Sarah Howard
Sarah Howard (nee Tackett) has dedicated her career to supporting the T1D community ever since she was diagnosed with T1D while in college in May 2013. Since then, she has worked for various diabetes organizations, focusing on research, advocacy, and community-building efforts for people with T1D and their loved ones. Sarah is currently the Senior Marketing Manager at T1D Exchange.
Sarah and her husband live in NYC with their cat Gracie. In her spare time, she enjoys doing comedy, taking dance classes, visiting art museums, and exploring different neighborhoods in NYC.
When I did drive a car, I had sugar or candy in glove compartment, in addition to sugar in pants and coat pockets. I also have sugar cubes in my backpack. Never had an accident due to low bg, but once felt a very low bg on a ten day solo drive. I parked ASAP, and took care of it. Being on an unusually regular meal/injection/sleep/exercise routine can result in low bg I’ve learned. It’s like punished for doing everything right. 😡
YES !! I [sweet charlie] have stopped driving and I am almost 90 years old now and because of AMD.. I keep G tablets in my Daughters car since she drives me.. When in my 20’s I kept candy in a plastic bag tucked in my swim suit when underwater spear fishing.
In my pocket and additional carbs in my truck.
Yes, candy in car, candy in purse, candy beside the bed, candy in the kitchen. I don’t care for glucose tabs as they taste like saw dust in my mouth. You have to keep what you enjoy and like for lows. I have chocolate milk in the refrig too because I like chocolate milk and it does have nutrition as well as sugar.
Don’t you find that the chocolate milk is kind of slow-acting? But don’t get me wrong, I sometimes use chocolate ice cream and wait it out, if only a little bit low.
I always have it in my pocket. Always.
I keep boxes of juice packs in my trunk, which also double as snacks for my child!
YES! I have a tube of glucose tabs in all my vehicles and rotate them out about 2x a year. I also have 2 tubes in my man purse that I take everywhere.
I always have wondered how men carry supplies if they don’t carry a purse. My hubby totes my supplies around in my purse backpack, which has a wallet, keys and all of my diabetes “just in case” stuff.
No. It is too hot most of the year where I live to keep something in my car; not to mention bugs etc. But, I carry a backpack everywhere I go. I don’t get into the car without my backpack. I always have a bottle of honey with me. I usually pack a banana, and almost always have tried pineapples, granola bars and rice cakes.
That’s “dried pineapples”.
I answered no for the same reasons you list. I always have a purse or a backpack or some kind of satchel with glucose gummies and granola bars. Never leave home without them.
I sometimes keep extra glucose tabs in my car, but I always keep glucose tabs in my purse and if wearing a jacket, there are glucose tabs in the pockets too
I answered no because it’s not always kept in my vehicle. I only have the one so it’s kept with other emergency medical supplies that go wherever i go.
I have food in my purse and never go anywhere without it
I always carry a roll of Lifesavers in my pocket whereever I go. But in my car I also have two 6 oz cans of Dole pineapple juice which works great for me. Yes, in the summer I have to worry a little about heat but typically run through a can or two every week or so and therefore haven’t had any issues.
I said no to low treatment in the vehicle but that’s only because I always have a bag with me that contains low snacks/glucose plus a glucagon kit. ALWAYS!
I keep one in my purse.
I keep glucose tablets in my purse which I have with me in the car.
Yes, three small apple juice boxes fit in my middle console tray. Right next to me when I need to pull one out. I also keep glucose tabs in my purse but that would be way too difficult to get to when I’m driving. I have the straw-in-juice-box thing established while driving.
I said yes for keeping low sugar treatment in my car but that’s not really a feasible thing when you have such variables in temperature. I always have stuff in the car because I always carry fruit snacks in my purse everywhere I go.
Always! I used to keep a small juice box, but they would get overly warm. Now I carry rolls of smarties. They won’t spoil, they are melt into your mouth sugar, and are way tastier than glucose tabs!
Same as Jodi Greenfield – Smarties are the best and work quickly. If my CGM starts heading down, I pop a couple and I’m good to go. Thankfully it rarely happens when driving.
Also, Sweetarts are similar. They don’t melt and they resolve quickly.
I said yes, but it’s a yes on a technicality since I don’t usually keep low treatments in my vehicle, but I do always have treatments with me in my vehicle for lows in my pockets in my clothing so if I’m in my vehicle there are low treatments as long as I’m wearing my clothing when I enter the vehicle.
I always carry protein power bars and keep one in my car but no medicinal items.
I recommend packets of sugar in the raw. Never rot, melt, freeze. Perfect size. I use 2 for lows, can add more if converting an active drop. FREE at every coffee house and convenience store! More palatable than white sugar.
