Friends and close relationships are vitally important to most young people - diabetic or not. Those we talked to said they wanted to be thought of as just the same as other people, but they also realised that they might well need their friends to look out for them - particularly if they had a hypo. Overwhelmingly young people told us that they didn't want diabetes to be a barrier between them and their friends, and most said their friends were supportive.
His friends wanted to know about his diabetes when he was first diagnosed and he's always been...
His friends wanted to know about his diabetes when he was first diagnosed and he's always been...
Age at interview: 24
Sex: Male
Age at diagnosis: 16
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Yeah, yeah all my friends are totally, all knew right from the start that I was that I was diabetic. And there was, there was time when I was first diagnosed where all my friends were looking at my injection, injections and the blood tester kits and all going, 'Oh can I have a go, can I have a go?' and you're kind of you know changing the, changing the lancets and letting them having a go at testing their blood sugars and just you know it's just a bit of fun.
People trying to understand what you're going through and understand exactly what you have to do. And like I've never really been one to shy away from the fact that I've got it and I want, I'm quite happy that people know about it and don't pussy foot around about the fact that I've got it because if there ever was something to happen and I haven't told people then it would be my mistake that you know and it would be my own fault if people are saying, 'Oh what's up with him, what's up with him is he alright, is he alright?' And I haven't told them, I just feel it's much better, especially close friends they're so supportive and so willing to help you in any way that they possibly can. You know, you know you say that you need some breakfast, you need a snack and they're willing to sort you out, you want a glass of coke they'll go and buy you one when you've got no money things like that. Just, I've just found my friends totally supportive and like amazing, amazingly, amazingly there for me all the time, just when I've needed them to be there. So I, I'd advise anyone to tell their friends. And anybody who is going to make an issue of it is not really the sort of friend that you want really.
He's never had any problems with his friends who have always supported him.
He's never had any problems with his friends who have always supported him.
Age at interview: 19
Sex: Male
Age at diagnosis: 14
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Well. I've never had any problems. My friends have always accepted me they're a good bunch of people. They're - just because I was different to them, they didn't treat me any differently. I was always treated the same and quite often they'd kind of forget, in a way, because I never had any problems. So they'd say, 'Oh do you want to stay round so and so's house', and I'd say 'Yeah, I'll take my insulin with me', and stuff like that - and they'd say, 'Oh, sorry', but yeah. But I've never had any problems. I've stayed with a lot of my family members and they've been really good, and they sort of worry too much really because they know I've got diabetes. My nan, she always used to make sure I was all right all the time, and I was like, 'Yeah, I'm okay', [laughs] but yeah, yeah, they've been brilliant.
He has a friend whom he describes as a 'first aid freak' and she knows exactly what to do if he...
He has a friend whom he describes as a 'first aid freak' and she knows exactly what to do if he...
Age at interview: 17
Sex: Male
Age at diagnosis: 3
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You were saying something about when you go with your friends?
Yeah when I go out with my friends well yeah because you're, you're meeting new people and sometimes they, well, they won't know that you're diabetic and if you go out for a drink and you have one too many or something, not that it's ever happened to me of course. And you know, sometimes you're not in control. You know, you're in a car crash or something looking on the bright side of course then you know people have got to know got to know that you're diabetic.
Do your best friends know what to do in case you have a hypo?
Yes, yes some more than others. I mean I have this one friend that's kind of first aid kind of freak and she, she'd know exactly what to do. She'd push everyone out the way just to get a chance to do it. But yeah I think. You know it's, it's come up in conversations so they, they'd have known. If they didn't then just call 999 I guess that's the easiest way. But if I'm, if I'm shaking. If it, you know, if it's just normal symptoms I mean, not worse case scenario if I'm just going low then they might hand me a few sugar cubes or something.
Do you wear the'?
The diabetic pendant. Yes I do, not all the time. When I'm, when I'm going out with my friends and you know I'm, because most of the time, well almost all the time I have something with me. I've got glucose tablets on me at the moment, I always carry those around wherever I go. But yeah when you, when you're unsure whether you know. You, you're really tired and you want to go to sleep or something then you might go low during the night. And it's nice that the paramedics are going to, you know, they're going to know that you're diabetic when they find you're unconscious on the floor, yeah.
He says that everyone feels differently about how to tell their friends but from his experience...
He says that everyone feels differently about how to tell their friends but from his experience...
Age at interview: 16
Sex: Male
Age at diagnosis: 11
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And what about your friends? Do you tell your friends and acquaintances that you have diabetes?
