Mild Hypos & Jelly Babies

[dani-a]

Hi Dillinger,

I use Jelly babies but like you how do I carry them around so I buy small packs of supermarkets own range of jelly sweets, usually 3 for £1 and they all have the carbs listed on the back........at home I use Basset JB, buy a lrge box and put them in a plastic container which I keep by the bed. I used to have three JB's (roughly 1.5CP's) but sometimes like all the others just have one if only mildly hypo. However they can take up to 15mins to start working for me so have to be careful not to over indulge.

Sarah, you do get used to managing your hypos with limited sweets, I used to over indulge all the time but the more I monitored the more I realised i was just sending myself on a roller coaster with my BG's. Why don't you try the mini packets so you can't eat too many or use lucozade instead (personally can't stand the taste). Don't use chocolate (milk & white) as it contains fat which takes longer for the body to absorb
x

 

[Royston Heaton]

I'm with you 3 - 4 is impossible to stop at but this results in bouncing around a bit. As a runner we use jelly babies for a quick suger boost fro diabetic and non diabetic runners with low sugars far more palatable than some of the more arftifical energy gels you get. :thumbup:

 

[desidiabulum]

Just to join the crowd -- i find jelly babies 10 times better than dextrose tablets. Taste nicer, but also get me out of the hypo MUCH faster, which is the important bit. Only keep 3 with you, as they're horribly more-ish when you're coming out of a hypo.

 

[mrawfell]

Sarah, now I know there are at least 2 of us addicts about.

 

[noblehead]

Jelly babies are my friend. I woke last night in the middle of a crashing low (had been running, almost expected it which is just madness in itself) was alone so I managed to get up, grab my jelly babies from inside the drawer next to the bed and within seconds (no exageration!) I felt them hit and work. I was ravenous for more but I have learned to just take 3 at a time! incidentally, I also managed to pull the whole drawer out and it fell and hit my leg and now I have a big cut/bruise. Oh well, another day, onwards and upwards.....

Nice to see you posting again Debs

 

[Debloubed]

Jelly babies are my friend. I woke last night in the middle of a crashing low (had been running, almost expected it which is just madness in itself) was alone so I managed to get up, grab my jelly babies from inside the drawer next to the bed and within seconds (no exageration!) I felt them hit and work. I was ravenous for more but I have learned to just take 3 at a time! incidentally, I also managed to pull the whole drawer out and it fell and hit my leg and now I have a big cut/bruise. Oh well, another day, onwards and upwards.....

Nice to see you posting again Debs

thanks! I'm usually floating about reading posts but been crazy busy at work for what seems like ages, lol! Felt akin to this Jelly baby post after my hypo last night however, so felt the need to add my tuppence worth ;-) Hope all is well with you

 

[michellehayward]

hi, i always use jelly babies and so does my daughter. we buy fun size packs ( you need 4 jelly babies for 10g carbs as they are smaller), you can get funsize packs in the pic and mix section. they are about 20p.

 

[Beatle]

Hi have been a type 1 for over 30 years and find Jelly Babies are by far the best for hypos - quick response and with no lingering effects but you do have to gain control of the amount you take that's what diabetes is all about unfortunately! But it is possible to lead a full healthy life Honest!!! Good luck Am happy to chat anytime :thumbup:

 

[lucati]

As a user of jelly babies for a couple of years now to treat hypos, I can safely say they are the best hypo treatment I have consistently tried (although 'ready to roll' icing is pretty darn good too - and I'm not joking!).

That said, there is a fairly large variance in the proportion of sugar found depending on which brand of jelly baby you choose: for example at the lower end (possibly Haribo and most supermarket brands, if I remember correctly), this can range from anywhere between 55-70% sugar content, and often will have around 10% starch content - obviously not so good for hypo treatments! And I speak from experience here;I once had a hypo and bought some M&S jelly babies...these did not do the trick! I find the best ones by far are the Bassetts ones; they have approx. 75% sugar and 5% starch so work pretty quickly. I think Morrisons' own brand are also similar in content to Bassetts so they may be worth checking out too.

I run, workout or swim practically every day so need a lot of quick acting glucose ready to hand (and got sick of having glucose tabs a while back- I think the final straw was having 'magnesium' flavoured ones in Austria a couple of years ago...seriously??)...hope this helps!

 

[xAoifex]

I find the best ones by far are the Bassetts ones; they have approx. 75% sugar and 5% starch so work pretty quickly. I think Morrisons' own brand are also similar in content to Bassetts so they may be worth checking out too.

The Bassetts ones are also coated in powdered sugar (icing sugar?) which in my head is the key their anti-hyponess not sure if the other brands boast this extra power, certainly haribo ones don't

 

[noblehead]

thanks! I'm usually floating about reading posts but been crazy busy at work for what seems like ages, lol! Felt akin to this Jelly baby post after my hypo last night however, so felt the need to add my tuppence worth ;-) Hope all is well with you

Miss your input on the forum Debs, try and post more often if you can

Doing good btw!

