Tips & Tricks - A Guest Post

*** During Diabetes Blog Week I received an email from my friend, Dan Patrick, sharing a tip / trick he finds helpful.  Dan doesn’t have a blog of his own so I asked if I could share his tip here and he agreed.  But first, some background.  I originally met Dan in Vegas at the 2015 Diabetes Unconference.  He is friendly, he is smart, he always presents a positive attitude and he quickly has become a favorite person of mine.  (He is also very tall.  Which is neither here nor there but for some reason I feel compelled to mention it.)  Dan is a hero of mine because he doesn’t back down from a fight and he is always willing to share his experience in order to help others.  You guys, he fought Medicare for CGM coverage and WON!!  So I am truly honored to share the following tip from Dan.

“I buy glucose tablets in bulk to save money, and re-use old pill containers to carry just the right amount when traveling.”


It is the beginning of my day.  Before I leave the house to begin my travels, I check my backup system of glucose tablets.  Carrying glucose tabs gives me the opportunity to quickly respond to the onset of falling blood glucose levels and raise my low blood sugar quickly.  The local grocery store sells glucose tablets in a tube container of 10 tablets or a container of 50 tablets. I usually purchase two 50 tablet containers of different flavors so that I can mix up the taste.

I have found the best storage for glucose tablets is to select various used pill containers and fill them with different quantities of glucose tablets, and I have some with me most of the time.  Whether traveling during the day or night, glucose tablets are close at hand.  The used pill containers protect the tablets and I have a visual check on the number of tablets with precise carb amounts.

In conclusion, I now have old pill containers in many locations.  No one consumes my glucose tablets, like they raided my emergency candies.  When I take a tablet, I know precisely how many carbs I have consumed in order to avoid or turn around a possible hypoglycemic event.  This micro control has allowed me to minimize roller coaster rides from a low to a high blood sugar range.  This hack results in a lower purchase cost for glucose tablets, protects the tablets based upon the safety of the used-pill containers, and assists me with better control to minimize hypoglycemic events.



Oh, btw the pill containers are very hard and with child-proof lids will stay dry when dropped in water.

*** Thank you Dan!  What a great idea.  I appreciate you letting me share your tip!!