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Living with type 1 diabetes and being needle-phobic

Hi all! My name is Lauryn and this is my first blog post. I’m 22 years old and I have been a type one diabetic for 4 years now. For as long as I can remember, I have been needle phobic, so as you can imagine this became a big problem for me! I’m hoping this blog can help as many people as possible that suffer from the same issue!

When I was diagnosed as a type one diabetic, not only was I worried and stressed about all the adjustments I would have to make to my lifestyle, but also the fact that I would have to inject myself daily. Ever since I was a child I have been absolutely terrified of needles, which of course ended up affecting my blood glucose levels as time went on.

I became very reluctant to give myself any of my daily injections and after a certain amount of months this became very apparent to my doctors and nurses. My health continuously got worse and I ended up in the hospital with DKA. Once I recovered, I realized that I had to change my ways and had to start taking care of myself!

I had several conversations with my diabetes nurses and we had come to the decision that I would be put on to the I-PORT method. I-ports are mainly marketed to children but are an excellent direction to go in if you are also needle-phobic. Instead of 150 insertions per month, the i-port will bring you down to 10 insertions per month. A quick and easy tutorial on how to apply an i-port can be watched on Medtronic’s youtube channel. The i-ports are available through the NHS and can be ordered through Medtronic.

Needle phobia is extremely common in the general population and affects 10% of the population in the UK. Now, when you consider that 7% of the population have type one diabetes, this adds up to quite a lot of people overall.

My aim for this blog is to help anyone who suffers from the same problem, and to give them an alternative to dealing with daily injections. If anyone would like any further information or ask me any questions, I run an Instagram page called @the.diaryofadiabetic and would be more than happy to help in any way!

Sincerely, 

Lauryn Baptiste

Lauryn Baptiste
Type 1 diabetes for four years.

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