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Drunk or diabetic/hypoglycemic?

The two (three) can be frighteningly similar. Ketoacidosis (with crazy high blood sugar) can even make a person smell drunk. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) can really mess with balance and cognition and emotional stability, which I know all too well.

I'm in the process of getting a medic alert anklet made that says clearly "Feed Me Sugar!" (I'll also modify my RoadIDs) Someone encountering me in a hypoglycemic state would assume I was drunk, which could lead to me biting the big one.

When I was in EMT training we were told to give sublingual glucose to anyone acting oddly. It could save the life of someone with low blood sugar (diabetic insulin reaction or just plain ol' hypoglycemic) and would only mildly discomfit someone with normal or high blood sugar until they get to the ER.

Whatever the cause, someone showing up to work Monday swaying and acting oddly needs to see the doc asap. Either for health management or for detox... You did good, CC!

Knotted, my youth baseball park is surrounded by a walking trail, and there's a big shady playground right between a couple of my fields. When we were out working on Saturday, we saw an ambulance come flying through the parking lot and the EMTs ran out to the playground. Since it's "my" ballpark, I ran out to see if I could help.

A man had apparently been sitting in the shade under the playground tarp after his walk, and passed out. EMTs immediately found his medical alert bracelet. Diabetic. Blood sugar, 26! If there had been any other circumstances, like if it had been in the evening or in a big city, and if he had not been dressed neatly in Harley-Davidson t-shirt, I would have thought he was drunk, too.

I shudder to think what would have happened if a little girl in a stroller with her mama walking on the trail had not wanted to stop at the playground and her mother had not found the gentleman lying there. There were 25 of us working on the fields getting ready for a tournament, and none of us saw him out there. That would have disturbed me for ages if he had died.

I am very happy that our EMTs and police in our small town are so good at their jobs. No one we found knew who he was, but the police went straight to work, found his car in the lot, and went straight to his home to find his family. Their heroism makes me feel safe. And proud.

Karen

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Originally Posted by Tuckervill

I am very happy that our EMTs and police in our small town are so good at their jobs. No one we found knew who he was, but the police went straight to work, found his car in the lot, and went straight to his home to find his family. Their heroism makes me feel safe. And proud.

Karen

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Thank you EMT's and health types everywhere, and good night!!!

CC, you done good :D

Aack, working on the form to apply (not transfer, it's like a new job application) to the company I already work for. They want references. Yikes, I'd better ask some folks. :cool:

I have no idea what's happening with the woman now. I've never encountered something like this before & just thought..odd..

All I know is, i'm doing my job & having an interesting time reaching things :o I'll have to attempt to rearrange some items so i can actually get to them!!! Poor coffe drinkers won't have any sugar if i can't reach it!! :eek:

Great ride today..no rain!!! Weeeeharr!!!

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

Drunk or diabetic/hypoglycemic?

The two (three) can be frighteningly similar. Ketoacidosis (with crazy high blood sugar) can even make a person smell drunk. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) can really mess with balance and cognition and emotional stability, which I know all too well.

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That was exactly what my first thought was - Monday morning is also a good time to have screwed up blood sugar levels due to eating that piece of cake the night before.
I have a coworker who has twice just left my office in the middle of a conversation and re-appeared a few minutes later with a candy bar. I have glucose tablets in my desk, but the candy bar tastes so much better :cool:
He says I start to slur my words.
Drunk is also possible, as has been noted, my Uncle used to seem drunk mostly just on Monday mornings. He handled the alcohol in such a way that Friday-Sunday night he didn't seem that bad. He seemed worse when he was coming off of the binge.

I didn't get a bee in my bonnet!

no, what i got was a yellowjacket who thwacked right into my forehead. Then he crawled onto the bridge of my glasses. At this point, i grabbed my glasses and threw them on the grassy strip along the side of the road. End result?
No one got hurt. Then I stopped my bike turned around and picked up my sunglasses, none the worst for the wear.
:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

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Originally Posted by Biciclista

Then I stopped my bike turned around and picked up my sunglasses, none the worst for the wear.
:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

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:eek: :eek: :eek:

fast thinking, Mimi.

