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Have you ever asked a stranger in public for help with hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia (for example, asking someone for a snack, to stay with you, or help in some other way)?
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i said no, not because i am not comfortable to ask for help, rather I always hav snack within reach!
No but I should have.
Several times, once walking on side of table mountain in Cape Town where I live I’d forgotten to take snack and had severe enough hypo to know I needed something. A lady hiker had exactly what I needed, and she saved me!
Once in 60 years of t1d. Out hiking in remote area. Left my jacket with glucose tabs in pocket by side of trail during a rest stop. Walking back, asked a hiker if he had any snacks. He gave me an energy bar. You only do it once in your life………then you remember forever.
It is about a year into my diagnoses at which time I am still developing my new diabetes care habits. I am walking on the beach trail while my husband jogs. I start to feel low and my CGM agrees. My husband is far away and I do not have the car keys or a cell phone. I usually keep sweets in my jogging pants but I forgot to refill after I washed them.
I decide to head towards the restaurant at the pier, keeping an eye on my down-trending BG. I am not too low to think straight, in fact I am being very logical. As I walk I check out all the moms on the beach. If I see anyone handing out junk food to the kiddies I am going to walk up to them and explain my issue. A Mom at the beach is likely to have sweets or chips/crackers. I am not going to randomly approach a mom because I have limited time and 1) that mom may not have junk food and 2) even if she does she may hesitate and even say no. BUT If I ask while she has the food out in plain sight she will have a hard time refusing me.
No moms with food out by the time I reach the pier. I approach a very busy waitress serving the outdoor patio. I calmly and firmly explain my issue. I ask for an inch of regular coke, not diet, right away, AND I share that I do not have any money on me! I felt so supported when she came through for me. No hesitation, no questioning what or why I needed this. She was a rock star!
San Clemente, CA
BG dropped while walking in a community park and somehow I wasn’t prepared. Embarrassed but panicky, with no money, I made it to a neighboring bar & grill and asked for a soda. The guy seemed unhappy about it but did give me a small cup. Fortunately I made it home kind of okay. Now I always go out prepared.
I have always depended on the kindness of strangers
Blanche Dubois
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
I said no, but if wait staff at a restaurant counts, I should have said yes. A couple times I switched purses for a small one and neglected to put glucose tabs in. Once my Dexcom alarm went off and a young couple heard me telling my sister that my BG was low. They immediately offered me a granola bar. I thought it was very nice of them.
I answered “other” because I’m not sure if these are the kinds of situations the question is after. 1) Once when I was a kid I blacked out at the mall and my dad told my little sister to go to the pizza place and ask for a soda. I don’t know if he gave her any money or just said to say it was an emergency. We were both in elementary school at the time. I’m honestly impressed my sister actually managed to come back with a soda. 2) In fifth grade we took a field trip to the middle school (to learn what 6th grade would be like) and I passed out while we were walking back at the end of the day. Another student’s mother happened to be driving past, saw the commotion, and offered to drive me and my teacher back to the elementary school.
I don’t believe I had ever asked, but one time while taking a walk, a person saw me sitting on a rock by her tree lawn. When she asked if I was okay, I said yes because I had already eaten something to bring my sugar up. She went and got me some orange juice anyway since she had a relative who used juice to bring his sugar up. Much to my dismay, someone had already called an ambulance for me as one stopped to ask if I needed help. Even though my sugar was climbing by that time, the ambulance drove me home as they didn’t want me walking home and my sugar possibly dropping again. P.S. This was many years before getting a CGM.
I was camping once and someone stole my oj out of my cooler and my bg tanked. My friend drove to a nearby farm and knocked on the door. They didn’t have any juice so she came back with a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter! It did the trick.
I had a very sudden severe low about 15 years ago and had to ask a co-worker to come to my office until my carb intake took effect. I always carry fast-acting food with me that can be placed in my cheek if necessary.
I “borrowed” a juice box from a grocery store. (I did end up purchasing the package after taking one outside to my son who was in the car with his dad.)
