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'dont' inject in a public toilet !

anna29

Well-Known Member
Retired Moderator
Messages
4,789
Location
Preston Lancashire
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Cruelty to Animals/Children
Liars/Manipulators/Bullying
Hi all...
Today have been to my local hospital , to the eyeclinic for my eye check.
Whilst there the clinics senior nurse in charge, let me use a private room complete with sink, antibacterial handwash,disposable paper towels and a sharps bin too!
After I had done my levemir injection, I went to thank her for letting me use the room [ this was at 'her' suggestion not mine I might add here!]
We got chatting and she told me the reason why she suggested I use one of the clinics private rooms.
A mother with her child used the public toilets to do an insulin injection in, mother placed hand paper towels on the cistern and put the injection pen onto the paper towel and did the shot .
Days later she was seriously ill with infection and it was traced back to this.
Apparantly possible sanitary towels/tampons plonked on top of the cistern had caused blood to soak up in the paper towel and contaminated the needle ! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
Never ever use the public toilets to inject in I was firmly told - with the high risk of infection with exposure to other persons bodily fluids and urine/faeces [even when toilet flushes it causes spray too] thus spraying it all further and wider.
This really taught me a big fact to the risks of ever using a public toilet to inject in .
My mother was with me today and was equally horrified and shocked too.
I know we have to inject approx the same times daily, its not just the times to inject, its about the ' right safest places ' too !
 
Jeebus!

Very well said Anna!

It makes me angry/sad to hear some people resort to injecting in toilets for whatever reason.

My rule of thumb is - if you won't eat there, don't inject there!
 
EEeewww! I don't even "go" in public toilets let alone inject in them :shock: If it is an absolute necessity with one of the kids...I'm like don't touch this ,don't touch that and check EVERY cubicle for the least wee all over it :roll: I hate public Toilets and to inject in one seems absurd to me...then again I'm germ phobic
 
Hi Anna!

Thank you for this very timely warning for me. I never inject in a public toilet, but have to go abroad with work in a few weeks and I'll have to eat out with colleagues and clients - I am absolutely dreading it! I tried to get out of it but can't. Among my many worries, is that I will have to inject after eating goodness knows what. I cannot inject at the table in front of complete strangers - I'll die of embarassment So I was seriously considering nipping to the loos to inject there. Thank you for remining me how bad that would be! I have no idea what I'll do, but it won't involve injecting in toilets!

Thanks

Smidge
 
I'd have thought that the needle would still be sterile if you remove the needle shield only when ready to inject, especially if you don't put the pen down.
 
I agree there is no need for anyone to inject in a public loo. Regardless of whether your with strangers or people you know well they should be open minded enough to accept the fact that you need to inject your insulin.

Public loos are completely disgusting i dont see why anyone would want to inject in a loo especially when you dont know whats happened in it before you .

most restraunts/pubs and nightclubs are cool with people injecting if they tell them discreetly xx
 
Hi
I am sorry but i have a pre- filled pen so why would you put it on a toilet system when you can hold your top or pull your trousers down holding the pen in your hand, I think things are getting out of hand, as long as you have washed your own hands first and don't have to dispose of the needle straight away, change it when you get home.
Tracey
 
You could get your dinner in the toilet and not put it down and wash your hands. Still wouldn't eat it in there though would you?

Why choose to inject in a toilet? for other peoples comfort? stuff that, i'll do the injection or bolus in a comfy and clean place thanks.

Toilets are for getting rid of waste. Also Germs are airborne as Anna's post mentions. It may seem over the top and out of hands but i'm not bring poopy germs anywhere near my sterile equipment. Your choice.
 
I have no problem with injections, I have been doing my wifes for the last month. Luckily (or not!) I don't inject myself, (I am T2).

The reason I do her injections is because she has a total, unreasonable fear of needles, she cannot look at the injection and will not look at the needle.

So wherever you inject, have a thought for those who have needle phobia.

H
 
I have travelled the world over, from here in the UK to the Philippines and anywhere in between. I have stayed in 5 star + hotels and backstreet hovels in my course of work. This has lead to me taking my insulin in all manner of places, from public places to toilets to planes and boats. Some have been hygienically clean, others have been, well, far less salubrious.

The only time I fear taking my insulin is when I may be knocked while injecting. I wouldn’t know what to do if a needle got stuck in me if I were knocked and it broke while under my skin.

Surely, the most important thing all us T1s need to do is get insulin into us when we need it. There isn’t always a clinically sterile room readily available to us when we need to inject. There isn’t one here at work, let alone when I am out and about. I am respectful of people’s opinions but I WILL inject where I need to WHEN I need to.

