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Injecting in restaurants etc

aymes

aymes

Senior Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
I received my copy of Balance yesterday and was shocked to see one of the letters on the letters page was someone, a nurse, who felt quite strongly that it was unacceptable for diabetics to inject in public saying

" how anyone can think this is acceptable is beyond me... personally I'd be disgusted if someone at the table did this...I would be angry at that person's lack of consideration..."

I was just interested to see other people's thoughts on this, my attitude has always been that it is fine as it is perfectly possible to be pretty subtle when injecting at the table, personally I would always mention it to people near me so that if they don't like needles they can look away. I was surprised to see such a strong reaction against injecting in public so am interested to see others thoughts...?
 
Hi, I used to always go way into bathroom to inject and then decided that I was ok with injecting in front of people and if out for meal etc I do it at the table, like you if anyone is dodgy about needle I tell them they better turn away for a 'second'! Half the time I do it my husband says 'have you took your insulin'? It's done that quickly and discretely he hasn't even noticed. I just think people would take painkillers or swallow other meds outside so I don't see the problem really, I find smoking more disgusting to be honest!! And only till recentle people were allowed to do that in restaurants etc. I miss the 'balance' mag, since moving to Ireland I don't get it.
 
I reckon if anyone sees me injecting in public, it's because I haven't been discrete enough, but no-one has ever commented, even when sitting next to a stranger on a plane / bus / train, where pull down trays, abdomen and trousers all help. I actually think that asking first would draw more attention. I also think that a pencil case rather than the enormous kits supplied with some pens (exaggerating a bit, admittedly) also helps me to be discrete.
The only time I ever remember seeing anyone inject insulin, it was a teenage male, with his trousers down, injecting into his thigh, in the open doorway of a tent in Greenland - personally, I would have shut the door, more to keep the mossies off bear flesh than for "decency"!
I'd also add that I've never seen anyone else faint at the sight of tablets, liquid medicine, asthma inhaler etc, but I have seen people faint when they see a needle (eg when working in hospital A&E departments and a travel clinic), usually when they are expecting an injection, but sometimes when just watching.
 
P11 mar-apr 2009 what a nerve!!!

Im not happy either how come you can take an aspirin at the restaurant table and asthma sufferers can use their puffers? (im not having a go at asthma patients I am one also).
Where is our consideration? Do we want to do injections? The people who are lucky enough not to do injections should look away, they don’t have to do it!

GOOD REASON NOT TO DO IT: A few years ago I went for a meal in one of our respectable dept stores near where I live. Only to find out that someone had reported me and when I came out of the toilet I was greeted by two male security members who escorted me to a managers office where I was made to sit and wait for the police to arrive. You see where I live in this small sector of the planet earth you are considered a junky and shooting up if caught with an insulin syringe in your hand as strangely enough most junkies actually aquire the same syringes clearly marked ‘for insulin use only’.
In the meantime I wasn’t allowed to eat and my BG levels became very low, fortunately for me the police officer who attended was a family friend who kindly informed the staff they were in his exact words ‘being bloody stupid’.

I am now on an insulin pump which means I can be more discreet, if I don’t do a blood test and guess my BG’s! How long is going to be before someone tells me to leave my pump in the toilets!

I would like to ask this ‘nurse’ who I can only assume is ‘qualified’ and works in a hygienic recognised hospital, do they send all their patients to the toilets when they have to have their bloods taken and take any form of injected medication?
I shan’t bother asking as I know the answer is NO, NO, NO!

Another way of looking at it is you never use toilet facilities to fill a ‘kettle’ and if you have cut yourself you don’t rush to the toilet you go to the first aid kit! Oh and where is the first aid kit kept in the toilet? I don’t think so!

YES IM CHEESED OFF WITH THE WAY WE ARE TREATED AS LEPERS IT AINT CONTAGIOUS!!!! (yours faithfully Type 1 for 32 years) :mad:
 
I don't see anything wrong with it, I think it's just another form of prejudice, and like all prejudices is born of ignorance. It's no different to blowing your nose at the table - just something you have to do. My first experience of this kind of 'distaste' was not at a restaurant but at a friend's house when I was explaining the procedures and showing them the equipment. One friend was interested, the other pulled a face, particularly at the blood testing.

