What's best for hypo?

[Vicsetter]

Hi and welcome
It is great that you have found this forum and come here to support your partner.
Hypos are scary and particularly the first few, but as with anything, once you get used to them and you learn how to deal with them, the fear diminishes and you gain confidence.
Many people carry jelly babies or dextrose tablets to deal with hypos. I use my empty test strip pots to contain a 3-4 jelly babies or 11 jelly beans or 3 dextrose tablets. They are a convenient means of carrying the appropriate amount to treat a hypo and I have pots in every room of the house including by the bed and in the bathroom, so that they are easily to hand as well as in my coat pockets and handbags. Some people use cartons of orange juice or small cans of "full sugar" coke.

If your partner is very lucky he will have very few, but I think having them more often has helped me become much more confident in dealing with them and they are more of a short inconvenience now rather than a scary occurrence. That said, I also follow a low carbohydrate eating plan so that I am unlikely to make a significant error with my insulin injections because I rarely inject more than 4 units at a time. If you are injecting 10 or 12 units, it is easy to be 2 or 3 units wrong whereas if I inject 3 or 4 I am only ever likely to be 1 unit out.

I hope that makes sense and provides you with some reassurance. I think what I found most scary was my unreaslistic expectation that I might only have 2 or 3 a year and when I had 2 in a week in the early days I was really worried. Once I spoke to people on this forum and found that normal can range from several times a day to almost never, it helped me to cope.

I'm not sure that test strip containers are food safe!!!!

 

[trophywench]

My God Vicsetter - if they aren't I doubt there's a food container in my house that is. What on earth do you let into yours? Powdered lead? Quicklime? I don't personally tend to get anything poisonous on my hands - if I'd been handling anything toxic I rather think I'd have bleached me hands before testing me blood.

 

[Kaylz]

My God Vicsetter - if they aren't I doubt there's a food container in my house that is. What on earth do you let into yours? Powdered lead? Quicklime? I don't personally tend to get anything poisonous on my hands - if I'd been handling anything toxic I rather think I'd have bleached me hands before testing me blood.

Actually Roche recommend you dont use them for hypo treatments due to them being treated with something to stop moisture in them xx

 

[grovesy]

Actually Roche recommend you dont use them for hypo treatments due to them being treated with something to stop moisture in them xx

Not heard that but it makes sense!

 

[Matchless]

I always carry a tube of glucotabs in my pocket they work quicker than sugar in sweets and is more convenient as its dry , i buy them on ebay in tubs of 50 that you can use to fill the 10 tablet tube.dextrosol never worked for me you have to take the complete packet and then some.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Very early on I recognised that I needed something I could keep in my pocket, that would be with me wherever I was. (Eg even if just down the garden doing a spot of digging). Having to slog off halfway round the house to fetch hypo treatments from wherever may not be at all easy when your brain is on the fritz.

So I always have a bottle of Lucozade on my bedside table and several treatments in my pocket. Plus ‘spares’ in various coats.

I also have a little ‘emergency tin’ with sugar sachets in my pocket at all times (in case I’ve forgotten to restock the actual treatments I carry)

Preferred options for me are:

Lucozade - for speed. Full sugar coke works well too

Jeans Pocket:
Skittles (mini bags are 15-17g each)
Drumstick Squashies (mini bags are 12g each)

Coat pocket:
Jelly babies
Haribo

I also completely agree with @Kaylz about avoiding chocolate. I determinedly used it for years, but it really does lag, and takes at least twice as long to bring my BG up than something high glucose syrup with no fat.

These days if I fancy chocolate I will just have it, and dose for it. If I’m walking about, it usually means the dose and choc match pretty well, and I don’t see much wobble on my BG trace at all.

 

[trophywench]

Actually Roche recommend you dont use them for hypo treatments due to them being treated with something to stop moisture in them xx

Well, there you go! @Vicsetter - I apologise.

And there's me only been using Roche strips for every single test for the last 10-ish years!

