After hypo snacks if meal isn't due

[mum2westiesGill]

What snacks and how many grams of carbs do people have after a hypo when you're BGL is back to a normal level to stop you dropping if your meal isn't due?

My favourites for snacks at bedtime and I'm wondering if they're ok after a hypo are Jacobs mini cheddars 13g of carbs per 25g bag and Maryland choc chip cookies minis 13g of carbs per bag

 

[trophywench]

I need something with a lot more sugar content to treat a hypo - it needs to be FAST acting carb - faster than any kind of biscuit.

If you corrected the hypo properly, why would your BG continue to reduce?

 

[Lucyr]

I need something with a lot more sugar content to treat a hypo - it needs to be FAST acting carb - faster than any kind of biscuit.

If you corrected the hypo properly, why would your BG continue to reduce?

why would your bg continue to reduce? Well because whatever insulin made you go hypo could still be working.

 

[trophywench]

why would your bg continue to reduce? Well because whatever insulin made you go hypo could still be working.

So you didn't treat the hypo with enough sufficiently fast acting glucose to nip it firmly in the bud, did you!
And a hypo isn't 'persistent' until it's lasted for several hours, and continues after you've had a proper meal, chez moi.

 

[Lucyr]

So you didn't treat the hypo with enough sufficiently fast acting glucose to nip it firmly in the bud, did you!
And a hypo isn't 'persistent' until it's lasted for several hours, and continues after you've had a proper meal, chez moi.

You only need to treat it with enough fast acting glucose to get above 4, then a slower acting snack to keep it there because whatever insulin caused you to go low might still be working. Would have thought you’re familiar with how to treat a hypo but maybe it’s different for pump users, Gill is on pens.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I found quite early on that a regular follow-up snack was often too much for me. But I also know that ’hypos breed hypos‘ and that once you’ve had one, you are statistically more likely to have another… So I don’t follow up with slow-acting carbs, as I haven’t for years, but I DO keep a close eye on things and try to spot if I am dipping again some time later.

 

[rebrascora]

I am the same as @everydayupsanddowns and don't follow up with slower acting carbs. I often don't even need a full 15g carbs to treat a hypo otherwise I end up high again, so low 3s would get just 2 JBs and high 3s just one. If I ate some slow acting carbs on top of that, I would be in double figures.
Having Libre means that I can keep a close eye on levels and see if they are dropping again and I often reflect that some of the "rules" regarding diabetes management can be relaxed when you have the opportunity to scan so frequently.

I think @trophywench is misunderstanding the question which is about follow up slow acting carbs after a hypo has been treated, not the actual hypo treatment. I believe that this is not necessary on a pump because the basal is suspended during a hypo.

 

[Sally71]

You only need to treat it with enough fast acting glucose to get above 4, then a slower acting snack to keep it there because whatever insulin caused you to go low might still be working. Would have thought you’re familiar with how to treat a hypo but maybe it’s different for pump users, Gill is on pens.

On a pump you don’t have to have the snack afterwards, you just treat the hypo with fast acting carbs and once you’re back above 4 you carry on with your day. Maybe something to do with the fact that basal is more tightly controlled and consists of minuscule doses of rapid insulin instead of long acting. Those of us who have been using pumps for many years may have forgotten the rules when using pens 🙂

 

[trophywench]

The basal does not suspend during or after a hypo with the majority of ordinary pumps unless you tell it to, Barbara - it is hardly the first thing on anyone's mind when we suddenly plummet - only after when the brain re-engages!

But Gill didn't say eg I grab a can of coke and swallow it asap and then eat a packet of mini crackers/biscuits to follow it up - only that she eats them when she goes hypo. Or at least, that's how I read what she said.

I spose I expect people who've been using MDI as long as Gill has, to have their Basal insulin doses adjusted well enough to not need much follow up. In any event having discovered for myself it was an absolute PITA needing to adjust basal doses 'every 5 minutes' on MDI that I said to my clinic 'I'm fed up of this game I've been playing for 30-odd years now - can I have a pump, please?'

And yeah - just like EDUAD - hypos breed hypos, so you knock em on the head pdq and HARD. BG doesn't stay 'that' high for 'that' long, to cause any legs to drop off etc.

 

[Lanny]

I get my BS back up to above 5 & then have an oatcake.

 

[mark king]

Yes @trophywench I couldn't agree more. I have suggested that the best for Gill is to take the majority of calcs away, have a Libre sensor and a pump preferably a wireless and tubeless one fitted.
But I'm not sure she wouldn't get the spanners out wanting to know the minute detail of their workings.
I'm lucky, I just press the buttons and let it get on with its workings.
It is very good to know about your illness but as most of us aren't Dr.s we need to have a certain level of trust in the medical technology.

