Testing and Injecting in Public

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Curdster

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Type 1
Ok so I admit I cant bring myself to inject in public, but I can test my BG when walking, on an escalator, bus, tube, train etc with the following technique. I have refined it so that on a standard escalator I can complete the process from start to finish before reaching the top or the bottom!! Here is the technique. Can someone do this for me for injecting and I will try. I don't wear shorts very often and skirts may raise an eyebrow or two. I use the maroon pen cart injector.

Assume that all your kit is in the right hand pocket of jeans or jacket. I am using Contour USB meter and Accu Check slim black autolet.

1. Take out test strip container in the right hand and remove strip with the left, return container to pocket. Strip in left hand now.
2. Remove meter from pocket using right hand and insert strip into the meter. Now hold loaded meter in palm of left hand. Hold your autolet like a chop stick in right hand
3. Prime autolet using thumb it and prick left hand finger. Squeeze pricked left finger with righ hand fingers.
4. Now transfer meter to palm of right hand.
5. Brings hands together and apply blood onto strip.
6. Suck finger.
7. Result!!!

Give it a whirl see how you find it.
 
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And when you test and find either HI or LO i guess you deal with accordingly,personallyi've never tryed the technique but I will do sounds preety good, i will avoid the esculator though as i have a fear of them 🙄 but the bus i'll try.

Thanks.
 
Steffie. Absolutley. Yesteday left the office, felt funny, tested as I walked to the bus stop. Confirmed suspision 4 and a 1 hour commute with a 15 mins walk at the other end. Sat at bus stop and revived. Checked on bus before getting off at train station. 6. Result.
 
Great practical advice - thanks.

I don't wear skirts often either - smart trouser suit for weddings / Buck House visits. I often test on train platform, while minding my folding bike, or once aboard. This also means that, since getting it a year ago, on my approx 2 trips per year to London, I can cycle instead of using tube. Not many escalators round here, so would have to make a special trip to a department store to try it out - but I'd always use the stairs, not escalator.

I use an Optium Exceed, which has a very neat wallet, so meter is fixed, finger pricker has an elastic loop and there's a pocket for testing strips, which are individually packed, in strips of 5, so it's easy to carry as many or few as I reckon I'll need for hours / days before re-spply - sometimes, weight (and waterproof protection of strips / kit) is critical eg on mountain marathons.

If I suspect I'm low, particularly when away from home, I would probably eat first, test later, for speed. If I got a high reading, I would give correction insulin, but might wait to end of journey if I was nearly home, as my most common commute home involves 1.5 miles cycling, followed by 12 - 15 mins on train, followed by 0.5 miles home.
 
Copepod. I am looking to purchase a travel/folding bike as the bus/tube at one end of the journey and a walk at the other is getting too long. I have looked at the Sinclair A Bike. Which one do you use?
 
I have a Pakka bike, 26 inch wheels, 18 speed, as my commute involves a steep hill, so wanted decent gears, and knobbly tyres to cope with potholes and offroad cycling. It only folds in half, so isn't counted as "completely foldable", which is relevant for some London commuting train journeys (but I only ever come to London at weekends). I didn't want to spend a lot of money, as I already have 2 bikes for regular town commuting and off road riding, so found the Pakka in a local bike shop, about ?170 because it had a few scratches and a small dent, so it was reduced from over ?200.
I asked a few friends for advice when looking for my bike last year - one said that small wheels attract lots of rude comments from other road and pavement users. So, I reckon that, unfortunately, anything with the Sinclair name on it and tiny wheels would attract comments, despite the good design of the bike and ZX80 & ZX81 computers, but also the less well received C5 and Segway.
If you do get a Sinclair A, I'd be interested to hear your views.
Another option is to park a bike at each station - cheap / unattractive to thieves bike, with a decent U bar lock would be the idal combination.
 
Curdster said:
Ok so I admit I cant bring myself to inject in public, but I can test my BG when walking, on an escalator, bus, tube, train etc with the following technique. I have refined it so that on a standard escalator I can complete the process from start to finish before reaching the top or the bottom!! Here is the technique. Can someone do this for me for injecting and I will try. I don't wear shorts very often and skirts may raise an eyebrow or two. I use the maroon pen cart injector.
Click to expand...

Maybe I've had it for too long....but I love injecting in public. The stairs I get of "oh my God" or an empathetic smile are great oportunities to educate.

I do sometimes hear parents/ elder siblings telling their younger one's that this is what will happen if the have too many sweets.

I also love the look on those who think I'm a druggie. Do u want some? is my favourite question

Personally think it's better to be thought off as odd, rather than suffer from a major hypo/or major ketoacidosis.

