Do any of you wish people understood why...

[sleepy]

you act disorientated or you cant really make sense when you talk?? I dont want to sound like a broken record or be all whoa is me but i find it upsetting sometimes.

Just a few silly examples, during a driving lesson i asked '' sorry i have diabeties and im low can we pull over'', to which he replied'' i dont know what that is keep driving'', if i hadnt been so confused i would have intentionally crashed his car. In college when i tried to explain that if its bad for a while it affects my concentration , so which people said ugh i have asthma and she has epilepsy and that dosent get in the way of our work. If im going low and trying to act normal people ussually laugh at me because i go into a panick and cant control my facial expression.

just needed to vent........

[MJM]

Hi Sleepy,
Not everyone understands diabetes. What I would suggest is that before you do anything that would require your full concentration check you blood glucose. If you don't have a meter on hand, be on the safe side and eat something, especially if driving. I found myself in your situation too many times in my younger days.:thumbsup:

[sleepy]

thank you

i do that indeed

but using something alien to my body-these things are going to happen

[Lisa971]

I completely understand...
When I'm at work, talking to somebody, trying to figure things out (I work in a lab that does experimental research) with others, and starting to have symptoms of a low, I become very unable to concentrate, it's very hard to talk and sound like you know what you're talking about. Not just at work, but when I'm engaging in deep conversation, explaining something especially, to anybody, I find it very hard to express myself!!! At work, if I get low while I'm interacting with a co-worker, I will get quite, aloof, and get something to eat or drink. Sometimes I wonder if they think I'm just in a psychiatric trance, or am no longer interested in what we are discussing. They do know, however, that I have diabetes; I just don't always tell them each time I get low.

Just tell people that don't know what it means that your brain is not getting the glucose (a vital nutrient) it needs in order to function so that you can concentrate. Tell them that maybe their brains could be too deprived (of whatever needed) to understand such a logical concept. But it is hard for people to be able to relate, especially if they have nver learned or experienced much about their own, or somebody else's, body.

[Jackets]

This is and has been a very complicated issue for me. When I go low, more often than not I have the tendency to be determined to keep it together mentally. I used to have a lot of lows in public. So as to not call attention to myself, I hid everything pretty well during conversations and whatnot.

It seems the more I concentrate in that state, the faster it accelerates my low. But of course there are times when I don't keep it together. I've flat out exploded in argumentative ways (to family). As to be expected, they'll argue right back at me because I come off very normal. But if the conversation continues, it deteriorates into me making as much sense as a toddler (which is very unsettling when you're an adult).

I have the problem where I think my family gives me way too much credit (that sounds funny). They see me as tough, one of the smartest in our family, but also the youngest child. So when I'm in that state, they talk to me as if the conversation will serve any good, but it really won't. The masking of my lows has caused me to also have a tendency to explode. Not good; and it's incendiary for all involved when in my lows I interact with people.

Example and long story:

One instance that really bothered me was when I took a shot a wee bit too early one night before our food arrived. I was low when I finally started eating the plate of pasta that came in. I expected to eat the whole thing because 1) I was going low, and 2) I have a monster appetite. Once I did, everyone exploded at me for not saving some, calling me selfish and whatnot. I, in my low state exploded saying god only knows what.

Now, we're all adults when this is going on. But the problem was I didn't tell anyone I was going low. So the explosion was pretty unexpected. I said I was low but that didn't seem to satisfy them much!! Another thing I DO remember saying was "I'm a diabetic, you can't talk to me while I'm going low and expect me to be polite. I just don't have the ammo. You wouldn't throw a ball to a man with no arms and say catch would you?" I wouldn't normally say something so sensational, but I was, well (fill in the blank). Maybe eventually everyone thought "oh, he's just being low" but they certainly didn't show it WHILE I was low.


Moral of the story: Don't downplay your lows; people will downplay it right along with you. Including your subconscious mind.