 

[Kaylz]

But Gill didn't say eg I grab a can of coke and swallow it asap and then eat a packet of mini crackers/biscuits to follow it up - only that she eats them when she goes hypo. Or at least, that's how I read what she said.

Not sure where you get that from? Gill said - What snacks and how many grams of carbs do people have after a hypo when you're BGL is back to a normal level to stop you dropping if your meal isn't due? so clearly stated after treating the hypo and back to an in range level

Anyway Gill I don't always have a slow release carb after treating a hypo but if I do then I'll have a digestive or similar xx

 

[Sally71]

Yes @trophywench I couldn't agree more. I have suggested that the best for Gill is to take the majority of calcs away, have a Libre sensor and a pump preferably a wireless and tubeless one fitted.
But I'm not sure she wouldn't get the spanners out wanting to know the minute detail of their workings.
I'm lucky, I just press the buttons and let it get on with its workings.
It is very good to know about your illness but as most of us aren't Dr.s we need to have a certain level of trust in the medical technology.

Nice idea but I don’t think Gill would cope with a pump, all the little fiddly adjustments! She did try a Libre for a while but didn’t like it, I don’t think she really knew what to do with all the extra information. My mum is the same, can’t cope with technology and is quite happy to inject her fixed doses and forget about it. Pumps and sensors are great if you know what you are doing with them but they don’t suit everyone 🙂

 

[mum2westiesGill]

Not sure where you get that from? Gill said - What snacks and how many grams of carbs do people have after a hypo when you're BGL is back to a normal level to stop you dropping if your meal isn't due? so clearly stated after treating the hypo and back to an in range level

Anyway Gill I don't always have a slow release carb after treating a hypo but if I do then I'll have a digestive or similar xx

Not sure where I got what from?

 

[Robin]

Not sure where I got what from?

Not you, Trophywench. She seemed to have misread your initial post and thought you were treating the whole hypo with the cookies or cheddars from the start, not with jelly babies, which I know you do.
I was initially told to follow up the jelly babies with a sandwich, which I found totally over the top. As others have said, it depends if you’ve still got active insulin on board, or you’ve taken exercise, which is going to make you drop again.

 

[mum2westiesGill]

Not you, Trophywench. She seemed to have misread your initial post and thought you were treating the whole hypo with the cookies or cheddars from the start, not with jelly babies, which I know you do

Thanks @Robin. @trophywench I treat the hypo with jelly babies then when I'm back to a normal level eg 4mmol or over if it's not a meal time I follow up with a small snack which is the mini cookies or mini cheddars. My question was (for those who do follow up) what follow up snacks do other people have?

 

[trophywench]

OK! - I'm now with it - and FWIW I used to have a single digestive biscuit. Trouble was after I get together with my 2nd husband - I could no longer keep an opened packet of digestives for longer than approx one week. (Think they probably just all evaporated as nobody ever admitted to eating them, so instead of just floating away on the breeze, instead all the calories adhered themselves to Pete's torso ....)

 

[mum2westiesGill]

OK! - I'm now with it -

Please don't take this the wrong way but phew at last lol.

and FWIW I used to have a single digestive biscuit.

Thanks for letting me know what you used to have - I think they're around 9 - 10 grams of carbs

Trouble was after I get together with my 2nd husband - I could no longer keep an opened packet of digestives for longer than approx one week. (Think they probably just all evaporated as nobody ever admitted to eating them, so instead of just floating away on the breeze, instead all the calories adhered themselves to Pete's torso ....)

Lol

 

[leonS]

I need to have some idea of the answer to the question "What will happen now?" after treatment of a hypo. If the answer is BG will not go down then I do not have any extra carbs, otherwise a digestive or the like. I need to test to make sure that I got the answer right, and then put things right if I need to.

That is what I do, BUT it is safer to have a digestive or a slice og bread in any event.

 

[mikeyB]

I always go by the type of hypo, and which insulin I have on board. When did I last inject fast acting insulin? If it’s more than four hours, I’ll just have long acting insulin on board, so I just eat Dextro tabs to lift me up to normal. (I find that they are easier to use, fast acting and precise dosing). If it’s an overdose of fast acting - I occasionally bolus for a meal I don’t eat as much as predicted, then I will eat a chocolate digestive after correcting with Dextro tabs - if I don’t, I find my BG drifting downward again.

I couldn’t do any of this before the Libre, and always correct a hypo before eating, so I can just use the right amount of insulin for the meal.