glucogel

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KAREN1

KAREN1

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi everyone just wondering if as a type 1 diabetic should i always have some glucogel in the house or with me at all times in case of emergency. only been diagnosed since december and dsn has never mentioned it but i was worried if the worse happened should i have some to hand? i have lots of hypo,s but none needed medical help managed to correct them myself and i am pleased to say i have not had one in the last ten days!(well chuffed!) any opinions would be warmly welcomed. thank you!
 
Hi Karen,

What I do is I always have some within easy reach. I tend not to leave the house without it for any significant period of time in the day. I always take some with me when I run. I don't take much, just one of the tubes or bottles. I can usually find some in any of my jacket pockets!

Tom H
 
If you are happy with the hypo treatments you use then no glucogel (hypostop) is not needed. As long as you always have fast acting carbs then thats the main thing.
I hate hypostop it's disgusting- I've only ever had it in hospital and it makes me feel sick.

some people say that if you become unresposive then glucogel can be rubbed inside cheeks, but I wouldn't really advise putting anything in the mouth of someone unresponsive.

glad to hear you have got on top of the hypos recently.
 
Hi Karen,

I've got some glucogel that the GP prescribed just after I was diagnosed, but it's probably not much use as I don't carry it around with me and I live alone, so no-one is going to be able to give it to me! I've had quite a fw hypos but thankfully not one that I couldn't treat myself. I carry a card saying I'm diabetic, but I suspect that even if I carried it people wouldn't know what to do with it and might be put off by the instruction on the card that I shouldn't be fed anything if unconscious.

I don't suppose there's any harm in carrying it. At first I got confused between glucogel and glucogon - glucogon is the stuff that you inject, whereas glucogel is something you rub on the gums!:)
 
Hi

They have changed the way glucogel should be used. It should no longer be rubbed in the cheeks, it needs to be swallowed. They used to think that rubbing it in the cheeks would make it absorb quicker. It is better swallowed. You should never ever give glucogel to anyone unconscious. Always glucagon injection, nothing else and then call an ambulance.

You should always carry something to treat lows/hypos, so whatever works best for you. I carry the small party cans of coke or sprite for my daughter as they work the best. Some people carry lucozade or dextrose tablets or lucozade tablets or glucogel.

If glucogel works for you, then carry it, it is small enough to fit in a handbag or bag or whatever. Bear in mind though that it might oneday not work. It used to work fine for my daughter but then stopped working. I once gave her three tubes I think, or two can't remember now and they did absolutely nothing to her levels. Hard to believe and doesn't make sense but they did nothing.

They now only work if she is not hypo ie before PE if she is say 6.0 and needs a boost sometimes she will have a glucogel. My daughter is in the minority and loves the taste. Most people hate it.

My daughter is 9 today and feeling very special.
 
Adrienne, please wish Jessica a happy birthday. Hope you all enjoy yourselves today
 
Thank you very much Vanessa. Where have 9 years gone! :eek:
 
Thank you all for your replies i think i will carry on doing what i am doing at moment i use glucotabs lucozade or coke and that seems to do the trick just glad t know that i don,t have to rush out and get some. please will you wish Jessica a very happy birthday!
 
I would carry it as its only small and fits easily into a pocket etc..


Adrienne, i hadnt realised it was Jessica's birthday today! Please wish her a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY from Bev and Alex - and tell her we are looking forward to meeting her at hoburne! I read your story from her birth the other day - how traumatising it must have been for a new mum with a new baby. I have to say she really is very pretty isnt she! The photo of her at 5 weeks old is divine! :) Bev
 
Hi Karen

I don't bother to carry Hypogel, as I've never needed anyone else to help me with a hypo, and I reckon that a few sweets are even easier to carry. Anyway, you have a method that works for you, so stick with it! If you ever need anyone else to help, then perhaps consider getting some Hypogel (or any other sugar-based sports gel), but you might never need it - all the NHS did was waste money when various GPs prescribed for me, so I refused any more.
 
Adrienne, thank you for the information about glucogel - I guess if it isn't to be used on an unconscious person then mine is unlikely to ever be used - I prefer jelly babies to treat hypos!

And a very Happy Birthday to Jessica!

jessbd.jpg
 
Adrienne said:
Thank you very much Vanessa. Where have 9 years gone! :eek:
Click to expand...

I keep asking myself where a considerably larger number of years have gone!

Serioulsly though, you must be very proud of what Jessica and your family have achieved
 
Thanks so much everyone, I'll pass on the happy birthdays to Jessica.

Northerner - they used to say hypostop was ok if unconscious due to rubbing in the cheeks but I guess people choked on the stuff and they then said no more. I have tried it, it is disgusting, no idea why Jessica likes it. She gets really excited that I let her have one every so often.

I think that if people know what works for them then great. I get worried about newly diagnosed people, adults and children and they aren't told a great deal and the advice is flimsey to say the least.

I once met a lady at school who was a type 1 herself. She had been told by someone else who had been told by someone else that I was the one to talk to in the school about diabetes (not sure if that is a compliment or not :confused:). She told me her HbA1c was 9.8 and sometimes 10.4 but 9.8 currently and the doctor was ok with that. Once I had picked myself up of the floor I had a chat with her. There is only so much you can say without it turning into a lecture and a 'I know more than you conversation' especially when I don't even have diabetes. She was on two injections a day, no-one had suggested anything else and that was that. Her eyesight was appalling already and she was in her late 20's. What can you do?

I'm pleased I joined this group, there is a great sense of friendliness and wanting to help each other.
 
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