When to raise blood sugar?

[digihat]

Good Morning Everyone 🙂

Just wondered at what point you all feel it's best to raise blood sugar. I have my alarm set at 4.2 which works pretty well for me. I do take into account what I'm doing at the moment such as if going out currently walking etc and when next meal along with trend of arrow. I know this will be very individual to each person just curious what everyone does 🙂

 

[Inka]

I usually try to stay above 5 but sometimes I’m happy to be in the higher half of the fours. Obviously if I’m 4.4 with an up arrow and about to sit down and do nothing, I might leave it, but generally I like to bump it up a tiny bit.

 

[Satan’s little helper]

Good Morning Everyone 🙂

Just wondered at what point you all feel it's best to raise blood sugar. I have my alarm set at 4.2 which works pretty well for me. I do take into account what I'm doing at the moment such as if going out currently walking etc and when next meal along with trend of arrow. I know this will be very individual to each person just curious what everyone does 🙂

My way of doing it is not dissimilar to yours. I bear in mind what bolus insulin is currently on board & the trend arrow. The only time I’d nudge up past the 5 would be if I had to drive. Or get hands on with something needing a bit of physicality?

 

[helli]

It all depends for me.
Like @Satan’s little helper I aim above 5 for driving.
Like @Inka I aim a bit higher when starting cardio exercise but I "use" resistance exercise to achieve this and am happy to start climbing, for example, in the 4s.

But it also depends upon active bolus insulin on board and how long ago I last ate. This can be a bit of a challenge because I am a grazer. But if I ate 30 minutes ago, my BG is 4.5 and the trend arrow is flat, I leave it as it is. Whereas, if I ate 3 hours ago and my BG is 4.5 and flat, I would notch it up with a Lift tablet.
I try to be above 5 before bed and I know others aim higher.

 

[Pam123]

It all depends for me.
Like @Satan’s little helper I aim above 5 for driving.
Like @Inka I aim a bit higher when starting cardio exercise but I "use" resistance exercise to achieve this and am happy to start climbing, for example, in the 4s.

But it also depends upon active bolus insulin on board and how long ago I last ate. This can be a bit of a challenge because I am a grazer. But if I ate 30 minutes ago, my BG is 4.5 and the trend arrow is flat, I leave it as it is. Whereas, if I ate 3 hours ago and my BG is 4.5 and flat, I would notch it up with a Lift tablet.
I try to be above 5 before bed and I know others aim higher.

hope you dont mind me asking what is a lift tablet ? I am T2 but insulin dependent only one dose of Lantus per day, I have reciently had lower BS levels and if i go into the mid 4 s i start to feel bad, what i am doing is just having one JB if it get low and it seams to bring it up one point.

 

[helli]

hope you dont mind me asking what is a lift tablet ? I am T2 but insulin dependent only one dose of Lantus per day, I have reciently had lower BS levels and if i go into the mid 4 s i start to feel bad, what i am doing is just having one JB if it get low and it seams to bring it up one point.

Of course I don't mind you asking.
Lift is an alternative to Dextrose or jelly babies or fruit juice to treat hypos. They used to be called GlucoTabs.
I prefer Lift because I am vegetarian so need to be careful with jellies, I have found it easier to take something that is more obviously medicine than sweets because no one thinks I am being rude not sharing or would take my stash, Lift comes in plastic tubes or tubs which last longer than the paper wrapping around Dextrose.
About 8 years ago, I bought a few tubes. Now I buy the bigger tubs in bulk from eBay and refill the tubes to keep in my handbag, sports bag, workbag, etc.
This is their website: https://liftglucose.com/pages/fast-acting-glucose

But if JB works for you, there is no need to change.

 

[Proud to be erratic]

I think a clue to answering your question is that I try to set "Alerts" not Alarms. At 4.2 I'm far too close to going hypo and it would be extremely lucky if I could take preventative action from 4.2 to stop myself going hypo. I have NHS funded CGM to prevent most hypos and happily that has become a rare event these days.

 

[Chris88]

My alert/alarm is set at 5 which gives plenty of warning to avoid most hypo effects. Sometimes I can tell I am going low before alarm sounds so good to know hypo awareness intact

 

[digihat]

@Inka @Satan’s little helper @helli @Pam123 @Chris88 @Proud to be erratic thanks for everyone's input think I will try to stick to the 5 range and a higher alarm as it likes to go low or need intervention just before eating

 

[rebrascora]

I found raising my low alarm to 5 was counter productive for me because I don't always want to be topping carbs up at 5 and of course if I didn't eat carbs and I continued to drop, I didn't get any further alarms with Libre, so if I got distracted and didn't keep a close eye on things, I might end up hypo anyway. Also, I sleep best about 5, so don't want alarms going off when I am having my best sleep.
I used to have my low alarm set at 4.2 but have raised it to 4.5 in recent months. I am not sure that is working better for me as I am having more hypos, although that may be related to other medication (Amitriptyline), so I may yet go back to 4.2.

 

[Inka]

I look at my 5 alert @rebrascora and decide what to do, based on the arrow and when I’ve eaten and what I’m about to do. I find setting it to 4.8 works very well on my G7. On the Libre, I had it set at 5.6.

 

[PhoebeC]

I look at my 5 alert @rebrascora and decide what to do, based on the arrow and when I’ve eaten and what I’m about to do. I find setting it to 4.8 works very well on my G7. On the Libre, I had it set at 5.6.

Yes mine is 4.8, (libre) and then I decide what action is needed based on the arrow. I normally just turn off my pump and then check again in a few minutes and it’s either stable or still dropping