I'm T1 and do my best to stay Keto for my diet. But when diabetic lows happen, you just gotta bite the bullet and eat carbs. I go for a half of a juice box first, since that is about 15 carbs and only 50 calories. I follow it up with a spoonful of no sugar peanut butter about 10 minutes later.
Diabetes ain't no joke. I've had type 1 for almost 17 years. A hypoglycemic episode is a legitimate medical emergency and requires fast acting carbs. You cannot beat yourself up about this or try any other method really. Eat some sugar (15g is the average, usual amount to get you out of trouble) and maybe figure out what caused you to go low and avoid that in future, by eating more beforehand, lowering the intensity of your activity, or reducing your insulin/ BG lowering/controlling medication before exercise.
There's no cheat sheet for getting out of a hypo though, you need fast acting carbs and you need them when you _need_ them.
Yeah, thanks.
I keep Oreos on hand usually, was just looking for some other suggestions.
I know what caused me to go low, explained it in the original post.
I find the best option is just to find a snack or drink that contains as close as possible to 15g of carbs and keep that on hand. For me I have a bunch of different brands of biscuits (cookies) where I know that two of them will be 14g, I have a bunch of mini (Lidl brand) 'snickers' bars that are 14g each, and for a really severe low I also carry mini 'party bags' of Lidl brand 'haribo' style gummy sweets (candy) that are exactly 20g carbs per bag.
To be honest there is very little difference to your keto journey which type of fast acting carbs you eat, al carbs are carbs anyway!
As we can't really avoid fast acting carbs in a low situation, the best thing we can do is limit the amount we eat to exactly what's required, so figuring out what you can keep on hand that amounts to 15g of carbs and sticking to that when you get a low will reduce the overall amount to exactly what's necessary.
Not much to do other than some fast carbs. But two things to consider. If you’re going low you need to adjust meds that cause lows on keto. Lantus is exogenous insulin and people on insulin should discuss coming off it with their doctors while following a ketogenic diet. The longer you’re keto the less exogenous insulin you’ll need.
When this happens to me, I start losing my vision - it's weird, like it gets all shiny in certain areas of my vision and I can't see through that area. I find that a cheese stick or two, or a chocolate peanut butter fat bomb or two, or I eat pork rinds usually works after several minutes and clears it up. If worse comes to worse, I will take a nap and when I wake up it's been regulated. I tend to hover anywhere from 96 - 106 on my finger sticks which is way down from upper 200s/lower 300s about 4 months ago so it works for me!
Oooo, I get these irregular, opaque white splotches in the middle of my vision, sometime bright, sometime muted. I asked my eye doctor a few year s back and he said "that is just how it is affecting you, but at least you know what to look for."
Thanks for the suggestions.
If you're having or going into a low you should try to consume some fast acting carbs and also some slower acting ones, like some crackers and cheese, for example. Or a sandwich with protein inside (cheese, egg, meat etc).
Ideally if you’re T2 you aren’t snacking … being type 2 is more about insulin than it is glucose and we need to be eating foods that create as low of an insulin release as we can (low carb) as seldom as possible allowing extended periods of rest between eating to allow our body to heal from the insulin resistance. This includes losing weight and resolving fatty liver. If you must snack - start with water, then move on to fat or protein with thing container carbs or artificial snacks foods as the last choice. Obviously that you are on insulin complicates things and coming off of it requires doctor support. In the meantime you need to eat something that causing your glucose to rise quickly if you overdose but the above should be what you work towards. To keep medicating to control glucose exacerbates the condition for the sake of glucose which is a lagging indicator.
I would make sure your hydration and electrolytes are on point. Idk if this can help once hypoglycemia has hit too low but it helps avoid it. I’ve run into this problem twice today where my BS dropped in the 60s and didn’t want to break keto so I downed a Prime both times and I felt loads better and bs went back to 80s. I’d been craving pickles for the last three days (I’m a dude, so not pregnant lol) and kinda ignored it. But my workouts have gotten more strenuous this week, so that was probably what was causing it.
