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Injection rooms?

Why should we hide when we inject? I normally inject on my belly and just lift my top just enough to inject. I wait until after everyone at my table has finished eating before getting the needle out, it seems the polite thing to do lol

The only time I've had a comment was on the bus, I was running late and hadn't done it at home. An old lady tutted very loudly and made a comment about the open use of drugs. I asked her in a loud voice if she would take paracetamol in public she said of course so I replied with 'so why shouldn't I take insulin in public?' she stammered an apology and two guys at the front of the bus started clapping me!! Since then I have seen her tutting at children laughing too loudly (would she rather a 3 yr old screaming or a happy 3 yr old...?!) she sits on the outside seat and doesn't move over to allow the inside seat to be used by someone else....

Bottom line... inject where you feel most comfortable, we aren't druggies needing to hide in the loos to get our next fix, we are medicating, and literally every injection saves our lives! Breast feeding has become more acceptable because mothers refused to hide away to feed their babies. We should all make a stand and soon enough noone will look twice
 

Exactly!!

Can't help but giggle at the old lady, nice work!
 
I have had type 1 for 27 years (diagnosed at 3) and now go with injecting through clothes most of the time. When I was younger I used to do toilets but often they were horrible and it's quite difficult with 2 vials to manage not to drop things. I still use vials but just draw up under the table, discreetly raise my skirt and inject through tights. I have done it through jeans in the past and on a coach journey.

Anyone who is nervous of you doing it in public, particularly in a discreet way, is obviously uncomfortable with the idea you have diabetes and should be considered carefully for a relationship.
 

tigger,

Each to their own but I have never injected through clothing, doing so can contaminate the needle before reaching the skin as clothing (no matter how clean) are a source of bacteria and germs. Injecting through a material like denim will undoubtedly blunt the needle and could mean you are not receiving the full dose of insulin.

Just thought I would add this in case any newbies thought that injecting through clothing is safe.

Nigel
 
I inject anywhere I need to. I don't hide away and refuse to do it in toilets.

One of the nicest places I've injected so far was nearly at the top of Mt Snowdon. I'm not sure if people walking past thought it was some kind of wonder drug to help me with the long hike :lol:



and a maybe not so subtle way of telling people it is an insulin injection:

:twisted:
 
I have a pump which does make it easier, although when I was on pens I was asked to leave a Mc Donalds as someone had seen me inject in my stomach and was very offended. They now just stare when I put my hand down the front of my top and pull out the pump. I guess they are all trying to work out which mobile phone I have. The kids at the school I work at have been told It can download all their pictures and text messages. Whenever I walk in to cover a lesson They all reach to turn off their phones, its a really funny sight.
 
Nigel - how do you define safety? It's not "safe" having diabetes full stop. There are many things you can do with medical advice which are very unsafe e.g. very tight control leading to bad hypos, loss of hypo symptoms and the side effects of those. At the end of the day you have to make a decision on the best way to lead your life taking into account the quality of life you actually want to have. Would you say it's better not to inject in public at all if you're not prepared to strip or go to a toilet and run high sugars for that reason? Or just refuse to ever eat out? I think it's helpful for newbies to realise that there are more ways to deal with diabetes than the current rules. Trust me when you've had type 1 for 27 years you quickly learn that the hard and fast "rules" change on a frequent basis.

A diabetic nurse told me it was fine to inject through clothes many years ago. I've never had an infection and thinking about it most of the time I do it through my tights if I'm at home too with no ill effects. Personal experience is helpful for newbies - particularly when the experience seems to have been done my many on th is board.

If someone refuses to let you inject in a restaurant is that disability discrimination? Just a thought as diabetes is a disability under the disability discrimination act.
 
trigger,

Safety to me is avoiding unnecessary infections by not injecting through clothing, not sure what you mean by ''its not safe having diabetes full stop'' - however taking sensible precautions and keeping things as sterile as possible is a discipline I like to stick to.

Totally confused to why you would think that I don't agree with injecting in public, if you read the whole thread and many others relating to this subject you will find I am a great advocate of injecting in public and openly inject myself either in the stomach or arms before eating in any establishment..... home or abroad.

I'm in my 29th year as a type 1 diabetic and have never been told by a dsn or consultant that injecting through clothing is safe, as I said in my previous post this is a unsafe practice due to contamination of the needle and not one I would wish newbies to the follow as a safe procedure for injecting insulin, one person's experience doesn't make something safe and the standard advice is not to inject through any clothing for the reasons I have stated.

Nigel
 
Thankyou to those who answered my devil's advocate post - just to make it clear, I don't believe in hiding it either, just something my boyfriend picked up on!

As for injecting through clothing, I think I might have mentioned this earlier on but I refuse to do it. As much as diabetes isn't a particularly safe thing to have to treat, I'd rather minimising the risks.
Doing so by only injecting through skin, only using a needle once and changing it each time is how I do that. Of course we all have our little shortcuts to help us cope, but seeing as the board is often frequented by newly diagnosed diabetics, it's also better to be overcautious
 
just been for pub lunch today and my daughter was cracking up because i got my pen out just as meal arrived and she told me to go to toilet cos people would think i was a smackhead!!!(her words)from a 19 year old!!!i thought the cheek of it ive been type 1 now for 40 years!!!but all my family are like that when we go out for a meal even my partner.i wouldnt do it if other people were sitting on our table but if done discreetly it is ok.ive gone into a cafe at lunchtime on my own while out shopping and needed lunch but i dont think i could have injected at table except in toilet.maybe because im shy but im not ashamed of having diabetes ive had it for so long its part of my life. everyone has their own choice and its what makes you feel better injecting whether in a toilet or wherever you are.i always go into the disabled toilets anyway to inject.
 
