Hi, I am a Brit living and working in India. I was diagnosed Type 2 in 1998 and have not been in good control over much of that time. I have lived with Diabetes in the UK, Malaysia, India and China and have found medical treatments and drugs changing at every Doctors visit. Recently I went back to my India medical facility (top class facility with all mod cons and many Doctors who have trained and practiced in the UK and America). Firstly despite having very high BP they did not prescribe any drugs for this and even after a detailed consultation on my diabetes all he did was to change my Novomix to Novo rapid and introduce lantus Solostar in the evening. My H1abc was 13 and I was having some neuropathy and was also being treated for PVD and Retinopathy with laser treatment on both eyes. Obviously this was getting serious and having neglected things I was now feeling better that things would improve! How wrong I was. A week later I woke up to find I had lost the use of my left leg and arm and my vision was severely impaired. BS was still erratic and never lower than 350 mg/dl despite 30 30 16 Novorapid and 36 lantus Solostar every day. I knew I had suffered a stroke but I couldn't convince the Doctor I saw at MAX Healthcare, who despite being a Cardiologist kept telling me the loss of use was the rersult of neuropathy not a stroke. Finally i gave up with MAX and went to see another neurologist recommended by the US Embassy. He immediately sent me for an MRI and sure enough I had a Brain haemorrhage and clot combined. Thankfully now with a new Hospital (Medvanta) they now tackled the BP and quite quickly I was back to normal levels 120/80 in the mornings. Then I followed a recommendation for a new diabetologist [mod edit: name of doctor removed] and he after a very thorough exam and background check on my history he changed my meds and added Volibo and Galvus 50 which pretty much immediately brought my BG levels down to normal range 120 or less FF and up to 180 or thereabouts for PP, some lows in late afternoon of 80 but now all stabilising. the only problem has been the side effects from the Volibo and/or Galvus of horrible diarrhoea which has now been reduced by another pill! I also had a full vascualr doppler and neuropathy test and he checked my vitamin levels which are low on Folic acid, B12 and D so i am now having folic acid tabs, as well as injections to improve these. vegetarian diet means these are a challenge. I now test regularly FF, Pre and post Prandial and am changing carb intake. i also take Karela juice (an ayurvedic medicine) made from the juice of the bitter gourd, tastes horrible and not sure if it does anything but it tastes bad enough to make you feel it is helping 
now focusing on improving neuropathic situation and keeping BP and BS down! Enjoyed reading many of the psots on here, seems the UK health service still hasn't worked out how to manage diabetes but I still think the NHS gives better care than you will get anywhere else in the world! Here if you don't have money you will not get any treatment. Private care is out of the reach of most people here and the Government Hospitals are appalling. I pay around 20 pounds for a consultation which is Ok for me, but represents a significant part of a persons salary here for most of the population and a blood test can be as much a 100 pounds! I have seen a lot of whining and whinging on here about strips etc, but really we should thank our lucky stars for the NHS. I know you pay for it, but here I pay taxes of more than 5000 pounds a month and get nothing pretty much for it. Jai Bajrang Bali!
now focusing on improving neuropathic situation and keeping BP and BS down! Enjoyed reading many of the psots on here, seems the UK health service still hasn't worked out how to manage diabetes but I still think the NHS gives better care than you will get anywhere else in the world! Here if you don't have money you will not get any treatment. Private care is out of the reach of most people here and the Government Hospitals are appalling. I pay around 20 pounds for a consultation which is Ok for me, but represents a significant part of a persons salary here for most of the population and a blood test can be as much a 100 pounds! I have seen a lot of whining and whinging on here about strips etc, but really we should thank our lucky stars for the NHS. I know you pay for it, but here I pay taxes of more than 5000 pounds a month and get nothing pretty much for it. Jai Bajrang Bali!