Anyone using any kind of medication should wear an alert of some kind! If 911 (or whomever) is necessary, then at least they have that bit of information to work from and can make better decisions for helping.
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Honestly, even my worst lows on MDI or the pump are nothing compared to the lost-in-a-dream, unable-to-get-help, and sometimes hours-long lows that R and NPH caused as the insulin slowly drove my blood sugar lower and lower. I stopped using NPH in 2005, and thatās when those types of lows stopped. Iāve had lows since where Iāve felt dizzy and my entire bodyās felt numb and tingly and, occassionally, even a low bad enough that I feel like I might pass out. But Iāve never had a low thatās lasted for hours and been so severe that I couldnāt treat myself or get help or caused me to pass out or not wake up in the morning. And the crazy part is that those types of severe lows were considered pretty normal back in the NPH days, too.
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Yes Jen, there were many crazy things back then that were considered normal. I have compared notes with many Joslin medalists, and all of us remember one shot of the old animal insulin before breakfast, and no more insulin until the next morning, The dosage was based on a single urine test. It is almost miraculous that so many of us survived and do not have any serious complications!!
Well, Iāve only had diabetes for 24 years, so nowhere near as long as you and others on here! When I was diagnosed we had glucose meters, but I still started on one shot of NPH per day, though R was added a couple of weeks later. Not sure when I moved on to two shots per day.
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That is remarkableā¦ It even makes me wonder if weāre really on the right track with all these advanced tools like pumps and cgm and ultra tight management like many of us strive for
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Iām glad to have come in post-pee-on-a-strip but I did experience match-your-chemstrip-to-the-color-grid-on-the-tube for quite a few years. And porcine insulin as well, though we did use NPH as well by then (much maligned, but then some people feel that way about MDI while I experienced it as semi-miraculous).
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My endo was recently saying that thereās still some pushback on the professional side as to whether MDI is justified by its resultsāapparently some study showing itās about the same as R/NPH in terms of long-term outcomes had 'em all talking at a couple of recent conferences. But there are other measures that are equally important from the patientās p.o.v., namely: āhow close to a normal life can I leadā on one regimen vs the other, and by that measure basal-bolus MDI wins by a wide measure and the pump even more so.
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[quote]That is remarkableā¦ It even makes me wonder if weāre really on the
right track with all these advanced tools like pumps and cgm and ultra
tight management like many of us strive for[/quote]
Iād say we are. Unless we want to go back to the days when passing out and having major complications after 10-15 years was considered pretty normal.
I think the reason the Medalists are considered special is precisely because they are still around after 50+ years without major complications despite being diagnosed when such regimens were all that was available.
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Maybe science can figure out why there is a subset of the long time PWDās that donāt experience major complications.
Havenāt heard anyone mention āLenteā. Regular and Lente is what I started on in 1981. Moved to NPH in the '90ās.
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In my experience, where I live and work it seems that everyone jumps to the conclusion that someone has diabetes whenever someone has any kind of issue that causes them to pass out or have any other kind of episode whatsoeverā¦ Seems to me the pendulum has swung almost too far in the direction of awareness to almost hyper awareness, but without the necessary prerequisite understanding of the issue.ā Iāve literally several times seen people scrambling to get sugar to treat non-diabetics who people just automatically assumed are having severe hypoglycemia.
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Sam, for many years I never experienced anyone assuming I had diabetes when I was in school, or away from home. It was almost impossible to find anyone with knowledge about diabetes in the 1940s, and for many years beyond. It is better to see people giving non diabetics sugar than it is to see them not giving sugar to people who are diabetics.
You might feel differently if you were having a stroke and somebody was trying to get you to drink juice instead of get you the help you actually neededā¦
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I think my experience was a little differnet, since my friend knew I had diabetes and I was in high school, so the chances of it being a stroke or heart attack or something like that were quite low. If I were to pass out at work then, I agree, Iād rather 911 be called.
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@Jen Of courseā¦ In your situation it was different because those people knew that about you. My point was that Iāve seen that conclusion eroniously jumped to about total strangers when their was no evidence or reason to think that whatsoever-- which isnāt exactly what we want either. One time I witnessed an uninformed crowd insist someone needed sugar after passing out because āthey might be a diabetic and not even know it.ā Obviously not even understanding that itās the medications that diabetics take (after theyāre aware they have diabetes) that cause low blood sugarā¦
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I donāt see anything wrong with maligning NPH. I always refer to it as the ādevilās insulinā. Itās duration doesnāt help one maintain a level bg no matter how hard they try. Itās neither fast nor āflatā. Itās just āproblematicā, given how it doesnāt cover meals or work as a background insulin.
I had to put up with NPH and Regular for many years, and I am still here. It wasnāt easy! It is amazing that so many doctors are still prescribing NPH. It costs much less, and it may be the only affordable insulin for many people.
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I was standing in line at the pharmacy not too long ago and saw the person ahead of me was picking up an order of R and NPH. I held off from asking how his doctor could still have him on that stuff. He was an older gent, and clearly a member of the large immigrant community in our neighborhood, and as I thought about it I realized it may have been more a matter of being the only thing he could afford, possibly without a prescription.
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No, I donāt keep my diabetes secret. I also have obsessive compulsive disorder, which is controlled with medication. I used to keep that secret, but then I decided I just didnāt care if folks knew. It hasnāt cost me, but years ago, it probably would have.
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Like @DrBB, I was on a trip recentlyāa 10 day boat trip away from civilizationāand while the crew all knew (part of the pre-trip questionnaire) I wasnāt sure about disclosing my situation to the other passengers. In hindsight, I think I probably ought to have done so, in case I was out on an activity that my husband did not participate in and I went low. During a 7-mile hike, a couple of people heard one of the crew ask if I had enough to eat with me (I did!) and wondered but didnāt say anything about it to me. By the end of the trip we were all like family and everyone knew and also asked lots of questions, which was fine by me.
Here at home all my friends and family know and Iāve had a lot of opportunities to talk about Type 1 and what it means for daily life. Several people have made sure to ask their doctors to run an up-to-date A1c test after these conversationsānice! And since many in our social circle have food allergies or other health conditions, nobody bats an eye over who eats what at a party or a meal out. 
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I told a couple of people at work, who told everyone else. The lack of support, the amount of harassment and ignorance I have had to endure taught me that disclosing Iām diabetic was a huge mistake. I donāt talk about it. Especially not with my GP. I just find a quiet, safe location and do what I have to do.
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