 

[Dillinger]

got sick of having glucose tabs a while back- I think the final straw was having 'magnesium' flavoured ones in Austria a couple of years ago...seriously??

:lol: :lol: That's wonderful - imagine the marketing meeting that came up with that! What did they reject as flavour ideas!? "I'm sorry Jones, the board pulled the plug on your 'brick' flavoured glucose sweets. **** fools."

I'm glad that there seems to be such a consensus on the wonders of jelly babies; I've now got some and await my first hypo with relish...

Unfortunately the key ring pill box from Amazon that I bought was too small - I'll have to go up a size or two.

Best

Dillinger

 

[noblehead]

Unfortunately the key ring pill box from Amazon that I bought was too small - I'll have to go up a size or two.

I didn't want to say as you had already ordered it but it did look to small to hold 3/4 JB's, try an old glucotab tube as I suggested earlier as they hold 4......even 5 at a push!

 

[leggott]

Oh Dillinger I'm sorry to hear that the pill box is no good and just hope you can return it - i feel bad now for recommending it. My friend uses one and can defo get 3 jb in, perhaps it is slightly larger.

The only other thing I can suggest is those tiny plastic food boxes / freezer pots , that you can get to put baby food in. I have some which I got in the pound shop so I know you can get at least 4 jb in them.

 

[smidge]

Hey there!

It has to be Bassett jelly babies - all others are poor imitations :lol: Even when I'm having a hypo, I still find time to root through the bag to find the lime flavour ones. Once they're gone I use the lemon and orange. Always so disappointing to find I only have red and black one left - it always feels like a waste of a hypo :lol:

Dillinger - the idea is not to induce a hypo so that you can eat jelly babies (as tempting as it is) :lol:

Smidge

 

[noblehead]

It has to be Bassett jelly babies - all others are poor imitations :lol: Even when I'm having a hypo, I still find time to root through the bag to find the lime flavour ones. Once they're gone I use the lemon and orange. Always so disappointing to find I only have red and black one left - it always feels like a waste of a hypo :lol:

Completely the opposite, it's the black and red ones that I look for first

Thankfully they are rather sickly and a couple is all I could eat.

 

[Dillinger]

Oh Dillinger I'm sorry to hear that the pill box is no good and just hope you can return it - i feel bad now for recommending it. My friend uses one and can defo get 3 jb in.

Don't worry - it was all my fault; I chose a natty black aluminum one, just the right size to store nothing in particular!

I'll have a go at the one you actually recommended and if that doesn't work use the glucotab box as recommended by Noblehead.

Best

Dillinger

 

[anna29]

Do you have a poundstretchers ? near you?
They sell small plastic tupperware boxes with various shapes, colours and lids to choose.
They 'will' easily hold 8-10 jelly beans or 6-8 jelly babies in them.
Small enough to pop in your pocket too! Think theyre 49p each...
I prefer the pink,red,blackcurrant flavours of both jelly beans and babies!
Trick is to let my 3yr old grandaughter eat the other flavours , save my faves
for sorting my too low sugar levels out!
Hope this helps .
Anna.

 

[MushroomGaz]

Newbie to the forum! Severe Acute Pancreatitis last year with Necrosis, Pseudocyst, blood transfusions, sepsis and other lovely Hospital bugs all thrown in for good measure! 2 weeks in ICU and not far short of 6 months in hospital! Anyway was on metaform for a month in hospital and then my pancreas seemed to sort itself out and no diabeties!? Regular HB1c checks and 4 weeks ago and all not good! Was back on metaform 2 then 4 a day, which did touch the high blood sugar levels! Some readings 26+ Anyway, now on mixed insulin 2x a day. Started at 6, the. 9 and stabling out at 11 units twice a day! Feeling great that now seems under control and celebrated with a brisk 45 mins walk tonight and got back feeling a little out of breath! Thought I’d check my blood sugars and eeek at 3.8! Quick read on here and 5 Bassets Jelly Babies later, writing this! Long way of saying, a big thanks. The forum is a great resource for me in these early days!

 

[LooperCat]

In the past I've used all manner of sweets to raise my bg levels including RT fruit pastels (3g carb per sweet), midget gums (2g carb) and chocolate too. I gave up using Dextro and Lucozade tabs back in the 90's as it was costing me too much money and Lucozade tabs took too long to disolve which defeats the object of using them.

At the moment I am using dolly mixtures (1.5g carb) as they survive all weather temperatures and can eaten fairly quickly.

If you have a branch of Home Bargains near you, they sell twin packs of orange dex tabs for a quid. At 50p a pack, they’re the cheapest I know of.