Best way to increase blood glucose ( food drink recommendations )

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rebrascora said:
And to do a second test straight after to double check if you get a reading which seems odd.
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If I've had a reading which seems odd, I usually take a 2nd AND a 3rd reading; my brain plays tricks on me causing me to wonder if the 1st was really OK and the 2nd was actually the odd one ....... and I can't let go of that thought until the 3rd has confirmed the 2nd!

Incidentally, I routinely round any reading up or down to the nearest whole number as I make a judgement about what (if any) response I might need to make. The meters that we have are not truly accurate to the first decimal place; they are amazingly accurate when considering how they are made to a budget and yet need to be competitive with other meters. The permitted tolerances are +/- 15% as medical approved devices; if we were taking a reading from a dial we would naturally see just below 3when the digital display shows 2.9 The decimal point is really a marketing device to artificially upgrade the perceived performance - like speedometers on cars; my car goes up to 140 mph - according to the speedometer! So an odd meter reading for me would be 2.9 when I feel no hypo symptoms, yet I consider my hypo awareness is pretty good. Or a 4.6 or greater would be potentially odd, when I am actually feeling hypo-ish and thus probably below 4.
 
Austin Mini said:
Low blood sugar I have either tea or lemonade with six teaspoons of sugar, that sorts it out.
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You would really wait 5 mins to brew a cup of tea before treating a hypo?
 
Austin Mini said:
If I don’t have time it’s sugar and water.
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Do you carry sugar and water with you when you go out and how do you know if you have time to brew a cuppa when you are hypo.... also only available if you hypo at home or within reach of a kettle? I would not recommend anyone wait whilst they make a cup of tea in order to treat a hypo and I am pretty sure most DSNs would not recommend it either.

My jelly babies go everywhere with me and it is quick and simple to just pop one or two in my mouth and chew it really well..... or similar with 4 glucose tablets although I tend to keep those for really low hypos.
 
rebrascora said:
Do you carry sugar and water with you when you go out and how do you know if you have time to brew a cuppa when you are hypo.... also only available if you hypo at home or within reach of a kettle? I would not recommend anyone wait whilst they make a cup of tea in order to treat a hypo and I am pretty sure most DSNs would not recommend it either.

My jelly babies go everywhere with me and it is quick and simple to just pop one or two in my mouth and chew it really well..... or similar with 4 glucose tablets although I tend to keep those for really low hypos.
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It’s never got that bad I can feel a hypo coming on. I carry Glucogel with me always plus Mars bars too.
 
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Austin Mini said:
It’s never got that bad I can feel a hypo coming on. I carry Glucogen with me always plus Mars bars too.
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For the benefit of others reading this, Mars Bars or any other chocolate is also not recommended as a hypo treatment because the high fat content can slow the absorption of the sugar. I believe it was recommended years ago, but not anymore.
 
rebrascora said:
For the benefit of others reading this, Mars Bars or any other chocolate is also not recommended as a hypo treatment because the high fat content can slow the absorption of the sugar. I believe it was recommended years ago, but not anymore.
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It was recommended to me by the hospital staff who treated me on first diagnosis. I can only say Mars and other tasty treats suite me just fine I am unlikely to change my mind.
 
Austin Mini said:
It’s never got that bad I can feel a hypo coming on. I carry Glucogel with me always plus Mars bars too.
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Looks like you really need to brush up on hypo treatments.

Tea isn’t an appropriate hypo treatment, it takes too long to brew, prepare, and cool enough to drink. Plus it’s not a good idea to handle boiling water whilst you’re low as if you’re shakier than you realise you could seriously injure yourself.

Mars bars are also not an appropriate hypo treatment. They contain too much fat for fast carbs and too many carbs to be a good idea as a slow carb follow up

There is information on the diabetes uk website about how to treat hypos.
 
Austin Mini said:
Low blood sugar I have either tea or lemonade with six teaspoons of sugar, that sorts it out.
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Hello, occasionally I’ve done coffee with sugar to catch a low. For instance where I work the kitchen is small “someone” makes beverages to order & we grab them at break time. (I carry hypo treatment on me) But just last week I felt one as we called break. (My alarm kicked off too.) “you don’t take sugar?” H enquired as I picked my cup up. “I do today.” As I stirred in 2 tea spoons.
I’ve worked elsewhere with either percolated coffee or a hot urn on standby, too.
Of course I did have jelly babies about my person too. But I hadn’t reached the point where I’m fumbling pockets.
 
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