Diabetic tips from a type 1 diabetic who did it all wrong

The Type None story goes back to a moody 17-year-old who had bad hair and didn’t want to check his blood sugar.

It was just before Christmas and I was thirsty. Thirstier than I’d ever been. I wanted to drink every drink, but also piss in every toilet. I couldn’t stop doing either.

The next day I was sat in a doctor’s office. Wee in this bottle, sharp scratch here, stand on these scales. I wasn’t sure why it was happening.

Another day passed, and then I found out.

I’ve spent the following 12 years fumbling my way through diabetes. I’ve had times when I’ve been fine with it, but many more where it’s beaten me down. I’ve passed out on numerous occasions, lived with highs that ruined my ability to function, and cracked my skull open twice leading to a bleed on the brain.

It’s not all been fun and games.

I’ve got to where I am – a healthy diabetic whose skull is all in one piece – through a mix of trial and error and trips to A&E. It’s been a lot of guess work and even more frustration.

Type None is here to stop other young diabetics having to go through the same experiences.

The information is all out there, in medical books thousands of pages long, NHS leaflets, websites that look like they were built at the start of the internet, and group meetings where you’re taught about carbohydrates.

The knowledge exists, but well done you if you can force yourself to sit and absorb it.

I wanted to offer diabetics the information I wish I’d known all that time ago in a way that doesn’t make them want to pull their eyes out.

I’d been blagging my way through the condition, before I finally realised that calling it a condition was doing it an injustice – it affects everything I do, everything I plan, everyone who knows me. Diabetes is a way of life, and the sooner you come to know that, the better your life can be.

Oh, and as for the hair…