For hypos, do you think more carbs works faster than fewer carbs?

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 letā€™s 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).

Do you think more is faster?

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When Iā€™m worried about Liamā€™s bg level i always give more than needed so that he gets out of his hypo asap. Donā€™t want him lingering low.

Yes he comes up faster.

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I donā€™t think more is necessarily faster for me

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

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What Sam :point_up_2:t3:said :point_up_2:t3:

I also try to use glucose rather than sucrose or fructose.

For Red Alert lows I prefer Maltodextrin as found in energy gels (36% faster uptake than glucose)

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What works fastest for me is Apple juice and more doesnā€™t 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 wouldnā€™t reach for it.

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More is faster only in the sense that I know Iā€™m going to recover, so I skip having to wait to see if Iā€™m still going low and need further treatment.

But unless Iā€™m on the verge of passing out, I prefer to skip the faster and just wait and see. Even if taking insulin with the ā€œmore,ā€ Iā€™d rather not deal with the roller-coaster.

Certain treatments are faster, of course, but personally I donā€™t find itā€™s about quantity.

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I think More is Faster if Iā€™m 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. Thatā€™s not bc Iā€™m some superstar diabetic with slow, easy dropsā€¦far from it. Itā€™s bc Iā€™m 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 itā€™s dropping super fast, Iā€™ll 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.

So thatā€™s my unprovable analysis in my system.

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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, Iā€™ll bolus 1 unit up front. Thatā€™s it. And then for the next 5 hours heā€™ll need boluses for every 10 grams as it slowly digests.

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I find it depends more on what I eat instead of how much. Glazed is definitely faster than powdered.

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What @docslotnick said. :arrow_up:. :doughnut::doughnut::doughnut: Is more better than :doughnut:. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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.

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When a hypo is related to exercise, I always need more carbs to get a timely response. But when Iā€™m just nudging up a mild low-in-range, more carbs can cause a spike.

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How big a piece? I love 72% dark chocolateā€”a small square is often my dessertā€”but I see little, if any, increase in my blood sugar.

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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 isnā€™t 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.

But it IS delicious!!! :yum:

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Iā€™m same as @CatLady. I usually take the amount I think I need for a low. Iā€™m not sure Iā€™ve noticed that eating more increases my BG faster. It would make sense, but I just donā€™t want to have a spike and taking insulin during a low is not appealing either, except for severe lows, then Iā€™m 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 wouldnā€™t be kicking in 'til 40 minutes or so after taking it.

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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 itā€™s better if I have time. Whereas a vegan gummy bear is 2 carbs each and a pretty quick kick.

So yes, I think more can be faster.

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The faster the drop leading to the low, the likely I am to try to compensate with a ā€œmore is fasterā€ approach. Gee, wonder how much that is driven by how totally ravenous I am in those situations! :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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Anyone else find the old ā€œ15 g CHO, wait 15 min, then treat againā€ doesnā€™t 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.

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Never works! 15g is way too much for me for a typical low and carbs do not get absorbed in 15 mins!

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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 Bernsteinā€™s book on keeping a low A1C. My meal carbo however is higher than what he suggests.

The CGM, xDrip and ā€˜standaloneā€™ watch are very important elements for my control.

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My son often takes 5 carbs, if that doesnā€™t recover him easily, he takes 10 carbs and insulin. The fun never ends.

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