Practice Nurse at GP docs advises not to test BS levels

[tutonka_tank]

Hi - recently diagnosed type 2. Been on metformin for a month. Just had first visit with surgerys practice nurse who is apparantly a diabetic expert. I found it odd that she didnt seem to be too bothered about my daily double vision episodes, lost sensation in two toes on my left foot, chronic night sweats and chronic muscle fatigue - aside from my mental thirst and high urination output. She has just upped my metformin to 850 twice a day. She also advised against testing my blood sugar levels on a regular basis and said that I should only rely on their blood test every 3 months. Is this normal? No advice on diet or anything. She did give me a card with details of a local diabetic group I can attend - like AA or some kind of addiction council clinic. I just want to know whether I should go somewhere else and pay to be tested privately etc and to see if there is any lasting damage being done to my nerves or eyesight. I would rather have sight and mobility than blind, imobile and a succesful lawsuit against the practice. She essentially said, if you were really bad, you'd be really ill. My BS bobs about around the 29 mark - which is a bit high!!!! Any help for a newbie would be gratefully received. I have embarked on the low carb diet on here by the way and regularly test my BS - its mine and I wish to own it.

 

[Art Of Flowers]

A blood sugar of 29 is extremely high.

My advice would be the do readings every day to see how your low carb diet is working. You need to avoid breakfast cereals, bread, potatoes, rice, pasta and fruit juice. A lot of fruit is high sugar such as bananas, so they should be avoided. Strawberries and Blueberries are not so bad. You can eat more fat i.e. cream, cheese, full fat yoghurt, butter, avocados, nuts.

You should notice your blood sugar levels dropping quite soon.

Lost sensation in your feet is called neuropathy. Some people take Alpha Lipoic Acid and Vitamin B12 to help these symptoms. Blurred vision can be caused by sugar swelling the lenses in the eyes. As your blood sugars decrease, this should improve. There is a specific eye test for diabetes. This is usually arranged via your diabetes nurse.

Metformin does not reduce blood sugar much.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Your nurse is no diabetes expert, I can tell you that for sure.
Upping Metformin will probably have zero effect.
Testing at home is essential otherwise you are working blind. Waiting 3 months for another HbA1c is like driving a car without a speedo. By the end of 3 months you could be very much worse, but if you take control now, buy a meter and test out your foods, you could be so much better. If you learn from what your meter tells you, your vision, night sweats, constant urination etc will improve.
She should be referring you elsewhere for help with your feet.
She should be referring you for a retinal eye screening once every year..

Your blood sugar of 29 is very high, almost at danger levels. This needs controlling, and can only be done by diet with a tiny bit of help from the Metformin. You need to drink plenty of water when your levels are so high and if you start to feel ill, it is an emergency.

All carbs convert to glucose once inside the system, and all this glucose is causing your symptoms. The sensible thing to do, for your own sake, is to stop eating carbs. Rice, potatoes, cereals, pasta, bread and flour are the worst culprits.

Have you been advised how to test out your foods? If not, let us know and we will help you.

 

[AM1874]

Hi @tutonka_tank .. and welcome
Here's an idea for you when being offered this sort of "advice" from your nurse ..
# Listen .. # Nod .. # Smile and say thanks .. # Ignore

Having said that, you have made the best move coming here. Since joining this forum the folks here have given me so much info, advice and support that I am now much more confident about the journey ahead. So ask your questions and be assured that you will receive the answers that you need .. It's still early for me but, in my experience, it gets easier .. very quickly ..

Managing and controlling your diabetes through exercise, diet and testing your Blood Glucose seems to be the best way forward. For me, committing to an LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) lifestyle and testing 3-5 times a day seems to be working and you'll find that there is a wealth of info, relevant advice and positive support about LCHF on the forum ..

I have tagged @daisy1 for you and I would suggest that you read up on the Low Carb Program in the information that she will soon be sending you. You might also find the discussion on the Low Carb Diet forum helpful .. and the following websites ...
Low Carb Intro and Information
Low Carbs in 60 Seconds

For testing, try the website at: https://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/ for the SD Codefree meter or: http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-blood-glucose-meter/ who distribute the TEE 2 meter, which is free. The costs of testing comes down to the ongoing charges for test strips and lancets. I'm testing 3-4 times a day which works out at around £10 to £12 per month for the two packages above but, more importantly, I now know what my BG levels are .. and I will be able to manage them
Hope this helps

 

[Goonergal]

Welcome @tutonka_tank

You're definitely in the right place for advice and support and you've been given good advice above.

I was diagnosed in December and have found the information on the forum invaluable in helping me to significantly reduce my blood sugar levels- still a way to go, but definitely in the right direction. This is largely due to a low carb diet - have cut out all breakfast cereals, rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, fruit (with the exception of a few raspberries from time to time) and root vegetables. Testing using a meter has helped to identify which meals are safe to eat and which not.

Please keep us posted on how you get on and ask as many questions as you like.

