Injections and Toilets

[grahams mum]

hi every body iwill never inject Graham in a toilet and because of what happened a few weeks age i dare anybody to challenge me when i inject graham!!!! in any place!!!!!!!!!

 

[Flutterby]

I just inject wherever I happen to be, at tables in restaurants - wherever. I used to skuttle off to the loo's to inject but just can't be bothered any more. Certainly won't do that after reading all the posts here - Yuck! No one has ever said anything to me and woe betide them if they did!!

 

[runner]

I am still trying to resolve the issue of having been requested to do my blood tests in the loo rather than at my desk because of H&S reasons!

What!! You're not posing a risk to anyone else, but you may pose a risk a risk to yourself if you inject in a loo! Perhaps you could challenge on the grounds of discrimination!

 

[Tezzz]

I am still trying to resolve the issue of having been requested to do my blood tests in the loo rather than at my desk because of H&S reasons!

That's utter bol**ks. Excuse the language Moderators.

I agree with runner.

I was told to test in the loo and the person was told to a word rhyming with duck and the opposite of on. No way Falcon.

If you are in a trade union get your rep to get advise from their legal department. If you're not in a trade union then join one! The Disability Discrimination Act is a valuable weapon and your employer must make reasonable adjustments. Testing at your desk is one of them. One of the girls in the office has a sharps box at her desk.

 

[ZoZo]

An old topic but one very close to my heart!!

O has injected pretty much everywhere EXCEPT a toilet! As soon as he was diagnosed it was taken as read that he will inject wherever he feels comfortable.
We have done it in the cinema (usually before the film comes on and the lights are still on as he cant wait to start eating his popcorn) in the car while I was doing 70mph on the M25, in all manner of restaurant and eating places sitting at the table, in a tent when we went camping, on the beach
( bit dodgy cos of the sand but we did it), in his classroom or diner at school etc. Hoping to add 'on a plane' this year due to our first foreign holiday since diagnosis.
Anyway, you get the picture. I would never expect him to go to a toilet to inject, not only because of the hygiene issue, but why should he? Its nothing to be ashamed of and I challenge anyone to dare say anything to me about it. I want him to grow up feeling the same way.
He does it very discreetly in his tummy cos he doesn't want to draw attention to himself, but he isn't ashamed.

 

[xxlou_lxx]

I inject where ever I am when I need insulin, never in a bog though lol
Saying that I inject mosly in my abdomen/love handles as apposed to my legs etc... I guess they wouldnt thank me for whipping down my jeans in the middle of mcdonalds haha 😉

 

[Cate]

I used to inject in the loo occasionally - when I first started MDI in the 6th form (most people at school didn't know I was diabetic and I didn't want to tell them). But I never would now, and haven't for years. Once on MDI I nearly always injected into my stomach so it's fairly easy to be discrete. I'd do it at my desk at work, in pubs, restaurants, shops, outside, on boats, trains, planes, in cars (not while driving ), in a canoe once, at the glastonbury festival, other concerts etc etc etc.

Someone once accused me of being a drug addict and threatened to call the police when they saw me injecting. And reckoned diabetes was "just an excuse".

Funnily enough I think the pump I have now is if anything less discrete than my original Novopen used to be (the one where you counted clicks rather than dialled up a dose). But that's only because I don't like using the remote control I have, as it doesn't tell you the dose you've entered and I like to double check these things.

 

[Andy]

I am Type 2 on Insulin and will never inject in a public toilet. I inject at the table if out for a meal and give a health warning beforehand to anyone who doesn't like needles 😱 It is then their choice to look away.

If I was taking tablets I wouldn't go to the toilet to take them!!

 

[falcon123]

I am still trying to resolve the issue of having been requested to do my blood tests in the loo rather than at my desk because of H&S reasons!

What!! You're not posing a risk to anyone else, but you may pose a risk a risk to yourself if you inject in a loo! Perhaps you could challenge on the grounds of discrimination!

Sadly still an issue! I am hoping there may be some resolution when we move offices soon. The irritating thing is that whilst everybody agrees it is wrong getting someone to actually support you (like DSN, DUK, etc.) is near impossible!!!!!!!

 

[ZoZo]

Sadly still an issue! I am hoping there may be some resolution when we move offices soon. The irritating thing is that whilst everybody agrees it is wrong getting someone to actually support you (like DSN, DUK, etc.) is near impossible!!!!!!!

Employers have certain responsibilties to their employees under the DDA.

So its fine if they dont want you to inject at your desk, but they have a responsibilty to make reasonable adjustments to provide you with somewhere else to do it. That doesn't include what is fundamentally a public toilet.
Do you have a staffroom or a welfare room?

Do you have a union where you work? They will be able to advise further.

 

[sasha1]

Hi All ...

Sorry to come into this thread really late ....

Nathan injects where ever he needs to in any place and in any situation ... Never ever will it be the loo .... Nathan and I were asked once to use the toilet in a family orientated fast food restaurant ..... Needless to say the assistant got a right mouthful .. and I asked to speak to the manager immediately .... They have never made the mistake of that to us again .... Nor while I have air in my lungs will Nathan be asked etc to inject in loo's regardless of his age .... sorry peeps ... but I feel really strongly on this ...

Oh god I cant think of anywhere more unhygienic or unpleasant.

Injections can be done discreetly etc ... and really does anyone notice or care .. even if they did .. they would be politely told it is no concern of theirs and jog on ...

Heidi
xx

 

[runner]

Hi All ...


Injections can be done discreetly etc ... and really does anyone notice or care ..

