What is the Truth......the truth is.......

"we cant handle the truth" . The internet has opened up forums like this where people can share their experiences or at least have some understanding of what its like to be diabetic. I for one am happy that I have discovered this forum and have gotten a lot from it. I'm only starting my journey but I'm glad to have such good fellow travellers on the road. I'm not alone and I can do something to minimise the impact of this condition on me. I'm not a religious man but I always thought the first verse of the prayer of serenity was a good way to look at adversity.

" God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other."

"It must be recorded that many individuals expressed frustration at the routine manner in which their doctor, nurse or dietitian regarded the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. This conflicted with the cataclysmic blow which they personally felt. They were told that the diagnosis was clear and therefore the guidelines will be rolled out. Lose some weight and take this metformin. Get used to it."

Roy Taylor, Professor of Medicine and Metabolism
http://www.practicaldiabetes.com/Spring ... 02-col.pdf

I feel like a 'number' not an individual.

My hcp's aren't actually diabetic.. I get generalised with their advice read from theory books or salespeople from pump companies..

I AM AN INDIVIDUAL, NOT A STATISTIC OR TRIAL NUMBER.... I am unique... Please treat me so...

Yorksman said:

"It must be recorded that many individuals expressed frustration at the routine manner in which their doctor, nurse or dietitian regarded the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. This conflicted with the cataclysmic blow which they personally felt. They were told that the diagnosis was clear and therefore the guidelines will be rolled out. Lose some weight and take this metformin. Get used to it."

Roy Taylor, Professor of Medicine and Metabolism
http://www.practicaldiabetes.com/Spring ... 02-col.pdf

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I have to say that the GP who gave me the news that I am T2 looked more shocked than I was. I'd been expecting the diagnosis for years and it never happened until I got sicker and sicker and sicker and couldn't care less if I never woke up again. So when she gave me the news, she looked really upset and I was so flipping happy I just flung my arms around her and said "Thank you! Now we can sort me out." I was just sooooo glad to get to the bottom of all my 'mystery illnesses' especially the chronic fatigue. I hadn't been seeing that particular GP for very long and she was really thorough about getting me in for repeat blood tests. She thought she was giving me bad news. I felt like I'd been given the gift of life again.

I am lucky enough to have a DSN who is also diabetic - it helps a lot. The non diabetic HCPs can talk the talk all they like but it takes someone who's walked the walk to really understand it all.

Just like every condition or illness we can do all we can to minimize the risks however sometimes it really is the luck if the draw. That said, it doesn't mean we should stop making the effort and make these things inevitable consequences instead of just bad luck. Better to try and fail than give up and give in. Wishing everyone the best of luck!
BTW this site and forum are brilliant. Thankyou x

Thanks for making people aware of that fact. Diabetes IS different for everyone, and I'm sick of telling my Doctor that. He believes that my diabetes would be better controlled if I were to have readings between 4 - 7 mmol. Maybe technically this is the ideal target range, maybe it works for some, but I literally am not allowed to drive (or any diabetic for that matter) with a reading of 5.4 or below. That's actually the law. And since I get low blood sugars when I'm stressed or concentrating, both of which play a part when I drive, I don't think it's safe for me to drive when my readings are 6 or thereabouts. I'm happy not going over 9.9, like double readings is bad for me, but 9.0 before bed is fine.

I've had diabetes type 1 for about 16 years now, and I've always had to adjust to get that "perfect" reading. But perfect readings will never be a constant with diabetics, because we need to manually control it. And health professionals who don't have diabetes don't know what it's like. They don't know how having a hypo while swimming or running can put fear into you. Or if you're in a situation where you can't get anything like sugar into your system if you should suffer from a hypo. My last job, for instance, I worked 6 hours without a break, and when I asked them for one once because I was feeling woozy, they told me I couldn't. I almost had a hypo right there in front of customers, and they told me off for leaving the till when I needed something to eat.

There's still a lot of stigma around diabetes, mostly because people just don't know what the hell it is. And then when you tell them, they give you funny looks and say things like "I thought you can't have sugar?" when you're eating a chocolate bar. Or ask silly questions like "can you eat bread?"

