Went to an "omniparty" this past weekend and got some samples of a new product called Glucose Quick Sticks. They are like large pixie sticks and are used like gluco tabs to treat lows. I think each packet is 10 carbs, but I could be wrong since I didn't get the box with the nutrition info because the rep was running out of samples. The two flavors that I got samples of are watermelon and sour apple. I haven't had to use them yet, but will let you know their effectiveness once I do. Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know that there's something else on the market to treat lows. The rep told me that Kroger was carrying them starting Monday (today).
From the picture of the box on Amazon, it looks like each stick is five carbs. They are a bit pricey. On the Meals to Live website, they say they have 9 carbs per stick.
Our Omnipod area reps put together a get-together for their customers to allow us to meet others in the area for support. They had a speaker (a Sea World trainer with type 1), served snacks, and had reps from Dexcom, a local pharmacy, a dietician, etc. in case we had questions. It was nice. Ds was 56 this morning and tried a sour apple pack...he said it sure was sour! I thought it had 9 carbs, but again, without the box, I'm not sure. I agree that price is high...to high to use on a regular basis. However, when ds is half asleep, it would be nice to not worry about him choking on a glucotab or fruit snack.
My eyes roll when I see new high tech glucose delivery mechanisms. The candy isle is full of perfectly good solutions.
I agree, we may look into this as well, especially for school as while they do have candy for her, we would rather it be something that is not also a "treat" Enough headaches in a preschool classroom for the teacher without having to give one student candy, even if she needs it, with 10 other little 4 year olds around who will want a treat then too
I remember when William was little he definitely couldn't handle small hard candies like tabs, skittles, smarties, etc. There was a glucose "spray" but that never took off I guess. Seems like a dissolving glucose tab might be a good idea. I wish there was some way to treat a low by sticking a dissolving tab in the mouth and it just gets absorbed. Are these powders as messy as pixie sticks? Pixie sticks get all crunched up so I never know how much sugar he got - plus half goes on his shirt!
The thing that makes one glucose substance a candy and the other a medical treatment is the packaging. You could take bulk rockets/smarties, skittles, etc and put them in a generic pill dispensing container with an appropriate label for school. I share your concern about mixing the message of treats and medicine as well as the issue of keeping candy at school. Other kids could get jealous, etc so having a generic/medical like packaging makes sense.
We've done this, by using pill containers from the pharmacy or empty glucotab containers. We refilled them with Lifesavers, JellyBellies, Skittles, Smarties... I can't stand the price gouging that happens in sugar that's labeled for low blood glucose treatment.
I found that the bottlecaps candy are roughly 1 carb each and I used to put them in the dex4 bottle that I had of 1 carb glucose tabs. We usually just use smarties though. Because all my kids insist on having some if they see me pull them out for Charlotte, and they don't care if they are real glucose tabs or candy-- they just want some.
The glucose sticks are 5 carbs per stick. My DD loves the taste, but personally I prefer just tabs, they aren't as messy! Wish I could have made it to the omni pod party!
