Sweets for hypo

[dabbit]

Apart from jelly babies does anyone know if there are any other sweets to treat hypos (not including glucotabs)? My diabetic nurse suggested jelly beans, but are there any others?

 

[novorapidboi26]

I actually use an isotonic sports drink from asda, just their own brand stuff, half a bottle [250ml) does the trick and its quick, quicker than sweet or tablets...

is this something you could consider...

 

[azure]

Anything pretty sweet and easy to chew (or crunch, if you're ok with that) Fruit pastilles, Haribos, sherbet dips, chews, etc, etc

Not that I've done any research or anything

Quickest is usually liquid glucose, so a glucose 'shot' or Lucozade or regular Coke and so on.

 

[paulliljeros]

I usually drink a 200ml carton of Orange Juice, as I find it brings me back up quickly enough, is a predefined amount (20g carbs), and don't have to worry about measuring or counting, and then its just a case of waiting. I guess it depends how fast you personally want to raise you BG. I personally don't like the glucotabs, and if that's the reason for your question, have you tried glucojuice, as a fast acting alternative?

 

[zoze_j]

I am a hoarder of lucozade! Over the years I've found it the best hypo solution. I have two bottles sat in my office windowsill, one by my bed, a multipack in the kitchen and about 30 in the boot of my car! I've always found it works really quickly, faster than anything else I've tried.

 

[Mrsass]

Lucozade has always worked great for me or a couple of jelly babies - but it's very hard to just have a couple, I've had to stop the lucozade at the minute as I've bad acid while pregnant so have taken to Capri sun's as my weapon of choice for now

 

[Mark-optimistic]

Aldi do pure orange juice in carton's which are really cheap! that's what i use as it works really fast on raising the blood sugar

 

[noblehead]

I keep two party-size cans of full sugar Coke in my house in case of a sudden hypo, but any sweet like Fruits Pastills are good if you don't like JB's.

 

[dabbit]

Thank you folks, I'm not a fan of lucozade, but some other tips were very helpful.

 

[TorqPenderloin]

Thank you folks, I'm not a fan of lucozade, but some other tips were very helpful.

Then that's what you should use to correct hypos.

Remember that you're using sugar as a medication to correct a minor (or possibly major) emergency in these situations. Be careful correcting with something that tastes good as many people have the tendency to overindulge.

If I want something that tastes good, I'll eat it. However, if I'm correcting a hypo I'm taking glucose tablets. I don't like the way they taste so I won't eat too many, They're measured perfectly so I know exactly how many carbs I'm consuming, and they get the job done as good as anything else.

 

[LucyM88]

What always works for me:
Half a glass of milk and 2 chocolate digestives.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. I just take Glucose tablets. They are small, available in various flavours and very low cost.

 

[LaurenMoffitt]

What always works for me:
Half a glass of milk and 2 chocolate digestives.

A glass of milk and 2 plain digestive works for me. The dog also has some if she has alerted me to being hypo it's her reward.

 

[catapillar]

What always works for me:
Half a glass of milk and 2 chocolate digestives.

If it works for you, it works. But I've been told that milk and chocolate are too low GI to use to treat a hypo - I think the fat content slows down the sugar, so it takes much longer to work than dextrose tablets/lucozade.

Saying that, I often use just brown sugar, which is also apparently much slower than dextrose. So, whatever works, I just thought it was worth mentioning on a thread about what should you take to treat a hypo. What we actually take might be legitimately different, for, you know, reasons of being a real life person living a real life life!

I like the glucojuice things, they are perfectly portioned out, work really quickly & you get to down it like you are doing a shot of syrup. They are expensive though - £1.30 ish.

If you are desperate to use sweets, fruit pastilles (?sp) were recommended to me. But I have only used once or twice, because I tend to eat the whole packet!

 

[Oldvatr]

I keep two party-size cans of full sugar Coke in my house in case of a sudden hypo, but any sweet like Fruits Pastills are good if you don't like JB's.

Whatver i get in for hypo pevention, the women in my house find and devour it without telling me. Even locking it up in the filing cabinet is no deterrent (I had to drill a hole in the lock area when the keys went missing, and they know how to break in !) I try to get in unappetising things such as boring oaty bars or porridge, So far Glucotabs are the only ones they won't touch. Mind you, neither do i. i usually find myself munching cornflakes when I find myself getting low,

 

[Alison5]

I actually use an isotonic sports drink from asda, just their own brand stuff, half a bottle [250ml) does the trick and its quick, quicker than sweet or tablets...

is this something you could consider...

 

[Alison5]

My Son is a marathon runner and cyclist, he says those are best, don't weigh a lot.
I have chocolate buttons and as I call it, full fat irnbru in the tiny bottles. Some in the car, handbag, bedroom. Just in case.

 

[kitedoc]

51 years on insulin, I have had a 'few' hypos in my time.
Unless you have nothing else available, avoid anything sweet with fructose in it as it is bad for your liver. Avoid sucrose as it is bad for your teeth.
Although the sweet liquids suggested might be OK for the person to use themselves, if and only if they can co-ordinate well enough, liquid is a nightmare for someone else to try to give you.
Glucose jelly beans, (about 3 g carbs each), glucose tablets, glucose gel (more expensive but easier for someone to feed into your mouth) are the stand bys, The gels could also be used in the wet, if previously unopened, and of course, no-one on insulin would be crazy enough to go skin- or scuba diving !!
If you run out of hypo supplies away from home just stock up on anything with sucrose or glucose in it. Fat slows absorption so chocolate, nut bars and milk are not the best immediate choices. Once the 'quick stuff' has gone in, I note that some educators talk about adding in a slower acting type of sugar, e.g. bread, biscuit etc to prevent a hypo occurring later. Afterall once the insulin is injected you cannot extract it !!
If I have had a hypo I do not drive or use machinery or make important decisions for at least 2 hours to allow the after effects on my brain to settle and only ever drive with BSL > 5 mmol/L.
Once you are well again the detective work starts - to work out why the hypo occurred and how to prevent it happening again. Most diabetics I have spoken with feel down and embarrassed by the event of a hypo. It takes time to recover and to overcome those feelings. Learning to remember the funny parts of an episode can help to overcome this. Laughter is always the best medicine !! Best Wishes

 

[SueJB]

Apart from jelly babies does anyone know if there are any other sweets to treat hypos (not including glucotabs)? My diabetic nurse suggested jelly beans, but are there any others?

I have Rowntrees fruit pastilles