Does anyone know?

[Tracey167]

Hi
I'm just trying to find out for my friends hubby who is a type 2, his G.P referred him to the diabetes nursing team (the same place i attend for my type 1 diabetes) and he got a letter the other day from them telling him he does not have enough OAH (something like that) to attend there clinic, i find this very strange, i don't know to much about type 2 but surely you are entitled to see a diabeic nurse when you are type 2, he has recieved a letter to see a dietrian because even though he can't eat much because his tablets are making his food taste funny but he is gaining loads of weight which there is no explanation for ( over 2st in about 3 months).
His BG run quite high most of the time as well.

Any advice of what he should do would be great

Thanks

Tracey167

 

[cugila]

Hi Tracey.
The only thing I could find about OAH refers to Osteoarthritus of the Hip ?? If the acronym is correct then I have no idea what it actually means when related to Diabetes. Maybe it refers to some sort of qualifying criteria for treatment at the Clinic ? I honestly don't know.

I think we need a lot more accurate information to even begin to offer advice here. We need to know the exact type and dose of medication and also what a typical days diet would consist of. This would help us considerably to assist him with answers to the questions.

As for the obligation for a patient to be treated, it is to be given appropriate care, this could be a Clinic, your GP or just the Practice Nurse even. There is nothing as far as I am aware that states it HAS to be a Diabetes Clinic. If your GP made the referral then your friend needs to get back there and ask what the reason is for him not being seen.

He is apparently going to see a Dietician which is something, however he needs to be aware that some dietary advice dished out by HCP's can sometimes be not a good idea for a lot of Diabetic's. He will have to work out what is good or bad for himself, mainly by the use of a meter and frequent testing until such time as he knows what certain foods are doing to his Bg levels.

Diet and carbohydrates have a lot to do with weight gain and also increased BG levels, therefore he needs to have a good look at those areas in the first instance. We do have a guide for newly diagnosed Type 2's which we frequently post here, if you require it I will post it here for you. It is full of useful information.

Let us know what you can find out.

Ken

 

[Tracey167]

Hi ken

Thank you for your reply it would be great if you could post the guide for newly diagnosed T2 diabetics i can then print it off and give it to him to read through. Yes i am puzzled to what this OAH is i have never come across it before, apparently his G.P is not much use, my friend had to ask him twice about seeing the diabetic nurse because he forgot to refer him, I don't know what it is but i find the healthcare where im not upto scratch, they seem like they can't be bothered, don't get me wrong there are a few doctors/nurses round here that are brilliant and i can't fault them but they are very few and far between, alot of them treat diabetes as if its not important as long as you take your medication you are alright.

My friends husband is on metiformin (i think thats how its spelt) twice a day and he does regular BG tests, the only problem is his eating it don't seem to add up because he is gaining weight but he can hardly eat anything,because of this horrid taste in his mouth when he eats most things.

I have told him to go back to his G.P with the letter he recieved and find out what it means, i just thought i'd ask on the forum to see if anyone had any ideas.

Thanks Again

Tracey167

 

[cugila]

Hi Tracey.
No problem. Here it is, may help him. Just get him to read it and if he has any questions we can probably answer them for him. If not me I am sure there will be somebody who can.

He could always ask for a referral to an Endocrinologist if he doesn't have confidence in the GP's ability.

Ken

Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics.This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different .

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid or reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such a bread, potatoes, pasta and rice also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating then two hours after eating you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try !!

As a Type 2 the latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.
If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

 

[Cowboyjim]

Sorry I dunno either but metformin usually makes you lose weight. Did me. Also makes some foods unpalatable tho I can't recall odd tastes, etc. Better to take the little blighters after meals.
My nursey friend said down t'hostipal they sometimes give overweight non-DMs met to help lose weight.
ATB 8)