I agree with that. It’s not always easy! There are times when I’ve taken a knife and stabbed the box to slurp it out.
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If I was too low to unwrap the straw I would certainly be too low to try to use a knife 
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Not that long ago I had the brilliant idea while low to eat a fresh mango. I cut it up like I normally do, sliced off each side, hatch the flesh while on the peel. Then cut the peel off the pit section and eat the fruit off the pit. Only thing was I was a bit sloppy with my knife work, and while I am amazed no blood was shed, I did not do a very good job getting all the peel off and so I ended up with bits of it still on the mango I was eating. Turns out, mango peel has a very similar chemical in it to poison ivy, and I ended up with a poison ivy-like rash around my mouth for the next week. It did do a pretty good job at raising my blood sugar though!
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Mango, yum! A tablespoon of real maple syrup is a delicious and fast fix, too.
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Wishing for Maple Syrup on a bowl of snow.
(95 degrees outside today - BLAH)
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i have found the exact same solution. apple juice followed by a little bit of dark chocolate (which keeps my BG rise stable).
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Am I the only one that after a low and my sugar regulates that I’m ready for a nap?
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How quickly does the 4 g dextrose tablets (or smarties) begin to raise the BG? less than 15 minutes?
I’ve heard some people use honey because it is ‘fast’ for them.
Has anyone used maple syrup? Maple syrup tastes great too.
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According to articles I just found on Wikipedia, American honey, on average, consists of fructose (38 percent) and glucose (32 percent) while maple syrup is around 2/3 sucrose with small amounts of glucose and fructose. I treated a bad low once with a tablespoon of maple syrup and enjoyed it (the syrup, not the low) very much!
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Within 15 minutes we see a strong effect on a manual meter. In fact, if we don’t see a strong effect on a regular meter after 15 minutes we take more sugar.
But on the CGM, for us, it can take much longer to even start showing an effect, between 20 and 30 minutes.
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4gms of glucose tablets (1 tablet) takes about 30 minutes for my BG to rise by about 20 points. I measure accordingly. I will only use them when I am not dangerously low. if I am below 45, I will drink apple juice. with the juice, within 15 minutes my BG will rise significantly. I just hate juice now, bc I associate it with being uncomfortably low.
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So sorry to hear about the association. I understand. I think I’m ‘obssessing’ about cannolis and Italian cheesecakes and rice because they have been difficult for me to bolus.
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Transcend, baby!!
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I did an experiment with Smarties a year or two ago. 1 roll (6 gms) raised my bg 30 pts in 10 minutes, per my meter… So I assume 10-15 minutes for Smarties.
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I find there are generally way too many variables to be able to say for certain “This amount of X raises me Y points in Z minutes.” How fast am I coming down, IOB (even the lingering, thinnest tail end), composition of the last meal, activity recent and not so recent, etc., etc.
It used to be that a Cadbury’s Creme egg was my go-to for serious lows. It would bring me up super fast. But I’d always spike after one. Then I learned to bolus for them, dosing even while shaking and sweating, and I’d end up in range and was happy. But recently, not so much. I had one the other night, eight hours after eating and no IOB, and went from 43 to 90 to 68 and stayed there the rest of the night. Dunno, maybe I’m building immunity to them.
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This is REALLY good to know. but, also, as Eric pointed out, the Transcend gel shots REALLY WORK SUPER FAST and they are about 17gms of glucose. I used to take them to the pool when I was swimming, but I always carry them in my bag when I go outside anywhere.
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Same here…transcend gel is my go-to when I want a fast upward bump in BG. For other low trends, for example if I am trending towards a low and don’t have anything vigorous planned for the next hour or so, I will grab some not so fast carbs…Gummi life savers (3g each) are pretty tasty. If that low trend is accompanied by hunger, mini Kind bars (12g each) with no bolus for a snack.
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You bring up a good point about lows with or without hunger. It seems like without hunger, or too full to eat donuts, then try: …dextrose, Transcend…etc… this is the first time I’ve ever heard of Transcend. I learn so much from this group!
Last night, I did try to correct a slight high of 160 by bolusing extra for a mini cannoli. The cannoli was delicious 
. ; although I was so full afterwards. BG 125 was about 4 hours after bolusing for the cannoli; took another 0.5 units and went to sleep.
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I LOVE KIND BARS!!! I carry them with me wherever I go. lately my fave is the one with cranberries and caramel and nuts.but I like pretty much all of the flavors (except the coconut/chocolate one).
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I am sort of hooked on the Kind protein bars. After playing hockey I was scarfing 2 of those on the drive home. They have 17g carbs and 12g protein…I did needva bolus for them. Now that hockey is shut down I’ve been sticking with the Kind mini bars, 12g carb each. If I’m moderately active after one of those, no bolus. I avoid those more tasty Kind bars that have more carbs.
For a while I had some mini “Thats it” fruit bars that were 12g carbs each. They seemed to have faster carb action than the Kind mini bars. Alas, have not found any more of those and now I am avoiding Costco.
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