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Not told about Diabetes

RosB

Active Member
Messages
32
Hi Guys,

I'm not quite diabetic myself (prediabetes but cutting down on sugar), but I need some help please.

My husband has been having semi-regular glucose tests from our GP surgery, after being told he was prediabetic. He got an appointment for a Diabetic Eye Screening. Confused, I phoned our surgery only to by told by the RECEPTIONIST that he has been DIABETIC TYPE 2 SINCE 2019!!!

Hubby has seen and spoken to MULTIPLE doctors over the last 2 years over headaches, depression, attempted suicide etc, but no-one told him!!!

We're in shock. Shouldn't he be on pills? Shouldn't he be educated about his diet? Shouldn't he have a blood glucose meter? I asked the receptionist all this, and all she could do is to make hubby a telephone appointment with a Diabetic Nurse IN 2 WEEKS TIME!!

My father had a heart attack in his mid 50's because of smoking and undiagnosed diabetes type 2. Hubby is 51. Thankfully hubby stopped smoking in January.

Please if anyone has any advice about this (obviously a written complaint is going to the GP surgery), tell me.
Hubby is a dyslexic technophobe, hence me joining instead of him. We have both cut our sugar intake anyway, but I think he'll struggle with carbs. Any advice would be gratefully received. TIA
 
RosB said:
I think he'll struggle with carbs
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If he's a meat lover then cutting carbs should be relatively easy..

eggs and bacon
meat
fish
green veg (if desired not essential)
dairy
base meals around that and you won't go far wrong.

Also I'd recommend getting a meter to test before and after meals and register for online access to surgery test results then you can avoid having to wait for them.
 
Low carb has been great for many of us - as Bulkbiker says if you like meat (and poultry & fish) it's easy, for the rest of us there are several good substitutes for our favourite foods which make it easier.
The important thing is that most carbs convert to glucose in our system, so it's not just about cutting out obvious sugar.
Check your blood sugar first thing, then before a 2 hrs after you start eating to measure the spikes, this means you can test the effect of different foods and work out how many carbs you can eat.
 
RosB said:
Shouldn't he be on pills? Shouldn't he be educated about his diet? Shouldn't he have a blood glucose meter? I
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Pills, not necessarily. Lots of people can manage it by diet alone
Educated? Most of us on here find the current NHS education actually raises our bg with its insistence on brown carbs. All carbs are bad for bg, brown no different to white @JoKalsbeek has nutritional info for you
Meter? Not as type 2. They won't fund it, too many if us. Best to buy his own @Rachox has info on meters

What were his figures? You'll need to know to measure progress. They should be available on line, but he may need to ask for access first
 

Thanks. He loves fruit and veg, so that's no problem. He does love pies, but pastry is a carb so he'll have to cut down on those. Also, I don't know which fruit he should avoid or eat in moderation. Also, he's bad at not eating at work, then eating too much at home.
 
Thanks. I'd love him to register online, but he's got no photo ID. No passport, he's even got an old paper driving licence! We have no idea of his bg level, as no doctor gave him his diagnosis!
 
Hi. He will not get a free meter as a T2 so you will need to provide your own. You don't need any ID to register with your surgeries online system - just fill in a form there. With that access you should see whether and when his diagnosis was made and any results. Yes, adopt a low-carb diet and avoid tropical fruits e.g. bananas.
 
And even if you don’t do the online access (but please do try) you should be able to get a printout or written copy of his results. It’s his entitlement so don’t be put off.
Have a read of the info @JoKalsbeek puts out in the red links below.

As a type 2 in the U.K. medication is variable depending on how out of control or near the normal range a person is. There are several approaches advocated. Medication only one of those. Some stick with the unhelpful low fat low calorie message. Those that manage this on diet alone usually do so with low carb eating in some way shape or form.

He should be having annual eye checks and foot checks and he should have had education offered. But the usefulness of that is hotly contended in here and most of us do better without it than following it as it’s typically low fat and brown carbs advised which simply doesn’t work well. A meter is rare unless on specific medications now. Many drs even advise against it. This is based on ignorance of how to test for a type 2 and finances - not the reality of how useful it is.

for the record I found diabetic range tests years before I was formally diagnosed - once I had access to the online records. Sadly it’s not unusual.
 
I have been eating low carb on and off for a long time - when I could get away with it, as my GPs have been very down on my Atkins type way of eating even though it does me the world of good. I can cope better, feel more cheerful, I'm more active and tend to get fitter when eating low carb foods.
I eat only two meals a day, avoid grain, potatoes, high sugar fruits and my blood glucose is normal - my Hba1c ought to be in the mid 30s, but it isn't - it is 42 - but near enough. I can only recommend it to any ordinary type two - as it seems to fix a lot of problems.
 
Sorry to hear your story -this seems to happen a lot, and it's unacceptable.

