Injecting in public

[Copepod]

Or my personal favourite site, discovered by accident when I bought a pair of zip-off trousers just before marshalling on Hebridean Challenge adventure race, open zip a small length and jab thigh.
And I don't change my needles every time, either - perhaps something to do with 2 Scottish grandparents?!?

 

[aymes]

Are you guys for real.........

I cant bellieve some of the stories I am hearing....

I am from Scotland and no one gives any wierd looks or noises up here, frankly I am shocked....

Injecting can be done discretely in public, if any of you wip down your trousers to inject then you have only brought it on yourself......

But no one does that do they.....

The stomach or arm is perfect when on the move......

Even if you have a beer belly like me....

Sadly it has nothing to do with geography. It is rare to get those sort of reactions, people generally barely notice if at all. Unfortunately there just are a small handful of people, who some of us have come across, that choose to take issue with public injections. If only it were geographically isolated, then we'd all know where to go to eat!!!

 

[novorapidboi26]

I must say for a guy who has been on here less then half a day you do have a lovely way with words.NOT

Surely my way with words couldnt have upset you.........

Just trying to set the scene...........

 

[randomange]

Are you guys for real.........

I cant bellieve some of the stories I am hearing....

I am from Scotland and no one gives any wierd looks or noises up here, frankly I am shocked....

Injecting can be done discretely in public, if any of you wip down your trousers to inject then you have only brought it on yourself......

But no one does that do they.....

The stomach or arm is perfect when on the move......

Even if you have a beer belly like me....

I think you might be generalising a bit when you say that no-one in Scotland would give any weird looks or noises, in the same way that not everyone in England is going to react like that. I'm from Glasgow, and I've lived in a couple of different places in England, and I've never had any issues. It's a small minority of people that react, and unfortunately it's something we may all potentially have to deal with.

 

[Lizzie53]

I think we should be able to inject anywhere but I do try to be as discreet as possible. I would hate to make anyone feel unwell. Another member of the training course for Byetta users got his pen out in the pub and tried to inject discreetly under the table but someone noticed - and fainted!

 

[rossi_mac]

I inject or test where I am I make sure there are no small kids running around, or animals for that matter, If I was aware of someone being uneasy about it I would be more descret.

After a thread on here I would be unhappy to go into the gents to "jack up" although do for my basal injection.

I've been down west country last few days on a campsite, no complaints, actually never had any anywhere Scotland, England or Wales, not been off these shores for a while!

 

[zippy]

I would never want to feel I had to go into a toilet or hide away to inject so I don't do it.

I inject whenever I need to, wherever I am including several times last weekend at a festival in the middle of fields surrounded by thousands of people - there was nowhere to hide and I couldn't see any need to even try.

It may seem mean but I usually find a good dose of embarrassment dished out to anyone who makes a fuss is the best way to deal with it. If a person genuinely feels ill around needles, I will be a bit more considerate but no-one has to look if they aren't happy and most of the time it is just ignorance/trying to look smart and I have no time or patience for either

 

[sofaraway]

I usually do it discretely wherever I am, only the odd occasion when I don't know the people I am with will I do it in the toilets. Such as on a one day training course, as I don't feel that I want everyone I meet to know I have diabetes.

 

[scootdevon]

Im type 2 on tablets & i wouldnt mind peeps injecting in public as the public toilets arent very clean and hygienic & could pose a health threat to us injecting /testing, If they have a problem then they can look away etc not stare and complain, If they have a phobia of needles then they can look away.

 

[Northerner]

If I'm out with people who I don't know then I will ask if they mind me injecting at the table or ask them to look away (like when I was at a wedding and seated with some people didn't know). The vast majority of people don't mind. In fact, they usually miss the actual 'act' because it's so quick and unfussy - even when they are watching for it! I wouldn't want to go to all the bother of leaving the table for something that only takes a few seconds.

We had a big fuss about all this a year or so ago when Diabetes UK's 'Balance' magazine published a series of letters from a nurse in Birkenhead saying it was 'disgusting'. These are my poetic responses:

Nursing 101:
http://diabetespoetry.blogspot.com/2009/02/nursing-101.html

Nurse Unbalanced:
http://diabetespoetry.blogspot.com/2009/06/nurse-unbalanced.html

Disgusted Nurse gets just desserts:
http://diabetespoetry.blogspot.com/2009/06/disgusted-nurse-gets-just-desserts.html

 

[hawalkden]

not an excuse to judge use!

I know the feeling, mine is at work mainly? (I?m a Nursery Practitioner) and the girls ?don?t? like the whole diabetes issue. They don?t like me taking my blood on breaks (they think it?s horrid) and then when it comes to injecting they ?moan? about it! I give up listening to them and I use to make a huge fuss. Management try and keep the peace and try to understand, they have had words with the girls and things have setting down but still the ?attention seeking? I?m apparently getting. I don?t understand that people are scared or phobia when they see the 5mm needle too!
On the going out issue, I don?t really have an issue with it, my dad has T1 and I?ve grown around it so don?t know any different really when we went out for meals. Dad use to have the bottle and syringe and he hated it because he had to go to the toilet, so glad for the throw away cartridge pens and me and my dad don?t mind.
I did get asked a few months ago off a child about what I was doing and I explained to them and their parents, but most of the time people just look and then look away where I?d like to talk about it and give them the opportunity to have the little knowledge.
Diabetes eh?! Another obstacle course of the day to get through dealing with it!

