Had blood test - and row with doctor !

halfpint

Well-Known Member
Messages
109
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi

Got the results of my blood test on Wednesday and saw the doctor wednesday afternoon. (couldn't post then as the internet was down). Despite being on fairly low(ish) carbs for the past 4-6 weeks, not that it was high carb before, my HbA1c has gone up, but only a bit. My cholesterol is very slightly down was HDL 1.6, LDL 2.27, Trigs 1.58, now HDL 1.55, LDL 2,12, Trigs 1,06 mmol/l - don't know if this is good or bad, I think they are going in the right direction though. My HbA1c was 6.2 now 6.3. :( So, phoned for a doctors appt. with the hope of talking a bit about what might be done to get the numbers down a bit, i.e. by diet and exercise. He merrily chatted away about not giving me anything yet as the numbers are too low, I would have to wait until it was about 6.8 before he would give me meds, but in the mean time just eat healthily. I told him that I was on a fairly low carb regime and that I am feeling better than I did at the beginning of the year when I was drinking gallons and having blurred vision. Never mind all that he says, you just need to get your cholesterol down, don't worry about the BGs, you need sugar for energy. You must eat carbs, just don't eat between meals - I don't eat between meals I replied. You can eat fruit and desserts, even cake once or twice a week, you mustn't cut down on your carbs, you need to cut down fats they cause cholesterol. I suggested that it was perhaps the sugars in the blood that caused the cholesterol and was immediately told not be stupid. So, I should be eating, according to him, bread, cereals, fruit, cake, puddings, pasta, rice etc. and not worry about my sugar levels. I asked for a GTT and was told that I don't need one.
Well, as you say its my life and I know who I am inclined to believe - you lot on the forum have my bets, I think you have rather more experience on the subject them him :thumbup:
 

Cultivator

Active Member
Messages
31
Oh dear! It is stuff like this that makes me dread going to the doctor! I sympathise Halfpint, I am afraid some of them clearly haven't a clue and are still working on some old leaflet from 25 years ago! I've just conducted a little experiment on myself - after a couple of weekds of virtually no carbs and starting to feel pretty pleased with my levels I had one bowl of wholegrain pasta today at lunch time and my BS shot up from 5.2 before lunch to 8.6 2 hrs after and was still 7.7 another hour later ! BUT, will I dare tell my G.P / diabetic nurse this ? I doubt it :(

I agree, this forum is a lot more use !
 

sallylondon

Well-Known Member
Messages
82
I feel your pain! Off to the Doc tomorrow morning to 'discuss' my excellent blood / cholesterol /weight loss results. Think I will do what others recommend and just nod, smile and be very non-specific about my diet. My stressed blood pressure reading may be a give-away though :lol:
 

izzzi

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,207
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
HI, halfpint,

Have you got copies of all your results etc;

Probably a second opinion may be necessary from a professional health care consultant.
GPs rarely refuse this type of request and are quite happy to arrange them for you.

Good luck with this.

Roy.
 

paragliderpete

Well-Known Member
Messages
179
Hi halfpint. Sorry to read about the problems you are having with the GP. It looks like you are at the point where you need to consider getting a meter and some test strips. From the reaction from your GP it sounds as though he will be quoting the HNS party line, and refuse to supply them on a prescription, but still worth asking to find the lay of the land.
I believe If a pre diabetic takes radical control of his blood sugar levels, without delay, it may be possible to reverse the condition, provided that the pancreas has already not been damaged .
As you state , an OGTT test would be a very good idea, certainly having a base line now , will give you a benchmark in the future to chech if your glucose tolerence is improving. You can do one yourself, it's a fasting test, In the morning drink 400ml of lucazade and take bm's every 15min for 3 1/2 hours. plot a graph of the results. The benchmark for diabetes is taken at +2hrs, Its worth testing for the 3 1/2 hours to check you don't go into a reactive hypo. It won't be quite as accurate as a lab test for glucose levels, but will be accurate enough for your needs.
My partner was in your situation 10 months ago, luckily I'm t2 so she was able to hit the floor running , she went onto very low carb immediately and got her bm's to between 4 and 6mmol quickly, in the same period she's lost 5 st in wgt. During this period her daily itntake of carbs has been 30g with high fat intake and 80g of protein.
With regards to cholesterol, I think you will find that as you reduce your carb intake and normalise your blood sugars , you cholesterol will also improve considerably, Jean's has drop from 5.6 to 3.8 total during this same period with good profiles, all without meds.
I hope you find this of help. I'm going to post jean's story in the near future, we are due some blood tests at the end of the month, and will be doing another ogtt. We are both hoping to be able to confirm the her glucose tolerence has indeed started to normalise, watch this space
 