Yes. When I got diabetes I told all the friends that I see and meet on a regular basis that I have diabetes. And actually a surprising number of people just know about diabetes from their own relatives or friends themselves which already have it. And it doesn't affect your relationships with people in any way. And everybody is totally, gets used to the fact that you have diabetes. It changes very very little. New people who you meet, like now that I've been diabetic for five years, people I met like recently eventually just pick it up. Because if you're going out to eat with a large number of people, you'll be injecting. And it will just become second nature to them. Because so many people know about diabetes now.
It depends from person to person, but some people want to talk about their diabetes with their friends more than others, and depending on the type of friends they are. Like I know, I've got a few very close friends and they know all about my diabetes from top to bottom. And they'll spot me if I'm having a hypo at school. Which is very very useful, because it's always nice to have the assurance that if something goes wrong there'll be somebody else who'll know exactly what to do. But you don't need all your friends to know that. And often many friends want to know how your diabetes is and how it works. And it's up to you to tell them if you want or not. Like don't feel embarrassed if somebody, if you don't want to show them or tell them things about diabetes. Just keep it very short and say, 'Oh, it just, I have to eat certain things and inject at certain times' and leave it at that. It shouldn't be an embarrassment to have diabetes.
Several young people said that coping with changes in their levels and trying to be extra careful about injections and food could make them seem over-cautious to their friends. Being seen as different by other children had been a problem for one girl who said she had been bullied at secondary school.
Her friends don't understand much about diabetes and so didn't see the need for her to alter her...
Her friends don't understand much about diabetes and so didn't see the need for her to alter her...
Age at interview: 21
Sex: Female
Age at diagnosis: 15
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I find one of the big things, a lot of my friends aren't necessarily that more sympathetic but they don't realise how big a thing it is for me. And a lot of people are quite na've about diabetes, not many people know the real facts and don't realise that there are these complications when I get older. So they think that [purring] because I started off, when I started at Uni I didn't want it to be really affecting exactly what I was doing and, so I let myself just carry on and I was, I was, I'll really get a grip of it. I wasn't that bad but I was like, moment and then I'd go out and do things as I normally would and I wasn't thinking about my diabetes the whole time, trying to get it under control. Because I managed for the first year or so my friends don't see why now I'm suddenly going, 'Oh, I've got to get, take it more seriously. I've got to really get a grip.' And they're like, 'Well you were fine last year, what, why are you now? Why do you have to, why do you have to make such a, you know, be so strict with yourself?' 'Why can't you have a chocolate? Why can't you come for a run now? Why can't you, whatever?' And it's difficult to tell them, 'Well because if I don't I might not have eyesight,' and you know, you don't want to be so melodramatic. And a lot of my friends don't realise that it is, there are these long-term effects. So it would be good if the, if everyone's educated about it a little bit better, I guess.
So they'there is a need to promote public awareness?
Yeah, because I think people think I'm being a bit of a hypochondriac sometimes when I'm probably being the opposite [laughs].
She thinks that the bag that she used to carry her snacks and insulin kit got the attention of...
She thinks that the bag that she used to carry her snacks and insulin kit got the attention of...
Age at interview: 22
Sex: Female
Age at diagnosis: 9
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So when you were growing up with diabetes, perhaps one of the most difficult times is when you are in secondary school?
Yes, yep, definitely because, you get bullying everywhere, I'll admit that, everybody'll admit that, but you know? [Exhales] you just deal with it, if you had the kind of attitude well okay I'm here, this is what I have, please ask a question, please, you know, you know, ask em, 'Why, why, why', why're they stood there laughing at you, or making rude comments? Blatantly go and say, 'Well, you wanna ask a question please do, I have as much information as you want'. Or, 'Please go on this website'. Or, 'Please go to the doctors'. Or, 'Ask, there's plenty of leaflets'. And, and you know, all sorts that, you know, there's so much information about diabetes or any other illness, or disability, or whatever out there, and if these people instead of stood there making fun at you did that then the world would be a much nicer place.
Was it because you were injecting in public or?
No.
Because you happened to have diabetes and they didn't know what it was all about?
Yeah, really I think the most [exhales] the most of the problems came from the fact that I had this little leather handbag and I was carrying it around with me, 'cause we didn't have pockets in our uniforms, you know? And we weren't allowed to carry our rucksacks or, our, you know, big bags around with us all the time. And everyone knows you're gonna have something with you all the time because no-one knows when and where a hypo will strike. [Dog barking] so yeah, yeah, I think, mainly, yeah the problems came from that, my little leather handbag [laughs].