Shaun, I'm surprised the store could get away with what they did - grounds for a huge apology and maybe some compensation! Were you carrying any kind of medical identification?

As for a nurse thinking it's unacceptable - what kind of message is that sending out? Grrrr!!!!!:mad:
 
For me I don't really give a damn if people see me injecting at the table or wherever. If they ask I tell them. I tell people to look away if they don't like the sight of needles and just get on with it. I do occaisionally have funny looks from people but it just look back and grin. Humor is always good. Having recently learned/remembered how to give myself an injection in the arm I have worked out the way to disgust people :) I would have to say "Damn, can't find a vein". In all seriousness, if people ask, I tell them what it is and why I'm doing it. If they take exception to this I ignore them and carry on as usual. It is their decision to look at me and find out what I am doing. If they want to take exception I tell them to put themselves in my shoes, what would they do if you had to take life saving medication and someone protested about that? I would ask that they think before speaking.
Ignorance is the worst thing that diabetics have to live with. The ignorance of others is what will put diabetics back I'm sad to say. All because they do not have even the smallest amount of knowledge.

Tom H
 
I always inject at the table in restaurants. The reason I do this , when the meal arrives I count my CHO then work out how much insulin I need. It would be bad manners then to go to the toilets to inject keeping my friends waiting, as I know my friends would not start their meals until everybody was sat at the table.
 
Hi all!

So far, Alex hasnt come across anyone protesting when he has injecting in public - but then we usually all sit in such a way that nobody can really see him do it!
I would NEVER let him do it in the toilets though - mostly because if his dad wasnt with us i couldnt go in with him - but - also because most public loos are completely filthy - people do some awful things in them - i know a cleaner and the stories she has told me about cleaning a loo at a doctors would make your hair curl!
If anyone did complain to us - i would just explain in simple terms why he had to do it - but - i have read somewhere that cafes and restaurants are obliged to provide a private room - not a loo - for this very purpose?
I feel sorry for the person (cnt remember the name) who was stopped and thught to be a druggie - i would be so angry if that ever happend to Alex - i dont think i could control myself!
I think being discreet is the key - there are people with needle phobias - and i wouldnt want to offend anyone but i cant believe a nurse could come out with such nonsense! Talk about the dark ages! Perhaps she needs a day being a diabetic to see how difficult it can be at times! Bev
 
It occurred to me also that, not only is the woman complaining a nurse, but probably also has some close connection with diabetes. Why else would she be reading and writing in to a diabetes magazine? If so, she should really know better!

I was also surprised in this issue to read the letter from someone who reckons their life has been ruined by going on a DAFNE course. I've heard nothing but praise for DAFNE! Haven't done DAFNE myself, but my own PCT's version which I thought was great!:)
 
i'm sorry but i wouldnt go to the toilet to inject. it is not exactly the best environment to inject and im sorry if you dont like that i need to have this inject this to keep me alive then look away. why are they look around at what others are doing in the first place???

well said northerner. i to feel if she is anyway connected to diabetes then she should understand this a little better.
 
Injecting in public

I think this is going to be a continuos problem and one which i hope will one day be resolved. It seems a shame some people dont understand the problems we suffer and the struggle we have trying to run as close to normal life style as possible, why cant people help us instead of humour. I noticed a comment earlier from someone about blowing their nose at the table and I have never thought about that, what about the germs that may possibly be spread doing such a thing. You never hear of a diabetic spreading diabetes to someone else by doing the injection at the dining table...:)
 
I know what you mean - but i think its more about ignorance than prejudice - its sad but i think most people are inherently selfish - if it were them they would want everyone to understand and be empathetic - but its not - so it doesnt affect their lives. I think educating them would be the best option - rather than feeling angry with them! Bev
 
At first i always went off to the loo to inject when out and about. Then i thought what the hell am i doing? Im not ashamed. I inject in public all the time as long as i feel comfortable with the environment. I try to be discreet as obviously i know some people dont like needles etc. I always look for a table that i feel able to inject comfortably at, but now it is about me and no one else. I would not want to inject in full view of many strangers that may stare etc, but only because I would find it offputting to eat my meal and not the other way around.