halfpint

Well-Known Member
Messages
109
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Thanks paragliderpete, I was going to ask about doing a GTT, I will see if I can get lucozade next time I am in town. I wrote a reply earlier but it seems to have gone awol.
 

halfpint

Well-Known Member
Messages
109
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I will re-write the earlier reply that didn't make it :lol:

And I am not even officially diagnosed yet :D I can see that this is going to be a long haul with the local doctor :roll:

I could of course do as he says and I am sure that I will then be officially diagnosed as diabetic in 3 months time, but as its my health I do not really wish to put further strain on my pancreas if I can avoid it. I am just about to start on a daily 10-15 mins on the exercise bike after my midday meal to see if that helps gets things going a bit. I will continue to test, morning, +2 midday meal and again most evenings just to make sure. If things don't start to move in the right direction I will get a second opinion as izzzi suggests, but I feel pretty optimistic at the moment, fingers crossed.

paragliderpete - I hope I don't loose 5 stone as that would put me down to 3.5 :lol: and thats going too far really.
 

xyzzy

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,950
Type of diabetes
Other
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Undeserving authority figures of all kinds and idiots.
Some doctors don't make life easy do they halfpint.

First congrats on the hBA1c . You are still under the diagnosis level of 6.5% :thumbup:

On your cholesterol. Many think the important number is the ratio of your total level dived by your HDL level. You haven't given your total but you can work it out as its your HDL plus LDL plus (TRIGS divided by 2.19) so I make that a total of 4.15. Your Total to HDL ratio is therefore 4.15 divided by 1.55 or 2.68

As a non diabetic the target you are supposed to aim for is less than a total of 5 and a Total HDL Ratio of less than 4.5 so you are inside both of the N.I.C.E guidelines. The target for LDL is under 3 so you meet that as well. Remember HDL is "good" cholesterol that you want so the higher your HDL the better and LDL & Trigs are "bad" so you want those two low.

There is a debate between some people as to whether any of the targets are actually valid but leave that aside for now...

On the GTT test. These are the official Lucazade substitute rules. If you are low carbing pay attention that you need to consume greater than 150g of carbs a day for three days before you take the test or else the result will not be valid. Also if you are using a BG meter to test your levels after the GTT test then its the 12.2 Capillary Plasma level that's the fail value not the 11.1 Venous Plasma level.



Whatever the result then you are currently pre diabetic so you have a good chance of reversing the condition without suffering much long term permanent damage if you do some simple life style changes like moderating your sugar and starchy carb intakes along with losing weight if you need to but it sounds like that isn't too much of an issue.
 

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halfpint

Well-Known Member
Messages
109
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Many thanks izzzi, that is really useful info. I think that it would be a good idea to do a self test, and keep the results as suggested. If I do it now at the very start of things, at least I would be able to repeat it over the years to see how things have changed. Just ordered some more strips - sooo much cheaper in the UK, only thing is I have to send them to my brother to mail on to me, but still about half the price as here.
Fingers crossed I will see how things go. First off, see if I can locate some lucozade, can't say that I have seen it out here, but there again I wasn't looking for it either. Used to love it as I kid, always had it when we were ill, probably tastes disgusting now :lol:
 

mousemat

Active Member
Messages
34
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Change your doctor.

