[Stuboy]

Tonight Laura and I went to a resturant. I ordered a diet coke and made a bit of a fuss that it should definatly be diet. The first drink was diet...

But sinse we had to wait for a HOUR for our food, we inevitably ran out of drink! So i ordered a re-fill, again emphasising diet coke please.

The girl who brought the new drink to the table wasn't our waitress apparently, i didn't see her i was too busy tucking into the food that eventually arrived.

Anyway, i must have drunk about 3/4 of a pint of the second drink before Laura took a sip and said "this isn't diet!" I took another small sip, it tasted like diet to me...

I thought maybe it was a weak mixure, so i did the finger dip test... didn't feel too sticky, but laura disagreed...

Then i remembered that some meters can read the sugar in drinks... i had tried this with my ultrasmart before which didnt' work, but hadn't yet tried it with my new compact plus meter. so i did... and to my horror it read "HI"
I tested my blood.... 18.7mmol/L !! I hadn't had enough of the food yet for it to affect that much that quickly either...

We complained and the manager came over (about 10 minutes later) and patronizingly said.... "do you need me to call anyone for you?" i was so tempted to say "well and ambulance would be a good start!" but i didn't... instead i just started rambling on about when someone asks for a diet coke they should get a diet coke... blah blah blah.

Anyway... i got him to wipe the bill clear so we ended up having a free meal! Im never sure what to really say in these situations! It's always hind-sight that i think of things i "should" have said... grrr

But here is a good tip... the Accu-Chek Compact Plus does read sugar in drinks!! We tested it again when we got home with diet lemonade, diet coke and full fat 7up. the diet drinks read ERR and the 7up read 17.8mmol/L, the full fat coke read "HI". So if you have this meter, and you're in doubt of your drink being diet... you can use your meter to find out.

I wish now i'd have told him i'll press charges if i end up in DKA later that night... but i didn't. I did tell him he needs to have a staff meeting to warn them all about situations like this, and he said he would definatly do that (but i dont know if i should beleive him)

silly people!

[notme]

Stuboy, I have had this happen and it is definitely maddening. Luckily (in this case) you are type one and can bolus to cover the stupid sugar. For a type 2 this is a much bigger issue.

When I went to a fast food restuarant once, I poured my own fountain drink. California is notorious for do it yourself soda fountains. I absolutely poured myself a diet coke. I tried the coke and it tasted funny to me. My son was with me and he can tell the difference between sugary cokes and diet and he confirmed that I was drinking a sugary coke. I also complained. The owner of the restaurant went to see why I got a coke with sugar and it turned out they had the tubing connected wrong. Diet cokes were regular and regular cokes were diet. They were crossed somehow.

Order water.....it is safer. GRRRRR is right.

Sorry this happened to you Stuboy.

[gettingby]

This thread got me to thinking back to when I was first diagnosed. I was 14 at the time and my brother was 8. It used to be so much fun for him to test my drink for me. It made him feel he was participating in helping me care for my diabetes. 23 years later and he still sometimes does it for me.

[parrotletzoo]

Seriously, its a coke. If you know you are given regular coke. don't eat some other form of carbohydrate in your meal (you know, kind of like, not eating a potato or bread so you can have cake later), let the waitress know what happened and ask for diet. Its an easy mistake to make. It happens and really, its not like a food allergy that can immediately endanger your health/life. You know what you need to do to bring your bloodsugar back into target range. its not an emergency.

People make mistakes. Next time you choose to eat something you shouldn't and your blood sugar is elevated I hope you scold yourself as well as you scolded the restaurant employees. And don't complain about pricing at restaurants either, because the rest of us are paying for your meal now.

I'm sure I just pissed off a number of people, so rant over.
go ahead and go off on me for my opinion. I realize it's going to happen....

[patricia52]

I am super sensitive to Nutra Sweet. I ordered a coke. The waitress to brought me diet coke. (This was before I was diagnoised with D). I told her it was diet, but she insisted it was a regular coke. In the end I order a glass of water. She refusd to take the coke off the bill. I never went back to that restaurant. Connecting the drinks wrong could easily had landed someone in the hospital.

[ant hill]

Has anyone has had the mistake of cokes in a Mc Donald's?
I did and now I watch the order now. I also avoid drive in's now because if they make the mistake there then you are stuck with that order and you may not even know that it is D coke.
On the subject of soda pop, I went looking for Mountain Dew and it's only in strait dew. I will have a look at safeway next time as I may have better luck there.

[Funnygrl]

You can't get DKA from eating too much sugar. Only not enough insulin to meet cellular glucose needs can cause DKA. So dietary non-compliance can't cause it, skipping insulin can.

I don't think coke has fat in it either.

[w5wjp]

Had that happen once and waitress said "So what.."
I about strangled her with the tubing from the pump.

[Funnygrl]

I drank a full 48 ounce regular coke once by accident. I went to HI on my meter. I was upset. I bolused and felt better in 2 hours though.

[notme]

I agree, for a type one it can be maddening, but not the end of the planet. People with type two diabetes will suffer the effects for a longer time and have a tougher time getting back on track.

I don't disagree with what you said parrotzoo, only disagree with the way you chose to say it.

[matingara]

how annoying!

i am ultra safe. i order soda water only! i quite like coke zero - but will not drink it unless i personally open the can/bottle.

but out at dinner i would probably order scotch and soda or red wine! (again playing it safe.... )

-- Joel.

[Gary_W]

Whilst I can tell the difference between regular and diet from a can, I really struggle with telling them apart in the 'fountain style' cokes in restaurants and pubs; they all taste pretty similar to me. I'm sure it has happened to me and I've just wondered 'what caused that spike?' and whacked in a bit more of the old jungle juice to cater. It is a bit of a bummer.

For this reason, if I do order these in pubs and restaurants I always test regularly as I realise that (with the best will in the world) mistakes will happen. The bar sorting out the drinks might be doing 200 cokes an hour and the chances of it being staffed by someone that

(a) realises the potential problem (even if you explain it to the waitress) and
(b) cares

is pretty slim.

Beer or (if on the wagon) mineral water is a much safer bet if I don't have a sniffer dog with me Were I T2 and unable to get the mistake sorted with insulin, I think I'd avoid it altogether unless I actually saw the bottle / can.

Gary

[Stuboy]

No-one else pays for the bill except the resturant... the manager offered to wipe the bill, i just accepted the offer...

Where it may not be life and death issue for a type one... the mistake needs to be noted and staff informed of the danger, as highlighted earlier... a type 2 would have a much tougher time with it.

It still annoys me... i try hard to keep good control and it gets messed up by a mistake that shouldn't happen... ticket says diet... gimme diet! it's not hard... i've worked on a bar (for the same resturant actually...) and i know exactly how their system works and its not an easy mistake to make at all if you can read. People do make mistakes... but when it's a mistake that can harm someone it's a mistake not to be made.

[Jill-O]

I'm not sure this is even an option for people not in the US as it may not be popular enough to be on menus, but I always order unsweetened ice tea, and then taste it before putting artificial sweetener in it.

[DarthDiabetes]

Good for you! A restaurant is a service establishment and it is good to see that some managers realize when wrong is done they should fix it. Mistakes happen of course, but educating should be done, and mistakes that can effect ones health should always be double checked and dealt with. I think the notion that 'it won't kill you instantly' is erroneous and giving a pass so that people don't have to actually pay attention in their work. Paying for your dinner, making it right, is only appropriate especially if they want repeat business.