Do you know what to do it you accidentally take the wrong insulin?

Question

Would you go to the hospital, eat a snack, suck down a couple of tubes of Glucagon, or what?
What would you do if you accidentally took 55 units of Humalog? I am trying to figure out it the EMT is stupid or if I am making a big deal out of nothing.

His usual dose was sliding scale and his accucheck was not tested before he took the accidentally giagantic dose of Humalog. With the dose he took, he could have covered a high accucheck 11 times.

Answer 1

well, I already answered your other question about Humalog - and I absolutely without a doubt think the EMT is a HUGE freakin IDIOT!
If I realized I accidently took that much Humalog I would start eating a lot of carbs. Just because, as someone else said "if they are walking & talking they are ok" that is another ignorant answer! so not true! That is a fast acting insulin - and designed to cover what you are eating at the time. That is why carb counting is so important. It will drop you like a bad habit if you do not eat enough. Soda isn't recommended but will do if you don't have OJ or apple juice on hand. Hersheys chocolate syrup, honey, pancake syrup, any of these especially if they are unconscious or being obnoxious and wont take anything.
anyway, you aren't making a big deal out of nothing. I would talk to the idiots supervisor

Answer 2

Ah that's a horrible situation to be in. the worst bit is that moment where you just realise what you've done, then want to kick yourself big time!

If I took the wrong insulin I wouldn't go to the hospital (my doses are similar so it wouldn't be too serious for me) but I'd make sure I was with someone who knew how to use the glucagon and could call an ambulance if needs be.

Then I'd get set to drink a lot of coke and munch on all sorts of stuff that I normally have to be careful with!

11 times the normal is really rather a lot and would be hard to eat enough to match, so perhaps in that situation hospital would be the way to go. It's really up to the people involved to decide whether they can handle it or not. The diabetic, especially! Emergency services are your best bet when in doubt.

Answer 3

I have to say that this is only a guess and I'd recommend calling an ambulance (eat while you call) or going straight to hospital, to anyone else who's just done this

This is just an example ...just say his normal dose for a meal (equivalent of 3 slices of bread say) was 8 units of humalog, I would GUESS that to balance an overdose of that size he would need to eat 7 times his usual meal (equivalent of 21 slices of bread)
...so divide 55 by his usual meal dose and this gives you how many times he'd have to eat that equivalent meal of carbs. You wouldn't eat the whole lot as sugar or glucose ... you'd eat bread and biscuits and juice as well.

You might also need to take into account the effects of stress on your blood sugar levels(might take less food to catch hypo). His body will be desparately making glucose which can deplete your stores for a while afterwards... keep watching the blood sugar closely for hours

It really feels to me that he should be monitored very carefully by a medical team ...the EMT is more than stupid, he's grossly incompetent. I imagine the hospital will put him straight onto a glucose drip which is preferable to trying to eat your way out of this at home

I hope he's OK
Best Wishes, Redleaf

Answer 4

WOW..that's some big mistake. As a fellow diabetic I would eat a snack maybe a piece of fruit or a few graham crackers, wait about 1 hr and check my sugar. That's as long as you don't start to have any symptoms of low blood sugar..I think then I would go to the hospital.

Good luck

Answer 5

Well, it depends on how much extra insulin you took compared to the regular dose.
I have hypoglycemia and when my level drops I need to ingest something to raise it. Generally something sweet to boost it and some juice and healthy snack to keep it from dropping again.
If you overdosed on the insulin, that's a different story. You could run the risk of hypoglycemic shock. Then you would definitely need medical attention.

Answer 6

Never hurts to go to the local band aid station and just check with them because u could end up going really high or really low if u took Glucagon

Answer 7

That's a big mistake.
Glucagon is injectable, so don't have him drink it, check his finger and see what his sugar is. If he's walking and talking, it's not too low. Just keep feeding him candy and crackers and stuff and regular soda and juices. Orange juice is good.
It'll come back up.

Answer 8

well take his accu-check again if its hypoglycemia or low blood sugar give him snack. i am diabetic sometimes i dont check my blood sugar i just take my insulin 30 unit regular which is short acting and 35 nph which long acting i'm ok as long i ate.

Answer 9

I'd go visit Krispy Kreme.

Answer 10

I would check his blood sugar every hour for now and see what it is