Totally Fed Up!

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KAREN1

KAREN1

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi everyone i was just wondering if anyone has had problems with so called well meaning people? what i am getting at is i work in the hospital with professional nurses who you would think would have some basic knowledge of diabetes. just recently i have been experiencing problems with peoples comments about my eating habits. i work nights and always take a sandwich and maybe a packet of crisps with me and i tested my bg and someone asked what the result was (ithink it was about 7 and the reply i got was well you dont need to be eating crisps then! i did explain about matching insulin to carbs but the look i got was as if to say she doesnt know what she is doing and i felt really let down and upset like i was a bad diabetic i am trying so hard and on one occasion i threw it away because i was so upset. i also get asked do you miss chocolate and cakes. luckily i dont have a sweet tooth but surely i can have a treat as long as i insulin match cant i? i am still fairly new to all this! (diagnosed dec) sorry if i am rambling on feel so fed up feel like i am being watched all the time. any advise will be really helpful X
 
ohhhh poor you..:( thats tough... well you have found the right forum i m also newbie despite being diagnoised 1 year ago...ask away ,rant away, what ever you need to ask there are loads here to support you 🙂
 
god some people are so insensitive , its none of there business to be honest you work with them they dont need to butt in or feel they have any right to fgs!
 
I get this too. There is one of the security guys HAS to tell everyone what they should and shouldn't be eating. He got so bad I reported him and I haven't seen him since. I also carry a copy of the etiquette for diabetics. My manager asked for a copy for a friend.
 
i worked in the nhs as a porter for a short time and found that the porters knew more and understood more about diabetes than the so called health professionals ,
you have to remember that every one has an opinion but not every ones opinion is right ,Ive found out very fast that diabetics know more about diabetes than most health experts ,so just smile when these silly people try to lecture us on something we know more about than them
 
Karen, as Steff says, it's none of their business! Why are they saying it really I wonder? I often think if it's a type of bullying when people act like this - it's almost as if they are trying to make you feel inferior in some way because they think they can do something (eat snacks) that you can't.

It's hard to educate people in the intricacies of diabetes in a couple of sentences, and people are usually resistant to hearing more - especially those who think they know it all already. As Mr T might say 'Pity the fool'!

MrT.jpg


You go ahead and do what you need to do and what you know is right - don't let their ignorance stand in the way of your health!!
 
hi Karen hope tonights shift goes ok for you , as northener said there either unadvertently or advertently doing a form of bullying , your collegues need a short sharp lesson in victimisation, please dont let them get to you , xx take care
 
I have a similar thing at work. Im really struggling with hypos at the moment and have missed a few days off work or had to come in late once my numbers have come back up etc.

Any way when i get to work my boss always asks "was it something you ate" or "were you drinking last night". I think he thinks i go home and stuff my face full of sugar and wine all evening!! i havent said anything so far because i dont like to make a fuss about it, plus im usually feeling like crap by this point! but it think im going to remind him soon that diabetes and all its badness is not self inflicted and is not my fault! 😡
 
Perhaps we should all put together a list of 'do's and dont's' as a way of letting those around know that whilst we appreciate that they are trying to help - diabetes is a complicated condition to manage and therefore should be left to the experts. I personally dont like to be offensive to anyone as i think that sometimes they are actually trying to help - they are just a bit mis-guided!🙂Bev
 
Viki said:
I have a similar thing at work. Im really struggling with hypos at the moment and have missed a few days off work or had to come in late once my numbers have come back up etc.

Any way when i get to work my boss always asks "was it something you ate" or "were you drinking last night". I think he thinks i go home and stuff my face full of sugar and wine all evening!! i havent said anything so far because i dont like to make a fuss about it, plus im usually feeling like crap by this point! but it think im going to remind him soon that diabetes and all its badness is not self inflicted and is not my fault! 😡
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Quite right too Viki! I love the image of us all going home and stuffing our faces with sugar and wine as though we are addicts or something!:D He's making these comments at a time when you're going to feel less like responding, so pick a time when you are feeling stronger. You have the upper hand in the conversation, because it is him who is showing his ignorance.
 
