Question About Donors - Hypoglycemic

[Mercutio]

Recently I established a (blood) donor in a different state. I haven't fed from said donor yet, but they claim that they are hypoglycemic. Would this create any problems with them or myself?
Just wondering what I should do in this case as far as dismissing them as my donor or if it's ok keeping things as is.
Thanks for any help.

[sphynxcatvp]

Hypoglycemia can have it's own issues:

* Blood loss can cause an even lower drop in blood glucose levels
* Hypoglycemia is relatively common among diabetics (too much insulin/not enough food regularly/too much excercise without food)
* If they are on medication, you have to consider the potential that their medicaition MAY affect you and/or your own glucose levels.
* Other causes MAY include pancreatic tumors or other pancreatic diseases, alchohol ingestion and liver disease.

Testing is easy: a home glucose meter and a SMALL box of of test strips - hypoglycemia is determined when the glucose level falls below 70. The ideal fasting glucose - as in, no food or drink for 8 hours (i.e., typically first thing in the morning) - should be between 70-110.

If the glucose is 200 or over at any point in the day, then it's almost a guarantee that the person is diabetic. If it's never been diagnosed with them, then they are likely type 2 in this case (as it's very unlikely a type 1 diabetic would make it to adulthood UNtreated.)


It's not necessarily a disqualifier for them as a donor, but you need to understand WHY they're hypoglycemic, and what medication they may be on, in order to make a more informed decision.


Glucose meters usually run around $20-50 in stores; I believe the more expensive ones come with up to 10 test strips, some others don't - check the box. Test strips tend to run effectively around $1/strip in a pack of 25, 50, or 100, give or take a bit depending on your area. Some drugstores have the meters out for anyone to get, some have them behind the pharmacy counter. I've never seen test strips out in the aisles, so those will likely always be behind the pharmacy counter.

(In otherwords, they're not horribly prohibitively priced for a small meter and a SMALL box of strips. And if you're diabetic you likely have these on hand ANYway.)

[Mercutio]

Thank you very much, your reply is very helpful

[jayant ratna]

If they said, they were hypoglycemic, then they probably might want to test the probability of the person being a  vampire. Usually in Vampire parlance, possessive state of the person is the impulse to consume. In other words there is a dire need in the donor to partake in the process.

[Cheri]

If they said, they were hypoglycemic, then they probably might want to test the probability of the person being a  vampire. Usually in Vampire parlance, possessive state of the person is the impulse to consume. In other words there is a dire need in the donor to partake in the process.

Ok, forgive me if this sounds stupid, but why would someone being hypoglycemic have anything to do with them being a vampire?

I know many, many people that are hypoglycemic , that are in no way vampires. In fact I can only rember meeting one vampire that was also hypoglycemic.( I am sure there are more, but out of those I have met only one that I am aware of was)

[sphynxcatvp]

If they said, they were hypoglycemic, then they probably might want to test the probability of the person being a  vampire. Usually in Vampire parlance, possessive state of the person is the impulse to consume. In other words there is a dire need in the donor to partake in the process.

Jayant,

I'm going to be blunt.

Stay the fsk out of medical discussions.

[deacongray]

 sphynxcatvp pretty much nailed it. The info coming out of the of the AVA should be considered at length. Many diabetics test daily ( some up too 6 times a day) and small lancet pricks are not much of an issue. However it is important to note that on more significant injuries there are among some the tendancy to heal more slowly. This is important to note because slow healing means a greater chance for infection. With that said I would suggest you look to what  sphynxcatvp said, and really consider the type of blood draw you will be doing and understand the process in depth.

Look at what type of method you are considering, Lancet, Needle draw, razor then weigh the increased risk of infection in some diabetics.

There is a great deal to consider, I would not consider a diabetic as a Donor. Great friend, sure, lover...why not, but Donor...just too many risks even if they are small.

[Mercutio]

sphynxcatvp pretty much nailed it. The info coming out of the of the AVA should be considered at length. Many diabetics test daily ( some up too 6 times a day) and small lancet pricks are not much of an issue. However it is important to note that on more significant injuries there are among some the tendancy to heal more slowly. This is important to note because slow healing means a greater chance for infection. With that said I would suggest you look to what  sphynxcatvp said, and really consider the type of blood draw you will be doing and understand the process in depth.

Look at what type of method you are considering, Lancet, Needle draw, razor then weigh the increased risk of infection in some diabetics.

There is a great deal to consider, I would not consider a diabetic as a Donor. Great friend, sure, lover...why not, but Donor...just too many risks even if they are small.

I was considering a lancet but since you're right about there being a higher risk for infection, that's also why I had asked for some advice. Thanks everyone for their input

[sphynxcatvp]

Healing factors tends to be more impaired when the blood sugar is obscenely high at any point. Asking some questions about how long it takes injuries to heal, and whether they usually see infections with injuries that break the skin, is always a good idea too. Being fully informed is the basic idea here.

Also consider, are they on medication for diabetes (or any other chronic ailment) - and whether you really need that medication affecting YOU. (Diabetes is often found with heart disease or what's considered "pre-heart disease" conditions these days, so there may be medication involved for THOSE, some of which can be nasty.)

The jury's out (meaning, there's no clear consensus - some say it happens, some day it doesn't) on whether someone else's medications can affect you. Personally, based on my own experiences, I can't rule it out, so I choose to err on the side of caution. If a potential donor is on medications, that would rule them out for me.

(You're welcome, and sorry for the delay.)