 

[Northerner]

I do wish people would be more tolerant and understanding Heather - sorry your workmates don't appreciate how lucky they are not to have to do it themselves. When I broke my leg a few years ago I was given some syringes of a anti-blood clotting serum to inject in my stomach. The needles were HUGE in comparison to the pens, so I can see people being a little scared by them, the pens are hardly worth a mention most of the time.

But people should also know that it's not the injections that make diabetes scary and difficult at times, it's the attempts to inject the correct amount of insulin every time! 😱

 

[Ruth Goode]

I have breastfed in public for nearly 2 years and raised a lots of eyebrows, I ingored them as my daughter need feeding and now she need her injection or have her blood level check and again I ingored them as she need them to keep well. I dont care about others or what they think, they will NEVER make me go to toilets to do them - my daughter is my priority!

 

[Northerner]

Well said Ruth! 🙂

 

[grahams mum]

hi guys nobody have to try to say anything to me or my boy whereever i am i wont be intimidated by anyone!!!!!!

 

[D_G]

. When I broke my leg a few years ago I was given some syringes of a anti-blood clotting serum to inject in my stomach. The needles were HUGE in comparison to the pens, so I can see people being a little scared by them, the pens are hardly worth a mention most of the time.

:

I remember those, i had to have them daily when i was in hospital, not nice are they...

As for injecting in public at first i was scared but now im gradually getting the confidence to do it when i need to and where, im not going to go into a dirty place or toilet to do it and if anyone looks at me i just ignore it now..they should think themselves lucky that they dont need to do this. So far i havent encountered any problems and no one has said anything, i know there will probably be a time when someone will say something, and if this does happen i wont stay quiet lol

 

[Emzi]

I think it has to be on everyones personal comfortability with it. I personally use to hate the thought of people seeing me inject in public but then again i refused to inject in a toilet where you go to get rid of your human waste. I didnt like the idea of injecting in that kind of area and it resulted in me never injecting when out and about hence my bad diabetes control. I learn to accept that sometimes you have to inject when out and recently i was at work and i went to inject and my colleague turned to me and said 'urgh do you have to??' and i replied yes actually i do or ill be very ill, when he said can you go somewhere, i simply said to him where would you like me to go to inject, and he had no answer. i got asked once why i didnt inject in a toilet and my reply was when you go to the doctors to have a flu, rubella or measles injection etc do they take you into the toilet and would you be comfortable with a nurse taking you into the toilet and administering an injection, i know its a far fetched example but it did work 🙂

Now i happily inject in public (when i remember ) but i do it discretely and like northerner said if there are new people i just check there ok with it or ask them to look away as i dont really want them watching me 😱

 

[sophieee]

Im looking for peoples opinions really.

im quite happy to inject my stomach in a restaurant in front of people but on one occasion I was with my older brother and he kicked up a fuss about it and insisted I go to the toilet to do it as it would put people including him off their food.

So on this occasion I did, stood in a dirty cubicle with the needle cap in my teeth and did it.

When I returned to the table it had already started a debate between my family and my brother seemed to be the only one with a problem.

Has anyone else got a view or experienced this?

I've never had a problem with my family, I was 9 when I was diagnosed, and my brothers were 15, so it's pretty much been the 'norm' ever since. However I have had quite a few dirty looks off people! I either ask them out right if they have a problem, to which they usually just stumble over their 'no no no's' or just walk off. Or just smile at them. Its never really bothered me if people have a problem with it. The way I see it, it's THEIR problem not mine. And if anybody ever says anything to me about it, I'll just reply that I'm sure they'd far rather me quietly do an injection than have paramedics have to interupt their meal/day/film whatever when I go into DKA. 😛

 

[Copepod]

Diagnosed as an adult, I have just realised that probably only my partner and brother in law have actually seen me injecting or testing, because I'm so discrete, not to hide, but because of way my kit is set up - at my home, kit is in a kitchen cupboard, where I stand with my back to the room, not for privacy, just because it's there; at parents' or sister's home, my insulin is in my bag, either in hall or whichever bedroom I'm staying in (and I'm careful to keep it away from where my nieces might investigate!) Recently I ran in a 2 day mountain marathon with my brother in law, involving carrying all lightweight kit for an overnight camp. I already knew the carbohydrate content of the cous cous packets we had for tea (one packet each - "normal" portion sizes are irrelavent in these races!), sitting outside with pack beside me, would have been daft to move. Did need 1 blood test during day 1 run, followed by a few crackers, but no insulin during day. Day 2 was so wet, that testing would have been difficult (no means to dry wet hands, so reading would have been diluted) but didn't need to. You don't carry a towel for an overnight camp - just remove wet shoes & socks, wash feet & legs in a stream, then dry feet with a T shirt, then hang shirt & socks on a fence or tent, then wear dry socks, plastic bags and wet shoes, replace day 1 socks next morning.