Fruit is not always a good thing for T2. I can't tell you what will work for your husband, but I can tell you what works for me - he'll need a meter and testing to work his own tolerances out. Fruit has lots of carbs - one apple has as much carb as I eat in a day - and the main sugar is fructose which has, or can have, unfortunate liver impact. I don't eat a lot of fruit anymore - and all I do eat is strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and occasionally blueberries. Have a look at dietdoctor for the relative carb content -https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/u3

Same goes for veg. Root vegetables (potatoes, parsnips, carrot, beetroot etc) are high in carbs so I avoid them. Above ground, especially the leafy green stuff, many fewer carbs. I have a bit of a thing with peas, so they are not something I eat often. Pastry, unfortunately for me, is right out. It sends my bloods rocketing.

You will have to rethink all you've ever heard about what's healthy eating and what's not, what the media and friends say. The NHS recommended Eatwell diet is (in my opinion) dangerous for T2s or those whose BG is rising, even if it hasn't yet hit the arbitrary 48.
 
He got a message back from our GPs. They will give him a BG meter and strips, so I'll have to go in sometime this week and pick them up. I will drop off our complaint letter at the same time. Our Gps INSIST we have a photo ID to sign up for their online stuff, it's the only reason I got myself a photo driving licence.
 
Well that’s a good result re the meter. Collect his test results for the last few years at the same time so you know where he’s starting out from and can monitor his progress for yourselves. I’d do the same for you too! I do for every test I have now.

I think it’s a standard requirement to see Id when signing up to online stuff.
 
Thank you for all the replies. I'm going shopping tonight, so I will read the links and change his diet accordingly. He will eat fat to his heart's content, so I'm glad it's a good food. Unfortunately I have no gallbladder now, so I have to avoid anything too fatty. Hopefully if I change my diet more and make it similar to his, I can avoid T2 altogether.
 
I will certainly try to get his test results at the same time, but the receptionists can be aholes at times and might not give them to me, even though we've been married 29 years!!

I'm seriously considering moving the family to another GP surgery as they have failed us multiple times over the years (especially me with my mental health) and this last episode feels like the final straw! I am so angry about it. Hubby went to the GP in 2019 with violent headaches/migraines, no-one told us it was diabetes related! It's lucky we both decided this year to lower our sugar intake, or who knows what would have happened?!
 
@RosB many of us have no gallbladder yet manage low carb and more fats just fine. It’s a bit of a myth you need to eat low fat because of no gallbladder. You still make the bile required, it’s just not delivered in a “shot”, instead it’s a constant drip feed. So a gradual increase in fats spread across the day allows you to work with your body and use the bile you have. It will upregulate to meet demand if you go steady. If you go too fast I’m sure you’ll notice quite quickly and can take a step back. And it doesn’t have to be super high fat. Just avoid the low fat stuff and accept the natural unprocessed fats that come with meat and dairy etc. (Avoid seed oil ie the liquid vegetable oils, other than virgin olive oil, use butter, ghee or even lard for high heat uses).

Low fat is only really useful in gallbladder disease once you already have stones that are stirred about by the squeezing of the bladder to deliver the shots of bile. In fact low fact makes the stones more likely as the bile turns to sludge and eventually stones if it sits around unused too long.
 
The receptionists are not legally allowed to share his records with you. He can given them written permission to be placed on file if that’s useful.

migraine isn’t usually associated with diabetes. Has it been suggested it is in your husbands case? Headaches could be but the levels would need to be significant not just a little over the diagnostic mark. Another reason to know where he sits number wise.
 

no, we just assumed it was. head scan showed nothing. they seem to have faded away over the last year or so
 
Today I took in hubby's written permission for me to access his records. Unfortunately they will take days to do a 10 min job of scanning it into the computer (can you tell I'm sick of them yet?). He's sent in an online request for his actual date of diagnosis and to be told his BG levels. No reply as yet (not holding my breath). I DID get him a free BG meter and strips, after telling them that THEY sent him a message saying I could pick one up for him.

I asked if ALL his prescriptions are free now? She didn't know. She went and asked and came back and said yes, they're all free now and gave me a form for him (and a doctor) to fill in.

I also gave them a copy of his complaint letter, which has been sent to the Commissioner of NHS England about them.

Hubby bought himself a Pre Payment Certificate for prescriptions in June this year. Obviously he didn't know he was entitled to FREE prescriptions since 2019, so once he gets a date of diagnosis I will have the task of trying to get back as much money as I can from his PPC and previous prescriptions (again, not holding my breath).

THANK YOU for all your advice on this thread. After approx a week of following your dietary advice, hubby is starting to feel better! Which, after all, is the most important thing.
 
And the good news is that there is thought to be a positive link between mental health and following a quality high fat/protein/low carb diet.
If he is taking other meds keep an eye on symptoms to see if any of these need adjusting when you strip back sugar and carbs.
And best of luck with changing your GP. If you do change consider a practice with a diabetic nurse perhaps. Some of them are really supportive of pro active patients and their wives!
 
Just in case they didn’t make it clear the free prescriptions are only for people on diabetic medication (diet control only don’t get it) and you must get the certificate from the forms you been given first before you claim the exemption. If he’s not been on diabetic medication then date of diagnosis is irrelevant to claiming ppc back. I too use prepaid certificates as I don’t qualify because I declined metformin.
 
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