 4.7, so no need to panic, just deal with it - like you did. Had you not eaten, and it dropped to below 4, then you would probably be on the wrong side of the law.

Re what to eat - I think that thread was a bit based on children. It all depends on how severe the hypo is. If it's proper crash, shaking, etc, then worth going for the glucose based stuff - jelly babies for me, glucose tablets or lucozade for others. But if it's a gentle descent which needs a correction, lots of things will do, so I may as well have something I'll enjoy eating. But I'm an irresponsible grown up who is theoretically allowed to make my own choices
 
@Alexandra100 In all honesty, I don't think it would have been such a hassle if It wasn't for me feeling like I had a hypo but it was probably because I was wearing a jumper, stressed because I was stuck in traffic, sweating profusely, and it felt hypo related, however its so diffucult to differentiate between normal things like sweating when too hot and being hypo, for me anyway.

@evilclive Well I know now, but I was doing it as a precaution, I think I panicked a bit because of what I stated above to Alexandra. Jelly babies are a good one to be honest, it has to be something I can eat quickly, glucotabs are all well and good but I have difficulty eating them sometimes if I have dry mouth during a hypo and the dust makes me choke lol! Thanks for the advice
 
Goodness me, @Dixon1995 if that isn't hassle then what is??? But I guess the suffering won't be wasted, next time you won't be so worried so you won't feel so bad.
 
Dixon1995 said:
glucotabs are all well and good but I have difficulty eating them sometimes if I have dry mouth
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Yes, I can well imagine that. Looking ahead to a possible future with this sort of problem, I have wondered how doses of something sweet and liquid could be portioned out. I think somewhere Dr B talks abut using some kind of measuring spoon. Could this work? Not while driving, obviously!
 
Alexandra100 said:
Goodness me, @Dixon1995 if that isn't hassle then what is??? But I guess the suffering won't be wasted, next time you won't be so worried so you won't feel so bad.
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It's a hassle, but id rather be safe than sorry. I will hopefully know better next time.
 
Dixon1995 said:
Well I know now, but I was doing it as a precaution, I think I panicked a bit because of what I stated above to Alexandra
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If it's a choice between going hypo when driving and occasionally overdoing the corrective carbs a bit, I know what I'd take. And I think a starburst and a glucotab both have the same carbs, about 4g? Am guessing @Dixon1995 was nearing a local low at 4.7 with just basal left in the system, so the carb had a significant effect. Without a cgm to give you a directional arrow on your blood sugar it's really really hard to get it right. (And even with a cgm it's often really really hard to get it right. )
 
@Alexandra100 You could just have a couple of mouthfuls of non-diet cola.
 
Bottle of water with glucose powder dissolved in it? Cheap enough...
 
Diakat said:
Bottle of water with glucose powder dissolved in it? Cheap enough...
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I used to do this after I stopped eating Glucotabs, I think I have just gotten lazy with using sweets, I will try this again, thanks.
 
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