My work commute included a bus ride that ranged between 45 minutes and 90 minutes. One day I ended up standing in the aisle and it was very crowded. About 3/4 of the way there, I started feeling faint and was about to ask the woman sitting near me if I could trade places when I passed out and if not for sardine conditions would have fallen right over—but the guy behind me caught me and lowered me to the ground. When I came to I heard someone yell—she’s breathing, no need to stop. A colleague from the back yelled—she’s diabetic and probably needs a snack. I got put in a seat and was handed four or five granola bars and other snacks. My BG was about 110—that’s not what caused my fainting. It was hit and very crowded and I had my knees locked to stay balanced as the motor coach bus didn’t have handholds. Lots of folks were willing to help—it was very scary for me. I never took the bus if I didn’t have a seat!
One time! Actually my husband asked, we were hiking in Hawaii, I thought I brought enough stuff but with the heat and the distance (ended going further than originally planned) I started experiencing hypoglycemia. Fortunately the area had guava trees and the natural sugar from the guava really helped too.
My husband got a backup granola bar from a hiker for me which I didn’t need to eat after stuffing myself with guava.
Long before CGM was available, I was out on a run in an unfamiliar area and got really low. I stopped at a house and asked for some oj which the woman very nicely provided.
While working as a delivery courier I was forced to ask my dispatch for emergency delivery of orange juice (the irony). Experience led me to request a formal accommodation for unscheduled meal breaks. The initial reaction from management was to demote me. Needless to say, they were barking up the wrong tree. As fate had it, I went on to a long, productive and distinguished career as an HR professional. Not all are as lucky!
Was at Mardi Gras parade here in New Orleans- blood sugar dropped super low (before I had accurate cgm) and had to ask a family group with a cooler for a can of coke – they were more than happy to help. In the 50+ years I’ve had T1, maybe 5-6 times I’ve cut the line at a convenience store or gotten OJ from a bar: folks always jump to be helpful.
Yes. I was caught once without my glucose and asked for something sweet.
I was in the Altana airport once waiting for the final leg my journey when I realized my glucose was falling. Cut off the insulin on my pump, ate several glucose tabs and continued to get worse. Another passenger awaiting her departure asked me if I needed help – her husband was diabetic and she had noticed when I started eating the glucose tablets. I could not communicate effectively by then so she ran to nearest place, grabbed a coke (which they did not charge her) and ran back to me. She offered to skip her flight if I needed her help but I was a little better by then and she departed. I never got her name. Kindness of strangers.
I was driving on an interstate and suddenly realized I felt confused. Fortunately, I was right near an exit where there was a Burger King. In the restaurant, I forged ahead of the line and asked for orange juice. The staff quickly gave me a bottle and understood without me saying anything else that I needed that right away. After I finished the juice and tested to see that my blood sugar was okay, I tried to pay but they wouldn’t take my money. This was long before CGM or pumps, But there is still always the danger of going low when driving. Not a good combination.
Only when I had a seizure and the paramedics were called to revive me.
I have asked at times from friends I visit. Even when I carry my own tablets. I don’t always have something with me
While on a canoeing trip with friends they had stopped at a A&W Burger stand and I was at a window unable to speak but motioned to my mouth and a friend saw me and told them to get me a Coke
I was out to dinner with my husband his friends and their wives. One of which was a nurse. I started to feel like I was getting low so I asked my husband to get me an OJ. The nurse asked what my CGM said, it was 70 she was like that’s not low, but I knew it was much lower. So my husband asked the waiter for an OJ and the nurse said bring a coke instead. My husband knows I can’t drink coke especially fast. So I got up and went to the bar pushed in front of everyone got myself an OJ drank it down. Got handed another one made it back to the table drank that one down it dripped down my chin onto my blouse. When I felt better, I just looked at my husband and said I was so glad I could depend on him when I needed him.
I’ve had a few strangers help me but I’ve never asked for help. By the time I needed someone’s help it was too late to ask for it, as I wasn’t able. I don’t have that problem anymore on a pump. Negotiate side effects of long acting insulin I believe was the culprit of extreme and incoherent lows.
I have gone into restaurants and asked for orange juice or milk immediately before ordering the meal but haven’t just asked any random person to help. I always carry fruit snack packs with me in my purse.
Once, years ago, back in the old R/NPH days. Got whacked with a severe low while driving home from some errand. Pulled up next to a convenience store. Confused, didn’t seem to have any money, desperately needed something sugary. Tried asking in the store for something, but no dice. Kind of a blur after that but I somehow managed to get home without crashing the car or harming anyone. God I hated that regimen.
