A diabetic woman almost died from the “world’s most dangerous eating disorder” after doctors mistook her insulin misuse for “laziness”.
April Longe, a 19-year-old a psychology student at the University of Essex, developed an eating disorder known as diabulimia as a teenager.
The condition sees people with type 1 diabetes deliberately reduce their insulin intake to lose weight.
Longe’s doctors originally thought she was simply forgetting to inject her insulin before she was finally admitted to the hospital.
She spent 11 months recovering and is now passionate about raising awareness and wants to see diabulimia recognized as an official disorder.
“I could have died,” Longe said. “I’m very grateful that I didn’t. It was sad it had to get to the point that it got.”
Longe was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age five and started to struggle with an eating disorder when she moved over to the UK from America at age 13.
After collapsing from low blood sugar a paramedic questioned if she was injecting her insulin correctly.
It was then Longe realized she could reduce her intake to lose weight.
“I thought I can eat what I want but get as skinny as possible,” Longe shared. “It became an addiction.”
Longe ate what she wanted to get her blood sugars high but stopped injecting her insulin.
The teen ended up in and out of hospital with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) – a life-threatening complication with diabetes when the body breaks down fat instead of using blood sugar.
But doctors put down these complications with insulin misuse down to laziness.
“They put it down to me being lazy and a teenager,” Longe remembered.
Longe got so bad she couldn’t stand up properly, was very weak and pale and ended up being admitted to the hospital.
There she admitted to doctors she had a fear of injecting herself with insulin.
“I was really scared of insulin,” Longe revealed. “The idea of giving it to myself made me feel like a failure. They asked ‘why don’t you want to inject?’ I said I had a fear of insulin and I didn’t want to gain weight.”
Longe was referred to the eating disorder services and spent a month in the hospital before being discharged.
She remained under the mental health services and Longe continued to struggle with diabulimia and was in and out of hospital.
In May 2022 her CAMHS nurse became concerned and admitted her to the hospital and Longe was sectioned under section 2 of the Mental Health Act.
She was still seriously ill and said she “nearly died”.
Longe was moved to a psychiatric hospital in September 2022 and once moved to the intensive care ward she started to improve.
Her nurse was also type 1 diabetic which helped Longe understand what she was going through.
“Someone finally understood what I was going through,” Longe said. “I started to understand myself. I realized I could lose my sight, I could be really ill.”
Longe spent 11 months in total in hospital and came home in April 2023.
Now recovered Longe is passionate about raising awareness for diabulimia – which is currently not recognized as an official disorder — and she is petitioning for this to change.
“I would like health care professionals to look out for the signs,” Longe suggested. “So many lose their lives to it. It needs more awareness.”
