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Made to feel like you're over reacting to Type 2 !!

CathyN

Well-Known Member
Messages
248
Location
dorset
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
prejudice, racism, complacency, ignorance
Has anyone else been made to feel like they are over reacting to being diagnosed as Type 2?

Having done my research into why I have Type 2, what it actually IS, what the future could hold and how I can empower myself and take positive steps to make the right changes - I have been a bit bothered about some of the reactions of people who don't have diabetes ... including health professionals and, I have to say, friends.

The thing that seems to irk people the most is when they find out that I have a meter and strips and I test regularly. I have been called paranoid, I have been told that no damage can possibly be occuring at this stage of the condition. I have almost been accused of having some sort of weird blood lust - a nurse actually used that phrase " you don't need to be sticking yourself every 5 minutes" as if I am getting some sort of enjoyment from it. The fact is I don't want to have Type 2, I don't want to change my diet, and I don't want to be testing my Blood Sugar regularly. But what if I don't? Would these people rather hold back on their understanding until major complications set in and they can actually SEE that I have a problem?????

I just feel insulted by these attitudes - especially when they come from within the health care system. I am not asking for sympathy - at all. But I would like my efforts at self-help to be taken seriously. It's hard work!!!
 
I didn't take it seriously and it just got worse and worse - now I take it seriously and test, test, test and everything is getting dramatically better. I know what I would rather do!!!

This forum gives me the courage to do what I think is right FOR ME I hope it does you too. :wave:
 
I have had the same reaction from so called health care personel.because I am 84 they think I should ignore High glucose reading and accept what is coming to me,I have very painful nueropathy,blocked arteries in my legs,and am in constant pain,but the only thing that happens to me at my check up I am told how marvellous I look for my age, I have leg Rashes ,just had pnuemonia,have low white platlets etc,etc and they just say we will test again in 3 months. I f I did not have such a good woman,I would just go to (cannot spell )Switzerland, They have stopped my test strips and I am on Glimipiride which causes low Glucose.
 

I completely agree with your post CathyN

This is the way I have been reacted to, even by my DSN. My new doctor, thank goodness, is much more aware and supportive. And lots of people, even medical ones, dont seem to know or believe that we face the same complications as Type 1 if we dont take control - and that some type 2's have to use insulin.

Stand your ground. There is a great bunch of supportive and lovely people on here. Its your body and your Diabetes.
 
I get the impression that many health professionals, including dietitians & the DUK Careline staff, are not themselves diabetic, so are simply giving second hand advice. They KNOW (because they have been told) that diabetes is progressive so they expect our condition to deteriorate, & they expect us to accept that deterioration.

Trouble is, they repeat the high carb/low fat diet advice that CAUSES progression, & when they see the progression they KNOW they are right. They don't know any better, & they are afraid even to lurk on this forum. They don't often come across T2s who have rejected their advice & reversed the deterioration.
 

Hello manlancs

I fear your post might get missed so wanted to bump to bring it to the top again. You have raised a very valid point, there is a whole section of people with diabetes who are being treated with appalling condescension, if anything more than the rest of us who suffer it.
It does indeed seem to be a common attitude that once diabetics get to a certain age then their treatment seems to consist of pats on the back and "there-there's"..it makes me fume. My own mum (who has had very good control until recently) is 91 and in very poor health due to heart failure. However, I have had to raise a kerfuffle on each of her 6 hospital admissions since Christmas as she has had fluctuating bg's but nobody was bothered by it. I don't need to raise the issue of hospital food..just don't forget the piece of cake/biscuits that are given to each patient along with a nice carton of fresh orange juice to wash it down :roll:

The care of the elderly diabetics in hospital that I saw as nothing short of abysmal and from what you say manlancs, it isn't much better on the "outside".

