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Which foods/drinks do you prefer to use to treat a low? Share your favorites in the comments!
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Since diagnosis in 1985, my go to has been 100% juice. Over the years they have it more easily accessible in 4 oz. boxes that come with a straw. I have them everywhere and make sure I don’t run out!!
On a pump my lows aren’t as bad as they used to be on injections. Now I try to use glucose tablets but if I do have a more serious low I use Capri Sun pouches.
I find Jelly Bellies to be ideal. They are as fast acting as pure sugar (which they just about are). I keep them segregated by flavor in 50ml plastic centrifuge tubes, and always have one or two tubes available wherever I am. I buy 10lb lots (I favor “sours”) direct from the company approximately twice a year. I have no problem with the temptation of cheating when I’m not low — perhaps because I do associate them with going low!
Ice cream!
Cookies and cereal
My normal middle of the night go to for a low is organic fruit snack pack that adds up to about 70 calories or 15 g of carb. If the low seems unrelenting then I will go for a yogurt which has both the protein and the carb count that will raise the sugar and the protein will help keep it there.
I’m partial to the pouches of applesauce
I am careful treating lows. Does not take much to bring me back up in range. Usually a 4 mg glucose tab is enough. If I continue to be low I eat part of an apple.
Milk and cookies, cake or pastries
Orange juice is my go to but in general juice works most rapidly and doesn’t fill me up. Since I have to access is it frequently and it’s really my only sugar I decided that I was going to drink the good stolid so Instarted squeezing my own. So it’s a treat! If it’s an emergency I will eat or drink what ever I have too though. Beggars can’t be choosers.
Honey sticks
The 4.23 oz juice boxes are becoming harder to find. Stores aren’t stocking them as they did before. Glucose tablets also. Neither are being stocked in the same quantities or varieties.
Jelly beans.
Applesauce packets
I like to eat something sweet mixed with a little protein. It seems to help the yo-yo effect of raising my sugar and then sending me crashing back down. Chocolate covered almonds work really nice for me. Of course if I’m really low, juice is the best option!
I find that a teaspoonful of honey works well for a quick fix when glucose is dropping and won’t stop.
Milk.
1 glass is perfect for me to raise the bg from low to 4-5 mmol/l (72-90 mg/dL)
I too have been using low fat milk if I am at home. Seems to work fast enough.
Glucose tabs and/or small (4-8 gram) cookies
If I am at home, juice is the go-to. But the little packs of fruit dummies are super portable, and I have them in jacket pockets, bags, and in the car. My hypo treatment has to be something I don’t particularly enjoy, so that I won’t snack on it or overtreat. Juice and gummies are in the middle ground, and they act fast.
If I’m away from home, I use glucose tablets (but try not to ever buy the orange ones – yuck!) and when I’m home, I eat six grapes and go from there.
Jelly beans! After years of trying raisins, then glucose tablets (with powdery messes at the bottom of my purse a couple of times), I finally found jelly beans. Cheap, don’t melt, easy to keep in snack zipped plastic bag, and I know how much one jelly bean will raise my BG.
Same!
I prefer to use Lucozade, which is a British product, but it IS available in the United States.
If I’ve run out of Lucozade, I tend to stick with Dextrosol tablets. (Dextrose is a form of simple sugar, which is something that’s need to help raise someone’s blood glucose level if it drops as rapidly as mine does. 😉 )
Juice has been my go to for 52 years. First, the awful canned OJ and apple and now cranberry. It’s hard to find juice with enough carbs to raise my bg quickly anymore. Now that I’m on CGM, I rarely have lows so I don’t keep juice in the house unless it’s juice packs but they have expiration dates. Now I have Jolly Ranchers and glucose tablets. I stay away from anything that has fat in it because that takes way too long to enter the blood stream.
I am surprised you can’t find juice with enough carbs to raise your blood sugar. I have the opposite problem. Most bottles of juice have at lease 8 ounces and that is way too much for me. The good thing is that I can put the lid back on the bottle after taking about a 2 ounce swig.
I’ve been using Naked juice mostly for over a year and if I’m out and about I still grab Skittles if I need to. Skittles are easy to measure out and super fast-acting for me.
My doctor told me once to drink milk. I usually keep yogurt in the fridge for lows.
Chunks of banana, paleo bars sweetened with honey, maple syrup by the teaspoon, orange juice are my go to’s depending on the situation and what I need, but also whatever is available. Glucose tabs, when desperate.
