Are you Diabetic or diabetic? Work with me on this one...!

[ladybird64]

I'm diabetic, asthmatic too. Never ever considered using a capital letter.

Likewise. I also felt the same about what some refer to as "the big C". To me, it was cancer. Only two of these have ruled my life but they still don't define who I am.

 

[Keesha]

When I tell people I am diabetic, they immediately think I cannot eat sugar. I explained to them about simple carbs, but they still don't get it. A lot of people associate diabetes with sugar.


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[catapillar]

Are you Diabetic with a capital D. It defines everything you do, how you live your life and stops you doing things, or are you diabetic with a small d, where you have a life, and diabetes is just one aspect of the characteristics that define you, and not the overwhelming one?

I'm not 100% sure I understand the question!

I definitely don't recognise the it defines everything I do or stops me doing thing bit. So I think I'm a lower case. But it has the capacity to become bigger I think if you aren't keeping it check with the how you do things bit - so yeah it's a thing I take into account when making a lot of decisions (I can't think of any big decisions it has factored into, but it's the cumulative day to day things) but I take all manner of other preferences into account too - it's just an extra thing, it's not The thing.

 

[SunnyExpat]

This is interesting.
What is the definition of a big D?

I've read so many stories on her about big D.
Works meetings, and no low carb, so a letter to HR in the offing
The cakes at the office party, and everyone has a donut and they offer them about
Eating out, and no low carb, and the waiters can't give a complete breakdown of every meal
Testing, and it's risen by more than 2, but still only 6.9
Fasting, and you need to test before getting out of bed, but sweaty palms may be awkward
Sleep with a walnut for the dawn phenomenon
You can't put skimmed milk in your coffee, it has to be cream and butter

Very, very big D to me.

I'm little d, so little it may still be an c growing up, or even a b that knows an a.
So, I'm diabetic, it was a wake up call as I got older and fatter, but I listened, and I woke up, and realised I wasn't old, (was fat, fixed that) but it's not my life.
My life is about doing the stuff before I actually do get old, and can't manage it any more.

 

[tizzy]

On the fence I forgot to vote

 

[therower]

Easy question but so hard to answer. If my blood sugar levels are below 4 then I think I'm Diabetic, between 4 and 10 then I'm diabetic anything over 10 I'm just p**sed off.

 

[Snapsy]

@therower - what a brilliant answer! You've explained it perfectly!

A big DITTO from me!

 

[JaneC]

When I'm hypo/ hyper I'm DIABETIC, rest of the time diabetic, wish I could change typeface to make it really tiny!

 

[donnellysdogs]

One thing that used to really wind me up was that my Mum saw me as her Diabetic daughter first before seeing me as her daughter in so many things...
I'm a small d however, I do think that being OTT with looking after myself has enabled me to say a small d..

I've recently had so many consultants say to me that I am a "role model" patient but they don't really see what I do to try and look after my health. Unfortunately I do have more health issues now than D and being appreciated by my consultants is great but sometimes I do wonder what else I would do with the time I would have extra from not having these blooming illnesses.

However, on the positive side having these illnesses has enabled me to be more aware of health issues and I have met some fantastic people along the way through my journey woth the illnesses. If I hadn't had them I would never have made these friendshipsn.

It doesn't define me either... At least I know amongst froends that they love me for me and never mention the D...

 

[therower]

@therower - what a brilliant answer! You've explained it perfectly!

A big DITTO from me!

Thank you

 

[Shar67]

I cannot be the only one who when diabetes was diagnosed I was relieved, there was medications I could take. My body was trying to destroy itself, it was one less organ to try worry about. I'm just a person with some medical complications that I live with, none define me as a person.
I like to think I'm still the stupid slightly perverse oddity I've always been

 

[CapnGrumpy]

I think for many years the answer would have been little d diabetic. Something I had to deal with, kind of a nuisance, nothing I could do about it, just get on with life. But my control wasn't brilliant.

More recently I've drifted towards capital D Diabetic - I pay more attention to the food I eat (lchf), I wear a pump and a CGM, I have my blood sugar level displayed on my watch, I have a diabetes tattoo, and I meet up with other type 1s. It's at the forefront of my mind quite a lot.

There are positives and negatives in this. My control is miles better, because I'm actively taking an interest in my health; something I ignored for years. And I've become more sociable and met some great people, because who understands another diabetic better than another diabetic (with a d or D)? It's nice to be able to go out somewhere with a bunch of people where nobody cares if you test or inject in public, or have an incoveniently timed hypo.

I never learnt very much in once per year 20 minute medical appointments, and I think I've learnt more in the last 18 months than I did in the preceding 18 years.

On the down side, I think I'm getting too Diabetic at the moment. With stuff attached to me, it's harder to ignore. I do think about it a lot more than I used to, and I am more open about it with other people, but there are times when I do wonder if I'm banging on about it just a little too much, obsessing over numbers, and should maybe chill out a little. At the moment, long term I'm definitely causing myself more stress than necessary.

I need to drift back towards little d diabetic a bit more, but have at least realised what I'm doing.

 

[Snapsy]

....obsessing over numbers, and should maybe chill out a little.

That's me, too!

 

[nmr1991]

Since its not the only condition I have, and also as i'm on mixed insulin as opposed to injecting more than 3x a day for everything that I eat (binge eating and all), I don't think it requires to be capitalized unless you decide it rules your life and it's determined to make your life a misery or however it affects you.

 

[Wurst]

I wonder what the control is like of those who claim to be Diabetics versus diabetics ?

 

[CapnGrumpy]

As a carefree diabetic - HbA1cs were in the 70s or 80s.

As an overthinking Diabetic I got down to 45 last time. Since acquiring a pump, my Nightscout data is now predicting 35.

 

[RuthW]

I am diabetic. I am very open about it. It is one of the first things I tell people about myself because I live in Turkey and more or less any time you meet someone, you are going to be offered food or drink within minutes, usually something sickly sweet or fatty, or both. So with some people the big D is a great defensive strategy, and I employ it stubbornly and repeatedly. With other people, I tell them and after that it's never an issue. It's a complete battleground with my landlady, who is also my neighbour. She insists that I have to visit her and eat with her regularly and will not accept (with good grace) that all I want is tea (no milk, no sugar). So much so that we are planning to move after 7 years. So, I understand the Disability Movement argument that much of 'disability' is imposed by others or by society. I have to keep using the big D as a defensive weapon when other people will not accept my autonomy, my right to make my own decisions about managing my condition. If I do what makes me 'fit in', it also increases the size of the D because it makes my control harder and I'm am more likely to find myself on the hypo-hyper rollercoaster.
So, it is NOT all about the individual's coping strategy, or personality, intelligence, etc. To keep that D small you need great social skills, social support, economic independence, etc, etc.

 

[petepontiac]

If it is the first word in a sentence it is D....

 

[RuthW]

-Diabetic am I.
-Well, hey there, Yoda Welcome to the forum!

 

[Diabetic_Aspie]

DIABETIC.

Diabetes does affect every aspect of my life: because I always have to think about carbs and insulin, wherever I am, whatever I do.

And I think it is much healthier to be DIABETIC than to be diabetic-in-DENIAL. As I had been for 5 years.