starbursts?

[Patricia]

Just on the off chance...One of the reasons we don't 'do' the jelly babies thing is because it's hard to keep them clean, store them properly, and E only likes two flavours of them!

However, I was poking around the sweets (as you do) and noticed that Starbursts have considerably more carb per 100g than jelly babies do...And they are wrapped!

Has anyone ever tried Starbursts for a hypo? I know that jelly babies work probably because the sugar is going in via the quick dissolving jelly etc...

Do you think Starbursts would work though, like, at all?

We are completely dependent at the moment on apple juice...

Thanks!

xxoo

 

[Adrienne]

I would think they would work ok but the problem with sweets is that they take longer to work as they take longer to eat ! Lots of friends of mine gave their kids jelly babies or haribo but had to stop especially when started pumping due to the length of time it was taking.

What is the problem with coke or lucozade or sprite even ? Sorry forgot?

 

[Northerner]

I haven't tried them, but as Adrienne says, I think I would find them too difficult to eat quickly. When I am hypo, I wat something that can be very quickly chewed otherwise panic sets in! (I found that out when I had some old dextrose tablets that had gone very hard and difficult to eat, all the time feeling that my BG was plummeting!)

 

[Copepod]

Worth a try - only E and you can know if they work for you.
Yes, Starburst sweets are wrapped, but in folded waxed paper, not twisted plastic. I have carried a few in my trouser pocket in the past, but they always get soft, sticky and difficult to peel open, particularly if hypoglycaemic. Guess if you keep them in a bag or jacket problem, it's less on an issue, but I get separated from my trousers far more rarely than from other items...
If E likes 2 flavours of jelly babies, why not keep just those flavours handy, either in the original bag or in small zip lock bags (they are sold by jewellery making suppliers, but I got a load free that were being thrown out at work) - very convenient to palce the appropriate number of sweets for, say, 10g CHO, in each bag. Will E eat any other jelly sweets? Haribo are the best known brand, but most supermarkets sell their own brands. I've used Co-Op cola bottles, for example, which are small enough to swallow without even chewing, which seems an advantage over larger jelly babies that you have to chew to lessen chance of choking. Starburst would need chewing before swallowing.

 

[MCH]

If E likes 2 flavours of jelly babies, why not keep just those flavours handy, either in the original bag or in small zip lock bags (they are sold by jewellery making suppliers, but I got a load free that were being thrown out at work) - very convenient to palce the appropriate number of sweets for, say, 10g CHO, in each bag.

I use bank coin bags -new ones - (if you ask nicely at your bank they will probably give you some) as they are a perfect size for a few sweets and fairly easy too get in to in a hurry. 😉

 

[rossi_mac]

glucotabs are the only way, if I had jelly babies of starbursts etc chance I would just eat them! These have hard case to hold 10 and can buy pot of 50.
I'm nearly out and was hoping medical shop .co.uk will be doing an offer soon, but no doubt they will wait for me to order some first🙄

 

[Copepod]

MCH - fold over top bank coin bags are fine, as long as you (and your bags of sweets) don't end up getting totally soaked from rain, kayak paddle splashes, wading through river etc.... Admittedly, not an everyday issue, but it's not too usual for me to cycle home without waterproof trousers, for example. So, for me, zip lock bags are better, but if coin bags work for you, then great.

However, this is getting a bit away from Patricia's question about using Starbursts for hypoglycaemia... I find sticky Starburst sweets tricky to unwrap at the best of times, let alone when hypoglycaemic, but can always open zip lock bags.

 

[litto-miss-loz]

i think i would be worried incase i choked on the starburst cause when im hypo im not concentrating properly and might end up swallowing when its still needin to be chewed

 

[bex123]

glucotabs are the only way, if I had jelly babies of starbursts etc chance I would just eat them! These have hard case to hold 10 and can buy pot of 50.
I'm nearly out and was hoping medical shop .co.uk will be doing an offer soon, but no doubt they will wait for me to order some first🙄

amazon are doing the big tubs of 50 for ?2.95

 

[Patricia]

These answers are *incredibly* helpful -- this forum is just ace.

Hadn't *occurred* to me that the unwrapping would feel panicky -- of course it would. With shakiness and things. Sheesh (strikes head)! And the chewing. Again, this makes sense. It would take longer and feel endless I imagine.

(Prob with coke sprite luco etc Adrienne is abhorrence of anything fizzy. Until diagnosis of course, this refusal of it was always a GOOD thing. Sigh. Neither of my children can deal with it.)

I didn't realise that haribo could be used too...I take your point Adrienne about speed, but I'm thinking in times when convenience is utmost...At the moment, he cannot abide glucose tabs. He carries them for dire emergency, but hasn't had them in months and months... What haribo particularly good? It would be good for him not always to have to have a hulking huge apple juice carton in his blazer for concerts and in his coat pocket in town...Or more than one in my bag (which there always is at the moment!) come to think of it...!

