New Diabetic- Help?

[manxangel]

Hi,

I don't really know why i am posting but i need advice and noone seems to be helping.

I was diagnosed with type 2 about three weeks ago, I've restricted my meal sizes, i've tried eating healthier foods, and i'm walking as much as i can when i am not too exhausted to move. i'm on Glucophage 1000mg per day. and my meter readings remain completely unchanged. My readings range from 21.2 when i wake up to HI (over 27.9) during the day.

I am supposed to be going to the specalist clinic but they have said that might not be for months? my Doctors seem unconcerned that my readings are not dropping.

Is it only me that is concerned that my readings are still high?

I just need some advice! do i want to become the pain to the doctors always phoning them, or am i expecting too much change too soon?

Thanks

 

[chocoholic]

No, you are not expecting too much. It is negligent to leave you with such high readings IMHO. I think it's disgusting but not surprising, to expect you to wait so long for an appointment. I have found that the only way to get the help you need is to be assertive and not back down. I'd pester and pester and pester until someone sees you and gives you some proper advice on getting those readings down. They are far too high and you should not wait to get help.Good luck.

 

[manxangel]

Thank you, I'll start nagging!!!!! I thought it wasn't right but i couldn't be certain and i have no friends or family with diabetes i can't ask!!!

Thanks for your help.

 

[fergus]

I'm sorry to hear that you're being so poorly cared for by your doctor, manxangel.
Your blood glucose numbers are very high and you ought to expect more help from your health care team to reduce them. Many others on the forum have shared your frustration in the past, but have found the experience of others here very helpful. If we can help you, we will.
Can you describe your daily diet?

All the best,

fergus

 

[manxangel]

Hi!

usually toast for Breakfast, Salad for lunch (well lettuce cucmber and chicken, not really keen on anything else) and tea grilled fish and mountains of veg, or Rice &mixed Veg with a bit of the casserole or something i cook for my husband on? as i said i have cut my postion sizes dramatically. If i get peckish i have fruit?

i'm not seeing a dietician till 3rd September, any advice would be fantastic!!!

 

[manxangel]

I don't know if it is imp but i'm 24?? does that make a difference in what treatment you can ask/nag/break the door down and make them listen, for??

Also my Husband is a Coelic, (can't have wheat, Gluten) does anyone know if there would be any benifits to me going on the same diet as he does?

Thanks

 

[Nellie]

If metformin is going to work then I understand that it does take some time but I would be concerned about those high BS levels.
Are you losing weight very rapidly?
Have you told your doctor that your meter is reading HI?

 

[manxangel]

Hi,

Yes he sees my readings whenever i go. I have been a couple of times in the past few weeks and i spoke to him last friday on the phone and mentioned it wasn't making much difference and that it was giving me stomach pains and he told me to take one in the morning and one at night and that would stop it hurting, and to go back to him in three weeks.

I don't generally go near scales, but i know i have lost a clothes size in the past 4 weeks as my new trousers actually fell off me the other day (that won't do me any harm though, could do with losing a bit of weight ;-))

Thanks!

 

[Nellie]

I maybe very wrong in my thinking (I'm not a doctor or health care professional) and I don't have the information that your doctor has. I feel that you should certainly get back to your doctor and tell him that you seem to have lost a lot of weight for the length of time you have been on a diet (3 weeks since diagnosis and 4 weeks since you bought your new trousers?) and that you have 'hi' meter readings.

If you are reluctant to do that I would strongly suggest that you buy some ketone testing strips and test your urine for ketones. (I don't think they're very expensive to buy) If there are ketones at ++ or above you should definitely contact your doctor. If you don't have ketones, then I'd look at dietary advice.

 

[manxangel]

right ok, yeah


i treateed myself to a new pair about 4 weeks ago and they fell off me a couple of days ago so..... i just have to go shopping i guess..... ;-)

OK, i have read about ketones but i don't really understand what that means? Ii will have a look around for some testing things and see what i can find.

Thanks so much for your help! this is so much more informative than trying to get through to a doctor!!!!! least i know what to nag for and tell him now!!!

 

[hanadr]

Do you know your PCT? if so find their policy document on-line. It will be there. Copy it and take it to the doctor. The dietary advice you end up with won't be all that good. You'll do bettter here, but it will show what care you SHOULD be getting and are not. For a first bit of guidance on what to do, look on David Mendosa's website.He as an "Advice for newbies" section that's very helpful. Then get hold of "Dr. Bernstein's complete diabetes solution". That book has it all. You can't expect to learn all at once, but you will eventually have to become your own expert and will have to battle with medics, who often give out-of-date advice. Unless you happen to be in Ayrshire and can become a patient of our own Katharine.

 

[manxangel]

Right ok, i don't know what a PCT is!? i live on the Isle of Man so i may be a little far from Ayreshire
i will look up the book you have recommended though.

thanks for your help, it's so good to know i'm not on my own.

