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Cannot understand why people need to inject when out?

paymaster

paymaster

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
I'm new here so please put me right.
When your BG is high, you inject to bring it down.
When it is low, you have a sweetie etc.
Why are people testing when out and about? Surely they can do that in private at home before they go out? Would that not satisfy them for a few hours?
OR can BG levels move up that fast?
I'm confused!

Type2 on insulin.
 
Bg levels change, that is why its important to test regularly when out and about, better to pre-empt a hypo then to let it happen, likewise with hyper's.
 
Some people have to work long hours. Social events may stretch over hours. Not that long since we went to a wedding that effectively lasted 13 hours.
 
A type 1 diabetic wouldn't go out work all day without having their blood monitor with them. It would be a bit inconvenient to have to keep popping home every time you needed to inject or test
 
@paymaster, I'm guessing that you are taking two insulin shots a day by your post. The majority of us T1s use MDI which requires multiple shots a day or use pumps. This requires far more testing and gives much better control.

Therefore why wouldn't we?
 
Paymaster, if you drive, you should be checking within the 2 hour period before you drive and then every 2 hours whilst out and about.

Ali
 
It can move really fast. Minutes sometimes not hours. We don't test all day for fun!
 
Hi and welcome. If you are on the Basal/Bolus two insulin regime as most T1s are then the Bolus (rapid) needs to be taken just before each meal. It is also a DVLA condition when on insulin that you should have agreed to that you test 1/2 hour before driving and every two hours during driving. I suspect you may be on a twice a day mixed insulin regime? You still need to test before and during driving just in case.
 
I in generally just wouldn't dream of going anywhere without my tester or insulin. Although you can get in a good routine and generally have an idea of how your sugars are things can still change unexpectedly.

I find my sugars are affected by weather, stress, or what if we decided to stop for a snack I hadn't planned for?

As much as you can try and plan everything in life it's still nice to be spontaneous and not be restricted by leaving your tester and insulin at home.


At the end of the day we need those two things in order to survive, so why would we leave them at home!
 
paymaster said:
I'm new here so please put me right.
When your BG is high, you inject to bring it down.
When it is low, you have a sweetie etc.
Why are people testing when out and about? Surely they can do that in private at home before they go out? Would that not satisfy them for a few hours?
OR can BG levels move up that fast?
I'm confused!

Type2 on insulin.
Click to expand...

Because I need to, running about here and there, set backs, illness, stress, things don't go to plan, work. Day's out, going for a little walk, get lost and have to do another hours walking, that has happened. Children to look after and take care of, I have to stay safe, in control and be on the ball, the best I can.

RRB
 
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I was at work today and 'felt' high, tested and actually I was 3.6... If I hadn't have tested maybe I wouldn't have caught my hypo... Like others have said also need to for driving, exercise, general running of my diabetes to make sure it stays in check, definitely wouldn't just do it in the privacy of my own home away from others, I've nothing to hide
 
I pick up my meter more times than i use my phone.. I don't leave home without it.

Think of it like the gauges on a car.. speed, fuel, temp.. you would act accordingly...

Leave-Home-Without-It-49628.jpg
 
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OK. So I addressed the query in the initial post... But with regards to the thread title?
"Cannot understand why people need to inject when out?"

Technically. Yah can only bolus (fast acting insulin.) within about 20 minutes of eating. Sooo? Try doing that within the time scale of the usual logistics of traveling to, parking up, choosing a suitable menu & waiting to be served.... Which is why it's all put into a handy pen.. So we all don't look like "junkies."
All engineered to make life as normal as possible....
 
Im type 2 and NOT on insulin, thankfully. However should that day come i would have no hesitation about injecting in public. Others can think what they want, they are going to anyway. My health is important to me, not them.
 
Quite often as a T1 you don't have the luxury of preplanning, also you're often on MDI not just 1 or 2. It can be something as simple as a cold when your bloods are all over the place and you're feeling uncomfortably 'high' so a quick finger prick and you see you are indeed high and you need insulin before things deteriorate. If I need insulin I don't care where I'll inject, insulin is my lifeline, without it I won't survive.
 
It's the same if you was asthmatic would you leave your inhaler at home ......if someone objects if l need too test or inject ....their problem not mine ....l want to live.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Gosh just the thought of leaving home without my meter and insulin pens makes me feel panicky. A friend of mine only said the other day I expect your perspective has changed since being diagnosed with Type I diabetes? I said in what respect? She said well I would imagine in the past if you lost your handbag your first thoughts would be about the loss of money, keys etc. Now I bet your first thought is I haven't got my meter, strips and insulin. I said yes you are right and I know it's possible to get replacements I know how vulnerable I would feel realising in maybe a
 
(whoops hit send too early) in that split second that I am out and about without the tools to keep me safe and alive.
 
I think the answer is yes - they can move up and down *that* fast. Anyone on a basal/bolus type routine will have to test and inject every time they eat, which, in most cases, will be throughout the day and not always at home.
Also things like exercise (particularly things like walking for more than 20 mins or so) can have a huge effect on blood glucose levels, causing dramatic drops and, for some intense activity, rises in a very short space of time. I don't know much about, say, T2 on single or double injections daily, but anyone of any type on MDI or other basal/bolus would not be advised to go out without testing kit, insulin and hypo treatments on them at all times.
 
Trust me @misswhiplash .. Back in the 1970s when I were on single bovine shots as a nipper.. I would have been glad for a blood test meter.. Even if it was the size of a small car.. :p
 
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