Recovering from a hypo - advice?

[RichWatt]

Hi,

I'm a new T1 and am learning as I go along, so any advice from experienced T1's is much appreciated.

I am trying to understand why we are advised to have something like a digestive biscuit after treating a hypo. e.g...

If I have BG of <4, I will treat it with a few glucose tablets. after this my BG may be 6. I think think this is a safe BG, and don't really want anything else to eat as it may then go too high. If I have now recovered the hypo, and my BG remains a steady 6 why would I need that longer acting carb release biscuit?

Does your body treat sugar from glucose tabs differently to sugar from digestive biscuits (other than releasing it quicker)?

Thanks

 

[Elc1112]

Hiya,

I tend to have something fast acting e.g. Glucose tablet or Lucozade to get my sugars back up to normal. If it's a bad hypo I'll normally have some bread or something similar just to help keep my sugars up. I've never been advised to do this, just found that this is what works best for me.

Give it time and you'll soon learn what works for you. I often overcompensate if my sugars are low, particularly if it happens in the night. My sugars then sky rocket and I spend the next day trying to get them stable again. You may well find that you need a lot less that you think to get your sugars back in range.

You said you're newly diagnosed. How are you finding things?

Emma

 

[jopar]

There is two reasons for the advise to eat some slow acting complex carbs after treating an hypo

1) to ensure that you soak up the excess insulin that caused the hypo, don't forget you still got background insulin adsorbing by eating you help to prevent a rebound hypo..

2) when your blood glucose fall below 4mmol/l your liver stops processing carbs to replenish the liver glucose stores, but continues to deliver glucose into your system... So you eat afterwards to enable the liver to replenish the liver stores, you need slow acting carbs so that your blood glucose doesn't go sky high during this process...

Once you've had one hypo your are more susceptible to a rebound hypo, either because you haven't mobbed up excess insulin or because you've over treated an rebound high cause by fast acting carbs, with given an correction dose of insulin giving another hypo..

 

[shop]

Hiya,

First I have 3 Dextrose tabs as the quick sugar to get my sugar up quickly. Then so my sugar doesnt plyummet back down ( as often it will with a quick sugar fix ) I will have either Glass of milk, toast, apple......something more substantial.

Like you Emma I have been known to overcompensate and then try to get them down again ( usually if Im rushing. ) Not Ideal as then you yoyo.

And you do need to wait 10 mins then retest.

 

[RichWatt]

Thanks all,

Great advice, especially the insight into the liver action. It makes sense eating something small afterwards. I'm on the lookout for something complex and biscuit like which is packaged and only 12 to 16 carb grams which I can keep in the car for emergency. Any ideas?

BTW, I'm 34 and newly diagnosed due to having my pancreas removed in Jan This year. It's a difficult transition as I was fit and healthy before, and was able to eat and drink anything, and I enjoyed a lot of treat food and alcohol. Literally overnight I've had to give up so much that I enjoyed.

 

[thetallerpaul]

Rich,

I like Belvita Breakfast biscuits for that. About 9g of carbs per biscuit and slower release than a digestive or something so good to follow up the tablet with. Also on that I use Skittles intead of glucose tabs. If I'm going to eat bad sugar I'm **** well going to enjoy it!

Good luck on your journey. I'm new at this as well and coming to terms with what you can't have (often) and the unpredictable blood sugars drives me crazy. Yesterday I had a roast dinner (1 roastie and no yourkshire though) and desert (Stevia and Oat Biscuit and wholemeal choclate cakea and Icecream) and got to 4.9. Couldn't believe my luck. For dinner then I had celeriac and carrot mash and sausages and no sweet and ended up back at 7. Body is telling me roast dinners and chocolate cake is the future!

Paul

 

[LaughingHyena]

I'm on the lookout for something complex and biscuit like which is packaged and only 12 to 16 carb grams which I can keep in the car for emergency. Any ideas?

I carry a jordans frusil bar, they are around 15g depending on the flavour. They are may favoirte cereal bar to carry round as they are soft rather than crunchy, so although they do get squashed when in a pocket/bag at least they don't turn to dust in the packet like others I've tried.

I carry jelly babies in a little resealable bag in all my coat pockets for the same sort of reason, I always found dextrose tables crushed before I needed them. Also not being in a waterproof packet gave me a few sticky pockets after being out in the rain! Jelly babies may get squashed and dry out but at least my pockets stay useable.

 

[Ambersilva]

Marks and Spencer now sell those lovely Mini Oat Biscuits that they use in the Cafe. They are 2.7 carbs for each biscuit. We all react differently and I find one or two very useful to keep BS levels from dropping quickly.