Useless Gp appointment

[shanny1996]

Just had a an appointment today with the Gp and she was so unhelpful. I'm going on Holiday to Spain the end of August and this is only my second time abroad and first time abroad by myself. Last time I went abroad was over 10 years ago. The Gp we had back then made me an appointment to discuss things with me about adjusting Insulin dosages, how weather can affect Blood sugars and how to access Insulin and the correct Brand should anything go wrong along with advice for other health problems I have. She was extremely helpful and very thorough in her advice. I'd had Type 1 Diabetes several years at that point but as travelling abroad with it was all new to me she wanted to fill me in.

GP I saw today was useless and offered no advice at all and just said I've had Diabetes long enough and should know what to do by now despite explaining this is only my 2nd time away in a foreign country and there's been a long gap since the last time. She actually made me feel pretty stupid for even making an appointment and never gave any advice about other conditions I have which can impact my Glucose and be affected by temperature changes (Fibromyalgia and IBS)

I also mentioned I'd been struggling with severe pain in my lower spine due to my Fibromyalgia and that it's having an impact on my daily life to which she replied "in what sense is it impacting your daily life? Just do some pilates and move more!" Found this pretty insulting as I'm more active than many fibro patients as my Job as Model means I'm on my feet a lot moving around a lot and holding differcult poses. My BMI is very low at just 15.9 as I've always been naturally very slim but the pain is making me feel so sick. She acted like my pain was nothing much at all and I felt totally dismissed.

Not sure where to go from here but feel I need better advice than this.

 

[ElenaP]

Just had a an appointment today with the Gp and she was so unhelpful. I'm going on Holiday to Spain the end of August and this is only my second time abroad and first time abroad by myself. Last time I went abroad was over 10 years ago. The Gp we had back then made me an appointment to discuss things with me about adjusting Insulin dosages, how weather can affect Blood sugars and how to access Insulin and the correct Brand should anything go wrong along with advice for other health problems I have. She was extremely helpful and very thorough in her advice. I'd had Type 1 Diabetes several years at that point but as travelling abroad with it was all new to me she wanted to fill me in.

GP I saw today was useless and offered no advice at all and just said I've had Diabetes long enough and should know what to do by now despite explaining this is only my 2nd time away in a foreign country and there's been a long gap since the last time. She actually made me feel pretty stupid for even making an appointment and never gave any advice about other conditions I have which can impact my Glucose and be affected by temperature changes (Fibromyalgia and IBS)

I also mentioned I'd been struggling with severe pain in my lower spine due to my Fibromyalgia and that it's having an impact on my daily life to which she replied "in what sense is it impacting your daily life? Just do some pilates and move more!" Found this pretty insulting as I'm more active than many fibro patients as my Job as Model means I'm on my feet a lot moving around a lot and holding differcult poses. My BMI is very low at just 15.9 as I've always been naturally very slim but the pain is making me feel so sick. She acted like my pain was nothing much at all and I felt totally dismissed.

Not sure where to go from here but feel I need better advice than this.

I would suggest that you have a conversation with your hospital DSN about adjusting insulin etc. The DSN can advise you better than anyone else. As to "...how to access insulin....". It is simple, you pack the the amount of insulin that you normally would need, and some extra for a back-up.

Also, just pack enough of your usual medication for IBS, and painkillers for fibromyalgia.

As for the pain in your lower back, I think the GP's suggestion of Pilates exercises would help to strengthen the muscles that support your back. Just yesterday my GP suggested that increasing exercises for core strength would help with the pain in my lower back. I will do just as he suggested. I have found physiotherapy-type exercises very beneficial, for examples reducing pain by strengthening muscles after ski injuries in knees. Moving around in your job is good. However, holding difficult poses, that may not be natural posture, are not necessary beneficial for muscle strength.

If you go on your own, you will need to rely on whatever alarms you use to warn about low blood glucose episodes, so make sure that you will pack those, and Dextrose. Good luck, and I hope you enjoy your holiday.

