Feeling nervous about this..maybe some advice can helped

[Sara Grice]

Even before my diabetes type 1 diagnosis 5 months ago I can't say I had many..outside hobbies, I like to read and do creative things in my house, that hasn't changed, but one big joy in my life was going to the cinema, just do much more special that a small screen. But I've sort of felt to anxious to go, I always used to turn my phone off because it's just the polite thing to do, but I just worry about my phone going off from my libre app with either a loss of signal or even worse case of a low level warning. The embrassment I would feel of having everyone look at me..judging because it is very loud by design so I notice it (i am doubtful ide notice it vibrating alone uf im engrossed in the movie). And not only that. Ide have to scooch past people and get few at least a few rows of stairs in a dark room if I needed to treat a hypo because I can't exactly do a finger prick test in a dark rook in a chair possibly with very little space if people are beside me.

But I realy miss it, how do you guys handle it when you watch a movie at the cinema?

 

[helli]

Sorry to read that you are missing out on your on enjoy the one joy in your life due to the anxiety of your Libre going off.
It is very sad that you do not feel you are able to lose yourself in a movie.
Is the problem your concern about having a hypo or a concern about everyone looking at you when your Libre alarm goes off?
Have you thought about raising your BG a little and making sure you have no active insulin on board (don't bolus for 4 hours beforehand) before the movie to avoid a hypo so you can feel comfortable without Libre for a couple of hours?
As someone from "the old school", I worry about relying on technology all the time as it can fail so, I give myself CGM breaks to ensure I maintain hypo awareness. Maybe you could start trialling this in a safe environment at home and then, when you are comfortable, do it at the movies. Maybe go to a less popular showing so there are less people around you and take someone you trust.
You also worry about treating a hypo in a cinema. Have you tried using the light from your phone to do a finger prick in the dark? I do this at night as my partner is very sensitive to light (at least that is what he says!). I find it is not that hard and doesn't take much space (he is also sensitive to my night time wriggling). Maybe you could try that at home too to give your self confidence.

 

[Inka]

Usually the light from the film is enough to see to do a fingerprick if you choose your moment. My glucose meter makes a bit of a whirring sound so I always used to wait till a loud action part to test. Not only could no-one hear my meter even if they were very close to me, nobody noticed me either as they were all engrossed by the film.

If you use your CGM, you can just check regularly and maybe have the phone on your person so you can hear/feel the vibrate. I’ve never had an issue testing either way. I find sitting down watching a film usually causes slightly higher sugars anyway.

 

[Sara Grice]

Sorry to read that you are missing out on your on enjoy the one joy in your life due to the anxiety of your Libre going off.
It is very sad that you do not feel you are able to lose yourself in a movie.
Is the problem your concern about having a hypo or a concern about everyone looking at you when your Libre alarm goes off?
Have you thought about raising your BG a little and making sure you have no active insulin on board (don't bolus for 4 hours beforehand) before the movie to avoid a hypo so you can feel comfortable without Libre for a couple of hours?
As someone from "the old school", I worry about relying on technology all the time as it can fail so, I give myself CGM breaks to ensure I maintain hypo awareness. Maybe you could start trialling this in a safe environment at home and then, when you are comfortable, do it at the movies. Maybe go to a less popular showing so there are less people around you and take someone you trust.
You also worry about treating a hypo in a cinema. Have you tried using the light from your phone to do a finger prick in the dark? I do this at night as my partner is very sensitive to light (at least that is what he says!). I find it is not that hard and doesn't take much space (he is also sensitive to my night time wriggling). Maybe you could try that at home too to give your self confidence.

It is mainly about it going off, I just know that it would feel so awkward, but I then worry about missing anything if its on vibrate,and I guess actuly the light from the film would actually give me some visibility if I need to test.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

It is mainly about it going off, I just know that it would feel so awkward, but I then worry about missing anything if its on vibrate,and I guess actuly the light from the film would actually give me some visibility if I need to test.

How about turning off the alarms but glancing at the value now and again? You'd need to try and judge how bright the screen is, I guess. At the least, you could turn off the alarm about loss of signal (which most of us do anyway) and change the alarms so they're less likely to go off (maybe try and be a bit higher to reduce the chances of being low and turn off the high alarm altogether, that kind of thing).

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

It is mainly about it going off, I just know that it would feel so awkward, but I then worry about missing anything if its on vibrate,and I guess actuly the light from the film would actually give me some visibility if I need to test.

I can’t remember if Libre (2+?) alarms can be silenced for a set amount of time? It’s a few years since I have used Libre.

Where I am concerned about missing audible alarms (or vibrations) I choose to hold my phone in my hand - then I would definitely feel a vibration happening 🙂

I understand that aversion to drawing attention to yourself, but given the number of people who check their phones or consume outrageously rustly snacks (nothing louder than a soft roll should be permitted etc etc), or chat through films, I think you would be a model cinema patron if you just discreetly looked after your life-threatening condition.

I find it’s important to find ways to work diabetes into my life, and not let it stop me doing things I really enjoy. There pretty much always seems to be a workaround.

 

[Lucyr]

realy miss it, how do you guys handle it when you watch a movie at the cinema?

My phone is permanently on silent (vibrate only), but in the cinema I just turn on a focus mode which I’ve set up to allow libre vibrations only and no other alerts. If you don’t look at your phone when the vibration goes off it will just vibrate again anyway.

 

[Wendal]

Hi Sarah,
Some very good suggestions from others.
Personally if I am in an environment where I really do not want an alarm going off I would just switch it off for a couple of hours or set it at a very low level if I was concerned.
I am confident that I will notice if I go very low and don’t worry about just dipping into hypo territory as I can easily take corrective action.
Of it was for an extended period of time then I would just take a reading with my phone or take a reading during a break.
The only time that I would ever worry about going too low would be overnight whilst in a sleep.
As others have said I would prioritise your pleasure such as going to the cinema rather than worrying about your alarm going off.

 

[SimonP]

I use Juggluco + XDrip+, but had the same concern when going to the cinema for the first time with alarms. I also have a Garmin watch which will vibrate, and light the screen up, I can silence the alarms on the phone completely and I don't bother with a finger prick if in the cinema, if it says I'm low I'll treat it, and if it's wrong c'est la vie it's only an hour or two.

I must admit it was much more troublesome without CGMs and I would often go low in the evening which is when I tended to go to the cinema (also in the days of slower insulins and twice a day injections), so would have to have emergency snacks with me (which I'd eat when I felt low, no need to do a finger prick test.)

I hope you can find a way to make it work so you can get back to watching films in the cinema 🙂