Bridlington YouTuber becomes ambassador for national charity to raise awareness about Lupus and the struggles of those diagnosed

Beth Smith is a beauty and chronic illness content creator on YouTube and was born and raised in Bridlington.

Now living between Driffield and York, she uses her channel ‘Beth Does Beauty’ to raise awareness about the autoimmune disease.

Lupus is a chronic, incurable and non-contagious disease that can affect various parts of the body.

The disease causes the immune system, which is supposed to protect the body from infections, to mistakenly attack healthy tissues and organs. This can lead to inflammation and damage in different areas of the body, including the skin, joints, kidneys, heart, lungs, brain, blood cells, and more.Ms Smith was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease in 2015 following a long journey of suffering with symptoms that GPs struggled to diagnose.

After a lot of hardship, this year Ms Smith has been announced as an Ambassador for Lupus UK, a national charity dedicated to supporting individuals living with Lupus.

Ms Smith said: “At 17, I began experiencing unexplained rashes on my body and face, followed by debilitating pain in my feet, knees, and wrists.

“I spent about a year going to my GP and receiving the ‘good news’ that my tests were clear, but that was anything but good news as I felt so unwell and wanted answers.

“After a year of testing and being prescribed various creams and lotions for misdiagnosed skin issues, it was suggested by my GP that maybe my issues ‘were all in my head’. I was devastated that someone could think that about anyone desperate to live life without pain.

“I moved to university where I was struggling to get out of bed most days, and the inflammation in my legs was so bad I could not walk. I spent hours a day googling my symptoms until I discovered the Lupus UK website and my symptoms seemed to match their symptoms resources.

“I discussed this with my new GP and had an emergency referral to a rheumatologist. I was diagnosed with Lupus in October 2015 and told that I was ‘a textbook case’.

“After diagnosis it took me a while to bounce back to my usual self. I developed severe facial redness that is permanently on my cheeks and across the bridge of my nose which is known as malar rash or butterfly rash- a classic symptom of Lupus.

“I also suffered from hair loss due to the many medications I had to take to try to suppress my immune system.

“In 2017 I decided to create Beth Does Beauty, a YouTube channel where I upload content on how I cover my facial redness and discuss my experiences with the disease.

“My ultimate goal with my YouTube channel is to create a platform to inform people about Lupus and its symptoms.

“Lupus can affect various organs and when you're left without answers for a while like I was it can be quite scary to think of the potential consequences, so early intervention and treatment are really important.

“In May 2020 I was made the face of Lupus UK's World Lupus Day campaign entitled ‘Lupus is only part of my story’ - a campaign that aimed to promote the multifaceted lives of Lupus patients beyond their disease.

“Most recently Lupus UK have asked me to be their ambassador for 2023 to aid them in garnering awareness and help raise funds for the charity.

“It's been an honour to take on such a big role for a national charity! I just feel like a girl from Bridlington that was dealt a bad hand with my health- now I have the chance to turn such a negative experience into something positive and help others.”

Visit https://lupusuk.org.uk/ambassadors/ to find out more on Lupus Uk and their ambassadors.

Visit https://www.youtube.com/c/BethDoesBeauty to for more information on the Beth Does Beauty channel.