How many grams of carbs do you give for a low?

[Adinsmom]

I know we have discussed this before. :o I learned pretty fast 15 grams of anything to raise Adin is way too much. We used to use 2 oz of Danamil to raise him from a low. It worked well for us and kept him up now he doesn't want anything to do with them.

I have looked for MamaBelle's rec of Sweettart gel. No luck, our little town doesn't have any. He fights a juice box, skittles work but I prefer not to use them at night when he is half asleep (I am afraid he is going to choke). I picked up some CVS gel with markings on the side but he really dislikes the fruit punch flavor our pharmacy carries.

Now I am searching for a new preferred low treatment and how much is enough but not too much. So I was hoping to see what was working for others and compare. Then of course tweak to our D. All tips are much appreciated.

Thanks everyone.

[Momof4gr8kids]

I love sports drinks. They act quickly. 15 is 8 oz. so you'll need less. Will he drink these? They work fast.... That's why I love em.

[CC'sMom]

Hey Shelley! He sounds like a picky little guy, lol! My daughter uses Skittles unless it's night time then a juice box. But you're looking for something soft. Maybe a small 3 Musketeers bar? Not sure how many carbs they are.

[Traci]

We use gummy life savers. Five are 15 carbs, so you can use two or three to bump him up. We use packs of fruit snacks or the gummy life savers mainly.

[jules12]

Mott's makes a fruit snack that is right around 15 carbs - comes in a big yellow box - we used that until he got some hardware in his mouth from the dentist!!! Now we use the sweetart squeezes - just recently found them by the case at Sam's Club.

We also use Yogurt Drinks, Juice Boxes, and Go-Gurts. I just have to cut back on it - sometimes I just give 1/2 depending on how much I need to bring him up.

Have you found any of the new reli-on liquid drinks at Wal-mart? We tried the lemon-lime one - he didn't like the flavor but I think I saw someone had grape. I plan to look for them again this week.

[Mama2H]

We use the reli on liquid glucose drink at Walmart. Hailey likes the Berry flavor.

[frizzyrazzy]

we're strictly glucose tabs here. Depending on the severity of the low 1 or 2 tabs (4 or 8g) is all we need for a mild low - 70ish. If he's really low, then 3 or 4.

[3js]

How about Cake Mate decorating gel tubes? (it needs to be the gel, not the icing-unless you want more carbs). I bought the chocolate. We haven`t tried it yet. This one does not require the end to be cut off. You just unscrew the top. One tube is 14g carb (?).

[Kris60]

is milk an option? When Lauren is low, we give half a cup of juicy juice (13g) then we usually give her a solid foot type snack, something with a bit of fat or protein in it, the juice tends to spike then drop off too fast. Of course we add up all the carbs and use her bg to give a small correction too (pumpers here).

[Mom2rh]

We use glucose tabs usually...but Ryan needs 15 grams to raise his low.

I have heard chocolate is not good for lows...and it seems like milk was also not good...but I may be mixing that up.

[AlisonKS]

I also heard that about chocolate and milk, cause they aren't simple sugars. I use glucose gel on Tony in the middle of the night-he hates juice. During the day we use that really sugary trix yogurt or that really sugary drinkable yogurt (I forget the name).

[sam1nat2]

milk is good for lows, at least for us it raises him quickly, as chocolate takes longer.

[LantusFiend]

I use about 5 carbs if slightly low and it's morning, 10 carbs most of the time, 20 carbs if I have insulin on board, more if the hypo feels so terrible that I figure I'll do a shot after I get high enough.

[Nancy in VA]

We have a formula based on the I:C of the closest meal and her ISF. So, it would be between 2g carbs (not 2 ounces of juice but yes, 2g carbs) to 9g.

