My GP identified me at high risk of type 2 diabetes. I was taking heart medication and he had been doing blood tests over a period of time, and my HbA1c (average blood sugar levels) showed I had prediabetes – at 42mmol/l.

I was carrying a lot of weight. My BMI (body mass index) was about 40ish. I weighed about 117 kgs (around 18 and a half stone). So, my GP suggested I go on an NHS type 2 prevention course.

I’ve been healthy most of my life but I’d been putting on weight over the years. It had gradually built up. 

I stopped smoking and I think I was eating more. And I became more sedentary when I started working from home in the last few years. I joked to my colleagues that I was sitting next door to the kitchen, so it was too easy to go and make something to eat. And I was no longer walking to the train station and back. 

When my husband, Donald, now 85, got his mixed dementia diagnosis in April 2023, I soon realised that I couldn’t separate the condition from his type 2 diabetes. 

If he has either high or low blood sugar levels, he gets more confused now that he has dementia. And his appetite has also changed, so it makes carb counting more difficult when I’m helping him with his insulin doses.

So I feel as if both conditions I’m supporting him with are closely linked because they have an impact on each other.

The other problem with Donald’s diabetes is that he doesn’t get any hypo warning signs. 

So it’s a constant case of keeping an eye on his blood sugars and making sure he takes the correct dose as it’s complicated for Donald to manage his diabetes now.

Around 18 months ago, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes following a routine blood test. As a very active person who is mindful of my nutrition, the diagnosis came as a surprise.

Before my diagnosis, I used to be someone who was able to fast for long periods of time, however last year I found fasting very challenging as it made me feel very lethargic and extremely weary.

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes six years ago, when I was just 11 years old. 

The diagnosis came unexpectedly one evening when my dad, who is a doctor, noticed that I was unusually thirsty and drinking far more water than normal. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but he decided to check my blood sugar, which turned out to be very high. 

We went straight to the hospital — it was around midnight, and everything happened very suddenly. By the following morning, I had been diagnosed and spent the next few days in hospital coming to terms with what this meant.

My mum lives with type 2 diabetes. When she carried me, she had gestational diabetes and then developed type 2 about 10 years later in her thirties. 

At the age of 28, I was in a new relationship and we were going out to eat a lot. I was enjoying life and having a good time. This meant I’d put on three and a half stone. 

I knew being overweight as well as my mum having had gestational diabetes put me at higher risk of type 2 diabetes, so I went to the doctor to have an HbA1c blood test. 

My HbA1c level was 44mmol/mol which put me into the ‘at risk’ or prediabetic range.

I was in denial. My mindset was not to do something about it as I thought I’m heading down the road to type 2 diabetes anyway.