If he/she hasn't bothered to grasp the basics on diabetes what are the chances that this person would be much good at anything but basic prescribing?
 

Yorksman

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,445
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Cultivator said:
I had one bowl of wholegrain pasta today at lunch time and my BS shot up from 5.2 before lunch to 8.6 2 hrs after and was still 7.7 another hour later

I used to get similar readings when eating porridge for breakfast. I was ok with brown rice but wholegrain pasta did raise my BG but not as much as porridge. I had to control that by portion size. This last week though I haven't got anything more than a 0.6mmol/L rise from anything, including porridge and by the time I am ready for my next meal, I'm down around 5.0.

The only things that has changed as far as I can tell is that I have increased my exercise, not interms of difficulty but in terms of frequency. I use a rower and row for 2 mins take a 30 sec rest and the row for another 2 mins. When I started I could only manage i session a day. Now I am on 5 sessions a day, so 20 mins exercise. In particular, I do two between breakfast and lunch and two in the afternoon. I only do one in the evening and invariably, before I go to bed, my readings are just above 6, the highest pre meal in the day.
 

Superchip

Well-Known Member
Messages
512
Dislikes
GP's, Diabetes Nurses.Crazy NHS guidelines on diet for Diabetics, they are seeing off millions.
Cheap Whisky !
I wouldn't trust that gp to do that ( basic prescribing ) ! mousemat ! / halfpint
What a plonker.
You would be safer not seeing the gp.
Sounds halfpint like you are doing a great job on your own !
 

chhabra

Member
Messages
9
Ok my secret is go on line get turkey rhubarb tablets herbal made by Swanson American FDA registered company 5 pounds 100 tabs take one am one pm watch your blood sugars drop it is a colon cleanser so only side effect is it all comes out but brilliant I use about 300 units of insulin daily all the tablets but this is brilliant 36 years a diabetic Good luck
 

sassywriter43

Well-Known Member
Messages
63
It makes me so glad that I have got the doctor I have. When I got told I was type 2, I had NO information apart from watch what you eat, which as on a previous forum and pouring my heart out to you guys wasn't much. It still isn't. I didn't know what carbohydrates were bad (and I use to nurse). I seeked this forum. I also made an appointment and went through pain to go to my regular doctor who was shocked at the diagnosis!
We sat and had a long chat, and he spoke about starchy carbohydrates and about finding better ones, the other GP he had noticed had referred me to a dietician, he cancelled it, he said he was keeping me away from dieticians. He mentioned potatoes and white rice are the worse culprits, and he knew I have a lot of my food blended. I have a load of other problems as well as food allergies so I have to be doubly careful with what I do.

On the plus side though the postie delivered some good news the other day, I had my first eye screening. I had to have it done without drops as I suffer really bad photophobia ( and I suffered on the day) for a 30 minute appointment it took 3 hours as I had to rest in between because of the ME I got the all clear.
 