Thank You

thank you all for your support and replies i dont feel quite so alone now! i will try to be strong more but i dont like to make a fuss it just makes me feel so angry at the ignorance hope everyone has a good day take care all! x
 
I've had many comments since diagnosis some have upset me, I try and tell people that they aren't quite right and tell them what is correct. Recently my nan said to me I thought you always had too much sugar in your tea and that it would lead to something (as in my diabetes) I said no nan that's not why I have diabetes.
 
I remember the Easter just after I was diagnosed. Big Easter lunch at the in laws....elderly relative bought everyone else an easter egg but bought me two tins of fruit cocktail because she 'knew I couldn't have chocolate anymore'! I cried for days (and ate a lot of chocolate!)

There'll always be ignorant people around who will try and give you advice when actually they know nothing about diabetes, even my current community midwife ticked the 'special diet' box on my maternity records because she made an assumption that I had a special diabetic diet....aarrgghh!
 
KAREN1 said:
thank you all for your support and replies i dont feel quite so alone now! i will try to be strong more but i dont like to make a fuss it just makes me feel so angry at the ignorance hope everyone has a good day take care all! x
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Karen, for your own sake you may have to make a fuss. It's your health and the quality of your life that counts. It's worth fighting for. We're here to back you up so you're never alone.
 
bev said:
Perhaps we should all put together a list of 'do's and dont's' as a way of letting those around know that whilst we appreciate that they are trying to help - diabetes is a complicated condition to manage and therefore should be left to the experts. I personally dont like to be offensive to anyone as i think that sometimes they are actually trying to help - they are just a bit mis-guided!🙂Bev
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http://www.behavioraldiabetes.org/downloads/Etiquette-Card.pdf#page=1&zoom=100&view=Fit

Try clicking on this and downloading. Too large a file to attach (145kB )
 
Hi Karen,

How are things? I hope you're feeling better & the idiots at work (who should know better!!) have wound their thick necks back in! (snarl!).

Stick to your guns hun - you want a pack of crisps, bolus & go for it! The joy of insulin...! 🙂 (Bet they don't eat the recommended healthy diet all the time either, cheeky sods)
 
Yup, i agree, it's scary

I'm also astonished by the lack of understanding of diabetes amongst by fellow NHS staff... Yes... from "Are you feeling better now?" to "Ever notice how the reps who come to talk about diabetic meds always bring the most unhealthy food? Are they trying to make us all diabetic so we'll buy more drugs?" (i nearly strangled this pharmacist...) oh and "but if you get good control of your blood sugar won't your diabetes go away?", and there's the general assumption that if you're not diet controlled then you're on insulin and i had to explain to an experienced medicines managment technician what an HbA1c was...
I can't really blame them (no, i can, really, especially the pharmacists...😛)coz my own education on diabetes at basic pharmacy tech level was laughable in retrospect... i think we made notes for one paragraph which could be summed up as "Type one diabetics are children and are born that way and have to take insulin, type two are elderly people and overweight people who take drugs or are diet controlled." it's embarassing to even admit... I get quite cross about it these days, as you've probably realised...

Rachel (band 5 pharmacy tech)
 
Oh hun, you are speaking my language!

One nurse asked me on my break, "so do you still have your pancreas then? Or do they remove it when it doesnt work"? Excuse me? I was university for3 years to qualify to sit here in this coffee room as this, where the **** were you??

I could tell you several more horror stories, but best not....
 
Not diabetes related, but my mum was a nurse who demonstrated bandages for leg ulcers to nurses in GP practices some 20 odd years ago etc. She took sandwiches, cake, fruit etc, which was eaten, but one manager once asked her to bring more white bread and less brown / wholemeal next time, as the nurses prefered "sinful" bread", although they always ate more healthily with their families.
 
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