Newly diagnosed but given nothing except medication?

[Neils1970]

Hi
My name is Neil and I was newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes on Friday march 6th by my GP and given a script for metformin 500mg tablets and told to start taking them the following day. The GP also told me to expect a phone call from a diabetic nurse to book me in for an appointment to go through everything.
How long a gap from diagnosis to that first appointment with a member of the diabetic team would you expect??? I would have thought within a week or two at the maximum. But I received a phone call confirming an appointment in six weeks time April 22nd with the diabetic nurse as the earliest available date. I expressed my concern and was told that was it and there was no earlier appointment.
I have not started taking the metformin as I have no way of testing my blood glucose levels as I have been given no blood glucose meter and finger pricker.
Is this normal ???
An email has been sent to my GP explaining this but is there anything else I should do??

 

[IanBish]

Hi Neil, welcome to the forum.

That was pretty much my experience too. I was given a script for metformin as well, but I can't remember how long I had to wait for a nurse appointment, but it was a good few weeks.

As for glucometers, they're not routinely given for Type 2, but I bought one soon after, for around £15. @Rachox has a list of glucometers and test strips, including links for getting free trials of Continuous Glucose Monitors.

Have a look around the forum and feel free to ask any more questions.

 

[Rachox]

Hi @Neils1970 and welcome, points to sort out are, find out your HbA1c result, this is the blood test used for diagnosis. If it’s not too high you could normalise levels with diet alone. Many of us here have had success with low carb dieting. Metformin is not that powerful a drug so some dietary changes are normally necessary too. A blood glucose meter is a valuable tool to monitor how any changes you implement are helping so thanks for the tag @IanBish , here’s some info with links for UK meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned.



HOME HEALTH have the Gluco Navii, which is a fairly new model and seems to be getting good reviews.

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-produ...ose-meter-test-strips-choose-mmol-l-or-mg-dl/



Links to the strips for future orders:

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/glucose-navii-blood-glucose-test-strips-50-strip-pack/



Then they sell the older SD Code Free, details to be found here!

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/





SPIRIT HEALTHCARE have a meter called the Tee2 + which is quite popular:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...e2-blood-glucose-meter?variant=19264017268793



The strips are to be found here:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...py-of-tee2-test-strips?variant=19264017367097



If there is a choice of units of measurement then ‘mmol/L’ are the standard units in the UK, ‘mg/dl’ in the US, other countries may vary.



Don’t forget to check the box if you have diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)



Abbott usually offer a free 15 day trial of the Freestyle LIBRE 2 plus:

Sampling | Diabetes Care | Abbott



Dexcom also offer a free trial of their Dexcom ONE + here

The Dexcom ONE+ CGM (Continuous Glucose Montoring) system | Dexcom



HOME HEALTH have the Gluco Navii, which is a fairly new model and seems to be getting good reviews.

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-produ...ose-meter-test-strips-choose-mmol-l-or-mg-dl/



Links to the strips for future orders:

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/glucose-navii-blood-glucose-test-strips-50-strip-pack/



Then they sell the older SD Code Free, details to be found here!

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/





SPIRIT HEALTHCARE have a meter called the Tee2 + which is quite popular:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...e2-blood-glucose-meter?variant=19264017268793



The strips are to be found here:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...py-of-tee2-test-strips?variant=19264017367097



If there is a choice of units of measurement then ‘mmol/L’ are the standard units in the UK, ‘mg/dl’ in the US, other countries may vary.



Don’t forget to check the box if you have diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)



Abbott usually offer a free 15 day trial of the Freestyle LIBRE 2 plus:

Sampling | Diabetes Care | Abbott



Dexcom also offer a free trial of their Dexcom ONE + here

The Dexcom ONE+ CGM (Continuous Glucose Montoring) system | Dexcom

 

[VMCM]

Hi
My name is Neil and I was newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes on Friday march 6th by my GP and given a script for metformin 500mg tablets and told to start taking them the following day. The GP also told me to expect a phone call from a diabetic nurse to book me in for an appointment to go through everything.
How long a gap from diagnosis to that first appointment with a member of the diabetic team would you expect??? I would have thought within a week or two at the maximum. But I received a phone call confirming an appointment in six weeks time April 22nd with the diabetic nurse as the earliest available date. I expressed my concern and was told that was it and there was no earlier appointment.
I have not started taking the metformin as I have no way of testing my blood glucose levels as I have been given no blood glucose meter and finger pricker.
Is this normal ???
An email has been sent to my GP explaining this but is there anything else I should do??

While you are waiting for an appointment, cut down on white flour goods. So have wholemeal bread, rice flour, pasta. Drink lots of water to flush out your kidneys. Eat berries as opposed to high sugar fruits. Don't eat between meals. I did this while I was waiting for an appointment. It stood me in good stead for when treatment was to start.

 

[KennyA]

Hi
My name is Neil and I was newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes on Friday march 6th by my GP and given a script for metformin 500mg tablets and told to start taking them the following day. The GP also told me to expect a phone call from a diabetic nurse to book me in for an appointment to go through everything.
How long a gap from diagnosis to that first appointment with a member of the diabetic team would you expect??? I would have thought within a week or two at the maximum. But I received a phone call confirming an appointment in six weeks time April 22nd with the diabetic nurse as the earliest available date. I expressed my concern and was told that was it and there was no earlier appointment.
I have not started taking the metformin as I have no way of testing my blood glucose levels as I have been given no blood glucose meter and finger pricker.
Is this normal ???
An email has been sent to my GP explaining this but is there anything else I should do??

I'm afraid this can be the standard experience for many people. It can be very difficult to advise you what to do in the interim without some additional information - particularly what your HbA1c result was - this is what will probably have been used to diagnose you. Advice would likely be very different if your result was 50ish or 120.

I had pretty much the same experience. My HbA1c was 50 on diagnosis in 2019, but I'd been having diabetic sympoms for about a decade. I turned down the offered meds and went (extremely) low carb - around 20g/day. No fruit, cereals, bread, potatoes, sugar of any kinds - wholemeal bread (for example) is just as full of carbs. Result, normal blood glucose within four months and all the diabetic symptoms gone - apart from some permanent damage thanks to the years undiagnosed.