Mostly my frustration at being diabetic is not being listened to by my healthcare professional. I get more out of seeing my doctor who prescribes my birth control pill over my diabetic doctor.

I'm also a bit concerned about the "inevitability" aspect of diabetes. I've had it for almost two decades now, yet I'm 24. Does this mean when I'm 30 I'll get kidney failure? Despite me trying to control my diabetes, is there even any point if getting a serious illness or affliction through diabetes is inevitable?

. . . I literally am not allowed to drive (or any diabetic for that matter) with a reading of 5.4 or below. That's actually the law.

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This may be the law for Type 1s, Prosperity 89, but it doesn't apply to Type 2 diabetics who are not taking hypo-inducing medication. I rang the DVLA on diagnosis, (Type 2 on Metformin) and they weren't interested.

For reassurance - i have recently lost a close friend, diabetic Type 1, at the age of 93. Her eyes were fine (after cataract ops); her kidneys were disease-free and functioning well; she had no problems with ulcers or diabetic neuropathy of any kind.

And she had lived a full and extremely interesting life, worthy of celebration.

So there is hope out there, after all - provided you look after yourself.

Viv 8)

Prosperity89 said:

He believes that my diabetes would be better controlled if I were to have readings between 4 - 7 mmol. Maybe technically this is the ideal target range, maybe it works for some, but I literally am not allowed to drive (or any diabetic for that matter) with a reading of 5.4 or below.

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You may ask him to clarify that because 4 - 7 mmol/L is the pre-prandial range with the 2 hour post prandial reading being under 9 mmol/L, at least according to this http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care ... anges.html

When he says 7, he may mean your pre prandial whereas you may be thinking he means post prandial.

Yorksman said:

Prosperity89 said:

He believes that my diabetes would be better controlled if I were to have readings between 4 - 7 mmol. Maybe technically this is the ideal target range, maybe it works for some, but I literally am not allowed to drive (or any diabetic for that matter) with a reading of 5.4 or below.

Click to expand...

You may ask him to clarify that because 4 - 7 mmol/L is the pre-prandial range with the 2 hour post prandial reading being under 9 mmol/L, at least according to this http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care ... anges.html

When he says 7, he may mean your pre prandial whereas you may be thinking he means post prandial.

Click to expand...

7 is fine for pre prandial, but anything lower than 6 pre prandial can be dangerous for me, especially considering my lifestyle. I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable going to work or driving if my levels are below 6.5. I work in four hour shifts, so I don't have a break and I don't really have time to eat at my desk, so if my levels are 7 - 9 before I go to work, usually because I am concentrating, they will be between 5 - 7 when I come home. Driving anywhere within 2 miles is okay for levels at 6, but I drive around a lot and go to far off places to walk my dogs (then there's walking). It's not as though I suffer hypo symptoms above 4.5, but that my doctor is never satified with my readings because I need them to read between 6 - 9 most of the time because of the activities I involve myself in.

It was especially bad when I ha university, because I would often suffer from hypo's while studying, so my sugar's needed to be around 8 when I went to seminars and lectures. About the only time my sugar's can read between 4 - 7 is when I'm not active (i.e. Simply watching TV, or sat on my laptop doing non-concentrating activities) but because I write and involve myself in a lot of physical and mentally active things, my readings never average out at what he wishes for them to be.

Like I said, every diabetic is individual, and while my readings are obviously bad if they hit 12.0 or above, I don't believe I'm at a greater risk if my readings are slightly higher, particularly if the alternative is to have hypo's three times a day, which is what I averaged out at when trying to get a reading below 7 mmol.

I also believe I have a problem with absorbing the insulin I'm taking, as I participated in a study where I had constant glucose monitoring and my post prandial readings were always double figures, no matter what I did with my insulin doses or my food intake. But when I'd come to taking a manual reading say at lunchtime, after breakfast, it was back to single figures and it's this which causes my HbA1C to be slightly higher than my doctor would like. He of course, hasn't listened to this.

Since I'm on a long-active and short-active insulin regime, it's possible that I need to correctly adjust my long-active so that I don't drop so much when I do stuff, but despite trying lots of different things, nothing's seemed to work