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Type 1s: What stupid things have people said to you?

Shar67 said:
I think you might need to read a bit more on diabetes, problems and treatments, hypers rarely cause diabetic comas but hypos do, glucose injections, nope not one i have heard of, glucose tabs or gel yes.
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I don't think I suggested hypers do cause diabetic comas very often but they certainly can. Given I was just a couple of hours away from one when I was diagnosed I think I have a pretty good understanding of them thanks.

There are pens people carry that if injected with when they hypo release store glucagon.
 
GBS_82_ said:
I don't think I suggested hypers do cause diabetic comas very often but they certainly can. Given I was just a couple of hours away from one when I was diagnosed I think I have a pretty good understanding of them thanks.

There are pens people carry that if injected with when they hypo release store glucagon.
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Then you weren't in a coma, and if you have no glucagon left in liver no injection is going to help.
 
GBS_82_ said:
There are pens people carry that if injected with when they hypo release store glucagon.
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That's a glucagon injection, not a glucose injection. A glucagon injection doesn't come in a pen - it's a kit with powder and sterile liquid I think you need to mix the two together before injecting and then the glucagon triggers a glucose dump from the liver. If you are prescribed a glucagon kit the DSN should give you and, more importantly, whoever is going to administer it, a little training session on how to use it.

@Shar67 looks like we are all getting confused about glucagon:
  • Glucagon = the hormone that triggers a liver dump, I don't think it originates in the liver, it's a hormonal response to low blood sugar.
  • Glycogen = the glucose stored in the liver that is dumped - this is what lives in the liver & the liver could be out of.

I've always though that "diabetic comas" refer to hyper events (DKA) too, and hypos are just hypos (well, you know, not just hypos), but I can see why an unconcious hypo could be called a diabetic coma too. Just semantics :)
 
thanks @catapillar for bringing this back to reality
just for all concerned
a hypo ( low blood sugar ) and a hyper ( high blood sugar ) can both cause a coma ( and death ) if left untreated in a type 1 diabetic
 
catapillar said:
That's a glucagon injection, not a glucose injection. A glucagon injection doesn't come in a pen - it's a kit with powder and sterile liquid I think you need to mix the two together before injecting and then the glucagon triggers a glucose dump from the liver. If you are prescribed a glucagon kit the DSN should give you and, more importantly, whoever is going to administer it, a little training session on how to use it.

@Shar67 looks like we are all getting confused about glucagon:
  • Glucagon = the hormone that triggers a liver dump, I don't think it originates in the liver, it's a hormonal response to low blood sugar.
  • Glycogen = the glucose stored in the liver that is dumped - this is what lives in the liver & the liver could be out of.

I've always though that "diabetic comas" refer to hyper events (DKA) too, and hypos are just hypos (well, you know, not just hypos), but I can see why an unconcious hypo could be called a diabetic coma too. Just semantics :)
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Just to add: glucagon is produced by the alpha cells of the pancreas (insulin is produced by the beta cells) and basically has the opposite effects to insulin.
 
Recently diagnosed and was just told on Monday that I'm more likely to be type 1 than 2 (still awaiting results):

Friend - what are you doing now?
Me - Just reading up on diabetes, need to inform myself
Friend - lol, you're one of those type of people. What's reading for hours and hours on google going to do?
Me - I'm just learning about it, don't want to have diabetes and be ignorant about it
Friend - It's not ignorant, just don't let it take over your life

:banghead:

Aye, that's exactly why I'm reading about it...so I understand it and it doesn't take over my life!
 
My husband: 1. Look at you, you're so thin... you can't be diabetic! 2. You aren't a diabetic anymore, since you don't inject insulin (being on my honeymoon period). 3. Your doctor said you should test your BGL 2 times a day. Why do you test it so often? 4. Stop reading stuff on the internet, you're too stressed with this! o_O

My mother : I heard that X treatment/food/diet could treat diabetes.

My mother-in-law: It was just a pregnancy thing. Your baby pushed on your pancreas and that's why you 'were' diabetic!
Me: But I have anti GAD antibodies!
Mother-in-law: You're off insulin now, aren't you?
Me: Yes...
Mother-in-law: See! :mad:


A nurse (not DN): You should treat every disease with optimism, not with pills.
Me: Including type 1 diabetes?
The nurse: What was your fasting BGL and your HBA1C?
Me: 4.3 and 5.6%.
The nurse: How can you be diabetic?! You're not, trust me!

I hate having to explain this condition to this kind of people. They all know better than me:banghead:
 
kayleighx said:
Very right it comes in a bright orange box it used to be called Hypostop. It is now called Glucagon it comes with a pretty big needle and a little bottle of solution so yes there is 'glucose injections'.
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Sorry @kayleighx injecting glucagon is injecting a hormone that will trigger a glucose dump from your liver. It's not the same as injecting glucose because if you have been drinking or if you have recently had another glucagon injection and there is no glucose stored in your liver, a glucagon injection might not work. Youre not giving new glucose - youre telling your body to quickly release the glucose that is already there, so if there's none there, it's not going to work.

Sorry to be pedantic! It's fine to call glucogon a "glucose injection", because that's kind of the aim, but you aren't actually injecting glucose and for that reason glucagon has its limits and it's important to understand those.

Hypostop is a glucose gel that you take orally, or can be rubbed into the gums of someone who is unconscious for bucal absorption of glucose. It's now called glucogel i think.
 
My cardiologist when knowing I became diabetic when I was 12, he reckoned I must have been one of the first people treated with insulin when it was discovered. At the time (3 years ago), that would have made me about 100 years of age. Must change my moisturiser!
 
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Hypostop and glucagon are not equivalent.

The best way to treat hypoglycaemia is to act as soon as it is suspected by taking oral glucose in some form (see later). If the hypoglycaemia means the person is too groggy to drink/eat, a glucose-containing gel can be squirted into the side of their mouth, although it must NOT be used on an unconscious, person because of the risk of choking. The glucose gel used to be called Hypostop, it is now known as Glucogel.

Intravenous glucose may be given if the person is unconscious due to hypoglycaemia, but only by a doctor.

If the person experiencing hypoglycaemia is unconscious, and a doctor is not present, adequately trained relatives/friends could inject glucagon intramuscularly or subcutaneously. Glucagon does not contain glucose, it is a hormone which promotes the release of glucose from the glycogen stores in the liver. (Glycogen basically consists of long chains of glucose molecules joined together.) The effects only last a short time so when the person regains consciousness, they need to take in glucose in some form straight away. Some people may not respond to the glucagon (if their glycogen stores are depleted) and if they don't regain consciousness promptly, an ambulance should be called.

It's important to know what to do when someone has hypoglycaemia, the following are useful pages:-http://patient.info/doctor/emergency-management-of-hypoglycaemia
http://www.leicestershirediabetes.org.uk/401.html

Edited by a mod as quoted deleted post
 
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