DRWF Women and Diabetes interviews: "Rollercoaster of emotions” – Health coach Vanessa Haydock

The DRWF Women and Diabetes series welcomes Vanessa Haydock, a body trainer and coach living with type 1 diabetes. 

At the heart of this project is a simple but powerful belief: every woman living with diabetes deserves to feel seen, heard, and supported.

Across the UK, women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes navigate a lifelong journey shaped not only by their condition, but also by the many milestones and challenges unique to womanhood – from adolescence and pregnancy, through menopause, to later life. 

Alongside managing blood glucose levels, they balance careers, family, relationships, and their own health and wellbeing.

Yet too often, these experiences are underrepresented in public conversations about diabetes. 

Many women tell us they have never heard a story that truly reflects their own – and that lack of visibility can leave them feeling isolated, misunderstood, or unseen.

The Women and Diabetes podcast series aims to change that. 

DRWF: What was your type 1 diabetes diagnosis like?

Vanessa: “I was around three-years-old. It’s funny, because I remember it well, all those years ago. I remember being in the doctor's surgery and them telling my mum and dad. I then had to go to hospital. I remember injecting into an orange, back in the day. It's crazy looking back now. 

“I had to start off by pricking my finger four times a day. I remember it taking about three nurses to give me my first insulin injection because I was not having any of it. I was so scared. Growing up with diabetes, I always referred to my parents as “my pancreas” because they did everything for me. They were incredible. Back in the 1990s, there was no CGM's (continuous glucose monitors), no smart pens. I don't think there were insulin pumps back then either. And the internet was not as easily accessible. My parents had to read books and improve their knowledge around diabetes to try and help me as much as they could. They did an amazing job.”

DRWF: Did your family have any experience of anybody living with type 1 diabetes?

Vanessa: My dad's aunties (my great aunts) were twins, who both had type 1 diabetes. 

DRWF: Have you spoken to your parents now you are an adult to ask, what was it like having a little girl diagnosed with the condition?

Vanessa: “I speak to my mum about it quite a lot because my mum was amazing. I remember she used to come into school on the breaks to give me snacks and my insulin, as I had to have insulin and snacks at a set time. She used to come with me on all my school trips. It was it was hard, but she did it because she knew what I needed.

“I used to quite like it, because my mum came everywhere with me as a little girl. I don't remember ever having any issues diabetes-wise with peers asking questions or anything like that. It was more when I was at high school.”

Vanessa said the next phase of her education provided more challenging experiences: “At high school I had to completely take the reins with everything. That was when I went through a huge phase of being in denial. I wasn't checking my glucose levels. I knew I had diabetes, but I didn't really know what diabetes was, which sounds really bad for me to say, but I just knew I had to inject insulin. I knew that I had to treat high blood glucose, but my knowledge around it was just not the best. I hated going to my appointments. I used to make up numbers in that little notebook that you used to get to give to your endocrinologist. I wanted to be like my friends, and I just did not want to have it. I really struggled as a teenager growing up. I didn't know anyone with type 1 diabetes either. There was no social media back then, like there is now.”

A change in approach came when Vanessa was 18 and received a letter that her sight could be at risk.

Vanessa said: “It just made me do a 360-degree turn overnight where I started to make little changes. I started to really try and take control over my diabetes. I started to check my glucose levels on my meter every single hour. I used to write them down on in my own little notebook. I would highlight which ones were high, which ones were low in different colours, and I would try and really understand what was going on with my levels. I got into health and fitness. I just improved my overall habits and behaviours around my diabetes. I also started to do a lot of volunteering for diabetes charities, to get into the area of getting to know the people with type 1 diabetes too.” 

DRWF: Tell us about the Diabetic Health Coach. 

Vanessa: “I was training to become a behaviour analyst at university. I thought, why is there nothing like this for people with diabetes? Behaviour change is all about habits and how do you improve habits. For those of us living with type 1 diabetes, we have to do all of these things, make those changes overnight. 

“Going into that industry, I used to think it would make such a big difference if health and fitness coaches also had knowledge about diabetes. They just thought that I needed to avoid sugar. So that's when I started the Diabetic Health Coach. I started to coach people online to help to improve their health fitness, help them to work towards their goals, whatever they were. 

“Every single one of my clients had type 1 diabetes and people would come to me with specific health and fitness goals, around improving their overall relationship with diabetes. We would work towards those goals, and I would help them and support them along the way.”

DRWF: How has type 1 diabetes affected your mental health?

Vanessa: “Mental health and type 1 diabetes is something that is never really spoken about. There is a 50% more likelihood of suffering from some form of mental health condition with diabetes. Is it any wonder with the pressure that we are under?”