Some doctors have no idea!!!!!

[Michael4450]

Sorry to read how unhappy people are about there doctors I am T2 since 2004. My doctor is absolutely amazing he listens very carefully he allowed me to come off my medication 18 months ago so I control my life by a strict regime for life I hate medication it's trial and error in what I eat.. little and often. Be strong and work for that balance.

 

[AndBreathe]

Reading all your responses makes me so despondent for diabetics. In the UK they believe there are possibly 4 million with diabetes, and maybe 1 million are undiagnosed. This is costing the health service billions. So surely it is in the interests of the medical profession to get as informed as possible to ultimately reduce the numbers. But ... it is not in the interests of the drug companies who will lose billions if people become informed and use diet to put their diabetes in remission. So I think that perhaps drug companies put pressure on doctors to prescribe - and of course doctors do not have the time to give lifestyle advice, it is quicker to prescribe. But this is not moral or ethical.

My other point is that many people do not want to change their WOE and/or do not have the knowledge they need to make informed choices. This chap that I spoke to yesterday didn't have a clue, and didn't want to (or couldn't comprehend) consider a different WOE. "Potatoes are a big part of my diet, meat and two veg man, me". So what can you do with people like that? Well, I believe if doctors told diabetics that they are "carbohydrate-intolerant" (just as they tell coeliacs they are gluten-intolerant) and that eating carbs could ultimately kill them, perhaps more people would make the changes necessary. But then it comes back to Big Pharma again .....

Nannoo_bird, I think the challenge HCPs have is which NHS bankrupting epidemic they spend their personal "spare" time learning about. Their jobs don't routinely allow swathes of time to read, search the internet and do so many of the things we have, and how do they priorities diabetes over, high lipids, stress, back pain, mental illness, obesity, to name just a few.

I can't imagine after a crammed day of 10 minute appointments with largely disengaged, apathetic patients they just feel revved up for the challenge.

Make no mistake, but my health is mine, so I must take a good deal of responsibility to learn about how to manage it best, for me. Not all T2s need to fellow a strict diet. Some do manage on moderation, where perhaps their pre-diagnosis way of living was immoderate in dietary terms. Fair play to those to whom that applies.

It's terribly sad, but the words of the Endo still ring in my ears, "Most people don't want to change". How many times a day, day in and day out, would your beat your head against a brick wall until you had to?

 

[AndBreathe]

I think my gp has and believes in canagliflozin. God help him if he gets what I've got. He's retiring this year, I'm led to believe.
Maybe he might listen when he becomes disabled by a tablet. Even insulin has side effects!
What's sad is I genuinely like both my gps. I just hope he's careful.

Ickihun, if indeed some of your current symptoms are due to a medication you took in the past, it's very sad, but if what you believe has happened to you was the common finding, I doubt the medication would still be in the formulary.

For any given, approved medication, the vast majority of those taking it, under the guidance of their HCPs will have a trouble free experience.

 

[Concordjan]

Ickihun, if indeed some of your current symptoms are due to a medication you took in the past, it's very sad, but if what you believe has happened to you was the common finding, I doubt the medication would still be in the formulary.

For any given, approved medication, the vast majority of those taking it, under the guidance of their HCPs will have a trouble free experience.

Like thalidomide - years of prescribing before the effects were recognised

 

[Ultramum]

Ickihun, if indeed some of your current symptoms are due to a medication you took in the past, it's very sad, but if what you believe has happened to you was the common finding, I doubt the medication would still be in the formulary.

For any given, approved medication, the vast majority of those taking it, under the guidance of their HCPs will have a trouble free experience.

But as doctors don't report adverse reactions even when told then the meds will still stay in use - and not many people know they can report adverse reactions themselves

 

[miahara]

I reckon I've been very fortunate. The GP (a trainee) who diagnosed me suggested that I look to this site for support and information about the condition. Shortly later I had to change GP to one in our village, and my new one is pretty good too. When I showed her my BG average chart that clearly showed the beneficial effects of a LCHF diet as opposed the the bog standard NHS/NICE 'eatwell' with lots of carbs plate, she was impressed and said that in the 12 years she'd been a GP the advice had been frequently revised and it was hard to keep up with it. She also said that I should keep up with what I was doing and she'd not be surprised if I'd be categorised as 'in remission' come my next HbA1c test.
GPs and other health professionals do have have certain amount of my sympathy; they perform a pretty demanding day job and most of their 'updating' of a vast range of conditions and ever expanding knowledge, has to be done in spare time. I know what that's like because I've been there in another profession.
What I don't have any sympathy with is health care professionals who are stuck in a time warp and haven't bothered updating their knowledge for the past n-years,. or for NICE that seems to suffer from a significant degree of inertia when it comes to recognising any research that suggests advice that contradicts its current 'wisdom'.

 

[Concordjan]

I do agree that GPs are busy and can't be expected to be experts in every field, but diabetes nurses and dietitians should bother to know their stuff.

