GP and feeling ignored

[ally1]

Also, I had never had any of the normal symptoms of being diabetic

 

[LooperCat]

My apologies I missed any reference to throwing up. This appears to be presented as a situation which has been ongoing long enough for there have been a GP appointment, an OOH GP appointment and a self-presentation at an A&E (this may have been a minor injuries unit given that it is not 24 hours.) The weight loss suggests that it has in fact been a problem for 2 months. If that is the case then an ambulance crew is going to try to speak to a GP about this patient or get them to self-present to a hospital. Almost by definition a situation that is 2 months old is not a time critical emergency.

Obviously if there are changes in the presentation with additional symptoms then the situation may change.

Undiagnosed T1 can go t*ts up incredibly quickly. She needs medical attention PDQ based on what she is saying. An ambulance crew would rather be called out and find that they weren’t needed than for someone not to when they are presenting these symptoms.

 

[ashthetash]

Hello @ashthetash Can you please confirm your medical status ?

see pm

 

[urbanracer]

........ This appears to be presented as a situation which has been ongoing long enough for there have been a GP appointment, an OOH GP appointment and a self-presentation at an A&E (this may have been a minor injuries unit given that it is not 24 hours.) The weight loss suggests that it has in fact been a problem for 2 months. If that is the case then an ambulance crew is going to try to speak to a GP about this patient or get them to self-present to a hospital. Almost by definition a situation that is 2 months old is not a time critical emergency.

Obviously if there are changes in the presentation with additional symptoms then the situation may change.

I don't know where you got the 2 months from? I was over 30mmol at the point of diagnosis and felt absolutely spiffing. No previous medical intervention for diabetes, it was discovered by accident because they were investigating my weight loss.

I then got messages on my mobile and home phone line from my GP telling me to go to A+E or call an ambulance if I felt unwell. I take it that if I'd collapsed, you would have 'assumed' that I'd been slacking for not seeing my GP and was somehow not worthy of your paramedic skills? I hope your ambulance crew doesn't work in my area.

 

[lucylocket61]

see pm

I dont care what your medical status is, you are wrong and I hope you are not in charge of making such decisions. One of my friends lost her son to DKA, in his early twenties, due to him not being sorted properly by the emergency team.

 

[Ambersilva]

Heya,

My GP refuses to believe that I am diabetic because I have depression. My blood sugar level has been as high as 33.3 which has landed me in hospital but my GP is still adamant that it's just my mental health. The diabetic nurse at my GP surgery said if my blood sugar has been 27.5 and 33.3 than I have to be diabetic because of my high blood sugar and that both my parents have diabetes. I just want to be taken seriously, I feel like doctors are taking me seriously due to my mental illness.

-thegeekyblonde

Did the A&E Department not send you home with a discharge letter? Can I suggest that the next time your sugar level is high and you are being sick that you get yourself to a different A&E Department ASAP.

If you choose to visit the GP take a urine sample in a sterilised jar so that it can be dipped for ketones. The result is immediate.

Please keep posting to tell us what is happening. And of course, ask us questions.

Best wishes,

Amber

 

[JohnEGreen]

I once messed about seeking GP's and others advice before calling an ambulance my mother died just minutes before the ambulance arrived I do not mess around and waist time any more if I feel the situation warrants it I call an ambulance not GP or NHS 111.

Edit to add it was a bitter lesson to learn but learn it I did.

 

[ashthetash]

I think I may have inadvertently created some confusion here.
I got the idea that this had been building for a couple of months because that was how long the weight loss had been occurring for (thegeekyblondes second entry on this thread). I can offer no reason why anyone would not investigate further if a patient presented with a blood sugar of 33.3. The idea that the blood sugars were high due to the OPs mental health condition seems unlikely to say the least.

It is unclear as to exactly when the blood sugars were 33.3 and when the visit to the A&E department occurred but there is certainly the impression that these did not just happen today. Whilst I absolutely believe based on the information presented that further investigation is needed sooner rather than later I maintain that in the absence of any new symptoms an ambulance is not necessarily the right answer.

