‘I risked going blind by stopping my insulin to stay skinny'
New UK|April 18, 2022
Like Corrie’s Summer Spellman, as a teen Lynsey Choules developed a dangerous eating disorder linked to her diabetes medication
LARA KILNER
‘I risked going blind by stopping my insulin to stay skinny'

A current storyline on Coronation Street has raised awareness of a little-known eating disorder called diabulimia. In the ITV soap, Summer Spellman, played by Harriet Bibby, has type 1 diabetes, but has been cutting back on her insulin medication to lose weight. As a teenager, Lynsey Choules, now 29, went through a similar experience, and it had devastating consequences for her health.

I can’t remember life without diabetes. I was diagnosed aged six. I was thirsty all the time and Mum recognised the symptoms. But it wasn’t until I was 13 that I really started to struggle with it. As a teenager, you compare yourself to others and diabetes makes you different. It’s a condition that can be overwhelming – you never get a break from it. At boarding school, I didn’t want to stick out, so I went into avoidance mode.

People with type 1 diabetes need insulin before every meal, as well as daily (your ‘background insulin’). I started to take smaller doses until eventually I stopped taking any before food. All I’d have was my background insulin, which I’ve since been told was probably just enough to keep me alive.

By 14, I realised not taking my insulin meant I lost weight, so I thought, “Well, I can’t do insulin because I’ll put on weight.”

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 18, 2022 من New UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 18, 2022 من New UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

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