Everyone with type 1 diabetes, and those living with type 2 diabetes who use insulin, should have emergency glucagon on hand. Drs. E+P discuss the newer options available today, and they share what may be coming down the pike in terms of mini-dosing.
Additional Resources:
Educate Your Inner Circle on Hypoglycemia: It Could Save Your Life!
How to Boost Your Hypoglycemia Confidence
Expect the Unexpected When It Comes to Severe Hypoglycemia in T2D
Lifesaving Tools to Prevent and Treat Hypoglycemia
Lessons Learned from my “LSD” (Low Sugar Delirium) Trip in NYC
Glucagon Saved Our Butts: Dr E. & Dr. P. Share Their Personal Scares
The newly approved Dexcom Stelo will help many people, including a buddy of mine,72, who is a not well controlled type 2. Most of his problems are related too insurance and non-endo “comments”. I am almost a lifetime Type 1, 82, A1c ~6.3% on a Humalog/Medtronic 780G system, alwa6s in Smartguard mode. I am a private pilot and a long time member of TCOYD. This led me to your “quickie” on Glucogon micro dosing, similar to what my Medtronic 780G pump does automatically with both Basil and Bolus. This can keep me from going low when doing yard work or doing “heavy” work on my cars and my airplane. It looks like, for me, either of these will beat the hell out of Glucotabs, candy, or leaded Coke. I will investigate the ambient temperature effect on them to see which one, or both, I will carry in my “med kit”. Thank you both for the presentation.
I have several pilot patients in my practice, including one who flies for Jet Blue, so congrats and never give up your wings!
Is there any way to get more information on Dr. Michael Riedel’s study about glucagon injection? I would like to talk to my son’s Endocrinologist about it.
Thank you.
Here’s a link to one of the clinical trials:
https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02660242
And if you’d like to reach out to Dr. Riddell for other studies and updates, here’s his website:
https://mriddell.lab.yorku.ca/
TCOYD is amazing! thank you for the information.
Thank you for this update! I can’t wait to try it. I am always struggling to reduce lows during exercise and this might help!
It could really be a game-changer, for sure.
It’s not really a great idea for exercise, for several reasons.
First of all, your liver may be depleted if the exercise has been extensive. This can greatly diminish the effects of the glucagon, and make it difficult to predict how much it will work.
Second, glucagon inhibits glycolysis. And you don’t want to do that during exercise, because glycolysis is a pathway that converts glucose into energy. And finally, during exercise, what you really want more of is fuel. Instead of taking glucagon which repurposes existing fuel stores and converts fat into glucose (which takes too long during exercise), you should take in more fuel via carbs. Adding fuel (carbs) is the best bet during exercise.
Thanks for your comment. I’m not really clear on what you’re saying, but I appreciate you sharing.
what is the ratio or scale of mini-dosing?
It’s going to be trial and error for everyone, but 5 units in an insulin syringe is a good way to start. If you haven’t listened to our podcast with Gary Scheiner, he gives more info here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRVNIzhgFUM
Thank you for your response! I picked up my Gvoke Kit today and am listening to the podcast now. You are the BEST!!