Should I be getting better care than this?

Unfortunately, it sounds about par for the course to me (maybe a bit better, because not many of us get sent on DESMOND courses).

If they had given you dietry advice, the chances are that it would have been wrong, you'll be much better off learning how to manage your carbohydrate intake from this forum.

The Metformin takes some getting used to, don't give up on it just yet.

i have to make an appointment for the desmon corse and have to have my eyes screened

Yes, you have to have your retinas scanned once a year, your Doctor should also examine your feet for signs of neuropathy and any cuts or sores about once a year.

You could also ask to see a dietician (although the standard advice that you are likely to be given to "eat starchy carbs with every meal" is at odds with what most of us believe).

oh yes forgot about feet i have been given flexitol foot cream for my feet as i have very bad dry skin and cracked heals .

loopy3112 said:

Hi

I was diagnosed T2 about 3 weeks ago. I had a blood test that came back with a level of 10 but was then left to my own devices for 10 days because that was the earliest I could get an appointment with the diabetic nurse. Just before my appointment I ended up having to go to the out of hours doctors as I felt really ill and kept falling asleep and was very confused. The doctors there diagnosed me with a kidney infection (there were signs of protein and ketones in my sample) and I also had a boil. My blood sugars whilst there were 14. I was put on antibiotics and told to go home and buy a monitor so I could keep an eye on my levels and if they got worse to ring them again.
By that evening they had reached 18.7 so they did me an emergency prescription of metformin and telling me to take 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening.
I finally got to see the diabetic nurse and she increased the dose of metformin to 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening, gave me the number for the DESMOND course, referred me for retinal screening and gave me a form for a urine sample.
She then told me that she wouldnt be seeing me for another 3 months. Is that normal?? I thought I would have to see her bit more than that at the start.
I was given pretty much no diet advice despite being overweight and the DESMOND course is actually only available in areas that you need a car to get to and as I dont have one and am yet to find someone to take me there, I feel like i've been left to my own devices.

I ended up back at the doctors again last Thursday cos things still dont feel right. It still feels like I have a kidney infection but there was only sugar in my wee (which looked really awful and definitely not right) so they have sent it off. I'm also having horrendous side effects from the Metformin, to the point that I darent leave the house for long and have been waking myself up at night with wind!!
The doctors sent my wee off and the diabetic nurse is going to ring me with the results tomorrow but I just wondered if this is the care I should expect or whether I should start looking for a new doctors surgery!!

Many Thanks

Louise

Click to expand...

You have had a better experience than a lot of Type2's.
Hope the kidney infection gets sorted out, you will feel so much better when it is.
Ask for the slow release metformin if you are having trouble. Other people here say that it is much better at lessening the toilet trips and wind.

Hello Louise and welcome to the forum.

As borofergie has said you're getting pretty much par for the course I'm afraid. It took me over a month to get to see a nurse despite having very high blood sugar levels and then I found the whole thing a pretty pointless exercise.

There are many ways of getting control of your diabetes but many of us like to try to do this using changes to what we eat and combine that with a minimum of drugs usually Metformin. If you are getting a reaction to Metformin you should go back to your gp and ask to be put on the slow release version (SR). Metformin tends to also give some of us the reaction you describe if you are still eating too much of the wrong kind of things. It's metformin's way of saying "Don't eat that!" Metformin is a very effective drug and is by far the safest that can be prescribed so its worth persevering with.

If you want to try and control using what you eat as the primary way then a good place to start is cut down on carbohydrates especially the starchy ones rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, pastry and cereals. Cutting drastically or better still stopping completely anything sweet with a high sugar content is taken for granted. Sugar is just a refined form of carbohydrate.

You may find the advice I've given you will conflict with later advice you may get from your NHS dietitian or nurse but you will have to believe that the vast majority of people on this forum believe that cutting carbohydrates is the key the only real debate we have is by how much. If you were Swedish or German or in a number of the more enlightened countries this advice would be told to you on diagnosis however the NHS still relies on diet info that is now nearly 40 years old and is very out of date.

Try halving all of the starchy carbohydrates you currently eat. That's bound to make you hungry so replace what you drop with meat, cheese, eggs, fish and especially vegetables. Try to eat vegetables that grow above ground rather than below although many of us find carrots to be ok. If you like fruit then a small amounts are fine and the ones ending with "berry" are the best. Things like yoghurt should be fine in moderation as well.

