Diabetic people injecting at the meal table whilst people are still eating?

[KatieWatie]

I'm not sure if I'm being unreasonable about this or not. I haven't said anything or done anything, but I'm a bit about it. I don't want to get accused of being unsympathetic.

It is my BIL, who I can't stand and he likes to make a big show of his various ailments, so maybe I'm being really unfair because of how I generally feel about him anyway. It's not done in a quiet way, he gets his wife to come round the table to do it and insists on showing off the needle, talking about it etc.

What do other diabetic people do?

I'm due to (reluctantly) go on holiday with them in a few weeks and I'm dreading every meal time (dreading the whole thing tbh but that's another story). My mum suggests I just walk away but then I think I would get thought of as precious.

[neolara]

IMO, expecting someone to go the the toilet to inject insulin is bloody ridiculous and frankly, pretty insulting. I'm kind of horrified by how many people seem to think this is something that shouldn't be done at the table / in view of others. It's OK for people to have a disability, so long as you don't have to look at it?

[DaisySteiner]

Oh god, poor you What are you doing about getting to work?

[Oblomov]

DaisySteiner, thanks for asking. I haven't got it back yet. Been without my driving licence for 2 months now. The guidelines have changed. If you have 2 severe hypo's, day OR NIGHT, you lose your licence. Diabetes UK are fighting the DVLA over this, but there is nothing you can do, once an EU law is made.

[stupefy]

My Mums type one diabetic and always injected her meds at the table when we were growing up.

10 takes abut 5 seconds, if you don't like it, don't look!

[Countingwiththecount]

KatieWatie (Waiting no more? :P) I absolutely HATE it when someone injects themselves with lots of people around. Years ago when I was at school, I had a close friend who was diabetic and she would go to the office and do it before lunch. Unfortunately, there was also another diabetic girl in our year who used to sit herself in the most prominent position in the cafeteria do it in front of everyone...
Tread carefully when bringing this issue up. I once asked said girl if it was safe to do in a busy place, (diabetic friend had heard horror stories about snapped needles circulating in you body slowing killing you) and lo and behold her admittedly unpleasant friends were on to me like a ton of bricks for 'bullying her'.
I am such a bitch.

[DaisySteiner]

Oblomov - just wondering what happened in the end about your driving licence? I hope you managed to get it resolved, it sounded a complete nightmare and I've been wondering how you're getting on.

[notcitrus]

Am I right in thinking all insulin injections nowadays come in those little pen things with no needle visible to anyone else?
I know a few people who use those and just poke themselves usually in the stomach under the level of the table, and I think that's totally fine.

If anyone still uses old-fashioned syringes and has to attach an obvious needle to it and then inject, I think it would be polite to warn people first in case they have a needle phobia, but from memory of a school friend who used those, it was fiddly enough you'd not want to do it at the table anyway.

[Poweredbypepsi]

My mother had type one diabetes from toddlerhood. She injected wherever she was when she needed to certainly not in potentially dirty toilets either. There is really nothing to see at all I cant understand why its offensive tbh. My mother spent most of her life hating the disease it was very hard to control she spent months at a time in hospital during both her childhood and adult years no one has ever complained about her taking her medication (which needs to be done multiple times a day and the right times not when its convenient to hide away).
My sister and I are both very proud of how she coped with diabetes and the diseases she developed as side effects and to hear people talking about life saving medication as though its a nuisance is hurtful and offensive.
I dont know how it is for other diabetics obviosuly but fo my mother even being 10-20 minutes late with her medication could mean she would get ill rapidly (and this causes far more of a scene than a little injection) she needed it when she needed it.

[Oblomov]

And I too don't normally tell people I'm diabetic. I normally wait a month or so before telling colleagues. I want people to see me first, before they see my diabetes.
But please don't underestimate the severity of the condition.
It is listed as a disability. And thats with me working very very hard to control it.
Makes me sad that younger diabetics still have to deal with the amount of ignorance that there obviously still is about this condition.

[Oblomov]

This thread is so depressing.
I have been a diabetic nearly my whole life. Atleast I don't have to put you all throught 'the trauma' of my injecting anymore, becasue I am on a pump.
Has made me really sad to read some of the shitty comments.
I don't have a problem with the OP, as such, because her bil does sound like a compete drama queen.
Which of the posts upset me the most ? the ones that say they object to someone injecting at the table ? maybe . let me think.
I think this was the one :"He is obsessional about his diabetic control though"
Lurkerspeaks at 13.38
That one makes me want to weep. Becuase if you knew anything about how hard diabetes is to actually manage. you wouldn't say such an awful judgemental thing.
It dominates my life. I need to think about it every minute of every day. and night.

