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What impacts on life choices? eg Club entry/diving .....

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L

Littlefoot

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Relationship to Diabetes
Parent of person with diabetes
19 yr old ( newbie type 1) asking - are his clubbing days over ?

Any guidance please? Even with diabetes under control how do the clubs treat the hypo kit etc ...

He's only just started out on his life when this illness struck and was already feeling ughh ( no doubt a lot due lot the illness lurking) .... so keeping his confidence up is key and want to nip this worry in the bud ( with whatever reality there is!).

Any other situations that get tricky/restrictive for young men - he's found he can't go diving and can't be an airline pilot or astronaut (he doesn't want to be- luckily!)?

thanks
 
Newly diagnosed myself so I have yet to go out round town (something I do less often these days anyway but did ALOT at his age!) but he should be ok to go clubbing and drinking as long as he has a good group of friends to look out for him, he eats some carbs with the alcohol to help keep his levels up and keeps an eye on his sugar levels during the night if he's dancing! Not sure about how they react to taking stuff into clubs but I would expect if he explains the situation he should be allowed his kit with him because he needs it! I do remember one of the girls I went to uni with her sister was diabetic and she would go of clubbing like anyone else 🙂

I'm sure with sports and stuff other than monitoring and dealing with hypos as they occur it shouldn't stop him engaging in sports - I've been back doing indoor climbing since I've been diagnosed I just made the centre aware incase I have an accident or something and I try to remain aware of my levels and I always eat extra before and occasionally have a small snack during if I go for longer than 1hr! I've also been back horse riding and the same applies really!

I'm sure someone with more experience will be along soon but although we may need to be more careful I don't think there are many things we can't do! Literally the only thing from before I was diagnosed I can't do (or won't do?) is get VERY very drunk on a night out (I think I'd still have a good few drinks just not god knows how many shots like I used to as a student!) or have quite a few drinks home alone (I used to have a few ciders or a good amount of cheep Malibu at the weekend or after a bad day at work!) mostly because I am scared of the consequences and because I am still learning how my blood glucose reacts!
 
Absolutely not!

I was diagnosed with diabetes at 14 and went through the whole process you'd expect anyone to go through from 18-22. I went to university and probably spent five out of seven nights a week 'out'.

Granted, 'going out' will require a little more forethought and the best advice I can give is for him to literally practice drinking in a reasonably safe environment (ie. party at home maybe) so he can learn how alcohol affects him, so he can start making plans around it. He will have less than perfect control but that's the trade-off that needs to be made.

More immediately practically, I've never had an issue getting into clubs with insulin on me (most doorstaff are trained to be aware of this) and hypo kit hardly needs to be extensive - a pack of glucose tablets in a pocket should do the trick. Plus, clubs also have an unlimited supply of hypo treatments in the form of the soft drink tap. I've been in plenty of clubs where I've been aware I need to take some action to stop a hypo and hey presto, a glass of regular Coke not only solves the problem straight away but also doesn't draw any attention as it just looks like you're drinking a spirit and mixer.

As for your other situations....actually, he can dive. I should know, as I used to be a BSAC Club Diver (I might possibly still be one technically but I haven't been for a few years) - BSAC do pass medicals for people with diabetes, and although the process is more involved than the standard diver medical, if you can show you're in control, you can still pass. You can even still be a pilot - the UK is actually one of the aviation jurisdictions where even people with T1 can fly commercial aircraft (provided they pass the relevant medical requirements).

If you want to give him a bit of confidence, I don't want to come across too much like I'm blowing my own trumpet, but since I was diagnosed, I have:

  • Passed my driving test
  • Dived the Great Barrier Reef
  • Climbed mountains in Asia
  • Lived in the Middle East for a couple of years
  • Flown a glider
  • Done a parachute jump
  • Graduated from university
  • Driven a canal boat
This is in addition to all the usual stuff you'd expect people in their teens and twenties. And I'm also pleased to say, I'll be getting married this summer too. I know your 19-year-old won't even be thinking about that sort of thing, but the point is, as long as you've got your insulin, glucose tabs and tester with you, there is literally NOTHING you cannot do if you're prepared to put the work in. The world is at his feet and he is in complete control of his own destiny.
 