OTOH I don't think I've ever used a strip tub for anything other than strips.

 

[Kaylz]

OTOH I don't think I've ever used a strip tub for anything other than strips.

we do, I keep £1 coins and notes in them, my mum stores stud earrings in them and I store wire coils in them too lol, they can be quite handy xx

 

[grovesy]

Well, there you go! @Vicsetter - I apologise.

And there's me only been using Roche strips for every single test for the last 10-ish years!

OTOH I don't think I've ever used a strip tub for anything other than strips.

I usally use my pots for used strips.

 

[billyblue]

had the worst hypo ever today while driving on the highway I lost sense of direction and started blinking with some crazy reaction, was unreal, didn't know what to do, either speed to reach my destination faster or drive slowly and try to pool over but my mind stopped functioning wasn't able to make a decision, after 5 minutes of crazy driving I reached my destination with heartrate over the roof and covered in sweat, called my friend with a can of coke which did the job fast, I always keep a small coke can with me for any case but wasn't the case today and my mistake is that I took my regular dose of Novo rapid with my lunch but didn't have any carbs and I completely forgot.
stay safe people

 

[Kaylz]

I usally use my pots for used strips.

mines go in a nappy bag in an old soup tub until full then into the bin lol xx

 

[Matchless]

I think that was rather irresponsible to carry on driving when your having a bad hypo . I always check my sugar if i am going to drive for more than 15 mins.

 

[rebrascora]

@billyblue

You really should pull over and stop as soon as you suspect you are going low and always keep hypo treatment in the car. It is not clear whether you tested before starting your journey but it is worth making a habit of doing it when you get in the drivers seat before starting the engine..... and remember you need to be 5 to drive.
Not worth the risk of losing your licence or worse still risking your own or some innocent person's life as you did today by continuing to drive.

 

[Kaylz]

While I agree it was irresponsible we cant judge as we don't know the full going ons, whether there was somewhere safe for him to pull over, how quickly the hypo came on etc, we also need to remember that billyblue isnt in the UK and rules vary by state so nobody can pass judgement on his situation and what happened today, @billyblue I'm glad you are ok and hope you dont feel too bad now xx

 

[Matchless]

There is no excuse for driving in the condition he was in and it does not matter where you live you do not put your self and other drivers lives at risk and there is all ways someware to stop when you are not well , i live in france the rules are the same.

 

[Kaylz]

There is no excuse for driving in the condition he was in and it does not matter where you live you do not put your self and other drivers lives at risk and there is all ways someware to stop when you are not well , i live in france the rules are the same.

it could have been some distance before there was somewhere available to stop, up here if I drove and was on the dual carriageway it could be a few minutes until there was a lay-by to pull into, in the US you only have to be at least 80mg to drive (4.4mmol) so he maybe was when he set off, this isn't a place for judging and we all know a sensible head goes to mush when hypo, he realises his mistake, we are here to support each other not judge each other

 

[billyblue]

@Matchless @Kaylz @rebrascora
absolutely right no excuse for driving in my case.
I drove for 10 min and everything was good didn't feel bad at all until suddenly the hypo hit me while driving on the highway and on the fast lane to be specific, it was the first time in 6 years and YES I stopped when I could (after 5 min from the attack) to reach my friend work location to get help.
@Matchless the 8 lane highway in Dubai is unlike the 3 lane highway in France so it will take some time to reach the far right and take any available exit.

 

[Matchless]

surely a diabetic should know not to rely on the law of level of sugar in your blood so you can drive ,i make sure its well above 4 or 72 before i drive far.

 

[grovesy]

It is suggested here in the UK to stop and check every couple of hours, if on a long journey.

 

[stephknits]

surely a diabetic should know not to rely on the law of level of sugar in your blood so you can drive ,i make sure its well above 4 or 72 before i drive far.

You must be very lucky that your blood sugar never suddenly drops. We can all take precautions to be as safe as possible, but occasionally **** happens!