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How fast does a glucose subcutaneous injection raise blood glucose?

Rabdos

Well-Known Member
Messages
404
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
How fast does a glucose subcutaneous injection raise blood glucose?
 
Do they even do glucose subcutaneous?
May I ask why you ask?
@Mel dCP , I know you're only at your second day of school, but do you know from your first responder work?
 
Antje77 said:
Do they even do glucose subcutaneous?
May I ask why you ask?
@Mel dCP , I know you're only at your second day of school, but do you know from your first responder work?
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No, for a severe hypo, glucose is given intravenously in 10% solution, 50ml at a time. It doesn’t work subcutaneously. It can take effect very quickly, or it can take a while. All depends on the state of the patient.

Or is the OP thinking of glucagon?
 
What if you cannot access intravenously?
 
Rabdos said:
What if you cannot access intravenously?
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Do you mean in an emergency setting in a hospital? That is something for professionals, you don't do intravenously as a non hcp.
Why would you even want to? I think we need more information about the background of your questions.
 
At home, can you do subcutaneous glucose for hypo?
 
Rabdos said:
At home, can you do subcutaneous glucose for hypo?
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No. If you're conscious you do food or sweet stuff on your gums if you can't hold anything in. There's glucagon for situations where you are unconscious, a family member or friend can give it intramuscular.
An ambulance crew or hospital can give you glucose intravenously, like Mel said.

Again, why do you ask?
Rabdos said:
What if you cannot access intravenously?
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You should never attempt to do any substance intravenously, I really think this is a worrying question.
 
Rabdos said:
At home, can you do subcutaneous glucose for hypo?
Click to expand...
No. It would cause great damage to your body, possibly a cardiac arrest. And not cure a hypo because it’s not absorbed that way.

If it’s not possible to get intravenous access for whatever reason, a paramedic or hospital team would drill into a long bone (intra-osseus or IO) and administer the 10% glucose solution directly into the bone marrow, where it hits the bloodstream almost immediately.
 

Fascinating stuff, Mel.

I've sometimes wondered about this, but not much as there's usually something more interesting on the telly (new series of Peaky Blandaahs!).

Haven't done biology since secondary school, but what I've found, and this may be wrong, from messing around with T1 for a while is that injected insulin/glucagon get into the bloodstream for distribution round the body.

And glucose from eating/liver get into stream and seeps out into interstitial fluid because of pressure differences between arteries etc. and the fluid.

What's puzzling me is why insulin/glucagon get into stream from a sub-q injection but glucose doesn't? Is it just some sort of chemical/biological thing that glucose can leave the bloodstream but not get back in?
 
Scott-C said:
What's puzzling me is why insulin/glucagon get into stream from a sub-q injection but glucose doesn't? Is it just some sort of chemical/biological thing that glucose can leave the bloodstream but not get back in?
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Glucose is very corrosive, so would cause damage if injected directly into tissue in a big dollop, as I understand it. When it’s injected into the bloodstream, it’s carried along in vessels with protective linings, essentially. As those vessels get smaller and smaller, the glucose can gently diffuse across into the interstitial fluid and then be transported into the cells to be burned for fuel. But a giant bolus of quite concentrated glucose dumped straight into tissue would be extremely harmful , and wouldn’t get it to where it needs to be.

Insulin and glucagon are hormones, so just small protein molecules which act on certain channels across the cell membrane.

I’m going to ask more about this when I’m in uni next week.
 
Cheers, @Mel dCP , the idea of it being the amount and not any inherent property makes sense.

When I started out with libre, I read a paper, A Tale of Two Compartments, and it helped me a lot with understanding the bg/ifg lag, and how to make more sense of, and (pre-blucon/miao miao) mentally adjust, wangy libre readings.

One of the things it mentions is the notion of "push-pull" , an idea that in hypo situations, glucose in interstitial fluid gets sucked back into stream to raise bg, hence wild differences between libre and bg tests.

I mention it only because it suggests glucose can get back into stream, but the paper suggests the idea is disputed. And, as you say, it's more to do with the amount, rather than whether it can be done.

I've put an order in on ebay for one of these to see if I can find out more, will make a change from Toremollinos:

 
Mel dCP said:
Insulin and glucagon are hormones, so just small protein molecules which act on certain channels across the cell membrane.

I’m going to ask more about this when I’m in uni next week.
Click to expand...

Why glucagon enters the bloodstream when injected subcutaneously and not glucose? I assume glucagon is bigger than glucose?
 
Rabdos said:
Why glucagon enters the bloodstream when injected subcutaneously and not glucose? I assume glucagon is bigger than glucose?
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Glucagon is injected intramuscular not subcutaneously. The needle is much longer. The mechanism is different because glucagon is a hormone made of protein. Glucose is a carbohydrate molecule. Totally different chemistry.
 
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