Said yes because as many below, I carry them in my purse and my purse is always with me in my car.
absolutely. we have a stash of things
yes….
During early years I had too many close calls and accidents …
I was so concerned with being hyper that I typically over compensated and ended up as hypo 🙁
Those days are long gone and glad of it!
Now I’m on a TSlim X2 & Dexcom G6 and happier than ever.
Though it’s not considered acceptable such as Orange Juice, I will usually keep a can of soda (12 teaspoons of sugar in 12 oz roughly)
Reason being….it usually doesn’t freeze unless we have a real cold snap….and if it bakes in the sun….I don’t care….as long as it works!
I never understood the purpose of glucose tablets; they take way to long to act…and I usually need like a pack of them for any movement.
But I know my metabolism is different than most
I recommend packets of sugar in the raw. Never rot, melt, freeze. Perfect size. I use 2 for lows, can add more if combatting an active drop. FREE at every coffee house and convenience store! More palatable than white sugar.
No. I keep it in my purse.
It’s easy to keep a box of apple (or other) juice in the glove box.
When I drove I always had glucose tabs, pkgs of peanut butter/cracker combos available on the driver’s side door. Coat/jacket pockets always have Starburst or glucose tabs in them. Now that I’m no longer driving I keep a tube of glucose tabs in family car. Glucose tabs work slowly, but will survive the wide temperature changes that occur over the year.
I always have it in my pocketbook, plus have it in center console.
I said yes because I always have my purse with me in my vehicle and it has candy.
Not in my car but on my person aka cycling back pack. Small and convenient have all of my diabetes needs test stripes, Dex4, bandaid, swabs, polysporin, cell phone, medic alert card and my wallet in this little bag.
Plus a container of ordinary sugar in my pocket
Yes, in both our truck and car, in our small trailer, my purse, my gym bag. Skittles and glucose tablets.
I said no for two reasons:
1) I don’t drive as much as I used to, so the car I’m in is usually someone else’s, and
2) I carry them on my person. I keep a 50 tablet glucose tablet bottle on me at all times in a bag… plus, I have a small 10 tube one in my purse along with a breakfast bar or two. (Although the BBs may not be considered fast enough, they have proteins that can be helpful later on.)
I would worry a great deal about the bugs who might find their way into my car because of keeping anything in it! This happened to a friend of mine who left her car in a parking lot when she went out of town. The ants that swarmed her car were… ugh… icky! It’s a phobia of mine and I may never forget it!
I have stuff in my purse and emergency backpack that goes with me everywhere away from home so I don’t leave things in the car to attract unwanted insects or critters!
There is little or no room in the glove compartments of our two cars, and since I am in them very seldom, I keep my glucose in both my purse and backpack at all times. Also, we have temperature extremes here that would preclude most food based low sugar fixes. In fact, I had marshmallows in the house this winter, I keep the house at 69 degrees F, and the marshmallows managed to melt. So now I am using glucose based candies and tablets, both of which have survived heat and freezing temperatures on my travels. But I carry them on me whilst traveling.
I recommend packets of sugar in the raw. Never rot, melt, freeze. Perfect size. I use 2 for lows, can add more if converting an active drop. FREE at every coffee house and convenience store! More palatable than white sugar.
It’s always on my person so I don’t need more in the car
I actually carry something on my always – so, although not technically/always in my car, when I’m in it, so is my supply to treat any lows.
I don’t keep it in the car overnight but I always have something on me or with me.
Living in a seasonal state with extreme swings in temperature throughout the year, I have found a container of Jelly Belly’s in my center console works best. With an easy to remove lid, provides instant access when my Dexcom starts screaming
I keep my low treatment in my purse or my coat I left it in the car twice it meltedor the owners of the ranch dogs eat it and the winter they froze yes jelly beans can freeze in -54 they were so hard couldn’t eat them the tablets do the same thing so I keep them on me they go everywhere with me
Yes, but that’s because my low treatment is in the insulin & testing kit I keep attached to my body whenever I go out. I can’t imagine not always have supplies with me in earthquake country.
Not necessarily in my vehicle
, but in my bag of supplies that is always with me. I would never go in my car without my supplies!
Yes I keep Smarties in my glove box.
No, I never leave home without a tube of Glucose tabs in my pocket, along with several in my cars.
I think that most of all who carry Smarties, Raw sugar e.g., forget that stuff still has to be digested and turned into Glucose. So, Glucose tabs are all ready to go to work.
I carry a bag with me that has iinsulin pump supplies, CGM change, insulin, glucose monitor, and candy, to meet all needs as they might arise. I carry this bag with me almost 100% of the time. I guess you could call it a man purse.