But using glycogen stores isn't necessarily bad for you metabolically. Glucagon is used by your body everyday during periods of fasting between meals to maintain a minimum blood sugar. Your glycogen stores can supply enough glucose for several hours of fasting before you turn to other routes of metabolism, which would next preferentially be fatty acids. Glucagon IM injectors are given to lots of diabetics to prevent hypoglycemic emergency if drinking fruit juice or something isn't enough.
The constant fear of trying to catch if you're low is exhausting. Especially when a diabetic like me goes through sad phases, can't get enough sleep etc. The main symptom of being low is dizziness, and if you're blood sugar levels are not in control you always feel that diziness.
I've had panic attacks, thinking I'm low when I'm not, got really depressed, my blood sugar levels were like a roller coaster.
This year I managed to get a grip of my life, right now I'm on vacation and relatively happy, I noticed that I get by with much less insulin. Stress definitely has an effect on diabetes management. During exam weeks for example, it's nearly impossible for me to keep my levels under control.
A CGM could end all this suffering, but the cost of having one is very high. The insurance, at least here in Turkey, covers only 3 strips a day of the cheapest brand available.
I've seen 22 mg/dl at a time, and didn't lose consciousness. Most diabetics can feel when they're hypoglycemic.
PS: These are my own experiences, sorry if it's too verbose.
I've found the best ways to stabilize my glucose are, well, eating lots of protein and fats, eating smaller carb portions in more meals, and smoking cannabis.
22 mg/dl is really scary. The lowest I've found myself at was 30. Talk about scary! Is glycogen cheaply available in Turkey? It's really damn expensive here.
I happen to live where a very, very large cluster of diabetics are studied. We do a lot of diabetic emergencies... I can count on my hands how many times we've used glucagon. Like I said, we can treat and release with D50. Not so with Glucagon.
If "they" figure out the delicate balance between all the systems in order to use glucagon the same way it is regulated in a non-diabetic; it stands to reason that "they" should have a way to repair/replace the islets of Langerhans as the first priority, don't you think?
The biotic pancreas uses glucagon to bump you up from lows:
http://diatribe.org/introducing-beta-bionics-bringing-ilet-b...
We (EMS) give glucagon to hypoglycemic diabetic patients when we are unable to obtain IV access. I am not a doctor, but we almost always prefer to give them D50 via IV for diabetic emergencies in the field. Most of the time, they don't need to go into the ER after such intervention. As a last resort we give glucagon IM and wait, and wait... more often than not, using glucagon requires a trip to the ER. Bottom line, glucagon and the resulting liver release of glycogen doesn't seem like a healthy way to regulate blood/glucose levels long-term.
Again, I am not a doctor... But as I understand the process, your liver needs time to build up glycogen stores. If you start hammering on the liver to deliver, you may trigger other unintended consequences. It just doesn't seem like a good idea from my admittedly naive, and emergency medical point of view.