Reading this thread brings it home to me how simillar the situations are to my own and I have every sympathy to the OP. I tend to find that we are treated by my GP practice as self inflicted sufferers draining their budgets. I had never seen the inside of a Drs surgery for 30 years yet when I went in and was told at 50 purely for an old age MoT I was diabetic it was apparently all my fault for not coming in earlier when I was healthy. Can't quite work that one out. Perhaps that is why we struggle to get mythical GP appointments as there is a queue of healthy people being seen.
I had major issues with metformin when first prescribed, without going into too much detail it created major urgency with no mercy down below and when you've got to go, you really have to go. I worked as a data engineer in data centres around the country and security is a nightmare with finger print scans, iris scans and such like. Getting inside data halls is a bit of a bind but acceptable however the same restrictions apply getting out and having to find a loo before the volcano erupts was more of a challenge believe me. When I politely tried to explain this to my DN she just told me to "ask your boss for alternative work as metformin is the most cost effective drug for people in your position."
I lost even more faith when after an annual blood test and I had a much reduced Hba1c together with lipid results all in the "green" for once I actually got the call from my GP practice and was told that they were glad my Hba1c had come down a bit but I really need to do something about my cholesterol. Thankfully I had all of my results direct from the hospital so queried which cholesterol result she was worried about. When I told her I was looking at the same results and in fact they were better than usual and "could I be reading or misinterpreting them wrongly?" she promptly said "I'm sorry I must have the wrong patient" and promptly ended the call. So much for individual patient care and maybe a lot to be said for reading off a script.
That was when I made up my mind to go it alone, ignore the "eat more porridge and weetabix, it's good for you as it's slow release." Or "change your job in order you can get to the loo quicker" and laughably "inform the DVLA that you are Type 2 diabetic."
Unfortunately I do find my annual reviews just to be a box ticking exercise, it is a one way street regarding questions with no opportunity for me to ask. I get the impression that it is a case of "we know best so put up and shut up" or " I haven't a clue what you are talking about." When I mention low carb diet they look at me as if I had just committed murder and when I now purposely ask to also have my lipid profile included in the tests in order that I can see how a LCHF diet is affecting my body they mysteriously omit those figures from the GP practice summary but thankfully I can get them from the full and comprehensive hospital results. I am with
@debs248 in that there is a bit of "getting your own back" at play which is not very professional or certainly not helpful.
Maybe one day all practices will become more aligned to individual patient needs but as more and more people succumb to diabetes through no fault of their own or self inflictions I wonder if I will ever see that day.
Still onwards and upwards, keep smiling, keep testing and keep experimenting to find what is truly best for you as an
individual and not one of those moaning, money draining diabetics. (Certainly not my opinion by the way but how I see it perceived by those who should know better.)