And I don't object to being a 'diabetic' either. I don't care whether you say 'diabetes' or 'diabetic'. PC nonsense gone mad.

[Rubyx]

My 12 son is diabetic and has been since he was six. I have always encouraged him to prioritise in a way that he is to do it in the toilets / another room if he can but if he can't and there are people around to do it discreetly but if he can't then i don't want him feeling embarrassed or more concerned about other people so he doesn't take his insulin ( this is more common with diabetics than you think) so YABU
He probably does it in your face cos it winds you up and he may not like you either. Which is silly of him.

[agedknees]

I'm a diabetic (type 2) and take my meds at mealtimes (hideous side effects if I don't take my tablets with food).

Your bil sounds like an attention seeking idiot.

But maybe you should have given a bit more thought into your thread title?

YABU to expect people with diabetes to slither off to the loo/away from the table to give themselves insulin.

[tiggersreturn]

That's sweet. I prefer the IDDT magazine - full of really useful information e.g. test strip levels changing from whole blood to plasma and manufacturers not bothering notifying anyone of the impact!

[KnitterInTheNW]

I have fond memories of balance, I put an ad in for a diabetic pen pal when I was 13. I wrote to a boy who replied for three years, then I went to London to meet him when I was 16. He was then my first boyfriend (for 18 months). Ahhhh!

[tiggersreturn]

I knew there was a reason I stopped getting balance (20 years ago).....

[liamsdaddy]

To spread some humour into this thread, this link is best read in chronological order :)

diabetespoetry.blogspot.com/search/label/injecting

[diddl]

It´s funny that you mention short skirts, tigger.

When we were last there we were looking at old pics.

There was one of MIL in a short skirt-from the early 70s(?)

FIL-"have you still go that skirt?"

MIL-"No"

FIL-"shame"

To be fair, she doesn´t hide her diabetes, but does feel that it is "hers to deal with" and doesn´t offer information iyswim.

But she is used to how she deals with her diabetes & does keep it under good control so perhaps feels safer sticking to what she knows.

[tiggersreturn]

diddl - your MIL also probably wouldn't wear short skirts or do anything else that would risk exposing flesh. She may also like me come from a generation where it was believed that the best thing to do was hide the fact you had diabetes as
a. it's private
b. "it's not nice to talk about"

We live in a slightly different world nowadays....

[diddl]

Getorf-my MIL would also never dream of injecting in front of anyone either.

Not through shame, but just that it´s "not done".

But I think that she follows the "old system" also.

[diddl]

Well, for someone like me who only knew of the old system, I would be wondering why anyone needed to inject at the table tbh, and would think that it was an odd way of doing things!

[GetOrf]

Perhaps he is making a song and dance about it because he is still not completely happy with having been diagosed as a diabetci? I don't know what the majority of people's feeklings are on being diabetc, however my friend was completely crushed. She still HATES it and is ashamed. She would never in a month if Sundays inject at a table, as she is so self conscious and LOATHES it still. However other people may feel better by talking about it and seeking validation from others.

Or your BIL is an irritating wanker

[GetOrf]

I think to be diagnosed and live with diabetes must be such a shock. It is not the nicest thing to live with, my friend was diagnosed with type 1 and she was utterly shocked and heartbroken, before she came to terms with it she worried that she would end up blind and limbless by the time she was 70.

I think people who are offended at someone injecting a lifesaving substance into themselves are incredibly selfish. Diabetes is a stigma in itself without the diabetic thinking that what they are doing is shameful and should be hidden away. If you don't like needles don't look! The diabetics NEED to do this as soon as possible.

It is like the analogy of BF babies - why should they be fed in the toillets because the sight of a BF mother may inconvenience some people?

There but for the grace of god you go OP - you may not like the bloke but develop some empathy for his condition.

[tiggersreturn]

diddl -old system went out of fashion at the end of the 80s but the myths have persisted for much longer cue diabetic meals on planes. There are good bits in it but it's all based on what suits you and how tight control you need to have.

[diddl]

I´ve obviously only heard of the old system then tigger.