I've been diabetic for almost 20 years, and I've never used it nor required any emergency care for a low blood sugar or passed out or even been incapacitated to the point where I couldn't help myself (shaky and sweating and confused, yes, and to the point where having someone who could get me something was useful, sure, but it wasn't necessary). I think I'm very sensitive to lows though because of my overactive sympathetic nervous system, so I tend to have very strong low blood sugar symptoms (and without my atenolol, I get a lot of "false alarm lows" if anything). I also can't recall offhand ever being being below 40 (maybe one in the upper 30s once), and once I hit 70 or lower, I tend to feel it, so I usually test in the 50-60 range at the lowest. So I long since stopped keeping it around, since I don't really see the point for someone like me.
25 years and I haven't needed one. I did have one seizure but given the circumstances (in a grocery store without anyone I know accompanying me) it wouldn't have been useful. I can see where some people might find them useful, though, in some circumstances. Odd that they expire that quickly.
I've had diabetes since day 1 and have not passed out while conscious. Twice when I was a kid, I had two seizures in my sleep, but after the second one when I was about 7, it never happened again. When I get low at night I wake up. I never used glucagon. When I had those seizures my parents used sugar to help me recover.
Even in the rare occasions when I've gotten down to the 20's, I have been fully awake, not anywhere near myself. Those occurred during periods of poor control and clearly I couldn't "feel it coming." Now I'm in better control and rarely go lower than 60 or so. I don't really know why some people pass out and some don't. Perhaps it has something to do with the vasovagal artery.... I learned from a doctor that very bad stress or pain can trigger this fainting mechanism, and perhaps low bloodsugar can do that. But I'm not sure if passing out from a low bloodsugar and fainting are the same thing.
I know for me, that being diabetic for 25 years (this year, woo?), I have needed it SEVERAL times in the last year, and actually had to be hospitalized once because I'm growing less and less sensitive to when my sugar is low. It's a totally different situation than your son, but I thought I would throw in my two cents. I keep one on hand when I can and always have liquid glucose in my purse or whatever.. because that is some scary stuff right there.
T1 for 24 years, and never needed it. I think my mom stopped buying the kits after five years or so, and as an adult I've never bought one for myself. I'm very sensitive to lows, though - they will even wake me up.
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Even in the rare occasions when I've gotten down to the 20's, I have been fully awake, not anywhere near myself. Those occurred during periods of poor control and clearly I couldn't "feel it coming." Now I'm in better control and rarely go lower than 60 or so. I don't really know why some people pass out and some don't. Perhaps it has something to do with the vasovagal artery.... I learned from a doctor that very bad stress or pain can trigger this fainting mechanism, and perhaps low bloodsugar can do that. But I'm not sure if passing out from a low bloodsugar and fainting are the same thing.
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