‘Oh goodness, I really don’t know how you do that. There’s no way I would be able to.’ If I had £1 for every time someone said that to me when they’ve caught a glimpse of me injecting insulin I’d have, well, about £32, but the point still stands. For me, it’s a necessity and part of a reality I deal with day and daily.

I was on a flight recently and I was sitting beside two people I didn’t know. About an hour into the flight I checked my sugar level and it was slightly too high, so I needed to take insulin to correct it. I did hesitate a little before injecting, knowing that I was sitting beside strangers and wondered if I should mention it to them, but they had their earphones in, so I went about my business. As I injected, one of the ladies stared at me with a look of horror and tutted so loudly the pilot probably heard. At the time I was really embarrassed but a few weeks on, I’m angry. Something changed for me that day. It was a reminder that diabetes is often misunderstood, misinterpreted and misrepresented and it’s time that something changed.

I was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes in 2011. I was 19 and in shock. My pancreas had called in sick for the rest of my life. Out of the blue, my life became about insulin injections, finger pricks, 3am sugar level checks and taking extra care of my body. Then, like a slap in the face, it hit me that this was not just for a while, it was for a lifetime. I don’t know if I will ever be able to explain what it’s like to suddenly have to inject yourself to stay alive, but I would give it a bad TripAdvisor review to say the least.

My life became all about numbers and decisions and anyone who knows me will know that those are my least favourite things. It’s about carb counting, ratios, amounts of insulin and blood glucose (sugar) levels. It’s about making decisions about how much insulin to give yourself for what you are eating, taking account of activity levels, hormones, sleep patterns and about 1,000 other things. It’s also about doing it while trying to do life.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are days when your sugar levels are perfect, and you feel like you have conquered the world, but there are also the days when things aren’t good. The days when you haven’t slept from consistently high levels or when you have a hypo during a big meeting or you cry in the carpark of the gym because you want to work out but you know your sugar level is too low at that moment. It’s those days, the darker days, that people need to know about.

Emotional and mental health support for people living with diabetes is often missing. That is why Diabetes UK has recently started a campaign called ‘It’s Missing.’ They found that 7 out of 10 people have felt overwhelmed by the demands of living with diabetes and three quarters of people with diabetes can’t get the emotional and health support they need.

From my experience, high blood sugars can make you feel emotional, irritable and frustrated. You despair about consultant appointments and the dreaded HBA1c number (your average blood glucose (sugar) levels for the last two to three months), worrying that you will be shouted at for, even though you’ve been trying your best, and there is often nowhere to turn. You worry about lows and have to make sure that you are always organised and have that all important hypo treatment with you. You fear the future and what will happen to your body and get frightened after seeing horror stories online.

Without the right emotional support, diabetes can get harder and feel all-encompassing. Until recently, diabetes has felt like a lonely place for me, especially in the last few years. People will always try and understand but it’s difficult when it’s not their norm. I’m blessed with friends who will always ask and go out of their way to understand, but it’s often about you and you alone.

In October 2018, I was fortunate enough to get the FreeStyle Libre Glucose Monitoring System and it has gone some way in helping to revolutionise my diabetes and my outlook. It means that I scan the sensor on my arm and it will tell me my blood glucose level and what direction my levels are travelling. There are still some finger pricks, but the frequency of them has dramatically reduced. I feel like I am getting onto an even keel and my HBA1c is improving all the time. I’ve connected with some others living with Type One and it’s great to able to just have a moan sometimes and share the days when the little black line on your reader brings only good news. Sadly, I know that everyone is not as fortunate, and I am determined to see that change.

Through the ‘It’s Missing’ campaign, Diabetes UK is calling on health services in the UK to create national standards for diabetes emotional and mental health support, including everyone being asked how they are feeling as part of every diabetes appointment and a mental health professional with knowledge of diabetes being part of every diabetes care team. Diabetes can be tough and relentless but there are things that can be done to help reduce the burden. It is imperative that such things are in put in place so no one with diabetes is left feeling down hearted, isolated or alone.

Let’s start a conversation. Let’s begin to understand. And please, let’s not stare at people if they are taking their insulin in public because believe me, sometimes they are feeling awkward enough. (Also, yes, the person with Type One can have the chocolate bar).