for example i inject in most restaurants and morrisons, sainsbury cafes, costa coffees etc. But at work i do not inject in the staff canteen as we are all packed in on benches like sardines and it does not seem right. I therefore inject in the locker room, but not in the toilet! I inject in view of others passing and even injected in the corridor of the lowry hotel yesterday with people passing by. No one has ever said anything although i see people looking, if they ask i would explain what im doing, although i think its pretty obvious. Sorry for the waffle, i feel strongly that you should inject wherever you need to so long as you are comfortable with it and not hide to make others feel comfortable with it.

As for the nurse, :mad: I was a nurse many years ago and think its disgusting to have such an attitude when nurses are injecting patients every day of their lives. How pathetic! :mad:
 
I agree with Tracey's point about choosing not to inject in very crowded places - from a sense of self preservation, not wanting to be jostled while the needle is in.
I wonder about the age of the nurse who wrote the original letter? S/he may only know about old bimodal regimes, which meant injections only morning and evening. While patients in hospital wards don't go into toilets for insulin injections, they usually have them in beds or chairs, with curtains pulled round fro privacy - obviously not an option eslewhere!
And finally, I would find that if someone fainted because they saw my needle, that would be very offputting - and I'd probably have to give first aid, rather than eat, which would not be good for my blood sugar levels. Hence, I reckon discretion is best!
 
I've never been challenged, perhaps I've been discreet enough, with people I know I tend to make some comment such as time for a 'game of darts' usually breaks the ice.

Of course it could be that there is 6'3" of ex-rugby player and people think twice before the challenge ;) the only comment I've had from people is regarding the smell of the insulin, but this is usually only levemir (I think) and thats done twice a day, so only really with people who know me well enough to dine with me at 07.00 or 19.00.

I agree with the comment about going to the toilet to inject, would we expect a breast feeding mother to sit on the toilet to feed her baby - I think not. I certainly wouldn't want to inject in that environment.
 
i have on a couple of occasions been challenged due to injecting and all i tend to say is "i am a diabetic and i need this injection to help me control my levels of sugars as unfortunately my body no longer produces any insulin. so im sorry if you find it upsetting or are uneasy with me injecting, however can i ask why you were looking at me in the first place??" this usually gets them to mumble a sorry and make a hasty retreat to their food. i dont do it nastily and i have often also been asked to explain to someone why i dont produce insulin and also what diabetes is and i am more than happy to educate people so it makes others understand and also makes mine and other diabetics lives easier.

mike
 
Yes, seems to be a point where people are amazed we can pluck up the courage to inject ourselves, more so when they find out its five times a day.

I think its good when people then want to discuss what diabetes is like, so many people have half an idea, but don't realise it can easily enter into nearly every aspect of our lives.

Good to be a teacher sometimes! Although I always wanted to teach, during the school holidays mind. It was bad enough going to school with kids!
 
lol i have only ever wanted to teach kids to do one thing and thats to play footy as i am a qualified fa coach.

i think the more people understand what we have to do each day the better it is for everyone and the less scared of things others become. when i first started to work in my current job the guys i worked with hadnt even heard of diabetes let alone what it ment to me. so i told them in a brief outline what i had to do daily and also what could happen to me. thankfully they were all really mature and took on board what i said and i have never needed to shy away from them when injecting.

a wise man once said knowledge is power. and i for one think he was so very very correct.
 
wow that makes me angry. Especially from a nurse, how ignorant! And why did they publish such a stupid letter?
 
katie said:
wow that makes me angry. Especially from a nurse, how ignorant! And why did they publish such a stupid letter?
Click to expand...

I agree, but I suppose it does provoke a debate and makes people wonder how best to tackle the problem. I was more surprised by the letter from a person who said that going on a DAFNE course was the worse thing he could have done. I felt that they should have, erm...'balanced' that with a letter praising the benefits of DAFNE (do you see what I did there?:))
 
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