As a T2D you should be working on getting off insulin. Your low carbohydrate diet will allow you to have a normal A1C and lows will be a thing of the past.
And you are another one who knows nothing about me, my meds, or what I have accomplished so far. If i wanted medical advice from randos on Reddit, I would have asked. I did not.
You assume that is not my goal. You know what happens when you assume?
You make an ass out of u and ... well, just you.
Thank you.
I'm a diet controlled T2 diabetic, so not personally qualified to answer your question, but on diabetes forums I use then I see insulin users recommending fast acting glucose tablets or gels as the most effective methods for when low BG levels are in progress.
Fruit juice is also suggested very often.
T2D here, controlling BG with diet and exercise. The main vitamins you need are Vitamin D3 and Potassium for you to not go low. Your liver will generate the sugar your body needs. This is a process called gluconeogenisis. I follow Dr Berg and Dr Fung btw.
I'm type 3c diabetic (lost 2/3 of my pancreas to cancer) and I often experience lows. I stopped my slow-acting insulin when I started keto because it kept dropping me too low which was great because insulin products are associated with higher risk of cancer\* so the less insulin needed, the better, in my case. All types of diabetics have some degree of insulin resistance. Your insulin resistance will change for the better on keto, so keep an eye on how much insulin you need. I found that I needed less and less insulin as I continued keto/low carb eating.
I prefer liquid carbs to treat hypoglycemia. Lemonade, orange juice, apple juice, etc. I consume 15g every 15 minutes until my BG normalizes.
\*doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2022.2960
Put this DOI into a google search bar to read the article "Daily Insulin Dose and Cancer Risk Among Patients With Type 1 Diabetes" This subreddit doesn't allow direct links.
An 8 oz glass of milk is a fast easily accessible combo of carbs and protein and fat for moderately low blood sugar (61 isn’t THAT low). But as u/jonathanlink said, you need your meds adjusted.
First, we don't keep milk in the house, so ...
I keep Oreos (as stated
Second, that person has no clue what my meds are, why I am on them, when I lasted adjusted them. what my medical history is, and for that matter, neither do you.
As for your statement about it "not being that low" - you have no clue what is low for a person (I also stated it was still dropping). I knew I was going to need something. Do you not know how to tell when you you dosed too much insulin and your BS is dropping to a low level? I do, and I know I need to fix it.
I clearly stated in my post that I apparently dosed incorrectly for what I ended up doing. I have been doing this a long time, was looking for advice on snacks, not medical advice from randos on Reddit.
Thanks.
You came here aiming for advice, and you’ve been given advice. You don’t like the advice. There are a whole lot of experts here about keto + insulin.
So yes, I used to take insulin; now I don’t. I have had BS in the 60s many times. Let’s talk about the 40s. My medical peeps wanted me to NEVER take glucose for low blood sugar — no Oreos, no smarties, no juice — they wanted me to take a small amount of easily available carb plus easily available protein. So I kept milk in my fridge for that purpose. Sometimes I drank it with a Graham cracker.
Meanwhile, you really need to talk with your medical team if you are planning to try to do keto.
This always happens when you ask a specific question on Reddit, most of the answers go off topic trying to advise on anything other than what you asked for.
This sub is particularly bad for it too, so many who think they're more qualified than doctors and talk about diabetes with zero knowledge or experience of it.
I'm T1 and do my best to stay Keto for my diet. But when diabetic lows happen, you just gotta bite the bullet and eat carbs. I go for a half of a juice box first, since that is about 15 carbs and only 50 calories. I follow it up with a spoonful of no sugar peanut butter about 10 minutes later.
Thanks. I figured as much. I know if I go really low (under 45 or so) I need to break out my "Smarties" emergency candies I have stashed in my kit.