 

[walnut_face]

@tutonka_tank You are right to be suspicious of your DN. I would advise you to take notice of nobody except yourself, with one exception. Get a meter and use it - 'If it aint measured, it aint managed' Don't get excited or concerned about individual readings but look for trends preferably downwards.
Don't listen to dietary advice from anyone. Test before eating, and two hours after first bite, how much higher is the 2nd reading? More than +2 and there is something on your plate that you can do without. Modify that meal next time around until you have something on your plate you can tolerate BS wise.

Your meter will become your best friend, and will never lie to you.

As @JohnEGreen once posted - "Buying a meter wont cost you an arm and a leg, not buying one might"

 

[Chrissy8]

Im actually stunned...your BG is really high...how on earth do they expect you to manage it without testing.

 

[paula121s]

Hi - recently diagnosed type 2. Been on metformin for a month. Just had first visit with surgerys practice nurse who is apparantly a diabetic expert. I found it odd that she didnt seem to be too bothered about my daily double vision episodes, lost sensation in two toes on my left foot, chronic night sweats and chronic muscle fatigue - aside from my mental thirst and high urination output. She has just upped my metformin to 850 twice a day. She also advised against testing my blood sugar levels on a regular basis and said that I should only rely on their blood test every 3 months. Is this normal? No advice on diet or anything. She did give me a card with details of a local diabetic group I can attend - like AA or some kind of addiction council clinic. I just want to know whether I should go somewhere else and pay to be tested privately etc and to see if there is any lasting damage being done to my nerves or eyesight. I would rather have sight and mobility than blind, imobile and a succesful lawsuit against the practice. She essentially said, if you were really bad, you'd be really ill. My BS bobs about around the 29 mark - which is a bit high!!!! Any help for a newbie would be gratefully received. I have embarked on the low carb diet on here by the way and regularly test my BS - its mine and I wish to own it.

Hi Tutonka,

Welcome, I am like you daily new to the forum. Also, like you have been told by the DN at my surgery not to test. I was recently in hospital and my bg went quite high, the dr I was seeing in hospital told me, in order to know how my diabetes was I needed to test. I have only just started to test more now and it is giving me a better understanding of how it works. I'm no expert and still getting my head round it all. Good luck and test. I hope you are able to get your bg down from 29. Make sure you drink plenty of water!

 

[tutonka_tank]

Your nurse is no diabetes expert, I can tell you that for sure.
Upping Metformin will probably have zero effect.
Testing at home is essential otherwise you are working blind. Waiting 3 months for another HbA1c is like driving a car without a speedo. By the end of 3 months you could be very much worse, but if you take control now, buy a meter and test out your foods, you could be so much better. If you learn from what your meter tells you, your vision, night sweats, constant urination etc will improve.
She should be referring you elsewhere for help with your feet.
She should be referring you for a retinal eye screening once every year..

Your blood sugar of 29 is very high, almost at danger levels. This needs controlling, and can only be done by diet with a tiny bit of help from the Metformin. You need to drink plenty of water when your levels are so high and if you start to feel ill, it is an emergency.

All carbs convert to glucose once inside the system, and all this glucose is causing your symptoms. The sensible thing to do, for your own sake, is to stop eating carbs. Rice, potatoes, cereals, pasta, bread and flour are the worst culprits.

Have you been advised how to test out your foods? If not, let us know and we will help you.

Brillint stuff - thanks for the advice. I have been on the lowcarb diet as promoted on here for a month now and its now coming down - it does a bit - then pops up again. I also have severe obstructive sleep apnea which has also been playing silly buggers recently too and this can ****** up hormones and allsorts - so - its a juggling thing at the moment - have knockd carbs more or less on the head ie only have them in milk etc - dont eat straight carbs / sugar at all - just teeny amounts really. I'll keep testing and see what spikes me if anything - but I reckon once I get my apnea under control again, things will settle down - I think its probably stress hormones and sleep hormones buggering about with the insulin. Cheers for the advice.....am like a sponge at the moment....taking it all in.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Brillint stuff - thanks for the advice. I have been on the lowcarb diet as promoted on here for a month now and its now coming down - it does a bit - then pops up again. I also have severe obstructive sleep apnea which has also been playing silly buggers recently too and this can ****** up hormones and allsorts - so - its a juggling thing at the moment - have knockd carbs more or less on the head ie only have them in milk etc - dont eat straight carbs / sugar at all - just teeny amounts really. I'll keep testing and see what spikes me if anything - but I reckon once I get my apnea under control again, things will settle down - I think its probably stress hormones and sleep hormones buggering about with the insulin. Cheers for the advice.....am like a sponge at the moment....taking it all in.

Yes, stress and disturbed sleep won't be helping.
Do keep testing. There are carbs hidden everywhere. And milk isn't a good choice other than small amounts in tea.