I have been T1 for nearly 26 years, so that’s in excess of 37,000 injections and thankfully I have never have a single infection.

Yes, I agree that public toilets are a disgrace on the whole. But only someone totally irresponsible would put their diabetic paraphernalia down on suspect surfaces. And for air borne particles in public loos, what is different about your toilet at home that prevents particles entering the atmosphere there?
 
I always do my injections in public toilets while eating out.
Someone on this forum said that people should be open minded enough for me to inject in front of them..well..not all people are open minded and there is nothing I can change, so not to damage their eyes i will better go and do my thing somewhere noone could see me.
Yes there are lots of germs in the loos but with care you can avoid getting an infection.Ofcourse sometimes you will miss something, accidentally put your pen down where you should not without thinking in a rush and MAYBE you will get an infection.
But I think you are at risk of getting infection anywhere, even by the table..what if someone sat there before you who went to toilet and didn't wash his hands after and then came back and touched your table.
We can imagine 1000 of situations of how and where you can get an infection..loo is probably the most risky place, but with care you will live.
There is no need to get paranoid.
 
I no longer inject in loos and certainly wouldn't change my infusion set there. My plan if I ever need a set change 'out and about' is to ask for a first aid room or manager's office. A first aid room should have alcohol wipes, or a sterile dressing to put things on. Touching a desk is best avoided but hopefully fewer airborne bugs than in a loo.

Before insulin pens came along I often injected in public/restaurant loos and never got an infection - though for the first 10 years we routinely used alcohol wipes or surgical spirit before injecting.

If a loo is the only option, then drop trousers or lift skirt and sit on the closed lid. Anything you drop or put down goes on your own legs, which you probably washed that morning and will only have the 'normal' bugs on your own skin, which would infect you just as much in your own home.
 
I think if your needle touches ANYTHING! you should not use it! I find doing the injection anywhere is fine as long as you control where the pen and needle go, this is why they have so many protective covers. If the needle touched a sterilised cleaning wipe I would think twice about using it (probabnly would though dep on the wipe).

I agree with @LittleSue, if you make sure any dropped stuff only hits you and not surfaces around, you should be safe. 'Normal' bugs on your skin are also likely to be inside you and getting dealt with by your auto-immune system.

I think avoiding public conveniences might cut off a lot of socially acceptable areas to do this (wrong I know, but some people feel that way).
 
Golly, surprising that she even put it down but hey ho!

When in the cubicles, I use my own stuff as a "table" (this is rare though) or I just simply don't put the pen down at all while attempting to do an injection. Bit of basic forward planning can prevent you from putting it down at all before the injection.
 


forgive me for my chuckle, whether you heard it or not, but this last comment struck me as especially funny given that much in$ulin has been made from e-coli.


i do agree with you though, as far as concern for other peoples' comfort re: injections.
 
I have no problem injecting in a public toliet...
I remember reading an article a few years ago (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7377002.stm) about how there is more germs/bacteria in your office keyboard than on a toliet seat.

I think the majority of public toliets (service stations, pubs, shops etc) are regularly cleaned and since i'm not dipping my needle in used toliet water or putting it anywhere apart from in my stomach I think it's quite a good place to inject. Esp. if you would rather inject in places you can't reasonably get out in public!!

Obviously some toliets will be worse than others.

The worst place I have found for injecting is on the train/bus... All the bumps make me think the needle might snap - has this ever happened to anyone out of interest??
 
jameshallam said:
.....The worst place I have found for injecting is on the train/bus... All the bumps make me think the needle might snap - has this ever happened to anyone out of interest??
Click to expand...


i've been injecting on trains/buses for 25+years now --- not regularly of course but as a non-driver, i often find myself on public transit when its time for a dose. anyways, never have i had a needle snap, those things are so well fastened, never had anything cause me to think of not continuing to do this.
 
It doesnt matter how clean a toilet is or is not as when a toilet is used for its primary purpose matter is atomised and can remain airbourne for a period of time so whilst a public, or private for that matter, toilet is used for an invasive practice like injecting it can be very dangerous indeed as you may be injecting microscopic particles of excrement into your body. Dont ever do it :thumbdown:


A science program I watched on the TV some years ago conducted an experiment into the cleanliness of toothbrushes left out in the open in combined bathrooms and toilet situations, they all had traces of human excrement on them. And for that reason I always keep my toothbrush in a travel (plastic) container when away on holiday and when I used to use insulin I never ever injected in a public toilet.
 
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