After being misdiagnosed with epilepsy as a teenager, one woman who lives in Bingham has spoken out about life with Type 1 diabetes. Now trying to raise awareness through her job, Claire Clements wants to ensure young children with the condition feel comfortable to be open about it.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the body is unable to produce any insulin. The condition, unlike Type 2 diabetes, cannot be prevented.
In 2016, it was estimated 3.8 million people aged 16 and over had diabetes in England. This estimate included those who were diagnosed or undiagnosed.
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It was at the age of 17 when Claire, now 42, was diagnosed with the condition. That day, she wasn’t supposed to have a doctor's appointment, it was by chance and prevented the then-teenager from going into a coma.
After finding out about her condition where Claire previously lived in Essex, the Positive Mindset mentor’s mental health spiralled. Speaking about life before her diagnosis, sitting with her sensor and her Accu-Chek Insight insulin pump worn reguarly, Claire said: “I was unwell for a good couple of years prior to diagnosis. I was misdiagnosed with epilepsy and I was told that that was down to the hormones of teenage girls.”
Claire was also constantly thirsty. Being thirsty is a common symptom of diabetes as blood sugar levels rising and falling leads to dehydration.
In her published book aimed at children, ‘Put on Your Positive Pants’, there is a character in the book with diabetes to raise awareness about the condition.
Claire continued and said: “After seeing a different doctor and doing a urine test it was off the scale and I was told to go to hospital straight away otherwise I’d be in a coma. The hospital got me on insulin and showed me how to inject myself when my sugars were high.
“At the time, it was scary. You’re 17 and hormonal.”
5 years ago, Claire had to inject herself with insulin 5 times a day. Now, with her pump, she no longer needs to do this.
Speaking out about the misconceptions of the condition, Claire said: “You get asked questions all the time like ‘does that mean you can’t have sugar anymore?’ or if you go out to eat someone might say ‘can you eat that?’” There’s a misconception that it's only sugar you have to monitor but it’s also carbohydrates, too, if you have a slice of bread, you need to take insulin.
“Children have also asked things like ‘can you catch it?” Overall, Claire is healthy, eats normally and has to test her sugar levels every time she eats.
The mentor was, however, concerned when being pregnant. She said: “When I was pregnant, I was stressed and worried about my sugar levels affecting her development, nothing was passed on to my daughter but pregnant women with diabetes do worry about that a lot.
“A lot of people know the term diabetes but people don’t know the level of difficulty it causes. When you have hypos [hypoglycemia] you don’t want to cause attention to yourself.”
Hypoglycemia is when the level of sugar in your blood drops too low. Claire continued explaining what a ‘hypo’ feels like and said: “You get shaky, trembling, your heart beats faster, you get sweaty and I just go into overdrive because the energy from your body is depleting but it's rectified easily.
“I hate the experience of having a hypo, you can also get angry or emotional.”
Claire has praised the support available in Nottingham for those who are diabetic. She said: “There’s really good support in Nottingham, up until recently, I didn’t know other diabetics but I’ve joined Facebook groups and I’ve been to events where there are diabetic stand up comedians who people in the audience will be able to relate to. I also work with children. I used to say ‘I am diabetic’ but now, I say ‘I have diabetes’ to show children that you aren’t defined by your condition.
“There’s also a counselling service at the City Hospital just for people with diabetes and your sessions don’t have to be linked to your diabetes. I think that the hospital realising that if you take care of your mental wellbeing you’ll also be taking care of your diabetes too is great.”
Dr Kaustubh Nisal, a consultant endocrinologist, has said: “Diagnosis of diabetes, type 1 or type 2, can be a huge shock to many people and is often a life changing event not only for these individuals but also for their families. Many people find it difficult to come to terms with it and may experience anger, frustration, sense of loss and depression.
"At NUH, we have a team of dedicated healthcare professionals to help the individual not only to manage their diabetes and walk along with them on this steep learning curve, but also to support their emotional needs via a dedicated in-house counselling service and psychological services, offered to individuals and their family members.
"Scientific and the technological advances of the last few years have changed how our patients manage their diabetes. At NUH we offer the latest available technology and medications to support our patients."
“This being national Diabetes Awareness Week, it's important to remember that type 2 diabetes is not a mild form of diabetes and often produces either subtle or very little symptoms. It’s important to get ‘diabetes tests’ done if individuals are feeling more thirsty, passing more urine, have recurrent thrush, noticed sudden change of vision, or other unusual symptoms.”
