Type 1 Been told something on holiday (upsetting) type 1 diabetic!

Hmmm a little difficult. Depends on how discretely one can test and inject in a restaurant. For me it depends on where I end up sitting... can I do it under the table or am I up against a wall to hide what I am doing? Finger pricking is an added complication due to the need to wash hands... so why not inject in the toilet. I often did that in the past, but also would do my routine in a restaurant when conditions were favourable. If you are in the UK, I can suggest you apply for a Freestyle Libre and be liberated from finger pricking... The device makes life so much easier when I only have to inject in a restaurant. Have a great holiday and don't let this event spoil your vacation!

@pleinster It was lovely to teach her, As she is my friends younger sister, she has known from the start of this journey that things are different now, and she's seen me grabbing my little meds' bag in order to do either insulin or a bs check. So last night I asked her to bring my bag to me outside and sat with her taking her step by step.

I just wonder if a ten year old can be this accommodating and understanding then why can't grown adults? I don't inject for the giggles. If I could eat without injecting I would but I am not prepared to waste the next day feeling out of it because of being hyper.

I don't get why people would take an offence about something that they probably do not know about at all. I have always said that if people do not understand and want to know they are free to talk to me but I am not willing to be treated like dirt on the bottom of someone's shoe just because my pancreas has decided to take an extended holiday for life.

Hi, I’m new here but Iv been type one for just over 8 years. I’m 18 years old and even I understand that injecting in the toilets is a bad idea. When I first became diabetic my nurse in fact told me not to do it due to germs and I’m some cases accusations that come with injecting in the toilets as customers are more likely to notice you doing it in an open space. It was also said that you are more likely to receive comments about ‘taking drugs’ and in some cases people believe it’s illegal drugs you are taking because of the nature of hiding and doing it in secrecy.
And I’m sorry but if my 3 year old and 6 year old cousins can help me inject and want to inject me with guidance of course, then I don’t understand why adults in a restaurant would have a problem if it’s being done discreetly. I mean I understand that people have needle phobias but as mentioned earlier the needles are barely viable especially to other sitting away from you in another table. As for the people asking you to take it in the toilet I would personally explain that you can’t due to germ reasons and if they still want you to I would just leave. Sorry for my little rant.

Simple - request them to direct you to a sterile environment - which a toilet is not. Any medical procedure in a toilet is questionable. On the other hand have you not learnt to test and administer discreetly. A question of judgment and recognising other people's sensitivities.

Steve978 said:

I agree it's disgusting to do that in a restaurant

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Stay home, don't go to the restaurants then or you may see me shooting up too.

cherami said:

Would it be acceptable for drug addicts to do the same thing, no you would complain.

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Therein lies the problem. You are equating a person who take insulin with a drug addict. That was an attitude that I'd hoped that had reduced in society, but clearly, as this thread proves, there are rather a lot of bigoted people around.

Here's a suggestion. If you see someone injecting themselves in a restaurant, how about you go and introduce yourself to them and explain that you're type 2, you think it's filthy and disgusting that as a type 1 they should be injecting themselves in the clean restaurant and that you'd expect them to disappear off to the toilets, where they've no idea how clean it is to do anything they need to do out of sight. And if they don't, then you'll complain to the management that this establishment has fallen in to ill repute and allows drug addicts to inject at dinner tables and you're reporting it to the police for this practice.

Oh. That sounds rather uncomfortable doesn't it? In fact it might be what you're thinking, but it's not something you'd feel comfortable doing. Maybe then, you should consider the person injecting. It's fanciful to think that drug addicts go out to dinner and inject their heroin at the dinner table after melting it in one of the restaurants teaspoons that just happened to be on the table.

So instead consider it the other way. Don't look. If you don't like injections. Don't look. It's very simple. And if you do look? Then it's your own fault.

Dont' forget the forum ethos....

martin62 said:

Of course people look if you are doing something unusual in a restaurant or anywhere else . it's not being nosey at all, pity people didn't take a bit more notice of a individual leaving a package on a train at Parsons green. it's called manners not to inject in the eating area and most restaurant toilets would be clean as they have regular inspections. probably cleaner than a lot of toilets in peoples homes. How would the onlookers know you are diabetic? , you could just be shooting up with your fix of a drug. As for leaving the restaurant were it my business i would throw you out,could be better than all the other clients walking out because i allowed it.

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If they are concerned enough to watch me injecting (discreetly) I would question why they are looking so closely at me, if I was looking at a female that closely I would have my collar felt. If they are that interested, maybe they should ask what I'm doing.

There are no laws about preventing diabetics taking insulin in public, the laws over discrimination are about using a service, not the particulars about how that service is used, so you cannot be refused service for being diabetic. The problem lies not with shops, restaurants etc but with the public perception of insulin taking. Education is needed. I am going to assume that most like me are on a pen system which can be set up so that it is a case of click and inject. Blood monitoring can be done discreetly on your knee below the eye line of other customers. If you are one of the few that are still on bottle and syringe then there is nowhere for you to hide behind the mixing and preparation of your insulin. Talk to the waiter and explain that you will be taking insulin and that you do not want to use the toilet and ask if there is a room available for you to take your insulin that is clean and has a table if they mind you taking it at the table. We want to be able to enjoy the experience, as does everyone else in the room but we should not assume that they would be happy with injection paraphernalia spread around. With planning and flexibility, we can do everything someone without diabetes can. Let's not stigmatize ourselves further by being unreasonable and fitting into a society that accepts all forms of disability.