I like the idea of small ziplock. Again, hadn't thought of this clearly enough. They have got to be STRONG: teenage boys are just rough with all belongings (except ipods and pumps I think!), and the bags need to hold up with running around, things in and out of pockets, etc... BUT a great idea. (Then my daughter, who loves ALL jelly babies, could have the other flavours!)

 

[rossi_mac]

amazon are doing the big tubs of 50 for ?2.95

I think that's medical shop standard price, but they have been known to do deals if you buy 4 or 6 pots!

I checked my emails if they do a deal they may send it out by email around the 25th Jan, if they do things regularly it seems to be every other month around 25th or so, but doesn't look too regular! Here's hoping.🙂

 

[Copepod]

Patricia - I'm sure the ziplock bags would stand up to whatever else J keeps in his pocket - my pockets are full with keys, wallet etc at minimum, plus often carrying heavy and / or rough items such as logs, canoes, large plastic boxes of outdoor kit etc. The white strips rub off the outside of the bags eventually, but I've never punctured a bag - and the jelly sweets have even survived a full wash cycle! Sounds like a great plan to give the other flavours to his sister.
I don't reckon Haribo are any better or worse than any other products - just that they're the best known brand, so I mentioned them to indicate what I meant. Personally, I tend to buy 3 packs of 100g for ?1 at any one of several supermarkets. Definitely much easier to carry than a carton of juice, although I keep a couple of those for the few times that I'm driving.
Anyway, hope you, J and sister find something to suit you all.

 

[Pigeon]

Foam bananas are quick to eat and not too sticky... I don't like jelly babies either!

 

[Northerner]

Foam bananas are quick to eat and not too sticky... I don't like jelly babies either!

Yum! Foam bananas!

 

[Adrienne]

glucotabs are the only way, if I had jelly babies of starbursts etc chance I would just eat them! These have hard case to hold 10 and can buy pot of 50.
I'm nearly out and was hoping medical shop .co.uk will be doing an offer soon, but no doubt they will wait for me to order some first🙄

Hiya Rossi

You can get glucotabs on prescription. You get the refill 50 pots. If the GP can't find the pip code most GP's have to hand write the scripts. Tell them it is in the C and D book - Chemists and Dispensers book. Don't let them tell you no. Infact your chemist can give you the pip code out of the C & D book if you ask them.

 

[Adrienne]

Hiya Patricia

I guess any haribo but again like all sweets they take too long.

I really really really think that E is going to have to get used to the bubbles. He's only young and his palate will change and can change and get used to things. Sell it in the way that it may one day save his life - which is may. If he gets badly hypo and no-one is there with a glucagon kit for example, he won't be able to eat those sweets, he will need liquid fast and coke and lucozade will be the way to go, even quicker than any juice he can drink.

I know he is a teenager but bribery is still a good thing, it just might cost you more than if he was a child. Start with sips and gulps now whole cans and of course this is the sugar free stuff.

Sorry if you think I'm being pushy, it is only my opinion and of course you can completely ignore me !

 

[litto-miss-loz]

Hiya Rossi

You can get glucotabs on prescription. You get the refill 50 pots. If the GP can't find the pip code most GP's have to hand write the scripts. Tell them it is in the C and D book - Chemists and Dispensers book. Don't let them tell you no. Infact your chemist can give you the pip code out of the C & D book if you ask them.

so you can get them for free on prescription??? or would u still need to pay

 

[Adrienne]

so you can get them for free on prescription??? or would u still need to pay

No. Don't people with diabetes get medication free? Is it only medication to do with diabetes? If so then it is to do with diabetes.

Don't let them farm you off with the dextrose tablets like my chemist did once, saying they are the same, they aren't, they have different carbs for a start.

 

[rossi_mac]

Hiya Rossi

You can get glucotabs on prescription. You get the refill 50 pots. If the GP can't find the pip code most GP's have to hand write the scripts. Tell them it is in the C and D book - Chemists and Dispensers book. Don't let them tell you no. Infact your chemist can give you the pip code out of the C & D book if you ask them.

Really! Wow thanks Adrienne, me bro's a certified drug dealer, so could get the code easy, he recently told me the info about the demi pens 🙂

I'm really surprised glucotabs are available on scripts, what are the rules on it is it more for children? do any other adults get them on scripts??

Well thanks anyway

 

[Adrienne]

Really! Wow thanks Adrienne, me bro's a certified drug dealer, so could get the code easy, he recently told me the info about the demi pens 🙂

I'm really surprised glucotabs are available on scripts, what are the rules on it is it more for children? do any other adults get them on scripts??

Well thanks anyway

It would be total discrimination if only kids got them so I would hope adults get them as well. Lots of the kids mums had a fight getting them, I did but I pushed and pushed. I know they are only a couple of quid for a refill box but I had to explain that they were just for hypos, sometimes they were needed as a boost and 4 or 5 at a time ie PE etc.