Richard, I am so scared about something like that happening when I drive that I have glucose tabs in the console next to me and I have one on my lap at all times! Then I forget they're there and they keep falling onto the ground when I get out of the car.
I keep one in my med bag all the time and don't refrigerate it. I do have one in my fridge at work too; but I do that so that everyone knows where to find it. Being that the glucagon is a tablet inside a glass bottle I am sure it will be fine at room temp. Remember the only thing in the syringe is saline. So people that are looking out for you need to realize that. One of my early seizures; my dad made the same mistake injecting me with just water. lucky for me my mother had a 2nd kit and proceeded to give me that kit instead.
I have also got a different e shot called a glycogen (its case is orange); I find that this one is much gentler on me as for the after affects. Both work great of getting me out of trouble. I find that for some reason the glucagon gives me a headache that lasts about 18 hours. When I come too; I feel as if I am hung over after a night of hard partying; but worse because drinking water to hydrate seems to have no affect; also headache tabs don't seem to touch it either.
I hope you never have a serious reaction; but for most of us it happens at night. My CGMS has been a god send and has really made all the difference in my care.
Hi Ed,
I'm going to look into the glycogen. I had read in Dr. Bernstein's book about an anti nauseau drug for the after effects of glucagon, but I haven't heard about glycogen. Hopefully I will never need it as I seem to wake up when I'm low and I'm asleep, with sweating etc. and sometimes a nightmare. I suffered from mild hypoglycemia a long time ago and after reading about this now I think some of the nightmares that wake me up may be due to that.
My family and I just looked at the glucagon injections again recently and we realized as you said not to inject just the solution. I don't think I noticed that at first. Fortunately they have pictures on the inside of the case.
I hope there will be a cgm that works for me at some point- I think I really need that too.
i received an email about this monitor which uses light, but I'm not sure if it is something that works and is accurate.
I know what that is like. I was a teacher for 34 years, and I had diabetic students. Some of them probably took advantage of their diabetes by saying they were having a hypo on the day of a test. Then they wanted to take the test a different day. I should have asked to see their meter after they tested, but I didn't. Lol!
Thanks Kiva, I love dispelling myths. Thanks for the help.
I can see how that would happen. I carry a zip-lock bag of jellybeans in my pocket, and glucose tabs too. I use the jellybeans unless I am below 65 or so.
I have been D for 26 years. Not nearly as long as you have, but I grew up in a small, poor area. I have not been there for a long time, but visiting was like traveling back in time 50 or 100 years. The nearest endocrinologist was about 3 hours away. For much of my childhood, my BG was very unstable. I spent a lot of time drifting in and out of consciousness, going into shock occasionally. I was also a different color than everyone else. Both factors made a lot of people uncomfortable to be around me, including parents of friends. Many made comments or assumed I was on drugs.
There was one other T1 kid in my Highschool. I did not know him well. He was a good athlete. One time he groped a mine. She pressed charges, or filed some sort of complaint. His defense was the incident was due to a low BG.
I remember a gf insisting I hide my D from her parents while we were visiting. I did, but always kind of resented it. When I used to test my blood or take shots in restaurants, sometimes people would ask me to do it somewhere else. I would without argument.
I did not become fully "comfortable" with my D until sometime in my early twenties. Partly because I stopped taking NPH around that time, and became more lucid. Although, my control was still pretty bad.
Now, I'm in a pretty good place with my D. I wear my pump with pride, test my BG on the subway, and will not hesitate to talk about D to anyone willing to listen. All in all, I feel it's made me a stronger person.
I carry some candy too, but I think I will try the jelly beans. I was in the 60's and going down fast last night to I used Gtabs but I think oj is the fastest for me in that situation. The only good thing about lows is I get to eat some candy!
We have experienced the same things, Sam. Pumps sure make things easier, and more private.
Sadly, I have to hide it. I don't want to, but I have to. Only my close friends and family know about it because of the social stigma. I don't know if you guys can understand that 'coz everyone here is very open about it.
I'm sorry to hear there is stigma about Diabetes (or illness in general?) in your country, Vrinda. I hope your close friends and family understand and support you. I hope there are organizations in India that are working to educate people about Diabetes so that people get the help they need and to reduce the stigma.
I'm glad you're on here with us!
No, it's just about D (as far as I've seen). My friends and my immediate family are really supportive. The problem is, despite the growing number of patients, there is no awareness at all. To tell you the truth, even some of my extended family like my uncles and aunts don't understand. I avoid going to family functions as much as I can.
I really want to do something to change this situation in my country after I finish my studies :) And yeah, I'm glad to have you all too.