On the half you have left try the following

Change white rice to brown basmati rice
Change white bread to wholemeal or better Burgen soya bread
Change white pasta to brown or green or the tri colour stuff

Never eat mashed potatoes it's the one form of potatoes that nearly all diabetic have real problems with. Believe it or not the best potatoes for diabetics are roast ones.

I was diagnosed just 12 weeks ago with extremely high blood sugar levels and by following the great advice I found on this forum I now have my blood sugar levels back to nearly being in a non diabetic range at all times of the day and have lost just under 40lbs in weight. Cutting carbohydrates is not a cure but will allow you to get control of things and will certainly make you feel a lot better.

I must be truthful and say doing this has been hard work but it gets easier everyday. Also I must be truthful and warn you that cutting your carbs by half may not be enough as many of us on here have found. I still get to eat some of the things I've warned you about but in no where near the quantities I used to. Saying that 12 weeks down the line I hardly miss them now.

The next important thing that most of us recommend is to test your own blood sugars using a blood glucose meter. Again you may well be told that it isn't necessary by your gp or healthcare team but how else are you supposed to understand what foods are dangerous and what foods keep you safe. You will find lots of advice on testing and what are safe blood sugar levels on the forum. What you should be aiming for is to have blood sugar levels always below 7 prior to eating and then below 7.8 two hours after eating. Again you may get told this is not necessary but these are the internationally recognised safe blood sugar levels that all countries work to. If you think you want to test yourself the currently the meter that is cheapest but is getting good reviews by forum members is called an SD CODEFREE. The cheapest place to buy it is on the health.co.uk shop on eBay where you can pick it up with a case a spikey thing and 60 test strips for around £18. People are buying that model because buying test strips for it are far cheaper than any other model currently £4.99 per 50 strips. If you can afford to I'd buy as many test strips as you can on the initial order as you'l save on P&P later on. Make sure you buy a UK mmol/l model and not the US mg/dl version or you'll get really confused by the numbers that come up!

Do not assume your gp will prescribe you a meter or test strips. The UK N.I.C.E guidelines state that a Type 2 diabetic who both understands and shows they are reacting to meter readings should get prescribed strips but in reality it happens very rarely in practice in fact many newly diagnosed people are quite aggressively told not to test as it's pointless. The trouble is the guidelines can be ignored if a gp thinks they should be.

Take care and keep asking as many questions as you need to.

I was left to my own devices as well.It's been 6 months for me and i'm still waiting to see a dietician. I didn't get on with the metformin like a lot of others. It makes you feel very churny so i was changed to glucophage sr and haven't had any problems with them. This forum is the best, it's almost like my bible. I come on hear often and learn new things everytime. Like someone else said. It starts to feel like your family. :thumbup:

It seems thats about average (from the things ive read on here).

I got diagnosed initially after blood tests after i had after a severe allergic reaction. Doc sent me to receptionist with a form for an URGENT 2nd blood test for hba1C and urine was analysed. 19 days later they managed to fit me in!! Anyhow. SInce then, i went in to the see the doc after those tests came back. Diagnosed me officially. Fortunately i didnt need any other meds as cholesterol/blood pressure fine. He told me to try to lose weight and i should make another appointment for a 2nd hbA1c test 3 months later. He also told me not to test my blood sugar (as apparently the results can be very variable and it tends to make people worry more so i shouldnt bother). He has apparently referred me for eye test, but ive not heard anything yet. He did also test my feet for neuropathy too - so mean though i had a right panic when he asked if i could feel the pin on my 2nd foot he tested - and i couldnt - (i was really panicking) - then he laughed and said good, im not touching you.

I have read through quite a bit of this forum and other info now, and i have chosen to ignore the doc. get a meter, arm yourself with as much info as possible yourself.

I was quite shocked at the lack on info on diagnosis - i honestly thought for such a common disease, they would have an information booklet available upon diagnosis. Or give better help in losing weight, not just saying stop snacking. (as for me its portion size my biggest problem, not snacking).

Yes
Ignore the par for the course comments
It’s time for you to get assertive take no sXit its your life expectancy get aggressive