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Type 1 Has Anyone Else Had This Problem With Their Doctors And Dsn's

A

Alex_B

Well-Known Member
Messages
168
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I went to the doctors last Thursday, I had been having these constant painful headaches, I asked her about them and she said "it's the blood sugar level". Well, last night I popped a spot in my ear that had been bugging me and hurting me for weeks, no more headaches, haven't had a single headache today.

Whenever I go to either my doctors surgery or the hospital for my checkups, I always get told my blood sugar is causing the pain, "ear infection, must be blood sugar", "cyst on abdomen, must be blood sugar". I never get any help, she's leaving tomorrow, retiring and I am just thinking "thank god, cause' you never helped me in the first place". Ever since having diabetes, I have realized that they either fob me off to the hospital, or its my blood sugar, when clearly its not. I'm going to mention this to the doctor at the diabetes clinic at the hospital in August, and see what they say, because its starting to really make me angry. Has anyone else had this? Does it annoy you as well?
 

Oh god yes!!! It is infuriating that whenever I go to the GP everything is just dismissed. For literally years I have just been told "oh really? Well just look after your diabetes and see if it gets better".
I know diabetes impacts and is impacted by just about everything but it really is infuruating when you try to get something investigated but you just hit a dead end because they refuse to consider anything other than the diabetes.
 
@Sophia78 Yeah, my doctor hasn't helped me for years, probably since I was 12-13, why would she start now, shes leaving tomorrow, what's the point, that's what I think she is thinking. Hopefully the new doctor I get will be a lot better, if not I might just have to stop going to the doctors because I don't think they understand, that not everything is to do with blood sugar.
 
I have heard of this. Fortunately, my GP is superb. Guess I must be lucky. Even though he advocates the non testing for T2 and NDSS dietary guidelines he is still very supportive of my self management and carb reduction. I really don't get it. If I was to treat my customers in a way that the OP described I'd be on long term unemployment benefits.
 
Yes I have had this except in my case being T2 it's the weight that is blamed for absolutely everything.
 
I see this problem in more general terms and call it the blame game. A doctor is delighted to find something that you shouldn't have/do so that they can impart guilt to the patient. This enables them to usher you out the door. Classic ones are, you smoke, you drink, you don't take enough exercise and now for the diabetics it's, you are not controlling your blood sugar.

I allow for the fact that quite often they are right to pick on a bad habit to blame since it may well be the underlying cause of a problem but there is an injustice done when it isn't. Also, from what I read on here and other places the GP's are too ready to take the easy route.
 

To a certain extent you need to be your own doctor. My previous doctor missed my kidney disease despite being diabetic for nearly thirty years. All put down to stress and diabetes. Missed dilated cardiomyopathy, exhausted because stress and you guessed it diabetes (yes it was out of control BECAUSE my heart was hardly beating). Missed a heart attack, well I missed that too. Who knew you could, but new Doc says every two years for an ecg. My new doctor has been magnificent. I now have a special three lead pacemaker defibrillator (cardio desynchronisation therapy) and my heart is almost back to normal in six months, my kidneys are under control and so is my diabetes. I’m surprised I didn’t die. At sixty plus I’ve finally learned to demand answers, and I’m very good at Doctor Google. Whether it’s public or private health they are there to help you and they’re not all brilliant. Lesson learned the hard way for me.
 
Hi. GPs are both the strength and weakness of the NHS. They guess far too often either because they don't have good diagnostic aids or are discouraged from referring you to a consultant by the local CCG. In this respect I like the USA system where you can self-refer to a consultant but you need to pay. In the current NHS setup, using Dr Google is vital and having private health insurance if you can afford it so you can ask the GP for referral into the private world where you may be treated more quickly and sometimes with better equipment and longer appointment session times.
 
I had one Dr who kept going on about my weight,diet losing limbs and kidney failure, that was encouraging plus she smoked like a chimney!
My latest Dr wanted to try me on new meds - he wanted me to increase my Lantus from 18 to 24, then Tresiba from 24 to 34. In both cases, I felt nauseous and sluggish and horrible, so I checked online and found the recommended dosage based on my weight (and found it was pretty close to my dosage) and at least I could function. I also found myself feeling "buzzed" and irritable so I gradually cut one med out altogether and then switched another from morning to evening and my numbers have dropped by 100!
Whenever I self medicate I do it gradually over a week to assess any changes + or - and so far have not had any problems. I have also started the Low Carb Program and keeping a food diary and recording my BS and weight. Its simple to use and I have found it helpful. Hope you find your way to better outcomes!
 
Life's a joke up until I was 50 nothing got blamed on my diabetes after everything gets blamed on diabetes, I keep it in good control ?
 
Helpful to read this string, thank you. I am a T2...with the additional Coeliac disease. Its the combination of the two that causes grief. With a bit of creativity..can live very well. What really bugs me...is that whatever ailment...its always the diabetes to blame. Broken leg? Diabetes! Kidney stones? Diabetes (maybe!).

What I would seriously suggest to you all...is that you see your own records, and maintain accuracy.

Recently errors in GP notes have caused and continue to do so, horrendous hardship to me in that my 40 year old clean driving licence has been taken away. Due to the DSN making errors....and simply not asking the right questions. Hadn't met the DSN before and she was going to do what she was going to do and generally treated me like dirt. All through her errors....

