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I'm confused - Newly diganosed T2 but...

Bluetit1802 said:
Some surgeries don't bother with a full lipid panel. I'm lucky because my surgery does bother with it. You need the LDL and the triglycerides testing. You can work out the ratios yourself. That is the easy bit! I think it is common practice for the cholesterol/HDL ratio to be shown. It is important, but not as important as the trigs one. As the lass taking your bloods is probably only an assistant, you may be better to ring and ask for the LDL and trigs to be included. The lass won't have the permissions to order this. Good luck with the test. :)
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Well you've inspired me to ring the surgery, wait in the queue and eventually 25 minutes later spoke to someone on reception. She was very understanding and was telling me she had been type 2 for 15 years and still struggled to get her head around some things. Anyway, she said she would ask one of the doctors to give me a ring. Which they did. The doctor wasnt really interested in talking to me but she did make me an appointment to see the diabetes nurse who she said would answer all my questions. She also said that if I tell the taker of blood on Friday that I want figures for triglycerides then she would do it.
All sounds good so far yeah?. But I have very little confidence that the blood test will have any different content than the last one. That's if she even agrees to request a breakdown of non HDL cholesterol without me seeing a doctor first. Plus my appointment with the DN is with the same person I saw when given the type 2 diagnosis. Back then she simply sent me on my way with a prescription for Metformin and the advice to try to cut down on my sugar intake, not give it up completely, just try to reduce it.

I think I've done quite well since last August getting the HbA1c down from 84 to 42 but sometimes it's so bloody frustrating because it's so difficult to get to discuss this stuff and get answers to questions from the surgery.

Sorry I'm feeling a bit ranty
 
Daphne917 said:
Hi @Alineden I think others have given you your answer but I was prescribed Pravistatin on my first visit to the DN because ‘all diabetics should be on them’ and I didn’t know any better so took them. At my next check my hba1c had gone up 6 points from 48 to 54 despite me eating less sugars and carbs. I started suffering dizzy spells and sleep disturbance which, when I researched the statins, were a common side effect - I also checked it with my pharmacist who confirmed it - he was ringing every 1-2 months to see how I was getting on with them due to possible side effects. I had also read about the correlation between statins and an increase in BS in some patients. At that point I discussed it with my doctor and told him I was not going to take them again and he agreed to me coming off them. After stopping them my hba1c soon reduced and has been in normal range for approx 5 years. The last GP I saw in the practice has now annotated my records as statin intolerant however I’ll see how much my DN takes of it at my next review - hopefully she will no longer offer statins which I always politely refuse.
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Thanks Daphne917. Why does everyone seem to be against statins except the doctors and drug companies. Or should I say why do the doctors want us all on statins. Nearly everyone I work with around my age is either on them or been offered them.
 
Alineden said:
Thanks Daphne917. Why does everyone seem to be against statins except the doctors and drug companies. Or should I say why do the doctors want us all on statins. Nearly everyone I work with around my age is either on them or been offered them.
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Big Pharma makes a lot of money out of them, and NICE (who write the NHS guidelines) recommends them as preventative medication. I was put on statins when I was diagnosed T2. I knew no better then so took them for a couple of months. I then did the research and stopped taking them. I was put on them because "we give them to all diabetics" despite the fact my cholesterol and lipids were all ideal and did not need lowering.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Big Pharma makes a lot of money out of them, and NICE (who write the NHS guidelines) recommends them as preventative medication. I was put on statins when I was diagnosed T2. I knew no better then so took them for a couple of months. I then did the research and stopped taking them. I was put on them because "we give them to all diabetics" despite the fact my cholesterol and lipids were all ideal and did not need lowering.
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Thanks for helping me understand better the whole cholesterol thing today Bluetit. Hopefully the next test will give the full figures and we can discuss again if that's ok?
 
Alineden said:
Thanks for helping me understand better the whole cholesterol thing today Bluetit. Hopefully the next test will give the full figures and we can discuss again if that's ok?
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Yes of course it can be discussed. If you start your own thread when you get the results we will all try to help. Meanwhile, when you have a couple of days free and plenty of available cups of tea, have a look at @bulkbiker 's thread. There are videos and information you will find useful when deciding what to do. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/cholesterol-and-statins.156985/
 
Alineden said:
Thanks Daphne917. Why does everyone seem to be against statins except the doctors and drug companies. Or should I say why do the doctors want us all on statins. Nearly everyone I work with around my age is either on them or been offered them.
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@Alineden @Bluetit1802 has hit the nail on the head and, in addition, it’s not the doctors or drug companies who have to live with the side effects some of which can be severe and debilitating.
 
Alineden said:
Thanks Daphne917. Why does everyone seem to be against statins except the doctors and drug companies. Or should I say why do the doctors want us all on statins. Nearly everyone I work with around my age is either on them or been offered them.
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GP surgeries also get more Government funding for increasing the number of their patients on statins.
 
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