My mainstays are orange juice and glucose gummies (3 carbs per gummy and much preferable to chalky tablets!)
I usually use applesauce pouches!
Have used all of the above, but my gluttonous side “prefers” to eat something I don’t normally indulge in to treat a low, like regular soda.
I use glucose tabs if I’m busy and don’t catch a low coming on; they’re measured, handy, and heat/cold tolerant. I also use Kind bars, about 15-16 carbs depending on type, not extremely fast acting, but if see a down direction and momentum, I can eat part of all over a period of time to treat.
The biggest problem for me isn’t “treating the low,” but STOPPING treating it. When you get hit with a rapid-developing and severe drop, that hunger monster kicks in like a t-rex, and getting it to back off at the point when you’ve already adequately corrected but it’s still in full rampage is the real problem. Back in the old R/N days, when this kind of thing was at its worst, I evolved the treatment of getting a big spoonful of peanut butter and drizzling a little bit of honey on top. The PB has very few carbs (depending on the brand of course) but it satisfies the urge to eat eat eat EAT, slowing it down (because peanut butter) so the honey has a chance to work.
glucose tabs never tempt me or anyone else wanting a snack. I like that they are not bulky.
Yes, Cynthia, I have also had the problem of people wanting to share my Starlight peppermints! Glucose tabs look more “medicinal.”
Apple juice is more forgiving than OJ but glucose tabs are best for treating asymptomatic lows.
Juicebox works fastest. Keep glucose tabs next to bed and in pocketbook. Like the candy ideas here and will try.
Glucose tablets for slightly low really low Coca-Cola small can or orange juice problem is riding the storm and overtreating
Marshmallows
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups yum yum
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
I am using Medtronic’s 770G on automode, so I rarely need more than 10g to correct a low. I like the small Tootsie rolls and the small Bit O’ Honey candies. Cotton candy works well when you don’t feel like eating.
Applesauce pouch.
I have apple juice boxes at my elbow no matter where I am. I even have one in the shower!! I really like glucose tablets, but they are proving to be too hard on my old teeth.
I also carry those small packs of Oreos. Two cookies is equal to about 20 gms of carb. That works nicely for me.
1) Milk
2) Skittles
Juice at home, soda if away from home and if soda is readily available. I also have in my pocket a small plastic bottle with granulated sugar.
Depends upon how quickly my blood glucose is dropping, and how low it is. My main go to’s are:
Honey
Juice
Frozen fruit pops
fruit
Juice at home, glucose tabs when out. In the summer I keep some italian ice in the fridge, pre-soften for 15 seconds in the microwave so I can eat quickly, Yum. Most candy has too much fat in it to bring me out of it quickly.
As do chips and mild products, which is why I no longer use them.
Boxed raisins because they’re easy to carry with me
I used to use peanut M&M’s until I went on a whole food plant-based diet
Trader Joe’s fruit wraps as they are flat and can fit in pocket easily for hiking/walking
In my more ignorant ways, I used to prefer juice and candy. Now I use Glucose tablets – faster response and more efficient than the other sugars that need to be converted into glucose. (Damn – I hate this disease!)
I hate it too!!
I use skittles mostly, but have used all of the above depending on where I am, who is helping me (if anyone) and what I have with me.
My go to choices are: Jelly Bellies, gumdrops, peppermint or butterscotch hard candies, apple juice packs, Transcend glucose gel pouch, CVS glucose gummies. I keep a stash in a ziplock bag in my purse & carry-all; at the bedside; in the glove compartment of my car and in my husband’s truck; and in a draw at work.
Lol sound like my stashes before the tslim pump
Depends on my IOB and how my CGM trend is tracking. If pump still indicates I have IOB (Insulin On Board) from a previous Bolus and my level is still dropping, I usually treat with Smarties Candies, 1 roll 6 grams of the same exact ingredients contained in pharmacy available Glucose Tablets but at less than 1/4 the cost. If my pump has Basal Insulin delivery suspended and my BG/CGM trend direction has stopped dropping, then I often simply let the pump continue reacting and go back to sleep until the BG level is back where or higher than desired.
Generally it’s a gronala bar except when below 50 then it’s juice
Smoked salmon, crab, or crab cheddar dip
Chips
I use Bottle Caps, which are like miniature glucose tablets, one gram of carbs each, but if I need more than 3 pieces, I use a glucose tablet, which has 4 grams. Anything more than that will send my blood sugar skyrocketing an hour later.