Your comment about Switzerland horrified me but I'm not surprised you feel so low. That "good woman" of yours obviously loves her ol' man so think about her and keep up the fight. B*gger the fact that you are over 80, you are entitled to the care that you have paid into for your entire life and should not be treated with such disdain. Any chance of threatening to go to PALS over the poor treatment you have had? Please don't give up..don't let them get away with this.

Tell them you deserve the same care that a younger person get, that you should not just have to accept painful conditions and that you may look marvellous for your age but you don't feel it. Maybe share the fact that you have passed this info onto a public forum because it has made you feel so down. I sincerely hope that will get them to take you seriously.
 
The treatment - and that should be "treatment" you are receiving just sounds abysmal. Unbelievable.

CathyN said:
Would these people rather hold back on their understanding until major complications set in and they can actually SEE that I have a problem?????
Click to expand...

It seems that even when these complications are clearly there, causing pain and distress and seriously affecting a person's quality of life - even then, in some cases, the treatment is laissez faire.

I'm glad you at least have the support of your partner. My heart goes out to both of you. There must surely be a way to get an independent second opinion about your treatment?

CathyN
 
And then, CathyN, if you do end up with complications they'll blame you for not looking after yourself!

I'm lucky with my HCPs, but it seems with many you just can't win. We all have to get our heads down and plod on alone. Thank the powers for this forum and all the support and info we get from it!

Viv 8)
 
I also feel like I am over reacting when others with type 2 tell me that they have eaten pies, sausage rolls pasties etc :shock: If they look well I want to go eat mashed potato and apple pie and dumplings ( not all together ) :lol: :lol:
CAROL
 
Thanks to the people who wrote in,I appreciate your comments. I will in a couple of weeks get to the surgery,and insist on some further pain management ,The funny thing is They will not prescribe NSAID But the agree with me buying them and using them ,they say I should not use these as they are bad for my stomach,but the ones I buy are not???
 

+1 I am one of them, but to be honest I have a fabulous PCT and I won't knock any of them at all. (I am sulking at my GP as he reduced my unlimited strips to 50 a month, but truthfully I don't need them as much now).

My GP and DSN have been the best, and have never once made me feel I am over reacting. Quite the reverse, making me fully aware of what could go wrong with bad control. My GP even supports low carbing AND the Newcastle Diet. I am so very lucky and I know it. I read day in, day out the way some people here are treated and it makes my (now almost sugar free :lol: ) blood run cold.

I also realise that with the support I have had from here and my surgery, that it was that support and care that got me to where I am now, and so patients without that support could feel rejected, dejected and give in to the big D. That makes me so sad, when I realise just a little bit of care from our PCT makes a world of difference. I am so grateful my diabetes team are who they are!
 
Hi, I am T1 but I am shocked about how those with T2 are made to feel, I cannot understand why you would be discouraged from BG testing, in fact I don't understand how you would get any kind of control without testing. Surely we all have the same condition, just different variants of it and therefore should be offered the same quality of support. I really feel for you guys, diabetes is hard enough to manage without having to fight every step of the way for basic equipment and information to manage it.
 

Cath ... you already know the answer ... YOU have T2DM and THEY don't. Don't tell them you're testing your blood, no-one else needs to know but YOU. Don't try to change other peoples attitudes, give yourself a break and CONCENTRATE ON YOU NOT THEM. It's exactly the same attitude as when people give up smoking or begin a diet - there are always those around who will try to put them off, offer them a cigarette, tell them they're doing it all wrong. Just get on with YOUR OWN BUSINESS and don't divulge what you're doing to anyone else but YOURSELF and this forum where you DO have people who are in agreement and support for you. Have the last laugh Cath. :lol:
 


Hear hear Sally! Things CAN and DO get DRAMATICALLY better if we take testing more seriously than our HCPs do.