You were different?
Yeah.
In which way?
Absolutely yeah, no-one likes anyone that's different, so.
Let's talk a little bit about your experience in secondary school? Did you talk to your Mum around that time?
Yeah. I think well if I didn't have her or my dad, I wouldn't have got through it, you know, so, well sometimes it was very, very difficult and sometimes I was just, you know, [sighs] where do I go from here? And, okay so I've sounded quite positive, but, it wasn't easy, you know? To say, yeah to say that I was constantly ill, oh yeah it's fine, you know, bully me I don't care, to say that would be a lie. because it wasn't easy, at all, it really was not because it's not, you know, at the very end of the day, bullying, it's not right, everyone knows that, even the bullies know that, bullying know, you know bullies know that you shouldn't make people feel like that.
People who were diagnosed with diabetes when they were children said that they relied on their parents to make decisions for them about whether they could go out with friends. Once they were confident enough to inject themselves, their social lives and friendships often improved because they were more independent.
She became a more confident person once she started doing her own injections which in turn helped...
She became a more confident person once she started doing her own injections which in turn helped...
Age at interview: 17
Sex: Female
Age at diagnosis: 3
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Right before I was very dependent on them - probably more than I should have been, you know, like, they injected me morning and evening I could look - I felt I could look after myself, but I'd more rely on them to do it rather than me. I was kind of being lazy in a way because I - It stopped me socialising more because when I went round my friends house I had to go home a certain time because my injection needed doing or - and I felt I couldn't really go out - go out with friends because I felt that if something happened what would I do, you know? So I was very dependent on them and my life was just same old, same old really. But after - like now, it's just completely changed and it's hard to believe what I was like before. I'm going out all the time - going to parties, going round friends' houses and injecting, just looking after myself more, and they're not really doing anything. Like they're there for me but I'm more the diabetic now, whereas they were before, so when I'm low I deal with myself, when I'm high - I keep blood checks. It's just really surreal how I was before to now. I'm just doing everything for myself than I weren't before, just because I was more dependent on them.
How were you feeling at that time?
Quite depressed really, because I used to come home at the end of the day and think all my friends had it easy in a way, because, you know, they had - they could do what they wanted. I was quite angry - really angry. I sometimes get angry now because I still think why me, but like my friends, they could have their dinner any time they wanted. They didn't have a tight control. They didn't have to have, like, injections, so I was quite down really, and that's what probably prompted me to say to the doctor even more that I wanted help, so I weren't really happy with how things were going and I just thought - I didn't really see my future, I just thought it would be - I didn't really look ahead because I didn't think that I'd be capable of doing stuff for myself. I just weren't happy at all, but now I'm just completely the opposite.
So you were lacking confidence?
Yeah, very much so, yeah.
She started doing her own injections when she was 8 or 9 which made it possible to stay the night...
She started doing her own injections when she was 8 or 9 which made it possible to stay the night...
Age at interview: 19
Sex: Female
Age at diagnosis: 3
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I know initially at primary school my mum mentioned to me quite a few years later that perhaps in the early stages I wouldn't have been invited back to friends houses after school for meals or to stay the night at friends houses so much initially because I think at the stage where my parents were controlling all my diabetes for me a lot of my friends' parents were quite apprehensive about dealing with the diabetes and what would happen if there was a problem, would they be responsible and that sort of thing. But as time's gone on. I think it was when I was about eight or nine, I started doing my own injection and from the time I started at secondary school I really started taking control of my diabetes myself and altering my dosage to fit if it wasn't going quite right. Just keep keeping a check on it all. From that stage onwards they knew that I knew what I was doing and I've been doing for many years, so they were quite happy to let me go off. And they knew that I could always ring them at anytime and that like on the mobile or house phone if there were any problems. And a couple of times I did find say'I didn't know what with the whole insulin thing, you might be around a friend's house and then you might like in spare of the moment decide to spend the night there or something, then I wouldn't have necessarily have my insulin equipment on me. So I was quite lucky that my parents were really supportive that they'd be prepared to say, drive half an hour to what wherever it was to bring it over and make sure I had the equipment. But' that was the only problem. But they were really helpful in it.
So that was because it was so strict, but you had room for being spontaneous and do things'?