I like glucose tabs, juicy juice the 15 grams of carbs, chocolate milk and dark chocolate reeses peanut butter cups!
Juice and glucose tabs are my favorite.
I keep glucose tabs and sugary candies such as jelly beans, by my bed. I keep glucose tabs in my purse or fanny pack to use when taking a walk or just when I am going to be out and about since they are so easy to carry. I do use juice when I am on my elliptical trainer in the basement as I will probably need something to drink anyway.
My preference is orange juice. I keep it in my refrigerator at all times. I also keep glucose tablets in my nightstand and in my purse.
My other is biscuits (US – cookies) or toast/bread after a couple of 4 gm glucose tabs.
Soda is the fastest for me after sugar tablets. If I am concerned about my BG staying stable and above 80, I make sure to add a slow to digest food like nuts and cheese along with the quick fix.
I wish I could inform the control iq to not treat my slightly elevated BG after these lows.
I use Gatorade/Powerade or Body Armor to treat lows most of the time.
All of the above
I may mix the use of my selected foods. If I’m on the road, I will always use Glucose Tabs. (I never leave home without them in my left pocket. They are always in the car and my wife has a tube with her.
York Mints & hard peppermint candy
Smarties (US product) is pure dextrose just like glucose tabs and easier to absorb in mouth, and honey.
We use juice, smarties, Skittles, and applesauce squeeze pouches most frequently.
2 sugar cubes gives 8 grams pure sugar. Sometimes I need 3. I keep them in empty pill bottles under pillow in bed, in pack back, and in zippered pockets of coats and vest. Also use empty One Touch strip container in pants pocket. It can hold 3 sugar cubes. If I need lots more calories to finish a period of exercise, a Luna Bar suffices. Sometimes I use 4 tablespoons of tomato sauce for 5 net grams carb. If I know I’m going to do prolonged moderate to heavy exercise, I try to discipline myself to lower the preceding meals bolus of fast acting lispro.
I started recently using marshmallows. I can eat a few while still lying in bed.
I have used all of them, with the exception of granola. I’ve also used cake icing. When I was young, my mother would bring a box of sugar cubes to the nurse at school for when I felt low. I didn’t know it then, but she thought I was faking lows while at school so she did this so that the nurse could give me just a small amount of sugar. I remember the nurse calling my mom and telling her, “Well, she still says she feel dizzy. Should I give her more?” To this day, sugar cubes are a favorite of mine!
After 67 years of this, my gut doesn’t always process very quickly, even liquids — so close-to-pure-glucose/dextrose that I can keep in my mouth and let its amylase work can be really helpful. Yes, the glucose gel will usually work, but cheaper is Karo Syrup, and it’s certainly not something that has ever tempted me to take too much. A little messy, though, so I don’t carry it around with me. Usually either sweettarts originals or smarties, both of which I find easier to just suck than the glucose tablets, and are cheaper. Or, lifesavers, if I’m walking and didn’t reduce my basal in time (it’s what I used as a child), or sugar cubes. Or, bolus and eat the sweet watermelon that was in my refrigerator when I was dipping a bit a little while ago, though I seldom get that exactly right, LOL.
Welch’s Fruit Snacks: 2g carb per gummy in several flavors. Work SUPER-fast, don’t melt in the heat and will quickly dissolve in your cheek if you are not able to chew.
I use Gummy candy or a fruit strip, because they are easy to carry, convenient to stuff in your mouth quickly under a mask and they have 12 to 15 carbs which is perfect for getting my sugar to a normal level. I don’t eat the Gummies until my sugar is 55 or lower so I don’t get a lot of rebound highs.
Juice and raisins first.
Add nuts the longer it lasts.
Add peanut butter and crackers
I’ve been using Gatorade since I was diagnosed in 1993, it has a super high glycemic index afaik so I only need a little.
babyfood is my favorite because its portable and normally exactly 15 carbs
It very much depends on the circumstances. I don’t have nearly as many lows as I did before Tandem/G6 and they aren’t nearly as terrible as pre-CGM. For a slow drop – the choices are many, especially at home. For a fast drop I want a fast solution like the squeezable apple sauce packs, a tiny juice box, or the dreaded chalky glucose tabs. When I’m on the go I have options with me including the nasty tabs and the long lasting salted nut roll. There’s a scarred bag of ancient Skittles in the center console of my car. Should probably put that in the garbage and select another durable option.