I was at my Endo the other day and they recently put up a display in the waiting room, a kind of “Diabetes through the years” sort of thing. I laughed when I saw that the clinic was established in 1978 a month after I was diagnosed! Anyway, they had old blood testers, and syringes and so forth and there it was, the Medi-Jector and no, it’s not a new G.I. Joe Character. Somewhere in early the early 90’s it was an injection system that didn’t use syringes it simply used the power of compressed air to force the insulin through your skin! I swear the thing had a lead core and a button on the end that look like a button you would expect to find in a missle silo with a large sign saying “DO NOT PUSH!” It was heavy, awkward, needed to be boiled in sterile water every time you used it and it was terrifying for a 14 year old kid to try and use.
Anyway, it made me smile and got me thinking… “How did that ever seem like a good idea?” Which lead me to wonder… "What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever been perscribed to treat your diabetes?
I was never prescribed it (because I’m male) but back in the 70’s some of the urine tests required filling up a test tube with urine. (I’m thinking of things like Clinitabs and those tablet-type ketone urine tests). For me this was never too much of a problem but I remember in a very early and gender-unspecific diabetes training class that there was an ,um, “appliance” to help the ladies fill a test tube with the least amount of spill. To a young teen male the sight of the thing was memorable but lord knows I could not describe it’s three-dimensional geometry in words. Maybe somebody here has a picture.
I have to say, I don’t think this is weird and it is still on the market. It was originally suggested as a way of providing pain free injections for kids, after all this is the way that mass vaccines have been done for years. A recent study of jet injection found that they “enhances insulin absorption and reduces the duration of glucose-lowering action.”
I’d try one if it wasn’t so expensive, such a hassle to get prescribed and limited in availability. The injector itself costs like $500, and then the reusable syringes are like $30/4 and they are good for 14-21 injections. It uses a standard vial of U-100, so you can save some money over pens. I’m actually surprised the company is still in business given the terrible reception the product has receieved. The biggest criticism I’ve heard is that it makes the insulin action to rapid.
I think the strangest thing I’ve ever been prescribed by my endo was a medically supervised starvation diet (the “MedFast” diet) when I had a BMI of 26 and bodyfat of 15%. Somehow he was convinced that if I could just be stick thin, my diabetes would be all better.
Lucky me …I have never been afraid of needles …I do recall talking about the Medi-Jector at our support group meetings …had a sample to show .
I wonder, if Danny from Las Vegas has a picture in his Museum file ??
Darn, I can’t answer your question …nothing weird perscribed comes into mind .
Oh I agree with it in concept, however in execution it was very weird, bulky awkward and cumbersome. I still geek out about its obvious Star Trek analogy but in the end, for me it was way to weird to be practical.
However your starvation diet sounds like torture! It made me think of the decision tree that must’ve lead to its development… “Only people who eat have diabetes therefore…”
My very first glucose monitor was a “ames”. It had a needle meter at the top of it. you would apply a drop of blood on the strip, wash it off with a little squirt bottle, insert the strip in the monitor. It was the best possible thing at the time.
The kicker was that the needle would sway back and forth between 150-250. Not an exact reading by today standards.
I remember in the 1990s going to a demostration of products for injecting insulin and that device was one that was presented. Having had D for 52 years I have seen a lot of equipment that has helped and not to help us manage our disease.