On the positive, it seems that most places do not seem to mind discreet insulin taking or blood monitoring, much in the same way that discreet nursing is no longer being frowned upon.

Finally, boo hoo we have diabetes. We are not disabled, we have an autoimmune disorder that should not get in the way of doing most things that non-diabetics can. Yes, there are certain things we are blanket banned from because of public safety in case of hypo, like driving a bus.

Hi, I'm a type one insulin dependent diabetic who has spent the Winter months in Lanzarote for the past ten years. We tend to eat out most evenings at a number of different restaurants in several different towns. So far I have never had this experience so I can't think that it is standard practice. You really should name the restaurant and I will make a point of going there and injecting myself in full view of the staff. How dare they!

tormod74 said:

Let's not stigmatize ourselves further by being unreasonable and fitting into a society that accepts all forms of disability.

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Except that, by asking the waiter if there is somewhere we can go to inject, we do exactly that. By asking if there is a room available, we are saying "I shouldn't be doing this in open, I should be hiding it away", which is the opposite of fitting into a society that accepts all forms of disability.

If you take a disabled person into a restaurant who struggles to eat, and makes a mess while doing so, you don't say "Do you have a room where I can hide my disabled friend away", you expect that they will be accommodated in the main area of the restaurant, as the restaurant must do by law. Injecting insulin is no different.

tim2000s said:

Therein lies the problem. You are equating a person who take insulin with a drug addict. That was an attitude that I'd hoped that had reduced in society, but clearly, as this thread proves, there are rather a lot of bigoted people around.

Here's a suggestion. If you see someone injecting themselves in a restaurant, how about you go and introduce yourself to them and explain that you're type 2, you think it's filthy and disgusting that as a type 1 they should be injecting themselves in the clean restaurant and that you'd expect them to disappear off to the toilets, where they've no idea how clean it is to do anything they need to do out of sight. And if they don't, then you'll complain to the management that this establishment has fallen in to ill repute and allows drug addicts to inject at dinner tables and you're reporting it to the police for this practice.

Oh. That sounds rather uncomfortable doesn't it? In fact it might be what you're thinking, but it's not something you'd feel comfortable doing. Maybe then, you should consider the person injecting. It's fanciful to think that drug addicts go out to dinner and inject their heroin at the dinner table after melting it in one of the restaurants teaspoons that just happened to be on the table.

So instead consider it the other way. Don't look. If you don't like injections. Don't look. It's very simple. And if you do look? Then it's your own fault.

Dont' forget the forum ethos....

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mind you that would not bother me as a type 2 as i am at the moment on 3 different types of injections a day

I always found it very easy to test my blood and inject before anyone actually noticed what I was doing......

that doesn't mean we should be treated this way of course, but its really easy to be discreet....for most of us anyway...

ANDuncan! said:

I am on holiday in Lanzarote. I was just told to go to the toilet(just outside of the restaurant/very close to it) to take my blood and insulin if I wanted to eat food. I got very upset and did that.

Is this discrimination?

Am I covered by EU laws that i could take my blood / insulin where I want?

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Yes, it is and it happened to me waiting in a hospital. My stepmother does not believe diabetes is as big a deal as I make it. Many of my relatives and my grandmother died of diabetes with no sympathy from my stepmother.

Just a couple of things:

- on mainland Europe local (town) ordnances can cause restaurants, especially smaller ones, to fear shutdown if "they" are caught allowing drug use or allowing anything that could be reported as unhygienic. Such rules are there for a reason but they can make the owners and employees ultra vigilant and they will usually be very helpful when I politely point out they I am diabetic and need to blood test and inject, so either they allow me to do this as discretely as possible at the table or they provide me with a safe and clean place to inject. One owner (always ask to see the owner and as they approach good friendly eye contact and a warm smile work wonders) took me into his apartment behind the restaurant (I wasn't on my own) to inject and when the food came to the we has double portions of steak and free drinks.

If they get difficult it is always a good move to say you will go to the town hall and ask about the regional policy on the treatment of people with life threatening illnesses - that is usually enough to frighten them into acquiescence as they won't want their restaurant drawing to the attention of the local council.

- I have been T1 since I was a child and I have come across this issue a number of times, but usually with other diabetics.

For some reason some of our ilk decide to make a very loud and attention drawing declarations about "shooting up" knowing the drug use connotations and then act outraged when they are told to leave. Think about it from their point of view - all it would take is for someone to report the "drug" use and they could be shut down. All for one idiots need for attention.

Yes we have to test and inject but we also have to take into account other people otherwise we just come over as selfish, self-serving and arrogant attention seekers.