[Stuboy]

you act disorientated or you cant really make sense when you talk?? I dont want to sound like a broken record or be all whoa is me but i find it upsetting sometimes.

Just a few silly examples, during a driving lesson i asked '' sorry i have diabeties and im low can we pull over'', to which he replied'' i dont know what that is keep driving'', if i hadnt been so confused i would have intentionally crashed his car. In college when i tried to explain that if its bad for a while it affects my concentration , so which people said ugh i have asthma and she has epilepsy and that dosent get in the way of our work. If im going low and trying to act normal people ussually laugh at me because i go into a panick and cant control my facial expression.

just needed to vent........

you have GOT to be kidding!!??!?

Your DRIVING INSTRUCTOR told you to keep driving when you said you were low?????????????????????

CHANGE YOUR DRIVING INSTRUCTOR.... personally i'd report him too!! That's gotta be the most DANGEROUS advice a driving instructor could give you as a diabetic. "i feel low" "meh, keep driving".

[sviskan]

I hate it when people are careless when I bring up something to do with my diabetes.

Once in school when I was around 18 a girl in my class asked me if I could please go outside to do that (that is inject my insulin in my stomack). I got so mad and told her the real deal. If I do not inject myself with insulin I will die, so if you do not like what you see please look elsewhere. I do not think she got it though. S..... girl.


Even my closest family thinks that after a low I am all up and ready to go. Helloooo, I am extremely tired after a low. They just dont get it.

But the worst people are those that think they know all about diabetes when they dont.
- Can you eat that?!
- You are not getting a caramel!
- If you go really low I am suposed to inject you with insulin, right? NO

And then there are the overcaring and overworrying people, constantly asking if you are okay. I hate that.

I could go on and on.

[TenderVittleS]

Well I've met a lot of people with no medical problems that do weird things all the time or are weird in my eyes, it's not just diabetics, its a part of you and once you accept that you'll be better off.

[poodlebone]

I'm lucky, because almost all of my family/friends/co-workers get worried if I start acting goofy, or don't respond/reply when they say something to me. They know that if I say I'm low, that getting some sugar is more important than anything else. I haven't really had any experiences with strangers, though, and having to ask them to stop or slow down because I needed to treat a low.

[spring]

I rarely go so low that it impedes my speach and brain functioning (usually that's only after an untreated overnight low and that means me not leaving the house for a few hours after getting up :p) People's immediate response has always been to show concern and wonder what they can do to help/offer to get me some sugar etc.

It was actually quite amusing - after graduating high school I spent the summer before university working in an office. In just a few weeks of knowing me they could tell when I was low before even I could! (Evidently I get quite pale - which is impressive for one as pasty as I). I would give them a funny look when they asked if I was feeling okay, but sure enough a test would confirm I was low! It would be five minutes or so before I actually started shaking.

I always let coworkers and friends know that I'm diabetic, and what it means to be low and how to treat it (or at the very least my limitations when I am feeling low - being physically weak and not at my sharpest mentally). I ride horses, and my instructor is patient with me about a late starting lesson if I am forced to chug a juice box just before hopping on, and she always double checks (when I've been low) that I'm feeling myself again before we go much beyond easy warm up exercises.

If anything I find people tend to exaggerate things in their minds if it's foreign to them. A Professor was essentially offering me an out for having a late paper and suggested that perhaps it was because of my 'medical condition'. Diabetes? No... that wouldn't keep me from writing a ten page paper I've known about for a month. :smartass: (I said no, it was just me procrastinating and not properly managing my time. Luckily she was still kind enough to let me hand it in).

[Erin]

I am fortunate in that I usually feel lows well before they become noticable to other people (other than folks who know me very well). I might seem a little spacy, but I think people just assume I'm a little spacy. I also keep food close at hand, so I can just start eating it or drinking it, rather than getting into a conversation about it. It is easier for a person to accept "I need to do this now" when they actually see you doing it. Trying to explain a low is worthless, to most people, they won't understand. But most people won't argue with a statement of fact "I need to eat this now"