Yes, but I mean a couple of times I found I had to get my parents to drive over at the last minute with my insulin so that I could carry on staying longer at an activity or something like that that I hadn't anticipated before hand. But after that I found quite often if I was say going out in the afternoon with friends even if I wasn't planning on staying till dinnertime, I'd quite often just bring my insulin testing kit and things with me anyway, just have it in case as back up, which was quite useful.
Friendship could be tested when young people left home and moved into a house with friends who saw them having injections and became more aware of their diabetes. Some said their friends were laid back and completely accepted everything about their diabetes - including insulin in the fridge and injections at the dinner table - but others had found it had upset some friends to see them inject in public. Several people said they used to lock themselves in the school/university toilets to inject.
She questions the attitude of people who feel diabetics should inject themselves privately.
She questions the attitude of people who feel diabetics should inject themselves privately.
Age at interview: 22
Sex: Female
Age at diagnosis: 9
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The big controversy as well, doing injections in public.. A lot of people are very sort of, 'Oh no, well why can't you, why can't you go somewhere else? Why can't you go to the toilet and do it for example? You know, people don't wanna have to look at that'. And one example really was only recently, was when I first started University, we're sat there in the canteen, we're all about to have something to eat, I whipped me pen out, you know, bang into my leg, done and my friend [name] was like, 'Well, well why can't you do that somewhere else? Why do you have to do that in front of everybody? You know, can't you go to the toilet? I think that's really, really rude'. And [laughs] I sat there with my mouth open and I said to her, '[Name] I need this to keep alive, you know, it's keeping me alive as is that meal I'm just about to eat'. I says, 'You have a problem with it look away, nobody's asking you to look'. You know, and absolutely everybody were, you know, on my side, well they're saying, 'Well, you know, what effort is it for you to turn your head away and not look? Whereas what effort is it, effort it is for [Name] to get up, take herself off somewhere else, into a toilet where it's not very hygienic at all, well when, so when, why should she have to?'.
And I was quite shocked actually that everybody else was sort of like, well okay then. I wasn't just me, or just me and my friend [name], from secondary school, we were alls, yeah they were all on my side, and you do find there's a lot of ignorance, a lot of ignorance in, you know, in the, in the world. For example I went to a supermarket caf' and it was fairly early but I was very, very hungry and I thought 'okay well if I'm not going to have something now', I think it was about ten o'clockish and I hadn't, had a lot of breakfast and I'd started feeling, okay well I'm going to have to go get myself something to eat. So I went and sat down in this caf' and okay admittedly, yeah I had a fairly big meal for that time of day, and I thought 'well okay, if I have this now I won't have to have any lunch until, you know, one, two o'clock'. And this woman looked over at me and she went, 'Hungry are we?'. And I thought, 'Well what's it got to do with you love?' [laughs], you know, so I went, 'Well yeah'. And she kept blatantly staring at me the whole time, so I sat down, and I thought 'Okay well what's your problem?' [laughs], you know she was really staring at me. And so I thought, 'Okay I got me insulin pen out, straight into my arm and she sat there with her mouth open, and thought 'well', you know, I looked at her and went, you know, openly sort of said okay then you want to ask a question please do so, and she just, you know her head went down and she wasn't looking at me any more, she actually sat there like this [laughs]. So I think, 'Well why?' I really don't understand why people have to have a problem, or why they have to blatantly stare at you and she didn't any more, she completely avoided looking at me. And I think 'well it's petty, it really is'. And I think if everybody else could have that kind of attitude as in well okay, you want to ask a question, you want to look at me, please do. And like I say, it's not everybody, yeah, not everybody can.
He explains at what point he tells new girlfriends about his diabetes.
He explains at what point he tells new girlfriends about his diabetes.
Age at interview: 26
Sex: Male
Age at diagnosis: 18
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So with girlfriends, yes, I don't tell them, I don't necessarily tell them on the first date, but I treat it like I would any other friend, that I tell them when it crops up. And it's not a big deal really. I mean I think there's enough people with diabetes around that most people kind of have some idea about it. And if they already kind of know to some extent beforehand, then when you do tell them they kind of realise that it's not a major concern as far as they're concerned really. So, yes, I don't think that's ever been a cause for any problems in a relationship. So, yes.
In general, I mean either with friends or girlfriends, how do they react, how much do they know about diabetes?