I've never hidden my diabetes. I'm proud of it!! I feel like: check out how amazing I am that I can live a life like my peers, only I do it all WITH DIABETES. Of course, the reason it's always been easy for me to feel that way is that I've never had an experience in which the words/actions of someone else caused me to feel the need to hide it, and I feel super lucky about that because I know it's not everyone's story.
I try not to inundate my friends with diabetes stories, just as I would try not to inundate them with stories about any particular experience, but I do feel like anyone who doesn't want to hear about my diabetes doesn't need to be my friend. In fact, f**k 'em, cuz it's a big deal and sometimes I'm gonna talk about it.
You can crow about it here, Vrinda. WE all know it's not your fault, it's hard work, and it takes incredible strength to face diabetes. Be proud of your work!
Haha, they never say anything to my face coz they know I'd give them a piece of my mind. They give my parents a hard time, so I keep quiet. I'm definitely ashamed of myself. Those people can go to hell for all I care. ;)
I do crow about it here, rants make me feel better haha :D
could not agree with you more. Anyone that is not going to at least let you explain the basics; could be trouble if you come to a time of need. I had a situation a few years ago with a supervisor who wanted me to only test my blood sugar in the rest room. I went to they're supervisor and we settled this very quickly. I explained about the American's With Disabilities Act. I said please take care of this and make them understand or I will be forced to take action. The meeting ended with a simple node and a wink. They called a meeting with my boss and problem solved. He refrained from such comments and left it alone after that.
I'm sure you will have a lot to offer when you graduate! If I was younger when I was diagnosed I would have done something related to D as well.
I do hide it at work, just because there's very little to be gained from talking about it. If I can't avoid discussing it, I'll be open about it, but in the meantime I'm just as well off having my co-workers thinking that I'm just one of those people who religiously washes my hands before every meal. FWIW, I work in a profession that is both very intense (requires a graduate degree and 60-80 hour weeks) and very hands-off in the workplace (I have my own office, basically set my own schedule, can show up, leave, or pop out of the office whenever I want, etc.) and don't have a very restrictive diet/schedule, so it's easy enough to hide. Your situation may vary.
I'm pretty open about my diabetes. I'm on the pump now but when I was doing the shots I still would shoot up in public but would try to be discreet. I have no problems testing my blood sugar in front of people (although some of my family members have a problem with it..I guess they get embarrased)..the only time I would probably hide out in the bathroom would be if I had to change my infusion set just because it takes longer to do then to whip out a needle and inject. But I usually only do it in the bathroom if theres a nice big table to use (like at the college I go to) But like I said I don't really hide it..I wear my pump on my pants, I wear a medical id bracelet (hello kitty my favorite) :) I even made a video for class for extra credit showing how I change my infusion set :) I feel like now people are more accepting of diabetes then back then because of people being diagnosed more and just more knowledge of it..
Back in the day, say during the years that I was under 35, I did hide my diabetes, because it was not considered socially appropriate to talk about ones own chronic illness. I never though of my diabetes as shameful, just something no polite person, as I was raised to be, Talked about in areas outside the home. Such information was considered personal AND private.
It was kind of easy, as the treatment protocols did not require open disclosure. I only did one shot day, pre-breakfast at home. There were no glucometers to pop out. I checked my urine for ketones in the privacy of my own home bathroom. No one other than close friends, the school personnel, family or those I told it to,would have any opportunity to know just from looking at me and my behaviors. When I was young, I do not ever remember telling any one about being a diabetic on the jobs I had.. I never had pass out incapacitating lows while I was on beef or pork insulins, and was always( and still am) hypo aware. I carried peppermnt sticks or Hard candies in my purse for when I felt a low coming on. If someone asked me for one ,and my stash was low I would tell them why I had to say no..Yet sometimes I would share the last bit of my candy, because I had such infrequent lows.
As a child and a teenager,I lived in a small commumity. I am sure that, behind my back,the adults called me "that poor young girl who has to take shots because she has sugar. But no one made a big deal about it. Even at home, we only talked spoke of diabetes in reference to supplies needed, syringes and how many insulin bottles are left in the fridge. They were only about 3 or 4 dollars a bottle then, so my parents stocked up. Talked about it if I hacd a condtion induced by recurring hi blood sugars, like few UTI's and yeast infections . I was scolded for bringing it on my self, talked about how to treat it and that was it..
WE talked about it at my every 6 months visit to the endo when I got a blood glucose test. Having Diabetes was considered medical information and Nobody neded to discuss it, Not in polite company.
Of course, I have changed with the times. I am an extroverted Chatty Cathy about everything..
I readily offer to educate and inform anyone who shows interest in my personal diabetic experiences; or is just inquisitive about diabetes in general.
God bless,
Brunetta