I don’t believe I ever have myself, but 15 years ago in a country where neither of us knew much of the local language and few people spoke English, my late wife did on my behalf after I went very low after climbing a pretty steep hill. After what must have been a very harrowing taxi ride for her (I’d eaten all my snacks on the way up the hill, and became incoherent and uncooperative), at a good hotel she managed to get me into a room and obtain a Coca-cola, which brought me around. The hotel called a local US-trained doctor who diagnosed heart attack or stroke, to the horror of us both, but a very good Australian doctor the next day agreed nothing of the sort, just deep hypoglycemia.
Not food but I did ask a waiter for a battery for my pump. He found one for me and would it accept money. Needless to say he got a good tip. Now I carry batteries everywhere I go. Could have left the restaurant and found a place to buy one but my food had just arrived. I wasn’t sure how long the first warning would last. I was grateful I could enjoy my meal. Shout out to that waiter.
When in need you definitely need to ask someone it’s rare but it has happened in the past many many moons ago.
Reading all those comments reminded me of a couple of times I did not ask but was helped by strangers who figured out what was wrong with me or, when I was still at least semi-coherent, helped me to get glucose tabs out of my backpack or pocket, including an unknown nurse in the tunnels under Atlanta airport like the other commenter. All long before CGMs.
Yes, many years ago while on a college field trip the NPH I had taken earlier hit at the wrong time. The van my class was riding in reached the destination just as I was searching my jacket pockets for glucose tabs. I was unable to get up and mumbled to a classmate that I needed something sweet. She told our instructor that I needed help. He came on the van to ask what I needed and I learned that he also lived with T1D. He gave me a hard peppermint candy to suck on. That did the trick and I was soon able to get up and join my classmates on the studio visit.
No, but there have been times when I should have. I always think I can take care of it, but looking back, a little help would have been a good thing.
‘ve been Dexcok-ing so long I rarely need help. But…when I have I am not afraid to ask. I always travel (not just vacay travel, but errand travel) with something. Ofen juice boxes, One time I had to ask for help opening the damn thing. I was at a huge book store and sat down next to a couple strangers, explaining my bg was low and I couldn’t get the damn juice box open. Funny thing is, one of the strangers said “don’t ask me – let my wife do it. She deals with those damn things all the time” I now also carry glucose tabs and I always open the container before I need to – the safety seals are a bitch.
Yes, in years past, decades before BGM and using amumal insulin, when caught unawares. I found in Boston one of the best places to ask was a tavern – either juice or the concentrated bar-syrup followed by a “Tavern Burger”.
What I’ve found even more rewarding is a “stranger” approaching me after noticing my behavior and offering me something sweet to drink or eat.
Like all the others, I have never asked a stranger for help, but should have.
I had a low one time where I ended up in a car fixing garage. (This was a point in my life, pre-CGM, where a doctor had prescribed twice as much insulin as my body actually needed, so lows happened to me all the time.) I was acting drunk. I held up my arm to show my MedicAlert bracelet and said I needed to call my friend because I was on the way to eat dinner there… and my brain was hyper-focused on eating dinner.
They brought a Coke for me to drink, but I refused it because I was “not allowed to drink that.” I was SO confused!!
They called my friend (so, maybe I did ask for help!) and she came to the shop with food, which I ate….
Such an odd experience!
No not of a stranger. But I had a very close call experience with severe hypoglycemia while I was attending an AADE Annual Meeting, a professional conference of CDEs and I was ignored by several “diabetes care professionals” rushing by me as I sat on a bench struggling to self-treating a rapidly plummeting BG of <50 ….
It was day 4 of intense professional meeting activities in a large convention center and my BG dropped so low while walking from one activity to the next that I was dazed, sweating, and my brain cells were shorting out trying to connect the dots. I sat down on a bench and made attempts to call out "HELP" to any one of the CDEs who were rushing past me on their way to the next lecture presentation. Perhaps my voice was too feeble and weak for them to hear me, but not one of the stopped and I was rapidly going down the rabbit hole. Fortunately I had some glucose gel packs with me and somehow with shaky and sweaty hands I managed to open up two of them and swallowed.
