A diabetic woman almost died from “the world’s most dangerous eating disorder” after doctors chalked up her insulin abuse to “laziness”.
April Longe, a 19-year-old psychology student at the University of Essex, developed an eating disorder called diabulimia in her teenage years.
In this condition, 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 hospitalized.
It took her 11 months to recover and now she’s passionate about raising awareness and wants to see diabulimia recognized as an official disorder.
“I could have died,” Longe said. “I’m very grateful I didn’t do that. It was sad that it had to reach this point.
Longe was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of five and struggled with an eating disorder when she moved from the US to the UK at the age of 13.
A paramedic questioned whether she was injecting her insulin correctly after suffering from low blood sugar.
Then Longe realized she could reduce her intake to lose weight.
“I thought I could eat whatever I wanted but get as thin as possible,” Longe shared. “It became an addiction.”
Longe ate whatever she wanted to raise her blood sugar but stopped injecting insulin.
The teen was in and out of the hospital with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) — a life-threatening complication with diabetes when the body breaks down fat instead of using blood sugar.
But doctors have chalked up these complications from insulin misuse to laziness.
Longe remembered, “They thought I was lazy and a teenager.”
Longe’s condition worsened to such an extent that she was unable to even stand properly, became very weak and pale, and was eventually admitted to hospital.
There he admitted to the doctors that he was afraid of injecting himself with insulin.
“I was really afraid of insulin,” Longe revealed. “The idea of giving it to myself made me feel like a failure. He asked ‘Why don’t you want to do the injection?’ I said I was afraid of insulin and I didn’t want to gain weight.”
Longe was referred to eating disorder services and spent a month in hospital before being discharged.
She remained under mental health services and struggled with diabulimi, going in and out of hospital.
In May 2022 his CAMHS nurse became concerned and admitted him to hospital and Longe was charged under section 2 of the Mental Health Act.
She was still seriously ill and said she “almost died”.
Longe was transferred to a psychiatric hospital in September 2022 and his condition began to improve after being moved to an intensive care ward.
Her nurse also suffered from Type 1 diabetes, which helped Longe understand what she was going through.
“Finally someone understood what I was going through,” Longe said. “I started understanding myself. I realized I could lose my vision, I could get really sick.”
Longe spent a total of 11 months in the hospital and came home in April 2023.
Now recovered, Longe is passionate about raising awareness of diabulimia – which is not currently recognized as an official disorder – and she A petition is being filed to change this.
“I would like health care professionals to pay attention to the signs,” Longe suggested. “Many people lose their lives in this. More awareness is needed for this.”
