Taking the Driving Seat ...

[AM1874]

Recently diagnosed T2 and, like many others, I was shocked, worried and feeling lost. Very quickly, though, folks on this forum have given me so much info, advice and support that I am now beginning to consider myself a bit of an "old hand". What has surprised me, though, is that since diagnosis (7th Feb) all that has happened is that I have another blood test scheduled for 6th March and an appointment with the dietician on 23rd March. Otherwise, I have had nothing from my surgery .. no info, no advice, no details of my levels (I found them myself on-line) or what they mean, nothing about exercise or diet or testing .. not even a leaflet. Moreover, having spent many hours browsing multiple threads on the forum, it seems that the advice and support that (I guess) I eventually will receive may not be what I am looking for. I am reading both historic and current posts about doctors telling their diabetic patients that there is no need to test BS levels "unless you're Type 1" .. GPs and Healthcare professionals who are "required" to offer advice based only on NHS or NICE guidelines .. and dieticians who advocate "carbs with every meal".

So, I have decided to jump into the driving seat. Obviously, I will keep all the appointments, do all the tests and take all the meds set up by my surgery .. but my key focus and motivation will be to manage my diabetes myself, with the advice, info and support that I know I will continue to get from the forum. On this basis, I have so far ...

# Become seriously carb-conscious and started the LCHF way of life (for me, diet suggests a short-term fix)
# Stopped damaging my body with the 2 (sometimes 3) pints of lager that I used to drink most days
# Upped my exercise regime to add a daily 2 mile jog to my existing 3 rounds of golf every week
# Created a series of simple XL spreadsheets to monitor and manage my daily BS levels, carb intake and so on
# Ordered TEE2 and SD Codefree meters + kits (should arrive today) for testing and comparisons

The last two weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind .. but now that I have taken the decision to manage my own diabetes - positively, I feel much more confident about the future and the journey ahead ...

 

[slip]

Good for you!

You say "take all the meds set up by my surgery" - I'd just like to say that is one option

 

[walnut_face]

Well done @AM1974 great attitude

 

[bulkbiker]

That's almost exactly what I did. Don't think there is much point in relying on your HCP's as they either don't know/ haven't got time/are disinterested for the most part. I was very angered by a Diabetes Nurse who told me the condition was progressive and I would end up on insulin whatever I did, I had found this forum about a month before that and knew that it was not inevitable so channeled that anger into proving her wrong.
I think it is important for me that I took control rather than rely on the "professionals" and of course with the support and info available on this forum I have managed pretty well so far.
Well done!

 

[AM1874]

Good for you!

You say "take all the meds set up by my surgery" - I'd just like to say that is one option

Agreed .. but until I learn and understand more that's pretty much the only option that I've got ...

 

[bulkbiker]

Agreed .. but until I learn and understand more that's pretty much the only option that I've got ...

If I were in your shoes I would do a lot of reading about statins .. this forum has a lot of info about them and cholesterol.

 

[walnut_face]

Agreed .. but until I learn and understand more that's pretty much the only option that I've got ...

It is not so much the Diabetes Meds - like Metformin - but other meds that they suddenly think you should take, perhaps because in their opinion your BP and cholesterol are 'too high' for a diabetic

EDIT Bulkbiker beat me to it

 

[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. Good for you for taking control.

 

[Element137]

Good for you, this condition can be managed, you are not without choice in your response to diagnosis - and it looks like you have embraced the challenge of taking control and actively doing something about it - after the initial shock of diagnosis, and a few weeks of 'why me' despair, I found this forum, read up as much as I could from recommendations from contributors on here. I treated it as a personal challenge - BG testing kit, set up spreadsheet, graphed the outputs etc., tweaked food type intake based on results - 'eating to your meter' is the best advice I have followed on here - for me its like a chemical engineering challenge, and it looks like you are up for the fight ! - good luck, keep us posted, I am sure you will see the results you want. Only thing I would add is don't be surprised if apart from the good folk on here, no one else will be remotely interested in the results or how you get them, including the HCP's you may come into contact with. We are not swimming with the tide.

 

[AM1874]

If I were in your shoes I would do a lot of reading about statins .. this forum has a lot of info about them and cholesterol.

Thanks .. that will be my next project ...

 

[Maggie/Magpie]

Hi,
I was diagnosed in October through my Gp, he left it to me to make an appointment with the diabetic nurse, which I had with in 2 weeks. If I was you I would phone the Gp surgery and make an appointment yourself. It was the diabetic nurse who organised every thing from my podiatry appointment, retina scan to the Desmond course I'm waiting to go on. So it's worth making that initial contact.

Well done for such a positive attitude towards it all.
Good luck

 

[daisyduck]

Brilliant ! I love reading posts like this.. I'm sure with your attitude and action on your diagnosis, and willingness to learn, you'll soon have this under control.