Best thing for low blood sugars?

zipitzippy

I'm type 1 diabetic - insulin dependent - and as I'm exercising more and haven't figured out insulin intake, I am having low blood sugars more often.

Anything I eat/drink to combat this gets added to my calorie intake, so just wondering what you'd suggest as low cal effective snacks to combat the low blood sugars?

martyqueen52

Ask a medical professional instead of randoms on MFP. I would hope to think your life and well-being is worth a little more.

neanderthin

Refined sugars. Candy with mostly sugar is lower calorie.

Lrdoflamancha

That is a tough one.... I usually try adjusting my insulin first. Adding refined sugar or any carbs ... Just messes with my system.

jenmwolfe

There are a lot of diabetics on here...and they're a wealth of information. If you're on a pump, I can tell you I've taken to turning my pump off about 30 mins before I work out, and it works like a charm. Because, I get it, what's the use of working out if I have to eat all the calories I'm burning just to not pass out, right? I put my pump on standby and then turn it back on when I'm done...and I'm telling you...it really works. One of the best suggestions from my diabetes educator EVAH!
Also...I always keep swedish fish on me.

RodaRose

A pharmacist can help you.
Depending on what is going on, milk can be good. Also some crackers.

auddii

My mom will eat peanut butter crackers if she is starting to get low (skittles first if she knows she is really low and needs a fast boost). Milk is also a good suggestions. She likes the peanut butter crackers because the crackers are digested quickly to help raise blood sugar, and the fat in the PB will have a lasting effect because it's slower to digest.

abatonfan

Hi! I'm another type 1 diabetic.

I prefer glucose tablets/gel (for severe lows) and jellybeans/skittles (for mild lows). 1 jellybean/skittle is 1g of carbs, so it's easy for me to eat only as much as I need to bring up the low (without experiencing rebound highs). A good place to start off is finding how much 1g of carbs will raise you by dividing your insulin sensitivity factor by your insulin to carb (for me, my SF is 1:60 and my IC is 1:16, so one gram of carbs will raise me about 3.75mg/dL) and using that to determine how many carbs you should consume to bring your BG up to a certain target (while making sure to take some additional carbs for any IOB).

If you're constantly having lows, it might be a good idea to talk to your endocrinologist about lowering your insulin dosages (most likely your Lantus/levemir dose if you're on MDI), especially if you're exercising more and losing weight (both increase insulin sensitivity). I noticed that my basal needs are about 30% lower on days where I get 10K+ steps a day (I program a temp basal on my insulin pump for this), and I need to lower my basal doses permanently by 10-15% for every 5-10 pounds that I lose.