The most annoying of stories is when I go out to eat with my m8's. One of em is a food adict. We have our main meal, then he ensures I inject before getting desert a while later. Then he purposely offers me desert and has a smile after when he blatenly knows I reject it. The "oh well, more for me then" is his favourite line.

It's a sort of joke we share. I think I'll fake injecting next time and count the desert later to see the look on his face!
 
I really have no problem with injecting in public. I am discreet about it and I don't stand there waving my needle around. I make sure I'm somewhere I'm unlikely to be bumped into, turn my back to the public and just do it. It's a matter of seconds and then it's done.
 
Do you inject through clothing? Not something I have done. I find that if I inject into my abdomen I get a faster absorbtion and it has caught me out before so I am an arms and legs man. (hence not wearing a dress/skirt, or shorts as the legs ain't that great!!)
 
Here is my method for injecting using any pen. (Assumes right handed person and pen in right jean pocket)

For the injection:
1. Remove pen from right pocket using right hand.
2. Hold the pen so only the half with the plunger end is in your right hand.
3. Place left hand over the other end so that your thumb and finger are above the join (this is important for next step) and remove cover
4. Use thumb and forefinger of left hand to remove needle cap and drop into the top cover
5. Put cover in front or rear left jean pocket with open end facing upwards to avoid losing needle cap
6. Dial up 'air shot' using right thumb and forefinger.
7. Expel 'airshot' by rotating needle upwards and pressing plunger with right thumb
8. Dial up dose using thumb and forefinger of right hand
9. Use left hand to aid in locating injection site. I usually wear t-shirts so lift up t-shirt using thumb of left hand.
10. Use remaining fingers to pinch stomach skin upwards towards thumb
11. Administer injection using right hand

Putting it away:
1. Hold pen upwards in right hand between thumb and forefinger so plunger is resting against palm
2. Take the cover out of your front or rear jean pocket
3. Tip it upside down into your right palm so that the needle cap lands in your right palm
4. Use your left thumb and forefinger to pick up and replace the needle cap
5. Use your left hand to replace the pen cover
6. Use your right hand to replace the pen in your right jean pocket

NiVZ
 
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NiVZ. Thanks for that. I thought pinching was old school. Do you pinch at any site, or just abdomen. Is this to stop hitting the six pack?
 
Hello,

I pinch for stomach and legs, but being diabetic for 14+ years I suppose I am old school.

Six pack I wish 😛 Only six pack I have is in the fridge :D

NiVZ
 
I manage to inject without people noticing, by doing it through my trousers below the table if needed. I feel much more self conscious using my inhaler in public than injecting or testing. I wonder if it's because I have injected for far longer than I've had asthma. Or if it's because people can't fail to notice using an inhaler but don't always see me injecting.
 
I do go through clothes on occasion it isnt however reccommended. You will affect the lubricant on the needles. But it's not recommended to reuse needles but plenty of people do.
 
Dyu know, it's actually never bothered me. I break my meter out everywhere, and have been known to inject in some very odd places. The best one was some monastery in barcelona some years ago now, right in front of a monk that was giving the tour of the place. His face was a picture 😱:D I can't remember the name of the place, but there's this well famous madonna statue there.

I've injected and tested on archaeological sites in the middle of rain storms and ended up with meters covered in blood. I've sat on the floor in a supermarket once whilst hypo and done it. But the best place to do so is definitely on a train. The looks can be hilarious sometimes.

I don't mind if people look, but its the comments sometimes that really get to me. I was called a druggie in the middle of the park outside work the other day and almost had a punch up with the nasty chav who called me it.
 
I used to inject through trousers or jeans at work, etc. I decided that pulling them down would get too many looks.

No prob with testing or injecting where I am but I used to use toilets when I had the syringe and 2 phials to draw up from. It's a lot easier with a pen. 🙂

Rob
 
Hmm.. I'm not sure if the needles I'm using would be enough to go through my jeans, they're only 8mm 🙄
 
SilentAssassin, I totally agree about the train lol. The only time ive felt completely self concious injecting in public was on a packed, but silent train. I went red, but i dont think anyone actually cared.
 
Lewy said:
Hmm.. I'm not sure if the needles I'm using would be enough to go through my jeans, they're only 8mm 🙄
Click to expand...

They're quite big actually! I use 6mm and it is possible to 5 and even 4mm ones! I've never injected through clothes, I just lift my shirt and inject in my tummy. 🙂 Never really worried about anyone seeing, unless I'm in a situation like a wedding, when I would ask the guests at table if they minded. Haven't done much injecting or testing in public. It was a bit of a pain when I ran the Great South Run because I felt the need to test at around 6 miles and found it very fiddly - it was a cold, wet October day and my finger did not want to produce blood, plus it's annoying having all those people running past you!
 
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