How long a wait for dietician appointment?

[HA3]

Hi all, diagnosed type 2 on Feb 3rd this year. HbA1c reading of 58. Dr explained about regular retina exam and said I would see the dietician. Still waiting for an appointment, starting to think he has forgotten to arrange it! Nearly 5 weeks now and not a word from anyone. Does it normally take this long for first appt? Doing the best i can on my own, this forum really helpful. Having another HbA1c test after 12 weeks so 7 weeks from now. No mention of blood monitoring myself by dr so was hoping to discuss with dietician but...........

 

[Andy12345]

hi, welcome

im afraid dieticians in my experience are awful, you will learn alot more from the folks on here, you may find differing opinions but if you saw two dietitians they would also have different opinions, unless they are leaflet clones in which case there advice would be bad anyway, so in my opinion find your path without there help

 

[DiamondAsh]

Sadly the doctors nor the dieticians hurry themselves to help the diabetic patient. Plus when you get there she won't tell you anything that you probably don't know already. It'll probably be a diet sheet and a pep talk...

 

[Kat100]

You might be surprised and have a really positive experience, it can happen....

 

[catherinecherub]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

You will hear mixed messages about dietitians, some are good and some leave a lot to be desired.
I know some people have waited for 6 months or longer to be seen

In the meantime you might like to read the advice for newly diagnosed which will help.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.26870/

You really do need a monitor to see the effect of carbohydrates in your meal on your blood glucose. The cheapest one is this one,

http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm

Any more questions, please ask.

CC.

 

[Robbity]

I had feet and eye checks offered fairly quickly, but no mention so far of an appointment with a dietician. However, from (bad) dietary advice given by my nurse, I'm inclined to rely on my own research plus information and advice given here... But again I may be surprised?

Robbity

 

[Daibell]

Hi. I agree with Andy that your will find much more advice on this forum if you digest many of the posts than you will find from most dieticians. Many tend to give general diet advice, some good some poor, but often it is not diabetes specific which it needs to be as diabetes is where the body can't handle glucose properly and therefore needs targeted advice. The common 'have a balanced' diet' is not adequate.

 

[HA3]

Many thanks for your replies, this forum has an amazing amount of info. Have gone low carb (ish), on 90-130g a day which is a lot less than I was on. Many of these from veg so hoping they are good carbs! Struggle during the week for breakfast so still on 30g readybrek and semi skimmed milk. Weekends is good old egg and bacon. Hoping my 2 eggs a day do not have any negative impacts. Going to the gym 4 x week and lost 6 kilos so far. Will be interesting to see my next HbA1c reading at end of April having done it all myself. Think I do need to get a meter but was going to try the dr/dietician first! Thought it worth a shot to see if I could get it or the strips on prescription for a couple of months.

 

[AndyH1]

I've been T2 for about 10 years, never seen a dietician, never been offered. I do get an annual check up and Retinopathy screening. As others have said, I would imagine most of them just repeat what is on the DUK site.

There is some great advice and info on here. If you get your diet right and do plenty of exercise, especially aerobic, there is a chance you can avoid meds for a good while.

As others have said, monitoring is really essential. Push for that meter and strips, but if they won't issue them, then buy one. It's the key to understanding what foods do what to your levels and it'll give you an idea of whether your condition stable or changing.

Andy