You must do something as soon as you notice symptoms of a hypo, or if a blood test has shown your glucose levels are too low.

Choices. Low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia). 2016. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/low-blood-sugar-hypoglycaemia/. Some people may use a Flash monitor or continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to monitor their levels. This is something you can discuss with your healthcare team. Wiener K. The oral glucose tolerance test – an assessment of the quality of its performance. Ann Clin Biochem 1987; 24( Pt 5): 440– 6.Which hypo treatment you choose is up to you. The type and amount depends on what works best for you. It might depend on your taste, or how easy it is to store or carry around. HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs. Soft Drinks Industry Levy – summary of responses. HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs, 2016. Rapilose® Gel is very easy to use. Simply twist off the cap, squeeze the gel into your mouth and swallow. Alternatively, Rapilose® Gel can be squeezed inside the cheek, and the outside of the cheek gently rubbed to aid absorption. Each tube can be resealed using the stopper. Please note that parcels weighing over 2kg may be sent via courier due to Royal Mail weight restrictions. World Health Organisation. Definition, diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus and its complications. Report of a WHO consultation. Geneva: WHO, 1999.

Lucozade Energy Original is sweetened with glucose syrup which contains predominantly glucose as its carbohydrate source. With a glycaemic index (GI) rating of 95, 2 the carbohydrate is rapidly absorbed. It has long been used to treat acute hypoglycaemia in patients within health care settings 3 and as the treatment of choice for many individuals with diabetes. 4After treating a hypo, your blood sugar levels should return to normal after about 15 minutes, but this may vary. In some cases, you might need to repeat your hypo treatment. This is why it is important to closely monitor your blood sugar levels during this time.

The Soft Drinks Industry Levy (also called the sugar tax) came into force April 2018. This is a levy that will charge soft drink manufacturers for producing soft drinks that are high in added sugar. This may affect the products you use to treat your hypo. We have more information on this sugar reduction and hypo treatments. When you wake up you may realise you've had a hypo in the night if you feel very tired or have a headache the next morning. When you test your sugar levels they may be higher than expected. Rapilose® Gel should be kept with you, or with a responsible person, at all times. Rapilose® Gel tubes have an 18-month shelf life, and can be safely stored at room temperature, i.e. less than 25°C: Rapilose Oral Glucose Tolerance Test Solution (OGTT) is ready to use glucose solution, designed for use in glucose tolerance testing to screen for gestational diabetes and diabetes mellitus. call an ambulance – if you don’t have a glucagon injection or if you haven’t recovered 10 minutes after the injection.The OGTT relies on giving a standard glucose challenge with measurement of glucose both fasting and 2 hours after the glucose challenge. Diabetes is then defined by a fasting plasma glucose (FPG) of 7.0 mmol/L or more or a 2-hour glucose of 11.1 mmol/L or more. 8 The same test can be used to diagnose impaired fasting glucose (FPG 6.1–6.9 mmol/L) and impaired glucose tolerance (2-hour glucose 7.8–11.0 mmol/L). During pregnancy, gestational diabetes is diagnosed when the glucose values fall above 6.0 mmol/L fasting or 7.8 mmol/L at 2 hours. World Health Organisation. Use of glycated haemoglobin (HbA 1c) in the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. WHO ref no WHO/NMH/CHP/CPM/11. 1. 2011.

As a result of the UK's new ‘sugar tax' many soft drinks companies, including the manufacturer of Lucozade, are reducing the sugar content of their products.Or it could be your next meal, if it’s due. You will also need to take insulin if this is the case. Each 300ml pouch of Rapilose oral Glucose tolerance test solution indicates contents of approximately 71.5g of carbohydrate, Walden E, et al. The hospital management of hypoglycaemia in adults with diabetes mellitus. NHS Diabetes, September 2013. I always make sure the people I’m out with know I have diabetes and what to do if I have a hypo. I don’t always tell every single person, but I make sure a few people I’m with are aware and that they know what to do if there is a problem.” LRS has supplemented Lucozade with intense sweeteners in an effort to make the taste as close to the original as possible, as have many other soft drinks brands. In the case of Lucozade Energy, aspartame and acesulfame-K have been added. Taste has been established as one of the key factors in an individual's choice of preferred hypoglycaemia treatments. 15 Sales of soft drinks are predicted to drop in response to the SDIL. 16