 

[AndBreathe]

Like thalidomide - years of prescribing before the effects were recognised

I'm pretty certain the rigours of pre-launch testing and certification have moved on a bit since then, and of course, I did use "... the vast majority.....". If everyone was having side-effects prescribing would fall and yellow carding would rise, perpendicularly.

I know that may sound harsh for those who can't get along with any given lotion or potion, but I would suggests that GPs will be prescribing in good faith.

 

[AndBreathe]

I do agree that GPs are busy and can't be expected to be experts in every field, but diabetes nurses and dietitians should bother to know their stuff.

I agree that would be ideal, but so very few of the nurses we see are specialised in diabetes; they're pactice nurses who do the diabetes clinics. For dieticians, diabetics are only a portion of the patients they see, then those who have a material need to reduce carbs is a further subset. I would bet that a greater proportion of T1s see a dietician than T2s. I have only encountered our local dietician, via a local DUK group. Consulting a dietician has never been mentioned to me; ever, and I would bet I'm not unusual.

 

[miahara]

I do agree that GPs are busy and can't be expected to be experts in every field, but diabetes nurses and dietitians should bother to know their stuff.

Yes indeed, they ought to be, but according to this research they are not. I suspect that in part this is due to the arthritic hand of NICE when it comes to disseminating research.
http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2016/11/dietitians-diabetes-carbohydrates/

 

[bulkbiker]

For dieticians, diabetics are only a portion of the patients they see, then those who have a material need to reduce carbs is a further subset

But I don't think that lowering carb intake would have a harmful effect on anyone with Type 2, unless on insulin, so if that became the default dietary advice what a huge change it would make to the general population for the better.

 

[AndBreathe]

But I don't think that lowering carb intake would have a harmful effect on anyone with Type 2, unless on insulin, so if that became the default dietary advice what a huge change it would make to the general population for the better.

I wouldn't disagree with you.

 

[rinfrance]

Oh dear I have heard and experienced this all before. I went to the doctor some 16 years ago and knowing G/father and Father had it said I have got diabetes, no she said you have a urinary-tract infection I will send you to a specialist. I said to him that I think the doctor is wrong, I think I have gone diabetic. he tested me and said that I was diabetic. No infection anywhere! Same over vitamin B12 and over chest pains and the metformin thing. Oh they agree now!

 

[Shoveller]

New to this site, I have been T2 for 4 years. Metformin doubled to 2 x 500mg five months ago. Recently had pain in my front right lower trunk. It spread around to my back. Practice nurse suspected gall stones. Scan revealed no stones. Since the pain was getting worse, I saw a GP who referred me to hospital where, without a urine test, the consultant diagnosed a kidney infection. A week's course of antibiotics does seem to have cleared that up. Subsequently, my GP decided that my blood pressure was too high and prescribed Ramipril. Brought BP down from 148/80 to After suffering side effects including vertigo, I read the leaflet that came in the box. Ingredients include three known carcinogens! Stopped taking them. Blood tests show high phosphate. Researching on line suggests probable kidney problem. I don't know what the connection between diabetes and kidney problems is and haven't found information on this site as yet. Any pointers from more experienced forum members? Seeing GP again this coming Friday.

 

[ickihun]

Ickihun, if indeed some of your current symptoms are due to a medication you took in the past, it's very sad, but if what you believe has happened to you was the common finding, I doubt the medication would still be in the formulary.

For any given, approved medication, the vast majority of those taking it, under the guidance of their HCPs will have a trouble free experience.

I'll let you know what the product liablity solicitor says. Shame but on occasion a drug can be dangerous. I'm sticking to well used drugs in future. I never signed up to be a guinea pig!
Well see what happens but my mobility has been affected.

 

[Alison Campbell]

New to this site, I have been T2 for 4 years. Metformin doubled to 2 x 500mg five months ago. Recently had pain in my front right lower trunk. It spread around to my back. Practice nurse suspected gall stones. Scan revealed no stones. Since the pain was getting worse, I saw a GP who referred me to hospital where, without a urine test, the consultant diagnosed a kidney infection. A week's course of antibiotics does seem to have cleared that up. Subsequently, my GP decided that my blood pressure was too high and prescribed Ramipril. Brought BP down from 148/80 to After suffering side effects including vertigo, I read the leaflet that came in the box. Ingredients include three known carcinogens! Stopped taking them. Blood tests show high phosphate. Researching on line suggests probable kidney problem. I don't know what the connection between diabetes and kidney problems is and haven't found information on this site as yet. Any pointers from more experienced forum members? Seeing GP again this coming Friday.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/body/kidneys.html

 

[bulkbiker]

Sorry to read how unhappy people are about there doctors I am T2 since 2004. My doctor is absolutely amazing he listens very carefully he allowed me to come off my medication 18 months ago so I control my life by a strict regime for life I hate medication it's trial and error in what I eat.. little and often. Be strong and work for that balance.

What regime do you follow?.. I am always interested in other people's successes.