# Why don't druggies abuse insulin? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 13, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594 "2012-10-13T04:24:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/41 "2012-10-14T02:37:09Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Druggies Is there a better word that doesn’t “poison the well”. I know many people who use drugs recreationally during their free time, yet are productive members of society from 9 to 5. “Druggies” sounds like hate-speech. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/42 "2012-10-14T02:39:37Z")
Because you’re an idiot? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/43 "2012-10-14T04:36:18Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Is there a better word that doesn’t “poison the well”. I know many people who use drugs recreationally during their free time, yet are productive members of society from 9 to 5. > > “Druggies” sounds like hate-speech. Druggies is the word that the OP used. What do you suggest? ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/44 "2012-10-14T12:25:50Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > Because you’re an idiot? **Mod Note:** This it out of line for IMHO, don’t do it again. - Gukumatz, IMHO Moderator ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/45 "2012-10-14T12:28:08Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Druggies is the word that the OP used. What do you suggest? I don’t know. “People”, maybe?😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/46 "2012-10-14T14:20:00Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > How can a syringe expire? I wouldn’t imagine there would be measurable deterioration in 1000 years. They don’t, not really, but it’s medical supplies and regs on those weren’t made thinking “wait a minute, maybe there are things for which no expiration date should be set”. It’s the same with many kinds of preserved food, they last forever and a day but regs are regs. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/47 "2012-10-14T14:26:15Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I don’t know. “People”, maybe?😉 During my days as a hopeless junkie, I always felt the term “drug sucking pig” was pretty appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/48 "2012-10-14T14:41:02Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > During my days as a hopeless junkie, I always felt the term “drug sucking pig” was pretty appropriate. OK. But my circle of friends does not include any “hopeless junkies”. I know plenty of people who on occasion use various drugs in a recreational manner. Do you seriously feel it is appropriate to lump those folks in with the hopeless junkies? Cause if so, I was at a very nice party last night with pillars of the community who are hopeless junkies. /hijack, back to insulin abuse.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/49 "2012-10-14T14:44:42Z")
I’m pretty sure the common phrase is “recreational user.” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/50 "2012-10-14T14:47:10Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > I’m pretty sure the common phrase is “recreational user.” I was never a recreational user. Nor do I associate the OP’s term “druggies” with “recreational user”. Druggies live to use and use to live. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/51 "2012-10-14T15:07:12Z")
The thing is, we aren’t talking about people in general, we’re talking about a certain subset of people, and a pretty small subset at that. I’m sure in some circles, just about everyone uses at least a little pot on the weekends. However, I tend to hang out with people who will get fired if their random drug test comes back positive. So most of the “people” that I know don’t use drugs for recreational purposes, and I think it would be misleading to imply that all or most people do so. And to drag this hijack back to the original topic, I think that only those individuals who are trying desperately for any sort of high would try something like inducing a hypoglycemic episode. And I think that even they would do this only once, since it doesn’t give any benefits, only drawbacks. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/52 "2012-10-14T15:41:52Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > They don’t, not really, but it’s medical supplies and regs on those weren’t made thinking “wait a minute, maybe there are things for which no expiration date should be set”. > > It’s the same with many kinds of preserved food, they last forever and a day but regs are regs. But do they maintain their sterility? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/53 "2012-10-14T16:48:10Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Yeah, you have to be really careful about the dosage, but it still seems safer than street drugs. I think this shows a huge misunderstanding about the real and perceived risks and benefits of typically used “street drugs.” Back in the day when I might have been reasonably characterized as a “druggie,” being “really careful” about dosage in the sense that I was confident I wasn’t risking an overdose left a _lot_ of room for copious excess, far beyond what would be a typical recreational dose - I might go through several capsules of MDMA, ten tabs of LSD, a steady stream of joints, a few hits of DMT - all sorts of stuff - without being close to anything like a fatal dose. The motivation for taking all those drugs was that it felt _awesome_. Hours of over-the-top euphoria, the subjective experience that perception had been heightened to the point that the intrinsic significance and beauty of everything was palpable. Listening to music or watching a movie was orders of magnitude more interesting; interacting with other people was indescribably multidimensional. Who gets any pleasure out of hypoglycemia? “Yay, I feel sick and disoriented!” ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/54 "2012-10-14T17:02:29Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I was never a recreational user. Nor do I associate the OP’s term “druggies” with “recreational user”. Druggies live to use and use to live. I was addressing **kayaker** ’s assertion that people who partake of an illegal substance now and then should not be called a “druggie,” by providing an alternate term that was more descriptive than “people.” ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/55 "2012-10-14T19:07:16Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > Assuming this isn’t a joke, it’s because “druggies” (which either means human beings or inquisitive people, if one wants to pick a meaningful yet not contradictory definition) probably don’t want to be hypoglycemic, at least more than once - I can understand someone wanting to try it once just to see what it is like, I’d be up for that if I knew how to do it safely, but I don’t. > > Compared to other altered states what’s the attraction? And furthermore, where’s the “feel good” stuff? I’m diabetic, and I’ve been hypoglycemic on more than a few occasions. You do NOT want to know what it feels like, any more than you want to know what it feels like to beaten with a club. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/56 "2012-10-14T19:46:51Z")
This may sound strange to you, but I suppose in a way I do want to know what it feels like to be beaten with a club. I want to know what everything feels like! This is not the same thing as wanting to be beaten by a club so please put the teleportation device down. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/57 "2012-10-14T19:55:26Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > This may sound strange to you, but I suppose in a way I do want to know what it feels like to be beaten with a club. I want to know what everything feels like! > > This is not the same thing as wanting to be beaten by a club so please put the teleportation device down. [evil!skald] In the first place, one does not pick up a teleporter meant for transporting humans; one _steps into it_. In the second place, if I felt the need (as opposed to the desire) to have you cudgeled, I would have someone else do it. In the third place, if I felt the _desire_ to cudgel you myself, your telling me not to do so would only inflame that desire further. In the fourth place, assuming I felt no such desire, your mentioning it would only put ideas in my head. Seems unwise. [/evil!skald] More seriously, you only _think_ you want to know what it feels like to be the recipient of a severe beating. Like insulin shock, it’s something best read about. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/58 "2012-10-14T20:06:56Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > I do want to know what it feels like to be beaten with a club. Use your imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/59 "2012-10-14T20:09:21Z")
> [@Critical\_Mass](#): > > From experience, I can tell you the hypoglycemic experience is not a pleasant one. > > My body goes into panic mode. Acute anxiety, racing pulse, blurred vision, increased respiration, mental acuity fades. And once I ingest some glucose the recovery period lasts for about 20 minutes and includes profuse sweating, extreme hunger, fatigue and physical weakness. > > Injecting the correct dosage of insulin has no noticeable side effects. After a bad one, do you feel physical aches for hours, as if you’ve just worked out to the point of exhaustion and a little further? I sure do. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594/60 "2012-10-14T20:16:30Z")
Considering that your body deals with hypoglycemia by releasing adrenaline, causing panic, I don’t see what the recreational appeal would be. Who wants to give themselves a panic attack? Bodybuilders use insulin as a performance enhancing drug (if taken after a workout, it can increase the rate of uptake of protein and carbs into the muscles, speeding up growth and recovery). But that is not the same as recreational usage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-druggies-abuse-insulin/637594.md?page=4)