In my job I kinda have to tell the people of my diabetes as i will be cleaning there places usually when they are gone. While meeting with my newest client today, i told her i have diabetes and we went through all the usual questions of what type I am and meds i take ect. and when she got all the info, she said,’ oh I get it your a brittle diabetic.’ What is that? I didn’t have time to ask her anything else as I was late for work.
Brittle diabetes is what I have. When sugars are really hard to control, going form high to low but without a pattern and nothing much in between!
She may or may not be right - she is possibly presuming that because of you talking about highs and lows, and is just presuming that. If you are unsure you may have to ask your doctor and then put her straight. At least from the little you have said she sounds “accepting”. I have been thrown out of various courses and ministries in the church “in case you get ill”!
A lot of people in the general public don’t realize that daily highs and lows are just part of life with diabetes. I’ve talked to people who think “in control” means my blood sugar is in range all the time … I wish!!!
Also, I’ve read that only 1% of Type 1s are truly “brittle” in the sense that they land in the hospital regularly due to extreme highs or lows, and that the term is vastly overused. A lot of times it just means someone is on the wrong insulin regimen and its not matched to their body’s insulin needs.
A nurse (friend of a friend) said I was brittle knowing nothing about me. I test frequently therefore I must be brittle because only brittle diabetics need to do this. Huh?
Curious why you feel you needed to tell her when no one is there while you work.
I’m with Jennifer that the term is over-used & also outdated.
Dear hb,
I was told I had this by a doctor.
Happily, since I am somewhat assertive, I informed him how people in the 1930s through 1970s were called brittle because they had no meters by which to know what their BG was. They did not have the kinds of short and long acting insulins we have today.
I went on that now we can calm those peaks and lows and smooth the waters by knowing which foods cause striking peaks not covered by insulin and by testing frequently, using glucose tabs, ignoring the ADA’s diet, and we get rid of “brittle”.
He never used it again with me. I often wonder if he has used it with others since then. He was caught not having kept UP TO DATE.
It stems from years back. When people really couldn’t sometimes get ahold of what was happening to their blood glucose. It’s history.
Since I am assertive about employers, too, if they show any adversity, I’d have a couple sentences memorized to explain more if you encounter this person and she says, "So, how’s the diabetes?"
Like: Hm, I was thinking about that word “brittle” you used. It’s a historical term now. Now we aren’t brittle, we have meters to test and we know exactly what foods do to our glucose and we treat it right away so we don’t have the big highs and lows that people used to get. They must have had quite a time staying on top of it!
This is my absolute least favorite of all D terms and really needs to be deemed a slur because it’s totally insulting. The closest thing to a definition of a ‘brittle’ diabetic I’ve ever heard is that ‘you do the same thing on two days and get two results.’ But there’s nothing brittle about that, it’s called being a diabetic!
Thank you for your responses, I never knew or heard that term before and wondered if it was another type or something.Do I think I am one? NO! We talked and she asked about my emergency lows and highs, I have only had 2 emergency lows and 3 highs that needed help, but never had to take trip to hospital in all 5.5 years of this. Just a phone call to my dr. and that’s it. I found after reading the responses that I didn’t want too be called by anyone! That just sounds awful. My first thought is I am falling apart! It was so weird. The lady was a paramedic for years, so she has seen severe diabetes crashes. She should not diagnose I think. maybe just treat…You all say it is out dated term, what is the correct term now or what would the dr. call you instead?
Reason I have to tell people is that I clean their places and go quite low when working.Afew years ago I was taking a pill that made me dizzy (went very high and came down quickly, ate something went really high and came down quickly again like being on roller coaster) and almost passed out at the guys place. He took me home and we got my meds changed that day. So I have been told ( by friends with diabetes) to warn people if they are not to be home in case they come home finding me on the floor. She wanted to know what happens when I go low, and I told her my liver dumps after and I get really high. She freaked at my numbers, which I thought I would lose the job, but in the end she said she trusts me and showed me where the sugar, raisins, and juice were in case I needed it. I ALWAYS bring my emergency stuff and never let my self get to where I can’t function. I reassured her my family checks in on me to when working, so that put her at ease.
Danny!! I think of those colors too!! My Mom was diabetic in the 70’s, maybe that is why???LOL I hate the term too, doctors told my Mom back in the day she was brittle. UGH.
I don’t feel the need to tell people in these circumstances, but if you do, and it works for you, so be it. Ditto on the brittle being outdated, etc.
I think it’s an antiquated term but I don’t find it offensive - just another sign of ignorance about diabetes. I always took the term to refer to someone who was very sensitive to injected insulin and therefore risked frequent lows. Given the variety of insulins and insulin regimens available, I think it’s an out of date concept.
It makes a handy excuse for people, like me, who are on the hi-low roller coaster - but it’s just an excuse for not paying close enough attention in my case. I don’t use it anymore.
Terry
Actually, the term “non-compliant” gets my blood boiling as well.
I don’t think they use that term not they say “uncontrolled” anyway it’s when you have trouble getting your bs’s to behave.
I agree! What gives them the right to put labels on people?
Just my opinion, but I think my diabetes is no one else’s business. In that situation, instead of giving my employers the joy of criticizing my health habits when they have no right, I would set up some sort of check-in system with a friend…a check-in system? If you have a cell phone, maybe you could let them know where you are going and that you will text them at a certain time or that they could call you, if there is no contact made, then your friend could come check that you are ok? Just an idea :o)
When I was living in Guatemala I met another American who said he was a brittle diabetic. I hadn’t yet started on insulin or gotten my correct Type 1 diagnosis, but I looked at Bob who was overweight and eating tons of carbs, and even I knew there was something wrong with that picutre.