DaveNN

Well-Known Member
Messages
327
halfpint said:
Hi

Got the results of my blood test on Wednesday and saw the doctor wednesday afternoon. (couldn't post then as the internet was down). Despite being on fairly low(ish) carbs for the past 4-6 weeks, not that it was high carb before, my HbA1c has gone up, but only a bit. My cholesterol is very slightly down was HDL 1.6, LDL 2.27, Trigs 1.58, now HDL 1.55, LDL 2,12, Trigs 1,06 mmol/l - don't know if this is good or bad, I think they are going in the right direction though. My HbA1c was 6.2 now 6.3. :( So, phoned for a doctors appt. with the hope of talking a bit about what might be done to get the numbers down a bit, i.e. by diet and exercise. He merrily chatted away about not giving me anything yet as the numbers are too low, I would have to wait until it was about 6.8 before he would give me meds, but in the mean time just eat healthily. I told him that I was on a fairly low carb regime and that I am feeling better than I did at the beginning of the year when I was drinking gallons and having blurred vision. Never mind all that he says, you just need to get your cholesterol down, don't worry about the BGs, you need sugar for energy. You must eat carbs, just don't eat between meals - I don't eat between meals I replied. You can eat fruit and desserts, even cake once or twice a week, you mustn't cut down on your carbs, you need to cut down fats they cause cholesterol. I suggested that it was perhaps the sugars in the blood that caused the cholesterol and was immediately told not be stupid. So, I should be eating, according to him, bread, cereals, fruit, cake, puddings, pasta, rice etc. and not worry about my sugar levels. I asked for a GTT and was told that I don't need one.
Well, as you say its my life and I know who I am inclined to believe - you lot on the forum have my bets, I think you have rather more experience on the subject them him :thumbup:

My doc has diagnosed me as T2.... off bloody google!

He will put me a DAFNE course, as opposed to a DESMOND!!

I gave him chapter and verse on the benefits and side effects of Metformin...

Christ on a bike.



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andrewkoudr

Member
Messages
16
We had the same story with my son (I reported this case in Parents section) - repeating morning sugar 6.2. We addressed three GPs in out practice and I suspect they have no idea what prediabetes is, one of them calling it "an American invention". They were taught to tell diabetes (skinny, smell of ketones, BG higher than 11) from non-diabetes (not skinny or no smell or glucose lower than 11). This is all they know, I am sfraid. Change of GP is nowadays quite problematic : NHS search GP site proudly reports "take new patients" everywhere, but, when you go to one, they say - "practice is full" or "you are outside our catchment area".
 

halfpint

Well-Known Member
Messages
109
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Thanks for all your responses. I am just keeping things ticking over now, found the worst culprits - carbs of course, but bread in particular, so cut all that stuff out, and really don't miss it either. HbA1c has come down to 6.0 at last test, which is at least in the right direction. Fasting is now flagged as too low - haha, I actually feel great with BGs in the 3s or 4s, no problem at all, its when they go rapidly over 7.5 that I feel ****, with a sudden massive surge, light headed, sick etc. etc. which begs the question of how they can say that 8 is fine for diabetics is beyond me ! ! However, still getting some silly spikes that tend to stay a bit high for several hours. So I think that basically I am not insulin resistant at all, I just don't produce quite enough of it and if I have just a few too many carbs it can't cope. My test meal is two slices of toast with thick slices of tomatoes and olive oil and rosemary, grilled, absolutely delicious - now a rare treat. Last year it would take me to about 9.5, this year its nearer 11.5, so I will just keep watching for a while, if it gets much worse I will ask for a GAD test.
 

Yorksman

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,445
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
halfpint said:
found the worst culprits - carbs of course, but bread in particular, so cut all that stuff out,

White bread, and even most so called brown, is as bad as sugar yes. It's the one thing they ought to make clear when they tell you to be careful with what you eat. Sweets, chocolate bars, sugary drinks etc are all obvious enough but what can be wrong with a ham sandwich if you have it with lettuce and tomato and put no salad cream on it? The bread bit of the ham sandwich is what's wrong with it.
 

halfpint

Well-Known Member
Messages
109
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Couldn't agree more, its pretty damming that its not the first thing that they should tell you to drop. How many people are merrily going on 'eating healthily' and blissfully unaware of what they are doing. All wheat products, spuds etc are now very rare treats. Luckily I found all this out early on. However, I rather suspect that as my c-peptide in on the low side, fasting bgs low , plus autoimmune thyroid disease, it could all still go pear shaped, but at least for now things seem to be holding.
 

LittleWolf

Well-Known Member
Messages
677
I have been showing my doctor ketones on urine strips and readings up to 19.4 mmol for months + have symptoms but he says I'm not diabetic. They don't believe in prediabetes either.

I give up. We have to help eachother do this without them. Keep your heads up.


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