Medication Help

I take it Jersey governs itself and isn't part of the NHS....?

Depending on your age the stains and BP meds are pretty standard for diabetics....

where you given anything to help control blood sugar...

you really need to be getting regular visits to the doctor to monitor your long term blood glucose control as well as other monitoring.....thats how diabetes is controlled really, by regular testing...

You should only be taking statins if you have high cholesterol and BP tablets if you have high blood pressure.
Just because you are diabetic it doesn't mean you have either of those conditions.
Are you taking any medication for the diabetes? Do you test your blood glucose levels?

... and here's my first thoughts

A LOT more info needed such as diet, weight, HBA1C (your bloods) frequency of testing, and a host of other matters. First port of call is the GP and how are you getting repeats on your prescriptions? Does not work that way where I come from.

Plenty of help here as it's gonna be a big learning curve

I don't know how the health system works in Jersey as it isn't part of the NHS as far as I know.

However, you should be having at least annual diabetes checks, including an HbA1c and full cholesterol and lipids. You should also be having at least annual blood pressure checks. You need to know what your cholesterol (including breakdown) is, and you need to know what your average blood pressure is. Then you can decide what to do about statins and BP tablets. In the NHS they tend to push statins on everyone over the age of 40 who have more than a 10% risk as calculated on the Q-Risk formula.

https://qrisk.org/2017/

However, as most diabetics will be over the 10% risk, they are all offered statins. I say "offered" because no-one can force you to take them.

I was offered statins. I don't take them because my cholesterol is fine. I have never been offered blood pressure tablets because I have never had high blood pressure.

I suggest you see your GP for a full review, and ask for print outs of the blood test results so you know exactly where you stand.

PattiT said:

You should only be taking statins if you have high cholesterol and BP tablets if you have high blood pressure.
Just because you are diabetic it doesn't mean you have either of those conditions.
Are you taking any medication for the diabetes? Do you test your blood glucose levels?

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Depending on your age these medications can and are prescribed just as a preventative.....40 might be the age......

Some years ago my brother in law was put on tablets for all sorts of things and is still taking them. My sister was concerned as he only went to see the doctor for a minor injury on his hand and came back with a chemists shop.
She tells me that he no longer reads, as he can't follow the plot, watches the same films over and over on the TV and it is difficult to get him out of his chair when he used to be so active and wanting to go out. She told me that she has to stop herself supplying the words he can't find when he's talking, that he is forgetful of plans they make, people coming to visit and of things he needs to go out to buy.
The doctor tells him that his health depends on him continuing to take the tablets, and has called her in to the surgery to try to get her to take a similar cocktail of tablets 'so she doesn't become ill', but she says it will be a cold day in Hell before she starts that lark. Someone in the house has to have their wits about them.
I could perhaps put the symptoms down to age - except my husband was given the same set of tablets at the same age (he is slightly younger than my brother in law) and was showing exactly the same effects in a few months.

mickjsy said:

Hi,
Just come across this site s here goes.
Became Diabetic after taking huge doses of Steroids which I am still taking after more than 10 years albeit a lower dose, I live in Jersey where there is not much help for Diabetics, everything you need you have to pay for. When diagnosed my doctor put me on Statins and BP tablets as he said it was required, is this correct? Not seen my GP in over 1 year. Any help welcome and thanks.

Mick

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Welcome to the forum @mickjsy. Have you had blood pressure and cholesterol checked recently? You need to get these checked if you are confirmed as diabetic. As was previously mentioned you can't simply assume these conditions because of diabetes, but it is better to confirm. Do you test your own glucose levels and are you currently on meds? Let us know how you are coping.

I largely agree with Patti. The BP meds & statins are not treatments for diabetes, but for other things. Having said that, it's not unusual for diabetics to also have high BP/cholesterol, so those drugs may not be unreasonable.

But tbh, if you want to control your diabetes, you'll need to understand your body. It's perfectly reasonable to ask why these drugs are "required". If that means another chat to the doctor, then so be it - understand their motivation for saying what they said. There's no smoke or mirrors here - there is tons of information out there (especially on the internet, from reputable places too) - this knowledge does not belong exclusively to doctors. I would suggest for starters that a year is way too long to go between GP visits/blood tests - I would bet that you need to be keeping a particular eye on your BP, your cholesterol and, of course, your blood glucose or hba1c.

mickjsy said:

Hi again
Thanks to everybody who has been in touch, i will now try to answer the questions,
I was put on 3 x 500mg of Metformin plus another drug which i can;t remeber the name of, shortly afterwards this drug was stopped but i kept on the Metformin.
I now check my Blood Sugars once a week and as they are going down i dropped the Metformin to 2 a day and on 1/5/17 dropped it again to 1 tablet, except for a couple of times where it was a little high it has been ok.
I get my medications by calling the surgery for repeats
I see doctors at the local hospital as i have eye problems and RA but with these the Diabetes is not talked about.
I will now make an appointment to see my GP and have all the things checked out which have been mentioned and see where i go from there.
Thanks to every body for their help and i will keep you all posted.
Mickjsy

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Is there a reason why you only test your blood glucose once a week? And what time of day do you test it? What sort of levels do you see? Do you know what your last HbA1c test result was? (you should have these regularly, and at least once a year)

mickjsy said:

Can;t remember ever being told to check more than weekly. check at different times of the day, only heard about HbA1c today when looking on this site so not sure if it has been checked and called something different. Never been told my Cholestorol results and know nothing about carbs as not mentioned, was told when first diagnosed told i was eating 2 much fruit.

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Oh dear, you have been left to your own devices without any support from your GP. That is poor and you need to try and put this right..

The HbA1c test is the test we all have when we are first diagnosed. This measures our average blood glucose over the previous 2 to 3 months, and is the test used to diagnose us. You should be having one of these tests at your GP surgery at least once a year.

Am I right in thinking you were diagnosed a long time ago? It may be possible you were diagnosed with just a fasting plasma glucose test, but since then you should have been having regular reviews, HbA1c tests, blood tests, and medication checks. These blood tests should include cholesterol (including the lipid breakdown), kidney and liver functions, and possibly others.

I suggest you make an appointment with your GP and ask for all these tests. When the results are in, ask for a print out so you can see it all in black and white - which tests you had and what the levels were. You really need to know this. Diabetes is a serious disease and needs proper medical care. You also need to find out if you still need statins and blood pressure tablets.

After that, we can help you understand the results and perhaps guide you to find a suitable way of eating. You were told correctly about fruit - it is full of sugar and not a wise choice for diabetics on the whole. Some fruits are better than others. Berries are OK, tropical fruits and bananas are not.