 

[Fairygodmother]

Elena P has some good advice @shanny1996.
I’d add that you should tell the people where you stay (you don’t say where that will be) about your Type One and give the desk staff a printout of what they should do should you have a bad hypo. You could maybe use google translate to make a Spanish one as well as an English one. Have you got an E111 card?
Most insulins can be found on the Net, you could look up and make a written note of the one(s) you use.
You can probably find carb contents of Spanish foods on the net too, though some may be harder to find than others.
Make sure you have enough test strips with you as well as extra sensors so you can test and correct. A word of warning though, churros are ubiquitous, moreish, and crammed with carb.
Whenever I’ve been abroad I pack all temperature vulnerable insulin in a Frios; I’m on MDI so I also pack spare pens and lots of needles, plus a powerbank and plug adapters for the country I’m visiting so I know I can recharge my phone.
Enjoy Spain, and don’t go out in the sun if it’s too hot. My daughter and her family have just returned from a trip there and say 37C was not good, and none of them have Type One. You may know yourself, by now, whether you need more, or less insulin in the summer: test, and adapt. Carry hypo fix foods with you everywhere.

 

[Fairygodmother]

Oh, and carry something in your purse, bag or pocket that says you have Type One

 

[shanny1996]

I would suggest that you have a conversation with your hospital DSN about adjusting insulin etc. The DSN can advise you better than anyone else. As to "...how to access insulin....". It is simple, you pack the the amount of insulin that you normally would need, and some extra for a back-up.

Also, just pack enough of your usual medication for IBS, and painkillers for fibromyalgia.

As for the pain in your lower back, I think the GP's suggestion of Pilates exercises would help to strengthen the muscles that support your back. Just yesterday my GP suggested that increasing exercises for core strength would help with the pain in my lower back. I will do just as he suggested. I have found physiotherapy-type exercises very beneficial, for examples reducing pain by strengthening muscles after ski injuries in knees. Moving around in your job is good. However, holding difficult poses, that may not be natural posture, are not necessary beneficial for muscle strength.

If you go on your own, you will need to rely on whatever alarms you use to warn about low blood glucose episodes, so make sure that you will pack those, and Dextrose. Good luck, and I hope you enjoy your holiday.

Hey thanks for the advice, appreciate it . I'm well aware of needing to pack the usual amount of insulin plus extra but was referring to getting access to it and the correct Brand should anything happen it. I'm not against trying different exercises to help with the pain but it was that the GP's over all attitude wasn't great and she had no understanding how living with debilitating pain could possibly have significant impact on one's daily life and was pretty dismissive. I've tried physio in the past and a few different medications which have not helped so far.

 

[Juicyj]

Hey thanks for the advice, appreciate it . I'm well aware of needing to pack the usual amount of insulin plus extra but was referring to getting access to it and the correct Brand should anything happen it. I'm not against trying different exercises to help with the pain but it was that the GP's over all attitude wasn't great and she had no understanding how living with debilitating pain could possibly have significant impact on one's daily life and was pretty dismissive. I've tried physio in the past and a few different medications which have not helped so far.

Unfortunately GP's cannot advise on this, it really is down to the individual to research the location they are visiting to see what facilities are available and if necessary contacting local pharmacies to see what insulin/brands are available if required. Personally I find GP's are simply General Practitioners and not specialists, it's your diabetes team who may offer more the more specialist advice, however would still doubt they can advise on locations overseas and insulin brands available.

In regards to travel, I have learned from mistakes I have made in the past to pack x3 times what I think i'll need and keep it in hand luggage not hold, letters are not necessary as they see many of us travelling, but take care in heat as I find I run lower than usual and am more prone to hypos so pack lots of hypo treatments too that can be easily accessed when travelling.

Take care and happy travels.

 

[TimLibre]

Hey! Some random holiday tips:
- I always use frio cool pockets for my insulin on holiday to make sure it doesnt become too hot.
- in extreme heat it is sometimes difficult to notice the difference between a hypo and feeling kinda weak due to the heat. So check carefully.
- if you have a freestyle libre, make sure to bring some spare sensors and also a finger pricking device as they might come off or get an error when swimming or in extreme weather conditions.
- For me liquid high sugar drinks work way faster against a low than dextro energy.
- soft drink labels and drinks ingredients may differ in other countries so carefully check the nutrition values (for example once i drank a full can of Monster energy drink assuming that it was a zero) And Sprite is zero by default in some countries in others not.
- when i come back from a swim in the sea, sugar may drop afterwards.
- if you see a doctor or farmacy on your trip, remember the place it might be of use later.
- if you use flexpens normally, it might be good to take also an insulin pen which can carry insulin cartridges just in case they dont have flexpens at your location.
And most important:
Have a nice holiday!

 

[Deleted member 527103]

Have you got an E111 card?

Sadly, us Brits are no longer entitled to an E111 card. Although if you have an EHIC still in date, apparently it is still valid.
However, some of the same benefits are available with a GHIC. We ordered ours recently and they arrived in less than a week.
You can apply for a GHIC here.