Do you wear diabetic id?

Type 1 and LADA
21

I don’t wear mine “public” either.

No one ever notices my keychain (plus, most of the time it’s in my pocket), and I put my necklace under whatever I’m wearing at the time, if I’m wearing the necklace.

So I’m with you there - I don’t feel like advertising it, too.

I refused to wear any ID when I was younger. My parents gave me one but I stopped wearing it because not only didn’t I want eveyone to know anything was different with me but it also kept falling out ofmy shirt and hit my teeth whenever I was e.g. jumping rope… and I hated it. Today, I have a smaller, thinner tag on it.
But I still don’t (and won’t!) wear it if it’s impossible to “hide”, depending on what I wear.

Only downside: One of my insulins is known under different names in different countries! (NovoRapid <-> NovoLog!)

22

Yes…I am an IDDM, Type 2, but atypical presentation.

There was a very scary case in my home town (Cincinnati, Anderson Township) in the past couple of years. An insulin dependent man was driving erratically and was pulled over by Hamilton Co. officers. He was hypoglycemic and did not respond “fast enough” to their commands and was tased and beaten by the cops when he did not “cooperate.” He was injured and required surgery. Charged, but charges dropped. He was quite obviously traumatized. Cops not charged, but I think he is suing. Racial overtones to case as the policemen were Caucasion and the diabetic was African American. This occurred in his OWN neighborhood (an upscale, predominantly Caucasian neighborhood). A State Trooper reported the behavior of the county cops…and they were investigated…but no charges. This scared me to the core.

So, now that I am on insulin, you had better believe I wear a bracelet. If I were driving and were to suffer a low, God forbid…or even were in an accident that was NOT my fault….I WANT 1st Responders to know RIGHT AWAY that I am IDDM AND that I am highly allergic to penicillin and contrast dyes (I die - my lungs fill up with fluid and if not noticed, I drown from pulmonary edema…like with congestive heart failure).

So I wear a Medic Alert at ALL times. I keep my test kit out and VISIBLE in the car and and insulin syringe ditto.

Since cops tend to assume erratic driving is due to DUI’s, my hope is that the parapernalia would signal otherwise (and not that I am a drug addict!!!) Fortunately…I look like a small, slightly beyond her prime soccer mom whose soccer players grew up and left home (all true)…but in this day and age…one has to worry about how police will treat one…

I drive from SW OH to N. MI 5 times a year…and again…I just want to be very upfront about who I am…Of course, I know that my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel in the car seat in the back row of seats also is a very scary element with her huge, plaintive brown eyes…but again, one can NEVER be too careful.

By the way, my bracelet’s medallion is a Medic Alert oval, silver. But I made the actual bracelet at a local bead shop myself from freshwater pearls. It is beautiful. My wrist is only 5.5 in and nothing fit me,this is perfect! and sturdy! It unhooks at either end of the medallion, so easy to take on and off and it is on metal wire so it is not going to stretch out if I put it in water. It cost $11 and they helped me make it. I plan to make about 4 or 5 more for “fashion” purposes! Black, pale pink, neutral beige…you name it. All real stones or vintage glass…fun!!! But it’s a girl thing…

I have attached a pix of my bracelet (as I wear it every day) and also some beads I have purchased…but still need to make into a bracelet.

April

April
4095-Medic.jpg (205 KB)

23

Cincy cops jumping the gun never. It’s why I stay on the south side of the river.

24

I recently bought a silicone bracelet off amazon, mostly due to the fact that I’m allergic to certain metals. Regardless if you carry diabetic supplies or have a pump there are still a lot of people out there that are clueless about diabetes…

25

This question is for April.

Did they cut the medallion off the original chain for you? I’m thinking of stringing my own bracelets. I do string my own necklaces. My main concern is removing the medallion from the original chain without damaging it.



I have an old gold medicalert bracelet. It doesn’t show my prediabetes. I bought it because of alergies.

26

Here’s a link to the Road ID products that Tim mentioned. These are great id bracelets http://www.roadid.com/Common/Default.aspx

27

I have a medic alert tattoo on my left forearm plus I wear one of these medical history bracelets its a USB memory chip inside the bracelet it works really well. http://medicalhistorybracelet.com/index.php

28

Mike,

I have always worn a medical alert bracelet, but then my family calls me the queen of “what if”!

Linda

29

I opted for the Road-Id Slim. I’m young, & it looks just like the yellow LiveStrong (or some other color/cause) bracelets, so I don’t really feel like it advertises that I’m diabetic. I was kind of concerned about it when I was first diagnosed, but now I find I care less and less. I still don’t introduce myself as “Hi, I’m Erick & I’m a T2 Diabetic;” but I don’t go out of my way to hide it. I originally got it to stop my mom from worrying. After hearing stories like the one posted earlier, and experiencing what it feels like to start going low, it became a comfort to me as well. I’ve been wearing it for a couple of months now, & I’ve gotten so used to it that I feel naked without it.

30

LOL, Jim…and as a City ofvCincy dweller, I’d like to point out that this guy was a Hamilton COUNTY Deputy who’d apparently been investigated for using force a bit too eagerly in the past. It was a state trooper who arrived on scene and was SO disturbed by what he saw that he called his Supervisor to the scene!

