[Doetsch]

I have been toying with the idea of something. This is a bit Extreme and I would like everyone's Honest opinion.

I have thought of the many downfalls of society and Diabetes. One of the main is that INSULIN IS A CURE.....This is one of the many things I dislike. If society doesn't look at Diabetes as being a severe disease that IS NOT CURABLE, what does this mean. Well, it means that Diabetes will be put on the backburners and society will look at Insulin as a great Treatment / Cure.

I have a feeling that in the Documentary with showing people that take Insulin, People will look at it as a cure. I want to show people that YES, Diabetes can be treated but I want to also show how serious the side effects of not having Tight Control can be.

My Idea:

Disclaimer ->
I have a friend whom is a Paramedic and he has already agreed to help me with the following.

1) Have a "Controlled Low" in the presence of a Licensed professional : This will show the Audience how fast someone can get sick with too much Insulin.

2) Have a "Controlled High" in the presence of a licensed professional. : This will show that Insulin is not a cure and that we have extreme side effects without it.

The Fine Print:

For the Low -> I will take a 10-20 unit shot of Rapid Acting Insulin without injesting any Carbohydrates. I will have a time shown on the screen at start and every 5 minutes there after. I will check my BG every 5 minutes. This will show to EVERYONE that within a short amount of time, things can turn for the worse. Once my BG reaches below 30mg, I will have my paramedic friend perform either OJ, GEL, GLUCAGON or that d-50 stuff.

For the High -> I will DISCONNECT my insulin pump and go through the days like normal - I will eat without injecting Insulin (I will act like someone who does not have Diabetes). I will have a time listed on the screen for the start and every 1 Hour there after. I will check my BG every Hour and I will stay Disconnected until I start showing the early signs of DKA. Once I show signs of DKA I will take a large Bolus to get back in control. If I cannot get back in control I will have my friend take me to the ER.

I really want to have a powerful moment and show how severe the disease can be without proper control. This will also give the audience a slight idea of what we have to go through everyday to stay in tight control. I think it will make Diabetics look very strong.

[littlebuddy]

I think you're a 100% wrong and a 100% right in doing something like this. Having been a Film Production Major in my university days I would totally support you on this. Although if you want to make this a documentary that really works you will need to do more research than on your own body (as you suggest).

Namely, interviews with trusted prefessionals (i.e. Doctors and Scientists), with long time and short time diabetics. Interviews with diabetics will help your audience understand the issue and why a cure should be found. Interviews with family members related to diabetics to understand how it affects them. All diabetics have been helped by someone during a low or a high.

Lastly, you can intercut through all of this your experience with a low and a high. This, I think, will give maximum effect to your cause which will not go unheard.

Remember you are a person with diabetes and there will be a lot of people with diabetes watching. Make it good, interesting, impacting, and people will love it. Attention will be payed.

littlebuddy

[DeusXM]

Channel 4 did a documentary on diabetes a couple of years ago and they had a really poignant bit where they were interviewing an 18-year-old with diabetes.

He said, "People think that the hard part is the needles and doing your injections, but it's like brushing your teeth. The hard part is just the living from day-to-day part of it. Every day I run the risk of being 15 minutes from dying."

"If the needles are the easy part, just imagine how tricky the hard parts are."

I thought he was spot on with that.

In terms of the effect of insulin - on the one hand I think it's important to shock the **** out of people. Other people sit on their couches all day long and only respond to stuff when it upsets them.

On the other hand, I'm loathe to support anything that makes people with diabetes look weak or sickly.

I'd suggest maybe these things:

1. Your controlled hypo suggestion is a good idea. It's better for 'the cause' then showing people who've died from hypos or whatever. As for the mechanics....10u-20u sounds like you're trying too hard, even from our perspective. You want to get the lowest possible amount 'over' the normal safe limit. 3-4u should put you in a hypo and also be only a very small percentage of your requirements. I'm guessing your aim is to show how difficult the condition is to manage in real life. In real life, people don't overdose by 20u unless they've mixed up their basal with the bolus.

2. A controlled high is a good idea if it results in you needing to go to the toilet all the time and comes out in very visible effects. Unfortunately though, they probably won't be powerful enough to make an impact. Try filming at a diabetes clinic with the people who are poorly controlled. Find the blind ones and the amputees and the ones on oxygen. Show the ones that are poorly controlled over a long term period.

In my experience, people simply don't 'get' what poorly controlled diabetes results in, whether or not they have diabetes. They need to be shocked and frightened to the point they feel sick and fear for their lives until they 'get' it.

The 'waiting room' totally changed around my perspective.