I can see it from both sides as I helped out at a local sports club in the club restaurant and health and safety dictates can be frightening. The club now keeps a sharps box behind the counter as it is the needles which breach the H&S guidelines in regard to both staff and patrons - it is amazing that people don't even carry a pocket sharps box with them in their injection &/or testing kit. We even had people put their used uncapped needles on the food plate for the restaurant staff to try to deal with - one idiot put the needle off their pen in the leftover mashed potato on his plate. It was the woman at his table that warned the server otherwise she or the kitchen staff could have been stuck - and the result would be testing for everything from Hep to AIDS and tetanus and months of worry to ensure that they were clear.

There would have to be a H&S investigation as well as a police investigation (and an internal one) to see what happened and how liable we (the club) would be for that injury. Through all of this the restaurant would be shut and the staff would be concerned not only for their individual health and safety at work but also for their jobs - it is a small club in a small town and the restaurant helps the club reach for break even.

If it happens that you are approached please try to explain what you are doing and why - it is through calm explanation that we educate others If you don't get any joy from the server then ask for the manager and try to remain calm.

On a side note, I also have degenerative bone disease (like an extreme form of arthritis mixed with really bad osteoporosis which is causing my body to destroy the bones), it is genetic in my case, and causes me extreme pain when trying to stand, walk, even sitting can and usually is agony. Add to that the inoperable ovarian cancer diagnosis in October 2016 and it means I am on some very strong pain killers - some are tablets, some liquid (oramorph) and some injection. More often than not the injections are vial and syringe though prefilled injection pens are available but apparently too expensive for the NHS. If you think you have problems with your insulin injections try drawing up and injecting opiate based pain medication!

I have found that a calm approach to ignorance is better than shouting from the rooftops about my illness and my injections - even when I am threatening to go to the local authorities about the incident. With a calm approach you can make the restaurant owner/manager feel like s/he is an important part of your medical treatment and they will be very attentive when they see you again.

The only place I have had any real issues with is McDonalds - they need to educate their staff ... and not just in manners!

Sorry for the length but there is so much more to this issue that just a blood test and injection in a restaurant.

I’m very perplexed by some of these answers and some are just rather idiotic. I think some have also assumed that ANDuncan wasn’t being discreet enough when taking his bg and administering his insulin, I really cannot see that ANDuncan had stood up from the table and proceeded to drop his pants and inject into the buttocks!! Any other way in my eyes is discreet!! Everyone here lives with a condition that affects everyone differently, how you choose to administer your insulin or tablets is individual to you. I personally think it was wrong for the restaurant to tell ANDuncan to do it in the toilet irrelevant if he was being discreet or not.

tim2000s said:

Sorry Martin, you are just wrong. It's called staying alive to inject oneself with something that looks like a pen. And I don't give a monkey's what the onlookers think. I may have something other than Diabetes that requires me to inject something. As others have said, if you don't like it, don't look at it.

If you have the opinion that everyone injecting something is injecting drugs, then a) you'd be correct - just in this case to stay alive rather than for kicks - and b) you're demonstrating a blinkered, prejudiced and downright judgemental approach that is particularly unpleasant in this day and age. You are one of the reasons that "stigma" exists.

And if you came over to try and throw me out, I'd make every other person in the restaurant aware exactly what it is that you were doing so that they could ask themselves whether they wanted to eat in an establishment where the proprietor was such a prejudiced boar. That would be fun:

In a very loud voice:

"Excuse me ladies and gentleman. The owner of this here establishment has decided that as I am a Type 1 Diabetic that requires insulin to eat, rather than see me inject at the table, he'd prefer me to leave and never darken his door again, because he considers long term medical conditions akin to drug abuse. I 'd seriously consider what conditions you have and whether you want to eat here. Watch out when you're taking pills for Angina, or anything else. He may think it is Speed and kick you out too".

I'm very glad that I don't know you (or any of the other members that have expressed such opinions) personally.

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Hear! Hear! I would do the same as you! What losers. No one sees you do it nowadays as I do it under the table so it is very discreet. We should NOT be made to feel like freaks in this day and age. Martin and the cronies that agree with him are the freaks. Grow up.

I would say "No understand" and just do whatever i need to do.

As a T2 or perhaps 1.5? But on insulin, I have managed to find other areas within a restaurant (in the UK) but shall see when I go to Spain next year. I refuse to use a toilet, even at work, the number of men who don't wash their hands. I do it at my desk and asked those nearby if they minded first, no problem. I think more people are more phased by testing, seeing any blood. Usually injecting or testing can be discreet.

cherami said:

I do not understand many comments on here about this chap who assumes it is ok for him to test and inject in a restaurant in front of other people. He shows a complete lack of understanding that other people could be put off by his injecting alone. Why could you not use the toilets. To suggest that a restaurant should put up with people injecting unknown substances into himself is ridiculous, how are other customers supposed to know what he is doing. Would it be acceptable for drug addicts to do the same thing, no you would complain.

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Obviously you are a newbie and probably not type 1 or injecting! Maybe you are on the wrong website!!