@urbanracer "I then got messages on my mobile and home phone line from my GP telling me to go to A+E or call an ambulance if I felt unwell. I take it that if I'd collapsed, you would have 'assumed' that I'd been slacking for not seeing my GP and was somehow not worthy of your paramedic skills? I hope your ambulance crew doesn't work in my area."

I am not sure why you are being quite so hostile. I am pretty much offering the same advice as your were given. I am suggesting that the OP appears to need further investigation and that she recontacts her GP or attends A&E.

I have further suggested that if she experiences new symptoms that she considers calling an ambulance. I am also pointing out that in her current condition an ambulance crew would consider speaking to her GP, advising her to make her own way to A&E or would convey her. There is little that an ambulance crew are going to do en route for someone who has ongoing elevated blood sugars and is otherwise asymptomatic in terms of actual treatment. As such making her own way to hospital seems entirely appropriate in this instance.

 

[lucylocket61]

As such making her own way to hospital seems entirely appropriate in this instance.

I do hope you are not suggesting that, with such elevated blood sugars, she take public transport or drive? and I doubt that a taxi driver would be qualified to help her if she were to pass out in the tax

 

[lucylocket61]

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/diabetic-ketoacidosis/#treatments-for-diabetic-ketoacidosis

 

[Fairygodmother]

Hi @thegeekyblonde, what is your blood sugar reading right now?
Reading your posts again it’s a bit hard to tell if you’re talking about having high blood sugars and being sick now or you had high blood sugars and were sick some time ago.

 

[JohnEGreen]

Elevated blood sugars coupled with sickness and nausea is a situation in urgent need of attention given the danger of DKA it is a medical emergency. The situation a month week or day ago has no real bearing on the matter

As Fairygodmother says what is your situation now.

 

[thegeekyblonde]

UPDATE: my mum called 111 after you guys suggested it and she just got of the phone with the out of hours gp. the out of hours gp said if i am not pregnant (100% not pregnant) then i probably have a virus and see how i am tomorrow. Currently I am waaaay to exhausted so i am off to bed soon.

-thegeekyblonde

 

[LooperCat]

UPDATE: my mum called 111 after you guys suggested it and she just got of the phone with the out of hours gp. the out of hours gp said if i am not pregnant (100% not pregnant) then i probably have a virus and see how i am tomorrow. Currently I am waaaay to exhausted so i am off to bed soon.

-thegeekyblonde

Sleep well, let us know how you are tomorrow, eh? Thinking of you and hope you find the answers xxx

 

[thegeekyblonde]

Sleep well, let us know how you are tomorrow, eh? Thinking of you and hope you find the answers xxx

thank you. i hope so too.

-thegeekyblonde

 

[archersuz]

My GP refuses to believe that I am diabetic because I have depression.

How are you on insulin if your GP doesn't believe you are diabetic?

 

[Juicyj]

UPDATE: my mum called 111 after you guys suggested it and she just got of the phone with the out of hours gp. the out of hours gp said if i am not pregnant (100% not pregnant) then i probably have a virus and see how i am tomorrow. Currently I am waaaay to exhausted so i am off to bed soon.

-thegeekyblonde

Apologies if i'm missing something here - but how has the GP suggested pregnancy based on your symptoms ? This doesn't make any sense, you have high BG levels and have lost over 2 stone, so what did your mum tell this GP ?

 

[Freema]

I Think you should get another GP

 

[Deleted member 308541]

I would be calling 111 and discussing this with the team on the phone.

This what I would do if I lived in the UK if the local A&E closed up early.

It seems very strange to me that this is happening...

 

[ickihun]

Apologies if i'm missing something here - but how has the GP suggested pregnancy based on your symptoms ? This doesn't make any sense, you have high BG levels and have lost over 2 stone, so what did your mum tell this GP ?

Very strange going ons.
Out of hours GP telephone diagnosis can often be very well off the beaten track. Mine years ago offered me paracetamol for burst appendix. Gulp! Of course I refused since I was vomiting none stop a few hours before he arrived.
I most likely was diabetic too but never got tested for sugar as I was 14yrs old and not slim or had recent extreme weight loss.
We don't all tick the common diagnosis boxes!