Yeah. We know.
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard the statement “I hate needles, I could never be diabetic,” I’d be a rich woman. Because people say this all. The. Time. Since I work in the diabetes industry, I honestly feel like I hear this once a day. So can I just make a rebuttal statement here, once and for all, to get it off my chest?
Everyone hates needles. Everyone. Except maybe the occasional masochist, this is universal dislike. You know why? Because they hurt. They are pokey and meant to go under your skin and therefore they are painful. So nobody likes them. I don’t care how you phrase it: “I’m deathly afraid of needles,” or “I like, pass out!” or the good old “no you don’t understand, I really hate needles.”
Actually, we do understand. We get it. You really don’t like them. Guess what? Neither do people with diabetes. We don’t have a choice though. One day, when we were diagnosed, we were told you have to get poked by either a pump or shots to get artificial insulin or you will die.
Those are the two choices. Shots or die. So although you may be “deathly afraid of them,” I’d put a million dollars on you choosing to get over it rather than die.
So yes you could be diabetic. You’d find a way to overcome that fear and take care of yourself. All of us did. And we all hate needles too.
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95% of the time, I don’t mind the needles. It’s only when I find a sensitive spot on my thigh or when I inject my Lantus too quickly and it burns. You did have to show the most intimidating type of needle delivery system for a newbie or non-diabetic: Syringes. Though they look frightening, I find they are the easiest to control - much easier than what I use now - pen needles. However, I don’t mind losing the vials since I use such a small amount of insulin (20 units of Lantus and Novolog each a day) and a lot had to be thrown out after 28 days.