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0 pointsmorganherlocker12y ago0 comments

Oh, Panic Room.

The movie in which a child has a severe low blood sugar, on the edge of death, and her mother administers here a large shot of... insulin! I could not believe it when I saw it. The treatment given in the movie would have killed her in no time.

For future reference, in case anyone comes across a diabetic experiencing a seizure. Do not give insulin in this case. This will lower blood sugar further. What they need is to consume anything with sugar, if conscious. If not, they need a glucagon injection. These typically come in a clunky red container, containing a large needle filled with saline and a vile containing a white powder. Shoot the saline into the vile, shake up the vile, extract the solution, then shoot the solution into the affected person's leg ASAP. Do not give anyone insulin under any circumstances. If you give someone glucagon with a high blood sugar, they will probably be ok. If you give someone insulin with a low blood sugar, they will likely be dead. /PSA

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trekky170012y ago

This has always been one of my biggest fears. People always assume diabetics need insulin, when in most cases of unconsciousness, insulin could be deadly.

berkes12y ago

I carry a note in my diabetes-bag with me (next to that glucagon-injection) saying: "Don't give me insulin. Ever!" I translate that to other languages when I travel abroad.

My biggest fear is to go out because of low sugar, then someone with good intentions killing me, for wanting to help me.

zaider12y ago

Why shoot it into the leg? Aren't most injections given in the arm? If it needs to go into a vein is it an issue of it reacting faster there?

morganherlockerOP12y ago

For diabetics, you are usually injecting insulin, which should be rotated around parts of the body (any fatty area) to avoid scar tissue build up.

In this case, however, I was talking about glucagon, which is only given in emergencies (to messed up to ingest sugar). Glucagon needles are much larger than insulin needles, and can be shot straight into the leg through jeans. The arm would work too, but might be more likely to leave soreness. The main thing is to administer it as quickly as possible.

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