Heidi
xx

thinking about this, I have only ever noticed 1 person injecting in my whole lifetime - and that was in a loo! The woman had a syringe (shows you how long ago that was) and felt the need to explain that she was diabetic and injecting insulin, not anything else! I hope times have changed....

 

[Lauren]

Hi...

I used to inject in the loo all the time and nothing bad ever happened to me! Then someone pointed out how unhygienic it is... so I stopped! The only time I ever do that now is if I am in Wetherspoons in Aber because the layout of the tables makes me uncomfortable (all the tables are close together and I am scared that someone walking behind me will knock me). But I haven't been there for months either. I did my injection in a loo on an aeroplane last month too because I didn't want anyone to knock me if I did it in my seat!

I did my injection in the dark in a cinema once but I couldn't see to get the plactic cap back on the needle so I just put the pen lid over it and unscrewed it and disposed of it properly when I got home. Never again!

Also I quite often do my injection through my tights.

 

[Lauren]

Also I work in a pharmacy and you'd be suprised to know how many people don't change their needles on their pens...

Mostly men too!

 

[sasha1]

thinking about this, I have only ever noticed 1 person injecting in my whole lifetime - and that was in a loo! The woman had a syringe (shows you how long ago that was) and felt the need to explain that she was diabetic and injecting insulin, not anything else! I hope times have changed....

Oh the poor woman .... funny you say this though .. my late great grandmother was diagnosed diabetic .. just as the creation of insulin was made ... talking to my great aunt .... she recalls everything was kept in a silver tin ... and very hush hush .. this was about the mid to late 1920's .. unfortunately much was still to be learned about diabetes .. and she passed away aged 48 due to associated complications ...

I think personally times have changed ... but due to ignorance in some people . a certain stigma may still exist ... I would like to meet said people and invite them round for the day to see what Nathan has to do to save his life.

Heidi
xx🙂

 

[runner]

Heidi, that's fascinating about your grandmother and a shame she died so young. I've just been looking at the recommended books on the information thread - Northe mentions one about a young girl diagnosed before the discovery of insulin and the impact the discovery had on her life. thought you might be interested.

 

[sasha1]

Heidi, that's fascinating about your grandmother and a shame she died so young. I've just been looking at the recommended books on the information thread - Northe mentions one about a young girl diagnosed before the discovery of insulin and the impact the discovery had on her life. thought you might be interested.

That sounds really interesting, I will look on the book section and find out the name and have a read .... We take so much for granted .. and to a degree presume insulin has always been around .. before the discovery if I recall correctly diabetics were put on a starvation diet and given the prospects of about 2 years in the best case scenario

Heidi
xx🙂

 

[ZoZo]

That sounds really interesting, I will look on the book section and find out the name and have a read .... We take so much for granted .. and to a degree presume insulin has always been around .. before the discovery if I recall correctly diabetics were put on a starvation diet and given the prospects of about 2 years in the best case scenario

Heidi
xx🙂

So I say lets all bear this in mind and remember in fact how lucky our children and anyone with diabetes nowadays actually are to be able to live happy and normal lives, even when sometimes it doesn't feel like it. 😛

 

[sasha1]

So I say lets all bear this in mind and remember in fact how lucky our children and anyone with diabetes nowadays actually are to be able to live happy and normal lives, even when sometimes it doesn't feel like it. 😛

Hi ZoZo ...

Absolutely .... I'll drink to that ...

Heidi
xx🙂

 

[RachelT]

Part two of my research at work today.

Firstly, i don't think anybody should have to inject in the toilet or anywhere else if they don't feel comfortable with it. Like people have already said, it's not like you have to take your clothes off or that it's any different to swallowing tablets or taking an inhaler dose. I'm a pill popping type 2 so i've got no personal experience of injecting (well, just the once but that was on a hospital ward), but my type 1 friend at work showed me how she injects and to be honest, you don;t have to be minding your own business much not to notice. On the other hand, if half the department are in the tearoom or i'm feeling especially pessimistic about the results (or just in a grump), i can be self concious about using my finger test in front of everyone. There's only so much of "oooooo, what's that? Do you have to use that everyday? I've never seen one of those before..." i can take at once....🙂
Back to the orginal subject, i was wondering weather it was actually that much more of a risk to inject insulin in a toilet rather than in another public area. Short of taking my biotest machine and particle counter and testing the toilet at work, i'm not gonna know (maybe when the next batch of plates come in...). Talking to my nice boss at work we decided it probably wouldn't actually make that much difference. Asssuming that you're using a pen rather than drawing up into a syringe, you take the pen out of a bag and take off the lid. The bag and the lid will have kept the needle (even if you're not using a new one) reasonably clean. If you are using a new needle, you take ot out of a sterile wrapper. The needle is the only part that you need to worry about getting "dirty" and it's tiny and is only going to be exposed to the atmosphere for a fairly short ammount of time. The "dirtyness" of the enviroment is probably a smaller factor than the length of time exposed to it. Also bear in mind that toilets may get cleaned more often than cinema foyers. If you want to lessen the risks, either get hold of some alcohol wipes (or some good vodka and a hip flask) or some of that alcohol hand gel that they sell, and clean the needle before and after use. If you do need to put down any needles on a solid object, then place them on your bag or whatever you use to keep your supplies in and keep that clean. I'd be interesting to see the comparison in microbial growth between your average toilet and anything else, but i can't see that even my lovely QA bosses would see that as a good use of my time or hospital resourses.

It's down to person choice, i reakon.

Rachel