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Two Co Down students have become the stars of a new series of videos - which have gone viral - aimed at making it okay to have diabetes. Best friends Ellen Watson (19) and Beth McDaniel (20), from Banbridge, are smashing the stigma of Type 1 diabetes - a lifelong condition that causes a person's blood sugar level to become too high and for which daily injections of insulin are needed - thanks to their hugely popular TikTok videos.

alling themselves the Diabetic Duo, the young women have amassed hundreds of thousands of followers in just a few months through their refreshing, light-hearted posts about living with Type 1 diabetes.

TikTok is a popular video-sharing social network service used to create short film clips which can last from three to 15 seconds.

After posting their first video last October, Ellen and Beth knew they had hit a nerve when it was viewed overnight by 500,000 people and eventually scored more than 700,000 hits.

They were then inundated with messages from young people around the globe congratulating them on raising awareness about living with diabetes.

Ellen and Beth - who are both studying at Ulster University - live together, work together at the weekends, are cheerleaders and love to shop.

We use our free style libras to check our blood sugar levels using our phones they are a gift from god #fyp #diabeticduo #belfast #trending

Ellen has lived with diabetes since the age of six and was shocked when Beth was diagnosed just last September.

The two friends support each other, counting calories to ensure their diets are healthy and keeping tabs on monitoring blood sugar levels.

Ellen knows what it's like to grow up under the shadow of diabetes, having tried to hide it for years from her school friends, which is why she is thrilled that the videos are having such a big impact.

"I grew up with diabetes and have had it for as long as I can remember," she says. "When I was really young I just did what my mum told me and then as I got older I had to learn to keep an eye on my sugar levels myself.

"I became really conscious of it in high school when I was 13. I didn't want people to know I had it and I would have tried to inject myself under the table in the canteen at lunchtime without anyone knowing.

"When I got a bit older I did grow to accept it a bit more and see the positive side. I have great community support with my doctor and nurses who are all lovely and show you how to live with it.

"My mum Sharon is a nurse and she always kept me right. New technology has really helped make life with diabetes a lot easier."

Ellen was on hand to support her best friend Beth when she was diagnosed in September of last year - incredibly, within just a week of her 12-year-old sister also being diagnosed.

Injecting in strange places#diabeticduo #foryoupage #belfast #holylands #t1dcat #hypo #trending

"We have no family history of diabetes but last August my little sister Grace took sick and was diagnosed with diabetes which was a big shock for our family," Beth says.

"Seven days later, on September 4 - a day I will never forget - I, too, was diagnosed. My parents were still in shock over Grace's diagnosis and just couldn't believe it when I was told I had it, too.

"I knew it was diabetes as I had all the symptoms. I was really sluggish and didn't want to get out of bed and was very thirsty. I also had blurred vision and I felt very irritable.

"I believed in my head that I had it and my dad took to me to hospital where it was diagnosed. My mum was devastated.

"At first I found it really hard to come to terms with and I cried every day for the first two weeks.

"I never liked needles and I would have sat staring at my belly for 10 minutes before plucking up the courage to inject myself.

"The finger-pricking to check blood sugar levels was also really sore.

"Ellen and I share accommodation at university and we just sit at the dinner table some nights and laugh because we always shared everything and we can't believe we now both have diabetes.

"We inject at the same time and we both count our calories to make sure we are eating property.

"Ellen has been such a huge support and I really wouldn't have coped so well over the last few months without her."

A great support to each other, the girls have been inseparable since they first met four years ago while working in the same shoe shop in their home town of Banbridge.

They hit it off immediately and not only did they have a lot of interests in common, but they both looked alike.

"We just clicked and everyone thinks we are twins because we look so much like each other," Beth laughs.

"We even picked similar courses at the same university. Ellen is studying marketing at the Ulster University and I'm studying communications, advertising and marketing.

"We also live together in the same student accommodation and that has brought us even closer together."

Type 1 diabetes is different to Type 2 - the latter is usually associated with lifestyle, in particular being overweight, and presents later in adult life.

Ellen and Beth say that a general lack of understanding in the difference between the two is a huge reason why they believe there is a stigma surrounding living with diabetes.

People with Type 1 diabetes are insulin-dependent as their pancreas produces little or no insulin - the hormone which regulates blood sugar.

People with Type 2 diabetes can manage the disease with a healthy lifestyle and diet. However, most also have to take medication.

The girls have been breaking down barriers by recording videos showing them openly injecting insulin and proudly wearing their sugar monitoring discs on their arms during nights out.