Beware ladies and gents..it could be you next time...
 
Sorry, Pariesmo. Didn't mean to hit the 'funny' button.I intended to hit 'agree', but missed ! I am also sick of type 1 being blamed for everything. I had a gastric ulcer (caused by the recommended ACE inhibitor tabets), but they tested me 8 times for coeliac diease and wouldn't listen. Had to change GP surgery to get treated.
 
Been there and got the tee shirt years ago!
Because of DSN ignorance and stupidity I decided to keep my diabetes treatment with the diabetic clinic and my consultant. This has worked well and has been helpful.
BUT when the surgery decided I did not need more than 4 test strips per day I had to register an official complaint with the NHS.
One meeting with a surgery doctor and the practice manager restored a full level of test strips and the comment " you are doing better than most people who are T1 for over 55 years - we totally agree and support your testing requirements and your routine to control your BG.
The only thing I did not get was an apology and compensation for the self funded equipment/supplies that were then agreed in full.

Unfortunately everyone needs to assess their situation and act accordingly which does not say much for parts of the NHS / GP service - be aware and always insist on an explanation of the reason for any change in treatment and speak up if you do not understand or think it is wrong.
Never be afraid to ask for help from any source - the worst response you get is "we do not deal with that so you need to see #######" which can be helpful.

My current gripe is being told " I have prescribed some pills for that - please pick up at the dispensary" then be told that it will not be issued but you can go to a chemist and buy it. Awful when you are not told what to buy and then remember that T1 should get prescribed medicines free of charges.

I find the forum can be very helpful, informative and brilliantly helpful even if I do not totally agree!

 
I have a friend who made the mistake of mentioning how a doctor mistreated her and made her angry. She is now labeled as being depressed. Everywhere she goes, no matter what the ailment, it is blamed on her being depressed. She cannot seem to escape it even though all she did was mention anger. She is not, and has never been diagnosed as, depressed.

I mentioned that I wake up because of back pains due to my weight and now, everywhere I go, I am mysteriously labeled as having sleep apnea. Unrelated ailments get blamed on having sleep apnea. An ingrown toenail: sleep apnea (I jest but still wonder...), There is a specific test and definition for sleep apnea and I have never had it or have been diagnosed for it. They ask about my snoring but I don't snore. They now ask about my breathing or heart problems when I sleep but I do not have breathing problems or heart problems when I sleep.

The questions are based only on the fact that I mentioned not being able to sleep because of back pain and someone somewhere checked off sleep apnea in a list. It may have been telephone jockey scheduling my appointment or the clerk preparing me for the interview with the doctor. It might have even been a student doctor in a meeting before I see the real doctor.

I am now incredibly reserved discussing anything or checking anything off on those lists they give you when you go in for a new ailment. It appears that the questions are intentionally vague so that they can have an escape they can use for diagnosing your ailment.

Herein lies one of the big problems with electronic transfer of medical records.

I wonder what would happen if a guy checks the entry for pregnancy problems or a woman indicates having erectile dysfunction or testicular pain.
 
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Shall I go on?
My mother ended up with over 15 medications, each added to the list by another doctor. When adding a new one, they only looked for contra-indicators not whether she still needed the original medications. It was the proverbial medication cocktail she was taking daily. Filling those prescriptions and those little pill boxes was an incredible task.

She finally got so fed up that we stopped all of them cold-turkey. Yep, all at once. She never showed any of the problems they claimed she would have by doing so.

With the next blood test a few weeks later, the doctor said "Your cholesterol is improving, your blood pressure and rate are good, your A1c is better but still high, you have even dropped some weight. What is different?"

"I stopped taking all the medications". I would say that he turned white with this but could not tell through his African-American complexion. : ) He then said "Well, how about if we put these two back on the list." We agreed.

Obviously, I am not recommending this technique but everyone should be asking about the medications being stacked on the list. Specifically not ""Do I still need this pill?" but "What is the evidence that I still need this pill?"
 
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Although not the same I too have had problems and continues to have problems with my GP not the nurse.
Prior to being diagnosed I suffered for weeks with s constant low grade and sometimes a headache do bad I had to lay down.
Then my hba1c came back higher than expected and once I started low carb they have disappeared.
Even my very sore eyes appear to have improved.
But reading your post my GP has not put any of this together. I just do not understand what’s wrong with these people. These people are there for us to put our trust in and we need to be sure they know what they are talking about.
Do they????
 
@Alex_B . I'm curious to know what your GP said when you told her about the spot in your ear. As you say the spot had been bugging and hurting you for weeks. Did she just dismiss this without any further checks or questions?
 
I think I must be lucky. I've never had my diabetes treatment handled by my GP, but they've handled everything else (nothing too major but probably once a year I get something that needs treatment?). It helps that the diabetic blood tests catch stuff like low vitamin D or anaemia...
 
What you say is so true. We have a friend with T1 who has been unwell for 12 months. Back and forth to GP who kept blaming his diabetes, his change in type of insulin and so on. He has finally been diagnosed with lymphoma at such a late stage that he will be lucky to survive. He is young and has two small boys So very sad.
 
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