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23.9 vague diagnosis - not much faith in gp

J

Janecayman

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Type 2
I went to the dr with blurry eyes, headaches, constant thrush and tingling arms. She sent me for an MRI !? a few weeks later a nurse doing my smear checked my urine to find blood sugar at 23.9. Went back to dr put on metformin 2*daily. It's been a month down to 13. At first felt more energised and didn't want anything sweet, now tired and sleeping in the day and mad cravings for sugar. I'm 44 not overweight and have been following a strict low card diet, I don't drink and do take exercise.

My Drs been very vague about which diabetes I have and what her plan is. I'm not sure I have great confidence in her, she referred me for an education course but I've not heard anymore about that.

Today I was very frustrated & knackered had a bag of liquorice all sorts and slept the afternoon away...

I'm not sure where to turn - can I self refer to a specialist, I want a proper diagnosis and blood test, I've only ever had a finger test. Thanks
 
Ask your doctor to refer you to an Endocrinoligist, assuming you have an Endo centre at your local hospital. And also ask for proper blood tests.

Welcome to the forums.
 
Hi @Janecayman , welcome to the forum, you've come to the right place. I have to say that I'm not exactly impressed by your doctor, but, sadly, I don't think you are alone in this.
You should go back to your surgery and say that you want an HbA1c test (a sort of three month average of your blood sugars) and a spot test (fasting) using blood drawn from your arm and sent away for testing.

However, in the meantime, it would wise to assume that you are Type 2, because most people are. You need a meter, which you will almost certainly have to buy yourself, so that you can see what different foods do to your blood sugars and you should look into low carb diets. A good source in Diet Doctor https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb as well as this site. Eating low carb will seriously reduce your blood sugars and reverse many of your symptoms.
Type 1 is, of course, a possibility, but only worry about this if other things don't work.
Sally
 
Could you ask to see another doctor at your surgery some one with a bit more knowledge i know i have two doctors
At my surgery who know little about diabetes and they admit it so if i get problems i make a point of seeing a doctor who does know and surgerys fine with it let us know how it all goes PS and ask to be referred to diabetic clinic
 
I find it hard to comprehend a doctor referring for an MRI without a blood check for what are pretty much classic Diabetes symptoms in the first instance....

Personally, I would change doctors.
 
welcome here Janecayman :)

well you have diabetes, but which kind is not clear yet... as you do very low carbing allready then your numbers should come down much more soon. You are under 100 grams of carbs daily aren´t you ? if not then maybe you are not low enough yet to get real control... if you avoid carbs that much your sugar/carb cravings should vanish soon too..

if you need treats to take your mind away from sugary sweets there are actually a lot of low carb high fats you can learn to make that are really delicious... an easy one is rasberries with lots of whiped cream... it you eat enough of that or with strawberries or blueberries then you´ll not have space to anything with sugar in after that...

http://www.ditchthecarbs.com/top-10-snacks/

https://ketodietapp.com/Blog/post/2015/03/24/60-amazing-fat-bomb-recipes
 
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Hi @Janecayman. Welcome to the forums

Book an appointment with a diabetes nurse associated with your doctors surgery and book a blood test so you can discuss the results with the nurse. Also, get a blood sugar meter if you don't have one already and use it to test which foods spike your blood sugar levels. If you have been prescribed Metformin it looks like they think you have type 2. If your blood sugar levels don't drop significantly then you may have type 1. If you are on a low carb diet and Metformin you should expect fasting blood sugar levels to drop below 10 and continue dropping to the 4-7 range.

Blurry eyes is caused by high glucose in the blood swelling eye lenses and you can expect this to disappear once your sugar levels subside. Thrush is a problem with sugar in the urine caused by excess blood sugar. Lower blood sugars should help.

Tingling in the arms is a result of neuropathy which is nerve damage caused by high blood sugars. Some people take Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) supplements for this plus vitamin B12. You can get ALA from Amazon. I take one 300 mg tablet a day and some people take up to 600mg daily. Lack of vitamin B12 can cause neuropathy and Metformin can result in a B12 deficiency.

If you are lacking energy you may need to increase the amount of fat in your diet. As you decrease carbs the body needs an alternate source of fuel. Fat does not raise blood sugars much. So cheese, full fat yoghurt, cream, butter, avacodos, nuts are good. Many people here follow the LCHF diet - low carb high fat. See www.dietdoctor.com
 
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When you see the doctor ask for a GAD test. If positive this will indicate type 1.
Either way you need more information than has been supplied.
 
Janecayman said:
I went to the dr with blurry eyes, headaches, constant thrush and tingling arms. She sent me for an MRI !? a few weeks later a nurse doing my smear checked my urine to find blood sugar at 23.9. Went back to dr put on metformin 2*daily. It's been a month down to 13. At first felt more energised and didn't want anything sweet, now tired and sleeping in the day and mad cravings for sugar. I'm 44 not overweight and have been following a strict low card diet, I don't drink and do take exercise.

My Drs been very vague about which diabetes I have and what her plan is. I'm not sure I have great confidence in her, she referred me for an education course but I've not heard anymore about that.

Today I was very frustrated & knackered had a bag of liquorice all sorts and slept the afternoon away...

I'm not sure where to turn - can I self refer to a specialist, I want a proper diagnosis and blood test, I've only ever had a finger test. Thanks
Click to expand...
Don't be afraid to get a second opinion or change gp's. Remember, your health (and possibly your life) is on the line, so take charge.
 
Many thanks all super helpful, I've got an appt with another dr next week and have ordered some supplements thanks for the encouragement
 
Hi and welcome. As you are not overweight and only 44, T1 becomes a very real possibility. As @Diakat as posted, do ask for the GAD test and also the c-peptide test if your blood sugar doesn't come down. Metformin will have only a small effect anyway and even less if you are T1. Having a low-carb diet is important regardless of the diagnosis and I'm afraid you may find there is a lot of sugar in the Allsorts. The GAD test checks for antibodies typical in T1 but not always present and the c-peptide checks how much insulin you are producing. Do come back here with further questions as needed as there are other tablets that may help but I don't want to overload you!
 
Jamesuk9 said:
I find it hard to comprehend a doctor referring for an MRI without a blood check for what are pretty much classic Diabetes symptoms in the first instance....

Personally, I would change doctors.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree with this.
 
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