They probably don't know a great deal other than they kind of assume that you can't eat anything sugary which I sometimes cheat a bit on anyway. I think everyone does probably. So they're sometimes surprised when I do cheat, which I try and keep to a minimum. And they kind of know that you have to inject and that kind of thing, which they, like pretty much a lot of people do, they probably assume that it's incredibly painful every single time and that kind of thing. So they probably kind of realise fairly quickly that it's, that I don't think it's a tremendously big deal and they probably shouldn't either. So, yes, it's never, I don't think it's come up as a problem with anyone, but probably because I've tended to know people for a while before they realise I suppose. So they kind of, by that point they realise that I'm still, you know, the same person.
When it comes to injecting in front of your friends or girlfriends?
I, well, with girlfriends, by the time you get to know them well enough then it's not really a big deal. But I try and, with friends I kind of never know when people are going to be incredibly squeamish about that kind of thing. So if I do kind of inject in front of them I'll try and do it in a not very obvious way, or kind of slip off round the corner somewhere quickly and get that sorted out without them, without kind of waving sharp, pointy objects in front of them and that kind of thing. But, yes, I think they probably, I mean they know that that's what I'm doing and that kind of thing. So it's not really a particularly big issue. But I try and, try and be discreet about it, but not let it kind of stop me from doing it.
And in your experience would you say that with your girlfriends, I mean sort of the first step perhaps is for them to know you, rather than sort of to know that you have diabetes?
Yes, yes. yes, I mean obviously if you go out for dinner with them then it depends how, how well you manage to be discreet about whether they notice. But if you're noticed then I don't think of it as a particularly big deal. And, yes, it's never a kind of big topic of conversation or anything. So, yes, I normally get the chance to kind of know them fairly well before it comes up. And to be honest, even if it did come up kind of straight away, I don't think that, if they did make a big thing about it they're probably not right for a girlfriend anyway, are they?
She used to go to the school toilets for her injections but now feels more comfortable about it...
She used to go to the school toilets for her injections but now feels more comfortable about it...
Age at interview: 17
Sex: Female
Age at diagnosis: 12
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Yeah, bringing it home was weird, because you think medical things are for hospitals, and you don't really - but - it was a bit scary. But once you get over the initial shock it's just something you do every day, and' It is awkward at first, and I didn't want to tell anyone. But I had good friends, and you talked to them. They would be a bit shocked first of all like mine were and then slowly they were like, 'Oh, that's okay'. And I remember I used to go to the toilets to do my injection, if I ever needed to do it at school, which I didn't in the beginning. But if I was at sleepovers or staying round my friend's house, I used to hide away. But they got used to it, and I got used to doing it in front of them, and I just carry on with them now like if I'm - even if I'm out and about I just - I know that's debatable, but I feel comfortable with it and -
So you feel comfortable doing it now, in public places?
Yeah. I think it's just - as long as you make people around you aware, and as long as you tell them, and they're not scared of needles, then you should be okay.
No one said that they had found it difficult to make friends or have relationships because they were diabetic, and everyone we talked to who had had a serious relationship said they had been completely honest about their diabetes and that their boy/girl friend accepted the fact and understood. Some felt that if a new girl/boy friend couldn't accept them as they were, s/he wasn't worth going out with anyway. A 17 year old said that being diabetic hadn't affected his chances of getting girlfriends and had made almost no difference to his sex life.
He says that girlfriends tend to nag once they know he's diabetic and that he makes sure he's...
He says that girlfriends tend to nag once they know he's diabetic and that he makes sure he's...
Age at interview: 17
Sex: Male
Age at diagnosis: 14
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In your experience how have girlfriends reacted to when you tell them that you have diabetes?
They don't really mind I don't think. I mean they're, they're' girlfriends can be sort of like your parents, they, if you, once they know about it they'll, they'll nag you because they care as well. But it, it's no harder to get a girlfriend with diabetes than it is without. I mean obviously your sex life is still the same. I mean obviously you have to be more careful but everything is basically the same.
Why do you say 'be more careful'?
Well for instance you, all that exercise I mean like when your upstairs in your bedroom you have to make sure that you know when you're having a hypo for when you're obviously having sex and stuff like that. Obviously you're more prone to diseases and stuff like that so you have to make sure you use protection and just general stuff like that really.
They told me that if I didn't control my count that when I get older I could become impotent. And obviously not have the sex life I've got now which is quite scary because you know, every bloke likes to have a bit of love, do you know what I mean. And it was, it was frightening and it made me think, oh, you know. I don't want that to be out of order, you know. I, I'd better start controlling it. Do you know what I mean. I don't think my girlfriend would have been too happy at the time either. So you got, you got to think about it, you know. You've got to be sensible.