 

[fergus]

Hi manxangel,

Re. your point about your hubands coeliac, yes there are many potential benefits to you in avoiding wheat based products. The starch in wheat flour will raise your blood sugar just as quickly as table sugar and should be avoided whenever possible in my experience. Other than the toast at breakfast, your diet sounds pretty good in fact, from a diabetes perpective (the rice is another starch which can raise blood sugar significantly though.)
The point about your weight loss is important. That information suggests a loss of insulin production which is indicative, possibly, of type 1 diabetes rather than type 2. It would be important to get something called a c-peptide reading from your blood sample. This will tell your health team how much insulin you are making. It will also get your doctor to sit up and take notice!

All the best,

fergus

 

[l0vaduck]

It sounds as if your doctor thinks you have type 2. I wonder why he has come to this conclusion - given your age. Your sugar levels are very high indeed.

Getting ketone strips in the Uk without a prescription is not that easy but I'd be worried about this diagnosis if I were you, especially given the rapid weight loss you describe and the high blood sugar levels you mention. The medication you are on won't work if you are type 1 and you could get seriously ill in a very short time.

If you do start feeling worse, get yourself to A&E. At least there they'll test you for ketones and can give you immediate treatment to get rid of these. I personally would not tell them that I'd already been to the GP and been prescribed type 2 meds as this may well confuse matters.

Ketones are a by-product of the body burning fat and muscle for fuel instead of carbohydrate. In a person with undiagnosed type 1, they can build up to dangerous levels in the blood. This is called ketoacidosis. Symptoms of this include abdomenal pain, thirst, sickness, shortness of breath. If you get these symptoms, go to A&E straight away because ketoacidosis can kill.

I hope that I'm completely wrong and your GP is right, in which case following all the very good advice already given on diet etc will bring your levels down.

 

[manxangel]

oh thank you for that info. i have read about ketones but i never quite understand it all. it helps to have it explained in clear english if you know what i mean.

i'm sat reading this with my husband and he is concerned with regard the syptoms you describe. i have had serious stomach pains, but i put it down to the Glucophage. He has just said that my breathing does go rapid and shallow in the night.

I am ikn the porcess of nagging my diabetes clinic for an appointment as i won't accept it will take months to get in.

Thank you so muhc for your advice. i know what to look out for now and i am getting a better idea of what to ask when i finally get to see someone about this.

in the past few hours i have been on this forum i have learnt more than reading for three weeks and trying to find outr things from the doctors.

 

[DiabeticGeek]

Your diet isn't perfect, but it isn't terrible. With the help of metformin (Glucophage is a metformin brand name) your BG should be coming down fast. It isn't - so that means you aren't responding to treatment, and you need to get to the bottom of that. Waiting for a long time to see specialists would be annoying, but not a serious problem if you were responding to treatment in the meantime. However, since you aren't you need to go back to your GP (or maybe another doctor in the practice -try asking who the "diabetes lead" is), and DEMAND that this is investigated urgently.

It may be that you need different drugs, or that your diabetes is so far advanced that you are beyond the help of tablets and need insulin (although I would have thought, if it is Type-2, this would be unlikely at your age). It is also possible that you have been mis-diagnosed. If you in fact have Type-1 diabetes, that would explain a lot. This is a really important thing to get right because the treatment is quite different. Ask your doctor about a "C-Peptide test". If you really do have Type-2 then this should be normal or high, if you have Type-1 then it will probably be very low (or at least falling). You should also be aware that there are other less common forms of diabetes - which can easily be mistaken for Type-2. There is a condition called LADA (sometimes dubbed Type 1.5), which I wonder about. You might ask whether or not you have been tested for the presence of GAD antibodies - they would suggest that it might be LADA rather than Type-2.

If your GP can't help you then you should demand to see an endocrinologist urgently. A dietician won't be able to help you much if the problem is that you have been mis-diagnosed.

 

[manxangel]

oh thank you for that info. thats great!!!

I'm trying to get an appointment with the Specialist now but all i keep getting is voicemail. I've got half a mind to go up there!!!

I will ask about the different kinds of tests you suggest. Oh that is so helpful!!!

thank you so much!

 

[manxangel]

Just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone on this, I have nagged the clinic as suggested and they found my blood reults and i'm going up at half one today for yet more blood tests and ketone tests!!!

It's fantastic. Now i'm ready to ask the questions i need to know. I am so relieved that finally something is happening. I'm going to get help and get sorted.

THANK YOU!

 

[chocoholic]

Good for you. I know just how frustrating it can be having to wait for appointments. I finally have my first appointment booked with a diabetologist.......it's only taken five years but had I known I was entitled to see one at the beginning I'd have chased it sooner. Another reason for me to be grateful to folks on this site!

Hope all goes well for you today, and that you get answers to all your questions.

 

[Thirsty]

Good luck, manxangel.

It certainly sounds as though your doctor isn't too knowledgeable about diabetes. If it helps, when I was first diagnosed the consultant at my local hospital managed to get my blood sugar levels down to the normal range within seven days. Hopefully, you'll be as fortunate.