[jared]

How many of you use alcohol swabs for shots and testing sugar levels. I don’t use them but I think I need to. Can someone give me some advice?
Thanks




Also does anxiety (panic) attack have anything to do with diabetes?

[PepsiLvr]

I only used alcohol swabs for shots. I read somewhere that you are not supposed to use them for testing because it can make the skin on your fingers tougher. Although If you look at BD's website, www.bddiabetes.com they DO say to use an alchol swab when testing (of course they are one of the makers of alcohol swabs) Washing your hands with soap and water should be fine though (I don't even do that).

To answer your second question, anxiety goes along with depression which is common with diabetes. The best course of action is to find out the underlying cause of the anxiety. A lot of the drugs that treat anxiety also treat depression (paxil, effexor, prozac, zoloft, etc.) Just take the advice of someone who has been there (I have general anxiety) and be careful because these medications cause some unwanted side effects and then they are a pain in the a$$ to get off of. (Look up paxil withdrawal or effexor withdrawal on google and you'll see what I mean) I may have given more info then you wanted but I do want to warn about the problems with some of these newer drugs. PM me if you need any additional info / advice.

Hope this helps.

[HeatherP]

I've also always used alcohol swabs. There was a study conducted and concluded several years ago that found that people who only washed their hands in warm water w/ soap had the same of even lower incidence of infections as compared to those who used swabs. As Pepslvr has pointed out though, I've also heard that it can make your fingers tougher and drier. Personally, I find it better to use the swab and dry out one patch of my skin rather than wash and dry out my whole hand. - one does get tired of applying lotion constantly.

I can imagine that anxiety/panic disorder could accompany diabetes - lord knows there's enough to worry about w/ this disease, lol. My husband has panic attacks too (no diabetes though)

JMO
HeatherP

[jared]

thanks for the helpfull information. and im gonna do some research on different anxiety drugs....thnaks

[PepsiLvr]

Jared,

Just be careful and do your research. Unfortunately doctors tend to perscribe the one they get the best kickbacks from or the one they have more samples of. That's how I got looped into paxil and effexor. I don't know if wellbutrin is for anxiety but it is one of the safer ones. I thought I'd be fine because I NEVER got any side effects from any medication but when you start screwing with chemicals in the brain it's a different story.

Good luck.

[Jenny]

Nope, I don't use alcohol swabs, but then again, I am not a germ freak! LOL ( Just kidding SHY) But I will agree with whoever wrote that I get tired of applying lotion. I only test 1-3 times a day but with a kid and two dogs, and a husband, my hands are constantly needing washed because of something I need to fix or do....

[Musqua]

Re: Use of alcohol swabs:

We were taught in nurses training not to swab the finger with alcohol before testing as the alcohol somehow affects the blood sugar reading. When I asked the teacher how this happens she did'nt know just that
she was told not to use alcohol. They suggest just cleaning the hands with a mild soap and dry briskly.

Heather W.
(Another Canadian Friend)
Canadian Girls Rock

[eevee]

Jared...I read often of diabetics having panic attacks, but concensus seems to be they come around mostly when bGs are high. With good control--and probably without any meds for depression etc--they will likely fade away.
Eve

[Shalyndria]

Ha ha Jen LOL thousands of comedians out there starving for dinner and you're cracking us up :p
I actually don't use alcohol swabs on my fingers for two reasons: 1) they do cause hardening and excess callousing of the skin, 2) they kill off the resident flora (the good bacteria ) and because of this, over-use can facilitate infection.
I just wash my hands in warm soapy water before testing and carry single-packaged antibacterial wipes in my meter in case I can't get to water. Yes I do this everytime I test.

I've also heard, like Musq, that the alcohol can affect the blood sample. Something to do with the ph of 70% alcohol.

Shy

[Lorna]

I only use them at all if I think my skin is particularly dirty and there is no practical way of washing it. (In my case they make the skin really tough and the injection painful)

[Gary]

Sometimes I use the swabs, but usually I just wash my hands. It all depends on which way the wind is blowing.

[Eri's mom]

Eri doesn't use the alcohol swabs...doc's said the same thing about it interfering w/ the reading b/c of the alcohol, and b/c of the hardening of the skin. She washes and dries her hands b/f each test.

As for anxiety...that runs in my family. I suffered from it, but am totally rid of it now(they had me on zoloft....what a PAIN that was)...I pray Eri doesn't experience it, but I know there is a lot out there that can help if she does start to experience it at some point.
Research is always good

[jared]

Eri Im nervous that you said "what a pin that was" im currently on Zoloft and so far its helping allot...no more attacks. Please explain what’s bad about it. And also is it hard to come off...later down the road?

[Eri's mom]

I meant that if I missed a day...and when they first started me off...they had me on 50mg...but didn't tell me to start w/ the 25mg...so I was sicker than a dog the first day or so. Coming off of it wasn't so bad. Just being on it totally decreased my moods...I mean, I was happy, but not.
It works GREAT for a LOT of my friends. It just wasn't for me.

Now my son was on Paxil...and my God...talk about horrible side effects and then having him come off it.(he was 11 at the time, and they put him on that b/c they dx'd him as ADHD and Ritalyn, adderol and concerta did NOT work, so they tried the paxil...and it was ten times worse than the other three together!!!)
I have a friend who is on paxil and does great w/ that...but, granted, they are a lot older than 11!!!

Sorry, didn't mean to worry you. I just had a nasty bout w/ the zoloft....they put me on valium after that....and that helped tremondously when I needed it. I don't anymore

[jared]

Thanks for clearing that up...I feel a whole lot better now then I ever did. I think its the 7 month old, new house, and trying to get diabetes under control really all kicked in at the same time and had me almost paralyzed there for a little while