Ok so that message got to you loud and clear?
Yeah that got to me loud and clear, you know [laugh]. Straight away.
Some young people have made it their ‘mission’ to tell others about the differences between type1 and type 2 diabetes in an effort to educate and to get rid of misconceptions about type 1 diabetes.
Robert finds it tiresome dealing with people’s misconceptions and lack of information about the differences between type 1 and 2 diabetes.
Robert finds it tiresome dealing with people’s misconceptions and lack of information about the differences between type 1 and 2 diabetes.
Age at interview: 21
Sex: Male
Age at diagnosis: 20
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So one of the things that I think I do find tedious is a lot of the questions people ask and the misconceptions people have about diabetes. That’s, yeah that’s something tedious when, when someone will say. They, they are trying to be nice but they might say, “Oh if you go low do I need to inject you?” And you’re like, “No, just don’t.” And they are just trying to help and there’s these misconceptions everywhere. And so they’ll go, “Do you inject sugar?” [OOOH] Does that mean you can’t eat sweets or does that mean you ate too many sweets when you were a kid?” And then the misconceptions having to explain to everyone you meet the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. And explain that actually Type 1 is the hand you’re dealt. You’ve got it now and Type 2 is something that in, not in all cases but in many cases it’s linked with lifestyle. So you, you’ve obviously got that balancing out to the people. As soon as they hear the word, type, diabetes. They assume Type2 and they’ve got all the stigma associated with Type 2. And then you have to explain to them that you’re not Type 2, you’re Type 1 and this is Type 1 and. Yeah, yeah it’s two completely different conditions and I don’t like having to deal with the people assuming that you are Type 2.
Choosing not to tell people about diabetes was seen by some people as a good way of avoiding making it into a big deal. Some young people felt that their friends knew very little about diabetes and tended to associate it with eating too many sweets in childhood. Some young people said they usually avoided talking about diabetes when they met someone new - partly because it was boring for other people, partly because it was so complicated to explain. Others made a point of telling their friends everything there was to know about their diabetes and liked helping educate them.
She feels that if she talks about her diabetes it will make it seem a bigger thing in her life...
She feels that if she talks about her diabetes it will make it seem a bigger thing in her life...
Age at interview: 20
Sex: Female
Age at diagnosis: 11
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Okay and what about forming a new peer group and friends in terms of did you tell them that you had diabetes?
Eventually. I can't remember how it came about really I probably did tell them straight away because it's not the sort of thing 'Hi I'm [name], I've got diabetes,' [laughs] you know I probably did tell you know a couple of friends or whatever after a time and probably you know but I can't really remember to be honest how it came about that I told them. But I remember when in the first year that I was at my new school one of my friends was going out with somebody who had diabetes so she kind of talked to me a bit about it then. But other than that I just, it wasn't really, it's not something that I really tend to talk about with my friends you know I suppose they know, although I think they quite often forget [laughs] you know I know I've told friends before and then you know I kind of bring it up for whatever reason and they're like 'What?' And I'm like 'You know I have told you,' and they're like 'No you didn't.' I'm like 'Yeah I did.' 'Oh I forgot.' So it's kind of, it's a background thing really it's not like a big deal that you know I sort of talk about all the time or anything, they know but it's not very important kind of thing.
She doesn't hide her diabetes from anyone and talks about it so much she thinks she's become a ...
She doesn't hide her diabetes from anyone and talks about it so much she thinks she's become a ...
Age at interview: 25
Sex: Female
Age at diagnosis: 24
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I mean obviously I've, I have told all my friends that I, that I have diabetes. I've never had any problem with that. That's one thing, I've never found it something embarrassing or anything that I've got to hide from people, you know. I want people to know. And also I can be a bit of a diabetes bore sometimes, you know. I just want to tell people what, what it is. Because I didn't know what it was really before I had it myself. So if the, if the topic ever comes up I just go, 'Oh, yes, well, this is Type 1, this is Type 2' and just go into the whole explaining thing. And I think, yes, I have said, you know, that, what the signs of a hypo can be. I mean most of the time when I go out it's, it's with my boyfriend, and he knows, he knows about it. And I've, he's never had to do it, but I've taught him like how to test my sugar levels. And he knows that, you know, if I go a bit shaky then, then he's to get me, you know, some orange juice or Coca Cola. And I keep sugar tablets with me as well.
Last reviewed December 2017.
Last updated April 2010.
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