 

[Damtov8]

I met an idiot like that too.
Put on a continuous blood sugar monitor like the Freestyle libre, then you will see that carbs are the villain here not fat. I am down HbA1c from over 12 to 5.8 by low carb high fat diet.
Of course you may have a different type of diabetes or metabolism. I am type 2.
But you have to use a macro to see how much carb, protein & fat your body needs each day to succeed.
Good luck and test, test test.
It is your body not hers. She is a jobsworth.

 

[Incidentals]

If you live life at a sugary 29, then you will feel **** when you are lower (at first) so try to get down easily rather than push to be at 7 instantly. when you have a meter and you feel shaky and/or hungry you will be able to see if it's just the richness of your previous diet or really a time to eat something. In the beginning it's all too easy to think you need to eat when you are actually still quite high.

 

[Ian_Laye]

Keep up with the low carb diet and test regularly it won't take long for you to start seeing the results, it worked for me, my readings are now out of the diabetic range. My meter became my best friend.

 

[Resurgam]

My blood glucose was 17.1 at diagnosis and the doctor said that was bad.
When I read your original post my jaw dropped - my father's mother died from the complications of diabetes - I can only advise that you take absolutely no notice of what you were told, as the consequences of uncontrolled diabetes are dreadful.
If you have been told that you need to eat carbs as they are essential - that is just something else to ignore, firstly it isn't true and secondly - they'll kill you if you don't lower your levels.
I'm not trying to put you in a panic - just saying start to make serious reductions in your carb intake, and if you don't see your blood glucose readings drop then get onto your doctor as you might not be a type 2 at all.
You don't need to drop carbs entirely but I started off with a couple of meals with no carbs at all, and then added in a few at a time for a week or so, then more salads and low starch veges, then a few berries and cream - I kept testing and saw that the same meal was having less effect.
With blood glucose levels so high you are almost bound to go wobbly if you can lower your levels. I found that eating just a few grapes stopped the feeling for a few hours, so I had to repeat the same thing several times until my brain accepted that the nice sugary bath was a thing of the past and my blood glucose then sank ever lower.
The really bad thing is that a lot of people can keep their blood glucose perfectly normal just by eating low carb. No tablets, no problems, no amputations either, but there are health professionals like that nurse.

 

[kokhongw]

She has just upped my metformin to 850 twice a day. She also advised against testing my blood sugar levels on a regular basis and said that I should only rely on their blood test every 3 months. Is this normal? No advice on diet or anything.

Welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately that is much more common than some would like to believe.

What is at stake is your life and health, not the nurse. Do what is necessary to reclaim your health.

Check out the success thread to see how others have succeeded. Discover what would likely be sustainable and work for you.

Start with simply reducing the amount of carbs you eat daily. You will see improvements to your glucose level. And you can only be sure of that thru regular post meal testing....

Understanding how chronically elevated insulin levels and excessively high insulin response to carbs and to some extent proteins, will help guide you to make better T2D food choices, meal times and frequencies.

 

[Liam1955]

Hello and Welcome to the Forum @tutonka_tank .

 

[tutonka_tank]

Thanks everyone - I shall take all your advice on board.

I am the one owning this - testing - a lot initially, to establish the trigger foods etc. I m on the low carb diet program from here and will see where that gets me short term - the dog is also going to get quite a few more walks - before meals for a week, then after meals for a week - I wish to see how mild exercise affects my blood sugar levels combined with the food settup. I recall many moons ago (when I used to body build) a diabetic bodybuilder - anyone on here dabble in this arena as I naturally gravitate to going back in the gym and throwing some weights about - but don't want to mess things up. I am taking on so much protein, I feel like I should be using it to make muscle and burn fat off. I might have a research a bit on past topics etc in case this would benefit from being a new thread. Cheers again guys - renews my faith in humanity. Very much appreciated. Greg.

 

[Incidentals]

you would think having all that sugar available would be a good thing... I measured 29.7 on the day my pancreas gave up the ghost and I nearly did too! Take care of your self

 

[walnut_face]

Thanks everyone - I shall take all your advice on board.

I am the one owning this - testing - a lot initially, to establish the trigger foods etc. I m on the low carb diet program from here and will see where that gets me short term - the dog is also going to get quite a few more walks - before meals for a week, then after meals for a week - I wish to see how mild exercise affects my blood sugar levels combined with the food settup. I recall many moons ago (when I used to body build) a diabetic bodybuilder - anyone on here dabble in this arena as I naturally gravitate to going back in the gym and throwing some weights about - but don't want to mess things up. I am taking on so much protein, I feel like I should be using it to make muscle and burn fat off. I might have a research a bit on past topics etc in case this would benefit from being a new thread. Cheers again guys - renews my faith in humanity. Very much appreciated. Greg.

Exercise is good for tackling Insulin Resistance, which in turn will help lower your BG's. Be careful on the protein though. In the absence of carbs your body will turn protein into glucose, and you will be back to square one.

 

[Nicksu]

My BS at diagnosis was 29.0. Diabetic nurses - expert - don't make me laugh with advice like that, you'd be in the ground! Appalling!