I look at it this way - my meter tells me what my BG is EVERY SINGLE DAY, 3 TIMES A DAY without fail. My HCPs tell me what my BG is ONCE EVERY THREE MONTHS. Three months is a long time to not know whether you're doing well or getting worse, most of us have already been undiagnosed diabetics for several years so no time to waste as far as I'm concerned. :wave:
 
Couldn't have put it better myself GraceK, the moronic lack of understanding displayed by most GP's and so-called DN's is apalling.
My GP leaves it all up to the nurse who trots out the usual lethal NHS advice so I listen and carry on regardless.just taking the script .I've tried to educate them but a smile and we know best expression is all I get.

One fine day they will wake up.

Supertchip....
 

Superchip ... I was trained as a Med Sec in the early 70s, I loved my job and the NHS and have mainly worked in hospitals but over the past 20 years or so the world has changed and so has the NHS. Priorities have changed and not for the better. I don't think it's intentional, but the NHS is a machine, it runs in a certain way and despite it's 'Agenda for Change' logo, it seems to accept the change in technology but it doesn't seem prepared to accept the right kind of changes such as change of attitude towards patients.

I look at how doctors and nurses performed years ago and compare today's doctors and nurses - they rarely interact with patients, they check machines, check computers, check temperatures with machines - but they don't LOOK at the patient, never mind engage in conversation with them - they INTERACT with the computer not with the patient. In the early days I also interacted with patients as a Med Sec. We actually attended clinic with the consultant and took notes while the patient was examined behind a screen. When we typed a letter we knew WHO we were typing about. Today's nurses and doctors would have no idea about that part of a secretary's job but it made such a difference because the Med Sec also KNEW the patient and they weren't just an anonymous name on a letter they typed to a GP, which is the case today. It's so easy to become blase and careless when you don't actually ever get to meet the patient. It's easy to forget you're dealing with human beings. I get sick of hearing Med Secs complaining about patients who phone up to query something, asking for a change of appointment etc, as if they have no right to do so and are being bothersome. And for that reason I don't enjoy my job any more, I feel like a battery hen churning out letters all day long and I really miss the patient interaction.

Even if you're on the inside of the NHS it's really hard to change peoples attitudes because TIME AND MONEY are the main considerations these days. I'm not saying they aren't important, of course they are, but equally important is the PATIENT. Without patients no-one in the NHS would have a job - they should all remember that.
 
I believe that T2 does not need to progress if you CONTROL it from the time you are diagnosed. that can't be done without testing. You are not paranoid!
I took control of my metabolic error a few years back. I buy my own strips [the supplier is much cheaper than a retail pharmacy] and check often. I also eat low carb.
If I had coeliac disease, they would tell me not to eat gluten, so why do they want me to eat carbs? Just so their prophesies are fulfilled and I progress to complications? It's ridiculous. No-one has ever shown a need for us to eat ANY carbs.
I keep getting told that a "Healthy Balanced Diett",whatever that is! is best, but who has ever tested this?
Hana
 
 
To quote unbeliever "As a slim T2 I get very angry when people comment "But you're not overweight " when they learn I am diabetic. I also get angry when they ask if I am injecting insulin and when I say I am not they comment that I only have a "mild " case of diabetes!"
I also find it absurd when people ask if I have to inject and how many times? When I tell them I invariably get the reply "ohh, you have got it bad!!" actually, I simply "have it" it seems that the general understanding is the more injections you have, the worse it is! Which of course is ridiculous, there needs to be more information to challenge the public misconception that diabetes works on a sliding scale depending on treatment. Diabetes is diabetes, regardless of medication, diet or anything else. The simple truth is, for one reason or another our insulin production is impaired or non existent, we can all suffer from complications, diabetes, regardless of type is likely to cause more problems as people get older, but all of us rely on good information, appropriate resources, ie BG monitoring equipment, and excellent medical care to ensure our eyes, limbs and internal organs stay healthy. We need to raise awareness of our collective condition, not discriminate within our own condition.Maybe if we promote the importance of self awareness and testing to our family and friends, we, collectively, could be the most effective "weapon" in raising the "diabetic profile" after all we make it far more personal than leaflets and ad campaigns, although these too, have their place.
 
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