I think many diabetics would agree that having a low blood sugar is one of the worst feelings. Personally, I truly fear the lows that start around 40-50 mg/dL. When I start to get shaky and slur my speech, I almost start to panic. In an upcoming post, I will share the story of my lowest low – 23. Running a little high doesn’t even come close to comparing to running low.
In the past when I would have a low blood sugar, I would typically attack my pantry with reckless abandon. Anything that had a good deal of carbs was fair game. Some of these things included, pop tarts (Diabetic Kryptonite), chips, candy, cookies, brownies, juice (rarely), etc. The problem that I ran into was I would eat until I felt better, which as you could guess, is about 15 minutes later. In that time, I would definitely over correct my low blood sugar and many times would have to bolus or take insulin to counteract all the carbs I just took in. It sounds crazy, right? Well, if you have experienced it before you probably understand. I’m pretty confident that I’m not alone here.
My new method of correcting a low is the grape "beauties" below – Glucose Tablets. Instead of tearing up my pantry, I am simply going to take these tablets and WALK AWAY for at least 15 minutes. If my sugar is dangerously low, I will probably add some juice to the mix. I typically keep some high-test (non diet) Snapple on hand. By doing this, I should be able to treat my lows more effectively and won’t end up on the high side.
How many times have you woken up in the middle of the night at 45 mg/dL, ate food, gone back to bed, only to awake with a blood sugar around 250 mg/dL? I’ve had my share and then some.
Recently, I found the glucose tablets below at my pharmacy, CVS. The grape flavor is amazing and really tastes like candy. There are 4 carbs per tablet and 50 tablets per bottle, which costs about $5. These "babies" are so good that I almost don’t mind correcting my blood sugar any more. They can also be found at Amazon.
What is your method to treating a low blood sugar?
I used the juice this past time…the little boxes with 15g each…those worked good but they made her feel sick at her stomach because she’s not used to drinking juice anymore. She told me she didn’t like the way they made her feel and she didn’t want them anymore…LOL! I also found that those mini bags of skittles work good too. I gave her the whole pack and they brought her up good too and she felt like it was a “treat” for going low…haha!
I so totally feel you on this one man! We’ve talked before about how I too go NUTS when low, and even with bolusing for what I think I over treated with, often end up way worse off.
I love the pop tarts line (Diabetic Kryptonite)! So true!