But, I have found on the pump that its taking a lot more to get up her and she doesn't go as high. Maybe because of the steady basal vs. the Lantus

[Kaylee's Mommy]

gatorade is actually suppose to work better than a juice box.. will he drink that? we were first told 15 grams to.. but that makes Kaylee skyrocket.. we decide how much to give depending on the low.. if she's only a little low, 60/70 we give about 2 oz of juice or 1 roll of sweet tarts, 1 glucose tab.. lower than that we give 4oz of juice, or we do a combination, 1 roll of sweet tarts and 2oz of juice.. little bodies don't need as much to bring them back up as the big kids do..

[cadesmom]

We use giant smarties thier just like glucose tabs if hes in the 60's I only give 1 and fallow up with a snack or meal 50's its 2 and under that I give 3, at night I will give him Juicey Juice.

[MamaChrissa]

Plain old apple juice. Works like a charm. He practically lived off it pre-dx. 4oz or 8oz...depending on how LO the low is.

[Reagan's Mama]

9 carbs in the night time - 2 oz Nesquik choco milk and 5 goldfish

during the day, if it's meal time, I just give her fruit with her meal. Out and about it's smarties.

[Tamara Gamble]

We use glucotabs. 1 gram of carb raises Tyler about 6 points. At home we go by half tabs but at school we use whole so it's not as confusing for them or for him, if Ty is at 70 he gets one tab that will raise him about 24 points, at 60 it's two tabs 48 points etc. I use ten point increments, it makes it easier for him and them to remember. I find I don't get a rebound high most of the time. He seems to come up fast and hold steady so we are not playing the yo yo game like we used to with juice. It's different for everyone. I just find that it's alot more precise this way.

They have fruit punch, sour apple, grape, orange, so there is alot to choose from.

Tami

[deafmack]

We use glucose tabs usually...but Ryan needs 15 grams to raise his low.

I have heard chocolate is not good for lows...and it seems like milk was also not good...but I may be mixing that up.

You can use milk but chocolate is definitely not good for treating lows. Ther reason being the fat content will delay the rise in the blood sugars and then the person will spike too high and you will have to correct the spike. I find crackers work really well. Why I don't know but they do. Also use glucose tabs or those mini boxes of raisins. (11 grams of carbs in each box)

[melissabeth]

When colby was very little we used to use grape or strawberry jelly for lows, just a spoonful at home from the jar, and when we were out I carried little packets of jelly (like they use at pancake houses)- It was easier to get into him than juice and I felt like it was too liquidy/slimy for him to choke on easily.

[coni]

There's a chart I use from Gary Scheiner's presentation at the CWD FFL conference this past summer. As you’ll see in the chart (slide #41), treatment for a low can be fine tuned so it's not just the 15 carbs / check in 15 minutes. The amount of carbs we now use depends on the weight of our child (left hand column) and the BG reading.

Using this chart has helped us prevent highs from overtreatment. The entire PowerPoint presentation is available on-line at:
http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/presentations/HypoglycemiaPresentation_files/frame.htm

If that link doesn’t work, try: http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/activities/orlando2007/report-presentations.htm
and click on the hypoglycemia prevention and management presentation.

Hope this helps!

[Adinsmom]

Thank you everyone. :cwds: I made a list and will run to our 1 grocery store this evening. Can you believe we live in such a small town we don't have a Walmart? Maybe one day *sigh*

Thanks Coni for the helpful chart. :cwds: I am going to print it off.

Right after I posted Adin started vomiting. Fever, ketones the whole nine yards. I was sure we would be on the way to the hospital last night. I think the only reason we didn't was I could suspend the pump when needed and give small amounts of insulin until I could get 7up to stay down to bolus him and break the cycle. Amazing. :) I only had time to make an emergency dash to the pharmacy to fill our prescription of Zofran (which thankfully we didn't need) and refill our ketone strips (which I was burning through at an alarming rate).

How long should I wait to get flu shots? Do you think it is safe to get our flu shot this weekend and Adin's next week. That was my original plan now I am not sure if I should wait a week to make sure he is recovered and nobody else gets it.

I am off to Lysol and sanitize my house the best I can.