A new device called the FreeStyle Libre is a glucose-monitoring disc which can be worn on the arm and, linked to a phone app, monitors blood sugars automatically. While you may still need to do some finger-prick tests, this nonetheless provides an enormous benefit.

Indeed, Ellen says it has revolutionised how she is able to manage her diabetes and even her mum has access to the same app which displays a graph of her blood sugar levels throughout the day.

Wearing the arm sensor, which is around the size of a two-pence piece, on their videos has endeared them to other young people who felt the need to hide their diabetes.

When you and your bestie have a hypo at the same time #diabeticduo #fyp #belfast #foryoupage #hypo #trending #besties

The students aim to keep their videos funny while promoting the message that it is okay to have diabetes.

They have been astonished by the reaction.

"I was constantly asked if I was overweight as people automatically assume that is why I have diabetes and with the videos we've been able to shatter that myth," Ellen says.

"People are quite shocked that we are young and eat well and look after ourselves and still have diabetes.

"We already did some fun videos as 'the iconic duo' as we are always together and always doing the same thing and even wear the same outfits.

"We thought we should make one for the craic for TikTok and add diabetes as an element - overnight it went viral with half a million views and in the end more than 700,000 people watched it and we just couldn't believe it. People saw the scanner on our arms and were shocked that we would wear it so openly on a night out.

"For us it is a way to create a bit of fun out of a lifelong illness.

"We've had messages from all over the world, from Scotland, Australia and America, and we just seem to be getting more and more every day.

"Many are from children and young people our age who are asking us questions and, while we know we are not in a position to give medical advice, we are happy to support people who contact us.

"I feel that it really would have helped me if I had something similar to look out for when I was younger as there was no one I knew my age who had diabetes and who I could relate to."

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Fun times: The Diabetic Duo are often mistaken for twins

Kevin Scott

Beth agrees and adds: "It is all about changing the stigma as a lot of people don't understand the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. I love how we are inspiring people and it's great to be able to post positive things online.

"I think it is really important to bring positivity to it with a bit of fun at the heart of it. People can be really negative about it and we are glad to be able to bring it out in the open and show we are not uncomfortable with it.

"We've done a range of funny videos including one where we pretended to be our nurses checking our blood cells and the nurses and doctors in our local practice said they loved it.

"We also did one on injecting insulin in strange places and we videoed ourselves injecting in front of a police car, while doing our cheerleading and eating a sausage roll in Greggs and that was viewed by half a million people.

The response has been incredible and we are constantly having people come up to us in shops and the street recognising us as the Diabetic Duo. We feel like local celebrities!"

You can watch Ellen and Beth on the TikTok app via @diabeticduo. Beth also writes a beauty blog you can find at bethymcdaniel.wordpress.com

The number of people in Northern Ireland living with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes is now 100,000, according to figures published by http://www.diabetes.org.uk. This number includes the estimated 12,000 who have not yet been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

Prevalence of diabetes in NI is now over 5.7% and approximately 90% of diabetes cases are Type 2, the NI Audit Office reports.

Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 has no relation to diet or lifestyle and it is not clear what causes it.

The cells of the pancreas which make insulin are attacked which means that insulin production is suppressed.

Because insulin regulates blood sugar, without this control in place glucose levels in the blood build up.

Symptoms: before diagnosis, your body tries to remove glucose through the kidneys, which means you go to the toilet a lot.

The patient can be very thirsty, feel tired more than usual, lose weight unexpectedly and have blurred vision. These symptoms can present within days or weeks and the patient should seek medical attention as soon as possible.

Managing Type 1 diabetes: insulin must be injected or delivered to the body via a pump. Blood sugar levels should be checked several times a day.

Type 2 diabetes

Six out of 10 people have no symptoms when they're diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. However, symptoms are similar to those for Type 1.

Managing Type 2 diabetes: most people need medicine to help keep blood sugar levels as normal as possible. Sticking to a healthy diet and keeping active will help you manage blood sugar.

Around 2.5 hours of activity a week is recommended - this could include fast walking, climbing stairs and doing more strenuous housework or gardening.

Losing weight if you're overweight is important as it will help your body to lower your blood sugar level, and can improve blood pressure and cholesterol.

Regular monitoring and check-ups are important as complications of Type 2 diabetes can include heart disease and stroke, nerve damage, foot problems, vision loss and kidney problems.

Sources: http://www.diabetes.org.uk and http://www.nhs.uk

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Northern Ireland 'Diabetic Duo' who have gone viral with online videos that smash stigma of life with the illness - Belfast Telegraph

This entry was posted on February 18, 2020 at 5:51 pm and is filed under Diabetes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |