Diagnosed in August 2005. Her insulin regime consists of three injections of NovoRapid before each meal and in the evening before bed is Insulatart. She uses cartridges with pen injectors. The fact that she was diagnosed with having diabetes still upset her but says that everybody; her mother, friends, GP and the care team at the hospital have all been very supportive.

Since the age of six and until recently her insulin regimen consisted of Humulin I and Humulin S twice a day. Recently, she changed to Lantus and NovoRapid because she likes the idea of having more flexibility over mealtimes. One week after she changed her insulin regimen she was rushed into hospital with DKA (diabetes ketoacidosis) and spent one week in intensive care, the same occurred again two weeks later. In all she has been in intensive care six times with DKA. Afterwards, she has tried different types of insulin but none seems to have worked. Four months ago she was put back onto her original insulin but on four injections a day instead of two. No more incidents of DKA have occurred but she worries about the long-term effects of ketoacidosis. Anyone changing their insulin regimen has to do regular blood sugar tests.

She is on analogue long-acting insulin (glargine) and on a fast-acting insulin; NovoRapid that she injects with her meals. She highly recommends this insulin regimen because it is flexible and you can eat what you want and when you want. In her experience diabetes is more difficult to control when you are a teenager because of the hormonal changes. She experienced heavy periods and her doctor recommended a contraceptive pill (Microginol) to help with the problem. Last year she did a three-day hike in the Peak District and says that you can definitely do sports if you have diabetes. You just need to plan ahead.

She has used the same insulin regime since diagnosis; Human Insulatard and her HbA1Cs are always between six and seven so she does not see the need to change. She has been doing her blood sugar tests since the age of five but she was unable to do her own insulin injections. Her parents were doing the injections for her until last year. She asked her consultant at the adult clinic for help and she was referred to a psychiatrist. After a year of cognitive therapy she started to do her own injections. Now she feels confident, independent and has a busy social life.

She has lived with type 1 diabetes since 1997. As a child she used to experience many hypos and also loss consciousness several times. Her local children's diabetes clinic transferred her to another, bigger hospital. For a long time her mother used to go and check on her twice during the night to make sure that she wasn't having a hypo or even more worrying, experiencing a diabetic coma. She has fewer hypos now, but she always carries her glucose tablets wherever she goes. She injects long-acting insulin in the morning (Glargine) and a fast-acting before each meal (NovoRapid).

Diagnosed age eleven and put on two insulin injections a day of Mixtard 30. Now she is on one injection of Lantus in the evening and three injections of Humalog with each meal. She took part in the Insight programme which provides training on adjusting insulin dosages for healthy eating. She recommends such training sessions to everyone.

Her current regime consists of analogue long-acting insulin; Lantus in the mornings and short-acting insulin injections of NovoRapid three times a day at mealtimes. Says that she is fine with taking her insulin but, as a teenager, she did mind the blood sugar tests and seldom did them. She has developed diabetes-related complications and says that these were a 'wake up' call to take control of her diabetes.

She takes Humalog mix 25 twice a day. She finds injections a pain and does not want to change her insulin regime. Prior to Humalog mix 25 she was on another type of insulin call Human Mixtard 30-70 where she was required to have snacks in between meals. She finds her present insulin regime much easier to manage.

She has lived with diabetes most of her life and has been on different insulin types such as NovoRapid and Insulatard. When she was on two insulin injections a day she had a fixed mealtime routine and had to have snacks in between meals. She stopped having her snacks because she thought she was eating too much. Currently, she is on Lantus and Humalog.