Wanted to ask your opinion, based on your personal experience.
Do you think taking more carbs for a hypo works faster than fewer carbs?
And yes, I know you can spike if you take too much, and all of that. I am not asking what is the safest or best for reducing spikes or BG rollercoaster or TIR or any of that. I am simply interested in which you think is fastest - fewer or more?
Suppose you really only need 20 grams for a hypo, but you are very low. Do you think 20 grams would work at the same speed as taking 50 grams?!?
I think more works faster. Just like having more doors on a building letās people get in and out of the building faster.
I often take more carbs than I need, to make it faster. And then I also take insulin at the same time to prevent the spike later. (I think @Chris mentioned that Cody does this too).
I try to take the amount I estimate needed to land at a good level. If I took more carbs and insulin at the same time Id end up running high for a long time waiting for insulin to kick in, unless I used afrezza, but for me it would just become an exercise of chasing my blood sugar up and down, so I generally just try to bump back up to desired levels
What works fastest for me is Apple juice and more doesnāt seem to work any faster than the right amount of grams do; I take mine straight up, no frills. Glucose tablets take too long (a good 1/2 hour to 45 minutes before they succeed at their job. But YDMV)
if its not a severe low and I want to bump my BG up a bit, I almost always go for dark chocolate; but this takes time and patience, so if you are uncomfortably low, I wouldnāt reach for it.
More is faster only in the sense that I know Iām going to recover, so I skip having to wait to see if Iām still going low and need further treatment.
But unless Iām on the verge of passing out, I prefer to skip the faster and just wait and see. Even if taking insulin with the āmore,ā Iād rather not deal with the roller-coaster.
Certain treatments are faster, of course, but personally I donāt find itās about quantity.
I think More is Faster if Iām using a suboptimal food or drink to treat my low.
One vanilla Greek yogurt (9 grams of carbs) can halt almost all of my bad drops. Thatās not bc Iām some superstar diabetic with slow, easy dropsā¦far from it. Itās bc Iām crazy carb sensitive and for whatever reason, yogurt burns up super fast in my system. Wayyyyy faster than apple juice or glucose tabs.
If I treat with apple juice, and itās dropping super fast, Iāll slam two boxes and that seems to work faster than just one box. But I have to deal with the high half an hour later blah blah blah.
Nope. For us, taking more carbs just means a bigger spike after BG eventually rises. In general, Samson can only digest about 20 g of carbs an hour. If he eats a 65g carb meal, Iāll bolus 1 unit up front. Thatās it. And then for the next 5 hours heāll need boluses for every 10 grams as it slowly digests.
What form of glucose matters as much as quantity for me. More glucose equals a faster longer bg rise that depending on how low I started at may be a tolerable solution.
When a hypo is related to exercise, I always need more carbs to get a timely response. But when Iām just nudging up a mild low-in-range, more carbs can cause a spike.
I like LINDT 70% dark chocolate. I find, for me, that each square raises my blood sugar approximately 20 points. (its around 5gms), but it isnāt as immediate as glucose (probably bc of the fat). it takes about 1/2 hour-45 minutes before you will see the full rise. So it is not good for severe lows.
Iām same as @CatLady. I usually take the amount I think I need for a low. Iām not sure Iāve noticed that eating more increases my BG faster. It would make sense, but I just donāt want to have a spike and taking insulin during a low is not appealing either, except for severe lows, then Iām not thinking about spikes!
I do take plenty more carbs during a run when low though as well inject a small bolus for it. I continue running but I usually get back in range within 20-30 minutes. My bolus wouldnāt be kicking in 'til 40 minutes or so after taking it.
I try to take as little as possible if I think I have time. But I think more does work faster in that some foods are part faster absorb-able and part slower absorb able. So say pineapple, some of it is not going to absorb right away. So I might need more to get the faster full boost I needā¦and pay a price later for it. So itās better if I have time. Whereas a vegan gummy bear is 2 carbs each and a pretty quick kick.
The faster the drop leading to the low, the likely I am to try to compensate with a āmore is fasterā approach. Gee, wonder how much that is driven by how totally ravenous I am in those situations!
Anyone else find the old ā15 g CHO, wait 15 min, then treat againā doesnāt work for them? First, 15 g CHO will usually take me too high, and second, nothing happens in 15 min. I have to be way more patient, which is hard to do. I never get out of a low in 15 min.
I take very little fast acting insulin before each meal. As a result for myself it takes very little carb to raise my BG level if it is too low. I try very hard to keep my A1C at a low level. I have been averaging between 5.1 and 5.4. I always have to take a household member when meeting with my endo to verify no hypoglycemic reactions. I also try to follow Dr. Richard Bernsteinās book on keeping a low A1C. My meal carbo however is higher than what he suggests.
The CGM, xDrip and āstandaloneā watch are very important elements for my control.
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