In the meantime a CDE, RN colleague who is also T1D called me on my cell phone and asked where I was since I wasn't in the lecture hall where we agreed to meet. I garbled that I was in the hallway outside of the lecture room ready to pass out from a plummeting BG level. Within a few seconds she rushed to my side and stayed with me as I recovered – giving me a spare juice pack from her personal stash, wiping the sweat from my face and neck, then giving me her sweater to put on when the bone cold chills set in. As I recovered we both sat there in stunned amazement that I was having a severe insulin reaction in the midst of all these CDEs at their Annual Meeting and not one of them heard my cry for help as I sat in shivering and dazed in a hypoglycemic pool of sweat.
OMG !!!
I am having trouble liking this post because of all the bad things that happened… but, thank goodness for your friend!!! And for gel packs and juice and sweaters!!!
I ditto sweet charlie’s response: OMG!!!
This is a Hollywood movie type of post — a soldier dying in the midst of other soldiers and nobody noticing.
My answer was “NO”. I never (NEVER) leave home without my roll of Glucose tablets. They are also in my car, relative’s houses etc.
I’ve gone low in public but have always had glucose tabs or do lower basal rate. And sometimes I felt the need to let the stanger know everything was ok. Some show great concern but I let them know it takes a few minutes to bring bgs up with no drama. Mostly I’m private.
Typically I carry something in my purse and suspend my pump. There was a period of time when I would just black out because I would drop so fast, but I was always with a loved one/friend.
Once on a strenuous hike my blood sugar kept crashing and I blew through my backpack full o’ carbs. My husband begged passing hikers if they had carbs to spare. I made it down the mountain that day because someone kindly obliged. Have been helped with lows from people I do know more times than I can count. Makes me grateful for good people!
I arrived at a train station in Europe before the Euro was the common currency. I was low and didn’t have the local currency, or know the language. I started to cry and finally someone helped me. It was terrifying.
I have never asked a stranger because I don’t know when my sugars are low. I have had strangers help me by calling 911 when I pass out and start having convulsions.
Unfortunately, by the time I get to where I think I need help, it is too late.
I have been Type one since I was 15. I am now 63 and have not been able to feel any warnings like sweating, dizziness or vision problems until I am completely gone and many people think I am drunk, or high on something. It doesn’t even occur to me to ask for help because my sugar drops and I feel OK, then it drops like falling off a cliff. I have to get a CGM but I have no insurance right now.
I ALWAYS have glucose tabs with me in case of hyperglycemia. I generally don’t use foods to help with that, as food is unpredictable. I know a whole 4 gm tablet will raise my blood sugar 20 points. I use 1/2 a tablet if I only need to raise it 10 points. Truly a lifesaver, especially when I overestimate a bolus. Using a CGM makes it much easier to keep track of hyperglycemia and try to avoid it.
It wasn’t actually me doing the asking, as I was focusing on staying conscious – Others I’ve been with have run off to ask for sugar products to assist me. However, one was due to an oversight on my part – forgetting to carry sugar based products on me. The second time was due to a severe injury that kept dropping my BG, and I’d used up what I had on me – so they needed to go find more sugar based products for me.
I have asked family, friends and co-workers, but I don’t ever remember a time when I asked a stranger. My mother did when I was a child. We were at the supermarket when my blood sugar dropped and she went up to the cashier and told her she needed a candy bar for me. Pretty soon, a man approached us and questioned my mom whether she intended to pay for the candy bar. After my mother explained what was going on, he offered her more food for me and told her not to worry about paying. He then told the cashier that we were fine. Of course, we paid for the candy – – Mom saved the wrapper so they could ring it up. To this day, I don’t know if the man was the store manager or security or?, but I was and still am happy for his understanding!
Does the cashier at a gas station count? I forgot my wallet so they graciously gave me a free coke. I came back with cash later that day.
Yes. My glucose suddenly dropped down to 40 while grocery shopping in Walmart. I found a high glucose drink but could not open it. I asked one of the stockers to open it for me.
I haven’t needed to ask for help, but recently I was surprised by a rapid drop in BG as I pulled into a gas station. Since it took me a looong time to find a sweet drink that I wanted in the convenience store, I felt a little silly when I walked up to the register. I found myself explaining to the young clerk why it took so long to decide…. but he was very calm about it. In fact, he either couldn’t have cared less, or had seen other people acting odd!!