So yesterday I had my long awaited appointment.
The previous times that I've seen her I've found her to be a tad patronising and yesterday was no different, but she reached new highs. I appreciate that she was running late and probably wanted to get home but ...
She sat me down and sighed at me. "Your bloods have come back and they're not good ..."
I interrupted her - "I know that, that's why I fought for this appointment. Would you mind if I just tell you how I'm feeling and you can tell me if they're down to my diabetes?"
She blinked at me. Undeterred I started to reel off my list -
Tinnitus, migraine, blurry vision, tired all the time, too exhausted to exercise, boils, gum disease, excessive sweating and the nagging pain near my hip.
"Apart from the tinnitus those are all caused by your high sugar."
I tried to argue, but to no avail.
She continued "I'm going to put you on saxagliptin. It's our new wonder drug. And I'll see you again in three months. Check your sugar levels before you drive because there could be a risk of a hypo."
And that was it. No advice as to what to do if my sugars were low. No extra prescription for test strips (I asked. She just shook her head.) Nothing about my symptoms apart from an "It must be awful for you"
And when I asked if these new tablets (on top of my 2000mg of Metformin) would make me feel better she cocked her head on one side, pulled what she obviously thought was a compassionate face and said "This is a PROGRESSIVE disease, it doesn't get better"!!!
Whatever happened to 'control by diet and exercise'? I left thinking I'm on the scrap heap!!
I wish I had a choice of practice - sadly it's the 'only surgery in the village'. Where is the support? Or the offer to look at my symptoms and sort them out - some antibiotics for the boil problem would have been nice.
Maybe I've got it wrong and her remit is only to deal with the sugar and not the associated problems? But getting to see a doctor is nigh-on impossible.
Rant over.
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Okay - one at a time ... Monkey - thank you sooooo much! You've made me feel 'normal'. Lol.
And thank you very much for the hypo advice - at least I know what to look out for and what action to take.
It's easy enough to trawl the net but there's so much conflicting info out there that it's much better to hear it direct.
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Hi Douglas.
I'm 5ft 2, and fluctuate between 8st 11 and 9st 2. Which 'they' tell me is in the healthy range. In my dreams I'm between 7 and 8 stone! No matter what I do (starvation mainly!) I can't seem to lose weight.
Three years ago (just before I was diagnosed with IBS - which I don't think I have) the doctor told me I had a fatty liver. Which I took to be an insult! He didn't offer any advice or tell me what it meant. Just phoned up and told me that was what I had. I suspect that perhaps that was linked to my newly diagnosed diabetes. I know what caused that original problem - it wasn't due to weight, it was due to stupidity. And equally stupidly I didn't tell the doctor.
So I do see all this as entirely of my own making.
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Yes, have the thyroid check, it may help . It may show that there are problems with the thyroid. However be aware that this is only a 'snapshot' picture and if it comes back 'OK', it may not necessarily be OK. I have heard that it can take up to 9 tests to get a true picture. My thyroid tests have all been OK, but slightly lower than normal, yet I am convinced my thyroid was damaged in a severe whiplash injury many years ago. Even on a very low calorie diet I lose only a few pounds. Immediately after the accident I put on 2 stones in 10 weeks and have struggled with weight ever since, although it wasn't a problem before. A nutritionist and also a naturopath have told me that when whiplash occurs, the thyroid can be damaged, and will still produce enough raw hormone but will not be able to convert this into active hormone. The doctors test only tests raw hormone.
re thyroid. I think it is important to be tested but I also I think that that many of the symptoms attributed to hypothyroid are very nebulous and can apply to diabetes and probably many other conditions including 'normality'. .
Personally, I probably had a lack of motivation but I can't say that I could really say that I had any of the other listed symptoms to any great degree . My high TSH was discovered on a routine test, they subsequently tested for and found relatively high antibodies and a scan showed a small, atrophied thyroid with various 'nodules'' and cysts: so not a healthy thyroid. There was no question about diagnosis and the necessity for treatment.
I went onto thyroid forums including thyroid UK and found them totally depressing . They made me feel I really ought to feel more ill. I suspect that it's another condition that has huge variations but one where from what I've read there is a tendency to blame everything on the thyroid
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