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Taking insulin when out and about.

Silkroad77

Active Member
Messages
32
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hello all,

I'm curious as to what people do when they're either on holiday or out and about with regards to food and taking insulin.

For example if you're going to an outdoor event where food is served from food trucks etc when, where and how do you take your insulin?

When out and you come across a place serving food with no tables/very few tables that are all in use and no toilets, where and how do you take your insulin?

I mean you might look for other places, but sometimes when out or abroad people can come across some sort of a food truck type of place, or a tiny bar serving food with no seating available etc.

So what do you folks do?
 
Hi @Silkroad77

When I first started insulin injections I’d scoot off to a loo, then I got brave and would do it as and when I needed to so at the counter but very discretely so would check if anyone was looking then a quick jab there and then, 95% of the time no one would notice but if they did it was never a problem.
 
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I'm very happy to inject into my legs (through tights), which I find easier when I'm out and about.
 
ert said:
I'm very happy to inject into my legs (through tights), which I find easier when I'm out and about.
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I also find it pretty easy (and discreet) to move my waistband slightly and inject into my stomach. With an insulin pen it's fast and easy. And worst case scenario, if someone notices, you just say you're diabetic. Once you've done it a few times you stop worrying about who sees.
 
Silkroad77 said:
For example if you're going to an outdoor event where food is served from food trucks etc when, where and how do you take your insulin?
Click to expand...
I walk up to the food truck, decide what I'll have and just inject then and there, standing in line or waiting for my order to be prepared.
I don't need a table to screw a needle on my pen and bare a square inch of tummy to put it in.
 
I am another who just raises my short slightly and injects around mt waist .
I do not need a toilet to hide in.
There is a huge difference between injecting publicly and injecting in public. It is pretty easy to inject discretely. You’ll be surprised how little other people notice.

Unlike @ert I would not inject through clothing - I see no point and I bruise easily when I don’t inject through something that could blunt the needles or inject fibres.
 

Hi,
Out doors like a truck stop in a laybye.? I have my own privacy glassed mobile office. (Van.) Toured Europe in it & its predessor.
Festivals? Everybody is "high," no one will bat an eyelid..

Hmm .. Abroad, fine dining. Table cloths are a great shield. Stealthily bolus hoiking shorts or a shirt?

The advent of mobile devices means no one seems to notice much, other than their screens.. Same the world over..
I'm old fashioned, valentines night means no ones even feasting their eyes on the date let alone me knocking a dose into my abdomen..
 
I’d just do it. Pretend no one is seeing or watching and just do it. It’s only a big deal if you make it one, so if you don’t make it a big deal then it’s not.
 

I'm on a pump now so a bit more discrete

But prior to that if I needed insulin I just got on and took it.. if I was somewhere I didn't want to bare my belly I'd either go through my shirt or take it elsewhere like the back of the arm

I've never let it stop me doing what I want when I want
 
Thanks for your replies folks
Reading what you've said has made me realise I've been pretty stupid about taking insulin when outside.
I just seem to think that it's not possible to take insulin unless it's indoors

I need to get rid of that 'can't take insulin out and about' mentality I have, and you're right, why should it be an issue where I take my insulin?

I really do appreciate your input and you've now inspired me towards more freedom: just taking the insulin when out and about
 
Silkroad77 said:
I just seem to think that it's not possible to take insulin unless it's indoors
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Sounds like my recent eye opening revelation that you can wash spinach in warm water if you're about to use it anyway. No need at all to suffer red and painfully cold hands every time you want to eat spinach!
Sometimes our minds simply don't show us the obvious solution.
 
Without meaning to sound dismissive, I take it wherever I happen to be standing. The entire process takes about 5 seconds, if that. Just be careful if you do the squirt test, not to point it at anyone.
 

Silkroad, I've done behind trees. In bushes when I was doing some film extra work filming. That was tricky dressed like some Dickensian gent?
The work's van with the door open as a shield/screen. Customers back garden..

KK123 said:
Without meaning to sound dismissive, I take it wherever I happen to be standing. The entire process takes about 5 seconds, if that. Just be careful if you do the squirt test, not to point it at anyone.
Click to expand...

The air shot in a restaurant get's fired at the underside of the table. I Just hoik the edge of the table cloth up to get a better view from seated?
 
If I go to a restaurant I often wear a short sleeved top or dress with jacket or cardigan and then you can easily remove the cardigan and inject in your arm at the table. I usually ask when ordering approximately how long the food will be. I also carry a small handbag mirror very useful for seeing exactly where I am injecting. No one at any other table has ever seemed to notice.
 
I take it anywhere and everywhere , I don’t worry who sees me , I don’t wear long trousers that often but wh
En I do it goes straight through them,
 

oh my goodness why hadn't I thought of this genuis
 
If I'm eating out (or going somwhere I might get tempted) I bring an isothermal cool bag for my supplies. I've never had any issue with quickly pulling up my shirt/jumper and injecting. I've never noticed anyone take notice either, and I've done it at markets, in the pub, in the park, no issues.
 
AlexD14 said:
If I'm eating out (or going somwhere I might get tempted) I bring an isothermal cool bag for my supplies.
Click to expand...
Unless you live in a very hot climate, there's no need to cool the insulin currently in use.
An opened pen or vial will be fine for a month as long as it doesn't freeze or goes over about 30 degrees Celsius.
 
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