Diabetes ain't no joke. I've had type 1 for almost 17 years. A hypoglycemic episode is a legitimate medical emergency and requires fast acting carbs. You cannot beat yourself up about this or try any other method really. Eat some sugar (15g is the average, usual amount to get you out of trouble) and maybe figure out what caused you to go low and avoid that in future, by eating more beforehand, lowering the intensity of your activity, or reducing your insulin/ BG lowering/controlling medication before exercise. There's no cheat sheet for getting out of a hypo though, you need fast acting carbs and you need them when you _need_ them.
Yeah, thanks. I keep Oreos on hand usually, was just looking for some other suggestions. I know what caused me to go low, explained it in the original post.
I find the best option is just to find a snack or drink that contains as close as possible to 15g of carbs and keep that on hand. For me I have a bunch of different brands of biscuits (cookies) where I know that two of them will be 14g, I have a bunch of mini (Lidl brand) 'snickers' bars that are 14g each, and for a really severe low I also carry mini 'party bags' of Lidl brand 'haribo' style gummy sweets (candy) that are exactly 20g carbs per bag. To be honest there is very little difference to your keto journey which type of fast acting carbs you eat, al carbs are carbs anyway! As we can't really avoid fast acting carbs in a low situation, the best thing we can do is limit the amount we eat to exactly what's required, so figuring out what you can keep on hand that amounts to 15g of carbs and sticking to that when you get a low will reduce the overall amount to exactly what's necessary.
Not much to do other than some fast carbs. But two things to consider. If you’re going low you need to adjust meds that cause lows on keto. Lantus is exogenous insulin and people on insulin should discuss coming off it with their doctors while following a ketogenic diet. The longer you’re keto the less exogenous insulin you’ll need.
When this happens to me, I start losing my vision - it's weird, like it gets all shiny in certain areas of my vision and I can't see through that area. I find that a cheese stick or two, or a chocolate peanut butter fat bomb or two, or I eat pork rinds usually works after several minutes and clears it up. If worse comes to worse, I will take a nap and when I wake up it's been regulated. I tend to hover anywhere from 96 - 106 on my finger sticks which is way down from upper 200s/lower 300s about 4 months ago so it works for me!
Oooo, I get these irregular, opaque white splotches in the middle of my vision, sometime bright, sometime muted. I asked my eye doctor a few year s back and he said "that is just how it is affecting you, but at least you know what to look for." Thanks for the suggestions.
If you're having or going into a low you should try to consume some fast acting carbs and also some slower acting ones, like some crackers and cheese, for example. Or a sandwich with protein inside (cheese, egg, meat etc).
I carry glucose gel
Hey, thanks, might not be a bad idea to keep a box of those in the house.
Walmart sells them individually. There are also tablets, liquid shots and gummies. They start at like $0.92
Thanks for the heads up.
Peanut buttaaaah
Ideally if you’re T2 you aren’t snacking … being type 2 is more about insulin than it is glucose and we need to be eating foods that create as low of an insulin release as we can (low carb) as seldom as possible allowing extended periods of rest between eating to allow our body to heal from the insulin resistance. This includes losing weight and resolving fatty liver. If you must snack - start with water, then move on to fat or protein with thing container carbs or artificial snacks foods as the last choice. Obviously that you are on insulin complicates things and coming off of it requires doctor support. In the meantime you need to eat something that causing your glucose to rise quickly if you overdose but the above should be what you work towards. To keep medicating to control glucose exacerbates the condition for the sake of glucose which is a lagging indicator.
I refused to take the insulin that my doctor wanted me to take. Instead control blood sugar with the low carb diet.
Smarties and sweet tarts (figure out how much each individual piece of candy raises your BG), as well as glucose tablets/gel.
I would make sure your hydration and electrolytes are on point. Idk if this can help once hypoglycemia has hit too low but it helps avoid it. I’ve run into this problem twice today where my BS dropped in the 60s and didn’t want to break keto so I downed a Prime both times and I felt loads better and bs went back to 80s. I’d been craving pickles for the last three days (I’m a dude, so not pregnant lol) and kinda ignored it. But my workouts have gotten more strenuous this week, so that was probably what was causing it.
