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? about glucose tabs and BG readings

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Posted 9/5/2010 2:09 PM (GMT 0)
My neighbor has been diag with impaired glucose tolerance. She takes Glucosimein and another med cant remember the name. Last night she began to feel ill no energy symptoms like low sugar. Her husband gave her 2 glucose tabs then asked me to come over and test her with my meter.

This was about an hour after the tabs and her BG was 141.  My? is how high would those 2 tabs have raised her reading ? I told him next time to have me do it BEFORE the tabs

 

Posted 9/5/2010 2:50 PM (GMT 0)
This is one of those... "If 'ifs', 'ands' or 'buts' were cherries and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas"... type of question :-)

Too many variables to take into consideration even to get a "guess"-timate. Time of day, time since food last eaten, what food was last eaten, what exercise, level of insulin sensitivity, sugar fix ratio (i.e. how many grams of carbs raises one's BGL by how much), medical history and drug contraindications, Type 1 or Type 2, on insulin.... and more.

I think it's safe to assume that her BGL wasn't over 141 when she felt low but, how low she actually was? Only a test meter is accurate enough to determine. A thorough analysis of her BGL log might give an idea of how much a fixed amount of sugar usually raises her BGL and a guess-timate can be calculated from that but, you are correct... when she feels low is when she should test. How else to know how much sugar to take in to bring BGLs back up to normal (if hypo)?

For me, I HAVE TO test before fixing a low (rare occasions excepted). If I didn't, I might as well throw a dart at a board and let it tell me what my BGL is at and what to eat. Tried it - it's a recipe for disaster. :-)
Posted 9/20/2010 10:37 AM (GMT 0)
Its approx. 20 to 30 pts per glucose tab. I know this on PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, not my medical training. I'm the nutcase who will flat out tell my nurse I'm going to take a nap and to check my glucose reading. I usually get punched and told not to go to sleep... I've always been in my 30s.

I remember one time, I was 33, very confused, but awake in front of my nurse who ran out with the meter. I hear her saying "doctor she's 33" and I hear my doctors voice say "are you serious?" and nurse say "yes and I brought the meter so you would believe me" next thing I know, there are 2 doctors and 4 nurses in my room. Im thinking...but I'm not 33. Then doctor says "I can't believe she's still awake." Darn my medical training, then it clicked in my head... my bloodsugar was 33. They had nothing on hand, but I told them to look in my purse. I thankfully had just put a thing of glucose tablets in there the day before. I ate 3 of them, and made it up to 101. I didn't want a nap anymore either.
It was basic math that helped me figure out how much my bloodsugar raised per tablet. 101-33=68 so I raised 68 pts. I had 3 tablets. 68 / 3 = 22.6 But I've also noticed it depends on where your bloodsugar is and how long it has been since you ate or drank something. I've had times where I raised 45 pts, but I also had some apple juice, only a 4oz glass.
Posted 10/3/2010 4:52 AM (GMT 0)
Ouch... I just woke up with a weird feeling and then I got the sudden sweats after getting up. I took out the meter and it said 2.1 mmol/l! I figured this can't be right and took 2 more readings: 2.6, 2.4. I kept looking at the meter and thinking that the meter must be wrong as I was sure I had highs last evening. It took me a while to realize that I should trust the meter and take glucose. While I was still gulping down the tablets (about 20g in total) I took yet another reading and that was already 4.4. It jumped by 2 mmol/l in only a minute, so glucose has to be quite effective with me. Now about 20 minutes later and after just having breakfast my BG is 6.9, but I still feel like it was lower. This 2.1 must be a record low and what's weird is that I was still up and about..

I can't tell how much one tab will raise the level based on this, because I have now had breakfast too, but glucose tabs do raise BGL very quickly.
Posted 10/3/2010 12:34 PM (GMT 0)
Gosh, that's low.  What did you eat for dinner?  Do you normally eat something before bedtime?
Posted 10/3/2010 1:36 PM (GMT 0)
I had an unusual Friday. The company arranged some event and I wasn't back home until 1 am. However, I don't think it matters that much. It just messed up my sleep schedule and I must have made a few mistakes on Saturday evening and the following night.

I know I should have taken my blood glucose before going to sleep, but I didn't. All I had for dinner was some mashed potatoes and I even took much less insulin for that. The snack before going to sleep was normal, but I went on an assumption that my glucose was high and that was a big mistake.. I had a flu or infections earlier and it seemed to have still affected my blood glucose right until this week, but it cleared up during this week and my glucose levels were easier to keep in control.

Yes, I usually eat a large dinner and a small snack before going to sleep. Then I take rapid insulin before the snack and long acting Levemir insulin around bedtime. Usually my daily schedule is also quite static, does not change much.

I hate it when at that low glucose levels you get some sort of brain fog and everything seems to click in very slowly.
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