Injecting in public

Does anyone feel the need to run to the toilet before eating in a restaurant to take insulin? I don't but recently I was out with my mum and I took my pen and had a shot of insulin before being told by her that I shouldn't do it in public. She says some people don't like needles and that's my problem how? Would anyone complain about somebody popping pills at the table for a headache? I think it might have been different if it was an actual syringe I was using but the pens are quite discreet.
 
Re: Injecting in public

Hi Bobduff,

I've only been taking insulin since December 2010 but had about three or four weeks before I was started when my GP advised me that it was likely (I was rediagnosed from type 2 to type 1 or 1.5). I have to say that I took the view right away that I would inject wherever I needed to do so. I figured if I can inject in KFC in a service station, I can do it anywhere. I know plenty of people do get apprehensive about injecting in public and I would never judge them. I just know that I will never go to a toilet to do it.

I've been out for lunch with a few people from my new workplace and whilst a couple of them have been a bit surprised, nobody has ever said anything negative. I've always just told them what I'm doing.

I wonder if when your mum says 'some people don't like needles' what she really means is 'I don't like needles'.
 
Re: Injecting in public

I don't think it bothers my mum as her sister has used insulin for around 30 years and both my brother and myself do it. What I think bothers her is how other people react which in my view is wrong. She told me a story about a person at her work place who had injected insulin in the canteen then someone took offence to and went and told someone in authority. The diabetic was told that it was to be done in private. I myself think it's wrong for an employer to discourage people from doing this. They would be better teaching people so that in future they wont be so ignorant. It is medication after all.
 
Hi everyone, first time poster here, will make my introductions in a moment, but something I keep seeing here making me angry. This thing about "other people might get offended, people don't like needles." I have one thing to say to that, and that is "How do you think I feel about needles?" I was proper needle phobic when I was diagnosed, but it's funny how given the choice between "inject" and "die again" will fix your priorities.

I think injection rooms are unnecessary though to be honest. it's not like it's a huge show to inject yourself or check your sugars and I think to have such places would paint a bad image for diabetics. We're not special cases, we don't need that kind of thing, we just need a little understanding from people who might catch a glimpse of us injecting. I'm not ashamed of my diabetes, in fact I consider it in a weird way to be my duty to draw attention to myself as I check my sugars or inject, to raise awareness that hey kids, we're everywhere coz lawd knows for such a widesparead problem fewer people than I expect seem to know much about it, and I always hope someone will ask me about it so I can educate them a little. I remember in school people asked what my blood tester was, and I'd put my blood on it, show them the countdown (which once upon a time was about 15 seconds, which seems forever now that my meter only takes 3 seconds lol) and go "It's a bomb!" I'm a bit more helpful now though xD

I don't shy away from injecting in restaurants, though I am a little more discreet then, I do have SOME respect, and most people don't wanna see someone stabbing themselves while enjoying their dinner. But generally the problem is with them, if they're uncomfortable, well that's regrettable but not my problem, and if they're OFFENDED, well, I wish they could see the times I've injected and hit a blood vessel and spurted over my t shirt lol.

Speaking of t shirts, I used to occasionally inject through my t shirt, but never through more. I'd never think of injecting through jeans or a jumper.

I'm a rambler, how you doing? Also, I'd just like to say, I love how much attitude is in this thread I've really enjoyed reading a lot of the replies, thank you all for the laughs.
 
Hey,

I'm new to this site, but I've been really interested in following the different attitudes that folk seem to face when injecting insulin - I've been a type I insulin dep diabetic for 1 1/2 years now and the frustration and hurt that these situations bring up still has the same power to wind me up. I've been determined ever since my diagnosis (as a shockingly "old" 25 year old) not to let my "diabetic-ness" take over my life. As far as I can, I try to be sensible; look after myself; take action where my pancreas should be acting...and carry on living. However, the one area I can't seem to educate or control is the attitude of ignorance many people have towards my injecting.

I can see that many people on this thread speak about similar reactions - like others, I decided as soon as I realised that I was going to need to be on insulin for the rest of my life that I would inject wherever I was eating, and that I was not going to spend the rest of my life anxiously looking around me for corners to hide in so that I could avoid the reaction of those around me. I am always discreet casual and inject out of sight, and usually people do not even notice. My argument is that I should not be made to feel embarrassed, or that to made to feel that I have to run and hide in dirty public toilets in shame.

I've not had too many awful experiences - mostly just people making silly comments; although once early on at a restaurant with people we didn't know well, my mother went so far as to feel embarrassed herself enough to feel she had to make a loud public apology on my behalf to say that I was injecting insulin. (Incidentally, they hadn't even noticed prior to her outburst.) And once a man at the next table in a cafe got up and moved to the other side of the cafe. I usually just shrug it off as ignorance, but today in our work kitchen a woman I barely know - ironically a trained nurse - shouted her disgust that I would be injecting so openly, "I've seen you do that before and been like, ugh" ...finishing up with "you wouldn't do that in restaurants???...Please warn me if you're ever out so I never have to go to a restaurant while you're there, it's disgusting!" The rest of my colleagues listened completely dumbstruck (they're pretty intelligent people who are supportive and respectful). I just laughed at her ignorance at the time and rolled my eyes in disbelief, but the attitude behind it still smarts.

I should maybe just buy a t-shirt.
 
Well doen to your attitude to injecting openly and maybe one day ignorant people like your colleague will be the ones told to take themselves off and hide in toilets.
 
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