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Remember when ?

tim2000s said:
Yup, and they were definitely reused... I still have BD syringes as spares. Last time I got some the pharmacist made a mistake and I ended up with a box of 100. I have about 88 left.
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When they went on prescription, I always got a box of 100.

I remember being told I could use one for 5 days or until it became blunt! . . . And years later I was told I should NOT be using a pen needle more than once and was asked why I was doing so. How times change!
 
The syringes went on to prescription in the early 1980's I think, drug addicts were getting them on prescription but diabetics were having to buy them.I also used to use the syringes a good few times, injecting through clothes as well, it's no wonder I have absorption problems these days.
 
Ladybirdy75 said:
I also remember the first finger pricker........the autolet "slasher"!! Ha ha it was the skinhead of the finger pricking world
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You mean It looked like a "far right" neo-nazi in a tank?? ;)

I just used to drive the lancets in by hand.. Less faffing about.

Yarp. i remember the mobile pee lab days.. What i have now is more Star Trek.. Would hate to test P in zero G.! :eek:
 
Flowerpot said:
The syringes went on to prescription in the early 1980's I think, drug addicts were getting them on prescription but diabetics were having to buy them.I also used to use the syringes a good few times, injecting through clothes as well, it's no wonder I have absorption problems these days.
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Yes. i remember my mum going on about "watch out for you needles." When i went to college.. I got caught dosing up in a locker room & the rumour went round i was a druggie.. :banghead: I changed to MDI not long after that..
 
noblehead said:
Following advice from my DSN I use to cut the strips up and just use the colour chart on the side of the container if I wanted a rough guide on bg levels, obviously with the design of the strips nowadays this isn't possible and the colour charts are sadly long-gone.
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Those pee strip sort of pastel shade colour charts were hell to match up with the colour blindness & light sensitivity of a hypo..
 
Jaylee said:
Those pee strip sort of pastel shade colour charts were hell to match up with the colour blindness & light sensitivity of a hypo..
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I can imagine Jaylee.

Isn't it good to reminisce about the old times even if there's some bad memories of the equipment used, it makes you all the more grateful for how far we have come since the days of Clinitest Kits, Glass Syringes and contraptions like the Autolet Lancing Device :)
 
Did anyone get given a "Peter & Jane have Diabetes" book in the 70's?? (I cant seem to find reference to it on the net.)

It was a patronising little story illustrated Ernest Howard Shepard style about a D boy & girl. The girl seemed to be a "model D" & the boy was always getting into scrapes not eating on time. "feeling funny" while out playing.. Cautionary tale stuff. Because lets face it. most girls love to play it safe at home with their bears... ;)
 
Wow ! So many of these things I forgot about !!! I remember the colored blood tests .. You knew the darker it was the worse of you were. Writing down sugars would have been 80, 120, 140, 160 :) I also remember the contraption that would allow you to put your syringe in it and had you push a button to have it jab you with your syringe . Never worked very well for me . I also remember my old pork insulin and being told never to shake it as a kid but to roll it... So when you tell a kid not to do something what do they do ? I feel like putting together a memory box of old diabetic supplies but I looked all over and can't find anything .
 
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Jaylee said:
Yes. i remember my mum going on about "watch out for you needles." When i went to college.. I got caught dosing up in a locker room & the rumour went round i was a druggie.. :banghead: I changed to MDI not long after that..
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That happened to me.........on a bus lol.

I also once must have not put the orange lid back on my syringe properly, i swung into my bus seat and grabbed my bag onto my lap only for the unsheathed needle to stab me in the thumb!!! I shouted out so loud that everybody turned to look at me lol.
 
Anaelena said:
Wow ! So many of these things I forgot about !!! I remember the colored blood tests .. You knew the darker it was the worse of you were. Writing down sugars would have been 80, 120, 140, 160 :) I also remember the contraption that would allow you to put your syringe in it and had you push a button to have it jab you with your syringe . Never worked very well for me . I also remember my old pork insulin and being told never to shake it as a kid but to roll it... So when you tell a kid not to do something what do they do ? I feel like putting together a memory box of old diabetic supplies but I looked all over and can't find anything .
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We should make our own. Gather all these stories lol
 
This thread made go searching in my medicine cupboard,right at the back a pack of stainless steel needles 1/2 inch 26 gauge and a unopened cline tests set .
 
I have tried to find a picture of my first blood test meter but can't find one or even remember it's name. I got it in about 1984 and it was the size of a large hard back novel, black and had 2 buttons on the top with a flap that you lifted on the top to put your test strip in. Used to have to leave the blood on for a minute and then put it in the machine to read for a minute. Can anyone remember the name of it?

I was only allowed to do 1 test a day so used to do breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime with obviously huge gaps left when I had no idea as to what my readings were.

I used to be on some kind of porcine insulin and the basel was cloudy and the bolus was clear (I only used to take it twice a day so I think calling it bolus is over egging the sugar free pudding a bit!). I was given a mantra to help me remember how to draw the insulin up which was cloudy, clear, clear, cloudy so I would make sure I put air in the bottles and not miss drawing up the insulin as I was only young at the time.

Happy memories .... I think!
 
Auckland Canary said:
I have tried to find a picture of my first blood test meter but can't find one or even remember it's name. I got it in about 1984 and it was the size of a large hard back novel, black and had 2 buttons on the top with a flap that you lifted on the top to put your test strip in. Used to have to leave the blood on for a minute and then put it in the machine to read for a minute. Can anyone remember the name of it?

I was only allowed to do 1 test a day so used to do breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime with obviously huge gaps left when I had no idea as to what my readings were.

I used to be on some kind of porcine insulin and the basel was cloudy and the bolus was clear (I only used to take it twice a day so I think calling it bolus is over egging the sugar free pudding a bit!). I was given a mantra to help me remember how to draw the insulin up which was cloudy, clear, clear, cloudy so I would make sure I put air in the bottles and not miss drawing up the insulin as I was only young at the time.

Happy memories .... I think!
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Haven't a clue about the blood glucose monitor but I do remember mixing the long and short acting insulin in the same syringe. I can't believe I actually managed to do that without making mistakes!
 
Thought people reading this topic might like the display in the reception at Guys and St Thomas' diabetic clinic!

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Yeah I remember the anxiety slowly watching the colour change from blue upwards.

You could almost feel the sugars rise within as the colours changed.
 
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