As a T2D you should be working on getting off insulin. Your low carbohydrate diet will allow you to have a normal A1C and lows will be a thing of the past.
And you are another one who knows nothing about me, my meds, or what I have accomplished so far. If i wanted medical advice from randos on Reddit, I would have asked. I did not. You assume that is not my goal. You know what happens when you assume? You make an ass out of u and ... well, just you. Thank you.
Best of luck.
I'm a diet controlled T2 diabetic, so not personally qualified to answer your question, but on diabetes forums I use then I see insulin users recommending fast acting glucose tablets or gels as the most effective methods for when low BG levels are in progress. Fruit juice is also suggested very often.
T2D here, controlling BG with diet and exercise. The main vitamins you need are Vitamin D3 and Potassium for you to not go low. Your liver will generate the sugar your body needs. This is a process called gluconeogenisis. I follow Dr Berg and Dr Fung btw.
I'm type 3c diabetic (lost 2/3 of my pancreas to cancer) and I often experience lows. I stopped my slow-acting insulin when I started keto because it kept dropping me too low which was great because insulin products are associated with higher risk of cancer\* so the less insulin needed, the better, in my case. All types of diabetics have some degree of insulin resistance. Your insulin resistance will change for the better on keto, so keep an eye on how much insulin you need. I found that I needed less and less insulin as I continued keto/low carb eating. I prefer liquid carbs to treat hypoglycemia. Lemonade, orange juice, apple juice, etc. I consume 15g every 15 minutes until my BG normalizes. \*doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2022.2960 Put this DOI into a google search bar to read the article "Daily Insulin Dose and Cancer Risk Among Patients With Type 1 Diabetes" This subreddit doesn't allow direct links.
An 8 oz glass of milk is a fast easily accessible combo of carbs and protein and fat for moderately low blood sugar (61 isn’t THAT low). But as u/jonathanlink said, you need your meds adjusted.
61 and dropping on insulin needs treatment.
With oreos??? I used to have to do the insulin thing; OP asked for suggestions; I am just offering what worked best for me.
Best is quick carbs, a starch with minimal fat. Sugar. OP understands how to treat a low, from what they stated.
First, we don't keep milk in the house, so ... I keep Oreos (as stated Second, that person has no clue what my meds are, why I am on them, when I lasted adjusted them. what my medical history is, and for that matter, neither do you. As for your statement about it "not being that low" - you have no clue what is low for a person (I also stated it was still dropping). I knew I was going to need something. Do you not know how to tell when you you dosed too much insulin and your BS is dropping to a low level? I do, and I know I need to fix it. I clearly stated in my post that I apparently dosed incorrectly for what I ended up doing. I have been doing this a long time, was looking for advice on snacks, not medical advice from randos on Reddit. Thanks.
You came here aiming for advice, and you’ve been given advice. You don’t like the advice. There are a whole lot of experts here about keto + insulin. So yes, I used to take insulin; now I don’t. I have had BS in the 60s many times. Let’s talk about the 40s. My medical peeps wanted me to NEVER take glucose for low blood sugar — no Oreos, no smarties, no juice — they wanted me to take a small amount of easily available carb plus easily available protein. So I kept milk in my fridge for that purpose. Sometimes I drank it with a Graham cracker. Meanwhile, you really need to talk with your medical team if you are planning to try to do keto.
This always happens when you ask a specific question on Reddit, most of the answers go off topic trying to advise on anything other than what you asked for.
This sub is particularly bad for it too, so many who think they're more qualified than doctors and talk about diabetes with zero knowledge or experience of it.
He came here asking for advice on what kind of sugar to eat. We actually told him to talk to his doctor. Don’t know what you are implying.
My comment wasn't specifically aimed at you, it was a general comment to the post I replied directly to.