Our peerless, Hamilton County Sheriff’s review board refused to indict the guy. Sadly, this man’s big mistake appears to have been to have had the nerve to have bought a home in a predominantly Caucasian neighborhood when he, himself was blessed to be of African American heritage and be a strapping gentleman of some size driving an SUV. Or pickem up truck. The incident occurred within 2 miles of his home. He is an entrepreneur who owns his own advertising business.

Of course the other HUGE. Error was becoming hypoglycemic while driving. But even if he tested prior to turning the key in the ignition, stuff happens.

To illustrate…I was in Traverse City MI last week and from page news was a car accident…a man had gone into “diabetic shock” and lost control of his car on a fairly busy parkway. He was able to pull over initially, but then apparently lost consciousness and the car began to pick up speed, clipped 2 other cards, changed lanes Andes ended up being stopped by a tree!

Fire trucks, EMT’s arrived on scene…no mention was made of guns being drawn. He was not tazed…though he may have been out cold when the cops approached! Everyone involved was Caucasian - no racial overtones.

Again, I guess I’d rather be wearing my IDDM bracelet. But I have litlle vanity at stake at age 58 + 8
months.

Here is a link to a news article on the gentleman’s lawsuit. To be fair I have also heard the other side of the story from the families of police officers who say every single traffic stop has the potential to turn into a shooting - and the person pulled over not responding to officers’ commands is a BAD sign…

but for hypoglycemic diabetics who ARE classically “awake” but unresponsive in that state (prior to losing consciousness completely) THERE HAS TO BE A MEDIUM SOLUTION THAT TRAINS COPS TO CHECK FOR A MEDICAL CAUSE PRIOR TO ASSUMING AN UNLAWFUL REASON…

At least that’s my opinion.

Anni

best wishes

31

Hi, the one that ordered came with 2 interchangeable bracelets…black beads and white “pearl” beads. So there was a cloister claw on each end of each bracelet and the medallion came with a metal ring on each side of the oval. I imagine you could take it to a manufacturing jeweler in your area and they could for fairly little money separate your medallion from it’s current chain, then attach the ring(s) you would need to use interchangeable chains, bracelets, necklaces. I would not think the labor would be more than $25-35 and material would depend on the metal…obviously gold more than silver etc…,.

32

April, I too wear a Medic Alert bracelet and have since the 70’s. I’ve just started making replacement bracelets for my emblem. They are really easy and fun to make and when they match you outfit and can be changed out when I want to, it seems less of an imposition to have to wear one all the time. Plus, they don’t stand out quite as much, but easily seen by an EMT

33

Goldensun, my jeweler cut the emblem off my medic alert bracelet for me and we put two o-rings on…one on each side. Then when I make replacement beaded bracelets, I use a lobster claw on both ends of the replacement bracelets that I make and I’m good to go. It’s really a lot of fun to make them and much cheaper than being the beaded replacement bracelets from Medic Alert.

34

In the beginning I was the same way but my family and friends convinced me to get one. The thing is people really dont notice. I get compliments on my bracelet all the time and when I say its my medical people are like oh, hadnt notice. There are so many options out now that you dont have to get the traditional ones. They come in dog tags and on leather bands for your wrist…

35

Rye…I agree…NOONE thinks my bracelet is anything other than jewelry and I am eager to make more bracelets!

I was in a car accident as a 20 year old. That is HOW I discovered I was allergic to the IVP dye. I had internal injuries and found with great dismay that I was extremely allergic to the contrast dye injected in my veins to look at my kidney’s and circulatory system.

Instead, I immediately became very, very warm…then HOT…then my lungs filled up with fluid and I could NOT breathe. I gasped for for breathe and thought I was going to die right then and there…painfully, since every cough hurt due to a broken pelvis.

Thankfully, there was an antidote - a huge dose of epinephrine, which - as I recall - cleared my air ways…but left me trembling, exhausted and coughing up gunk for days…and of course my parents got to arrive from the airport in time to hear that they “almost lost me!”

So, ya know…I’m fine with wearing a bracelet…even if it is not designed by Donna Karan or CoCo Chanel! I’d still just as soon not get tazed, carted off to jail or treated with drugs that could kill me.

36

I remember hearing about it. Just bitter about the Police in he Cincy area. Still burned over the whole Bones incident.

37

Nice, April! I’ve made some for my med alert too, fu.

38

The caduceus thing on my guitar pick is red and not entirely dissimilar to the Red Hot Chili Peppers logo which also helps camoflage it.

39

I ordered my bracelet the day I found out I had diabetes. It was only $10 bucks and I thought it would save my life. I asked my EMT friends if they “really” look for it, and they do. I would definitely put a card in your wallet, they will see it eventually, but your body is the best place to put it. Check with your pharmacy or google Diabetic ID’s and you will get a lot of different ideas. Some people are even getting tatoos…

Better to tell people than not, “just in case”…and with type I, I’d wear undies if I had to telling everyone I had “D”

40

Wow! that sounds like an experience…But I am glad you were able to figure it all out…I always say people will notice what you make a big deal about. No one ever notices my brcacelets even with the red medical symbol.