As another idea too - it might be worth showing a person with really good diabetes control. I guarantee that they will be phenomenally anal about carb counting, blood testing, everything. They'll be thinking about their blood sugar every 4 seconds or so. Show people that. Show people that when you get insulin wrong, you really suffer. Show people the sheer amount of effort that it takes to get right, how this disease totally and utterly consumes your entire waking (and sleeping) life. I think I speak for everyone here when I say we ask ourselves at least 5 different questions and make about 10 different calculations every few seconds or so, just for the right to be able to breathe.

That's why insulin isn't a cure. There isn't another disease on the planet that needs such intensive thinking just to stay alive. Not even AIDS or cancer.

[seacomp]

I agree with most of Deus' comments except:

Originally Posted by DeusXM

if it results in you needing to go to the toilet all the time and comes out in very visible effects.

Do you really want visuals on excessive urination?

[DeusXM]

Hehe...what I was thinking more like would be either time lapse photography of during the day of the subject going towards the toilet, or perhaps cuts with the subject at a desk with a visible clock on the desk to everyone could see the frequency.

Actually, while I'm on the subject...much as I'm loathe to recommend the glucowatch, it might be very effective realtime way of showing how your BG reacts to insulin or a lack of insulin.

Ketostix are obviously a must too, to show the ketones spilling into the urine. Maybe with a pointer that ketones directly translates as your body eating itself.

[LauRa Lu]

Originally Posted by DeusXM

That's why insulin isn't a cure. There isn't another disease on the planet that needs such intensive thinking just to stay alive. Not even AIDS or cancer.

God no wonder i have a headache all the time. We do have so much to think about even when we're not really thinking about it.

So many people dont know enough about diabetes, I wish mor people understood so that we also dont have the most stupid random questions thrown at us everyday. Like someone telling me if im low at least I can eat lots of diabetic chocolate Doh!

[DeusXM]

To be honest though, a really selfish part of me secretly loves the fact that people don't know anything about diabetes. There's nothing quite as satisfying as raining down on someone who's said something stupid about the condition with the line "Excuse, I think I've got ever such a slightly better idea of how to look after myself than you."

I think it'd annoy me immensely if someone non-diabetic pointed out something I was doing wrong and they actually had some intellectual authority behind it. That's why I wind up my care team so much.

On the other hand, there simply isn't anything that compares to the experience you get of living with diabetes. And that goes for any condition. One thing that having diabetes has taught me is that it's far smarter to keep your gob shut when talking to people with other genetic or terminal conditions. I've realised I don't like it when other people make assumptions, judgements or give advice to me, and it must be the same for other people in a similar boat.

[Funnygrl]

I think one problem with your idea is that it doesn't show that people have hypos and hypers while trying for great control. It needs to show that you can do the same thing everyday and get different results.

I had a low in my nursing class one day and one of the other students came up to me and said, "Why did you take your insulin and not eat?" I simply responded that I did eat, diabetes isn't predictable.

Truth be told, if you could just take shots and that would gurantee perfect blood sugars, diabetes would not be hard to live with at all. It's the guess work and the randomness of it that makes it suck.

[RBmumsie]

As respects filming the "high" portion - I don't know if you're affected quite this way, but as my BG climbs higher I lose my ability to function mentally. I'll have trouble remembering the numbers in my address, my PIN numbers for my ATM card and my math abilities decline sharply. Anyway, I was thinking you could have a scene where your levels are normal and someone asks you various questions and you reply. Then the same scene, when your levels are climbing and you answer the same questions. And, yet again as your levels creep even higher.

Something along the lines of how they show the ways that alcohol affects people's behaviour.

[Doetsch]

Originally Posted by RBmumsie

As respects filming the "high" portion - I don't know if you're affected quite this way, but as my BG climbs higher I lose my ability to function mentally. I'll have trouble remembering the numbers in my address, my PIN numbers for my ATM card and my math abilities decline sharply. Anyway, I was thinking you could have a scene where your levels are normal and someone asks you various questions and you reply. Then the same scene, when your levels are climbing and you answer the same questions. And, yet again as your levels creep even higher.

Something along the lines of how they show the ways that alcohol affects people's behaviour.

That is a very good idea. I think it might be better portrayed with a low than a high though.

[lgvincent]

I don't think it's possible to have a controlled low. I've found each time I take insulin, I have no idea what will happen. I can take the same amount of insulin and eat the same thing for several days and usually my blood sugar will be in the acceptable range but sometimes it will go low and sometimes high. In addition, I've gone into seizures in the mid to upper 30's so I'm not sure it's a good idea to let it go that low. Sometimes, I've felt fine in the 20's.