I got a bee in my helmet once while riding. Happily, it didn't sting me while I screeched to a halt and removed my helmet posthaste. I'll never forget that buzzing all over my scalp while riding 20 mph. :eek:

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Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl

:eek: :eek: :eek:

fast thinking, Mimi.

I got a bee in my helmet once while riding. Happily, it didn't sting me while I screeched to a halt and removed my helmet posthaste. I'll never forget that buzzing all over my scalp while riding 20 mph. :eek:

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:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: Talk about an adrenaline rush!

Yikes.

When DH and I first started dating, I was riding my motorcycle one day, flipped up my visor at a stoplight and a bee flew in underneath my sunglasses. I tried to get it out of there, and it did fly away, but not before it stung the corner of my eye.

For the next week, wherever I went with DH, people would see my swollen eye and give him the dirtiest looks! :p

Just this Saturday, a sweat bee landed on my water bottle to try to suck up a little Heed. Naturally when I wanted a swig, it stung the inside of my lip. :eek: Luckily it was only a sweat bee... although I suppose if it was something bigger, I might have noticed it before I tried to take a drink, too!

are sweat bees little?
never heard of them. But ouch, that had to have hurt... both times!

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Originally Posted by TsPoet

Drunk is also possible, as has been noted, my Uncle used to seem drunk mostly just on Monday mornings. He handled the alcohol in such a way that Friday-Sunday night he didn't seem that bad. He seemed worse when he was coming off of the binge.

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I was wondering if a stroke could do that too? :eek: Can't a mild stroke make you slur your words?

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Originally Posted by Biciclista

are sweat bees little? never heard of them.

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Yeah, they're only like 6-7 mm long, and their sting isn't terribly bad, but it's enough! I didn't realize you don't have them on the West Coast. They get their name because they're attracted to sweat. They're not aggressive, but they will land all over your body, and then when you bend an elbow or knee, or move so that they're in between your clothes and your body, they'll sting.

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Yeah, they're only like 6-7 mm long, and their sting isn't terribly bad, but it's enough! I didn't realize you don't have them on the West Coast. They get their name because they're attracted to sweat. They're not aggressive, but they will land all over your body, and then when you bend an elbow or knee, or move so that they're in between your clothes and your body, they'll sting.

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EW, that's icky.
I'll tell you a secret: One of the best things about Seattle is that we have no horseflies, no deerflies, no bott flies, no sweat flies, no chiggers, no "no see'ems", no ticks and not many mosquitoes. There are roaches, but not many. Our car windshields do not need constant washing to remove bug carcasses. We do have hornets, yellow jackets, all sorts of wasps, bumblebees and ants. No fire ants.

Please stop raining. Please...
Today we had a 50 mile club ride that ends with a pot luck lunch. It starts in Portsmouth, NH and goes up to York, Maine. MY DH is off this week and he was going to come with me. Got a message yesterday that said the rides are on, despite the fact that every forecast I looked at said either rain all day or clouds, mist, rain, fog, etc all day. Temperatures in the low 60's. Now, this is unusual for this group. They have cancelled in less "weather." But, I think they wanted the lunch. So we got ready last night, got up, ate, and started out. It started raining as soon as we got in the car. It got heavier and heavier as we went north. Finally, after 30 miles, we turned off the highway and headed home.
Am I a wuss? It probably is not raining heavily there, but the visibility in Portsmouth was down to 1/2 a mile, with showers predicted all day. I have rain gear, but I don't choose to ride in the rain, unless I have to, like a commute, or I get caught out there. I actually think I have a better chance of getting a ride in down here.
Now, I just have rice salad for 16 to get rid of.

YAAAYYYYY! I have finally finished writing my first Environmental Impact Statement - on the Beneficial Use of Dredged Material Program. Now doesn't that sound just fascinating? :rolleyes:

It is now in the hands of our technical writer - an english major, to catch errors, and to make certain what I wrote actually makes sense.
'Cause right about now, my brain is mush. :p

I had to get it finished by July 2, and I'm one day ahead of schedule! Of course, we'll see how many corrections and clarification my Tech Writer hits me with....


So long as New England's excess rain doesn't come in the form of a tropical storm, we'll take some of it. And from what I've heard in the news, the left coast would love to have the water.