For my own part, I was diagnosed at 18 years of age. I was amateur boxing at the time and it did not stop me continuing in this sport. I competed in Kung Fu tournaments without any hold ups. I worked as a kissogram, worked as a bouncer worked in club promotion. I clubbed very heavily until I was about 45 years of age. I still do on occasions. Hold a shotgun license (I only shoot clay pigeons 🙂) Drive about a million miles per year. Personally as DeusXM suggests I would never let the condition prevent me from doing anything I ever wanted to. I don't believe that you can hold a HGV License which has never bothered me. The commercial aviation things surprises me a little since I had a customer who had his pilots license revoked when diagnosed. He may however have had additional complications which impacted. I have also done all manner of other silly stuff throughout my life most of which is too insignificant or plainly just too bloody stupid to post on here 🙂
 
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I thought you could hobby dive - just not sure you'd be allowed to be a COMMERCIAL diver (oil rigs and suchlike, would you even be allowed to do the helicopter-crash test into the black tank in order to just travel to work on one? - can you 'hobby' black dive Deus?) having said that, it's never appealed to me - the only time I have even wished I could snorkel was in the Maldives and that's not on my regular holiday list LOL)

As with everything D-related - like any disablement really - if you WANT to 'be a martyr to it' - I'm damn sure you can if you try hard enough! but if you make your mind up to not become one - it's easy as long as you also agree to obey it's own rules. If you don't make your mind up to do that last thing pdq however - I'm damn sure you will be a martyr very soon ! ie the only person that is going to suffer is YOU - so don't!
 
The commercial aviation things surprises me a little since I had a customer who had his pilots license revoked when diagnosed.
Click to expand...

It's a fairly recent thing. IIRC, you could always train as a private pilot on an American license (ie. you could go to a UK flight school and ask to do the American qualification rather than the British one), and then in 2002, I believe the British private flyer qualification was opened to PWDs. The commercial airline bit has only been in place since 2014 I think, so it may be a while yet before people like us become more commonplace.
 
I'm just curious - how can you dive with diabetes? What happens if you have a hypo underwater, you can't eat anything underwater and you can't surface quickly! Do you have to make sure you are a bit high before you dive?

I was once told that I wouldn't even be allowed to try scuba diving because I'm slightly asthmatic and if I had an attack underwater nobody would be able to do anything about it (not that I want to try actually lol). I can imagine there might be several medical conditions that fall into that category o_O
 
It's not easy but it's doable. First, you probably do want to pre game a little and have glucose before diving, but it's also worth noting that the key to successful diving is to actually move as little as possible, so it doesn't necessarily take too much out of you.

Then, you can do something pretty complex with a sports cap bottle filled with lucozade or a hypostop gel tube and taking out your regulator if needs be. Also, depending on how deep and long you've dived, you can in some circumstances resurface fairly quickly and treat at the surface before diving again.

I actually used to specifically practice this in the pool to get the hang of it. Diabetes of course creates some unique challenges and you either let those stop you doing what you want to do, or you can find and teach yourself workarounds. I always favour the latter option.
 
I was actually diagnosed at a PADI diving medical, then passed basic diving qualification, but with BSc Marine Biology, I wanted to dive professionally, which wasn't possible in 1997, so I didn't dive again. However, I have done lots of snorkling. A SCUBA diving GP friend told me he deliberately ate a Mars bar underwater, not because he needed to, just to see if it was possible.
 
Thank you both - I do actually agree 100% with the "don't let diabetes stop you from doing anything" mentality, I just wondered how that one was possible! o_O
 
Agree, diabetes is perfectly manageable. You may have to work harder at things but unless someone says you're not allowed to do that then it shouldn't stop you from doing anything you want and living your life how you want to.

His clubbing days should just be getting going. :D Alas, my clubbing days are over (I think :D) but nowadays with pens, pumps and small meters - all very discreet, makes life for a T1 so much easier. I remember going out to the Leadmill with my Novopen in one pocket and a syringe and a vial of ultratard in the other. It would have taken some explaining to the bouncers if they had found a syringe in my pocket. No meter at that time as I was using BM strips. Can you imagine being in a club balancing a strip on top of the tube, pricking your finger with an autolet, leaving the blood on for a minute, wiping it off and leaving another minute and then trying to read it visually against the colours on the tube. All this whilst loads of drunk people are dancing about in almost darkness. The toilets weren't exactly pleasant if you wanted to test there. 😱 It was never going to happen - that's probably why I never took the BM strips if I went out. Still, I had some good times - madchester, acid house 🙂🙂🙂 and then britpop. :D
 
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