Hi just wanted to ask what a hospital consultant / endocrolgist would offer patients over a GP. What benefit would he be to patients . Would they run more tests or be able to help you manage your condition better. Thanks just looking for examples as I have an appt with my gp soon and was thinking what different care a person would get with a consulstant
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Why see a consultant / endo
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I think it largely depends on the quality of care offered by both the gp and the consultant.
If the doc tells you that T2 should be treated entirely with tablets and to carry on life as normal, then i would be asking for a referral to a diabetes clinic!
But then, the consultant may do that too...
In theory, the consultant and registrars at the endocrinology or diabetes clinic will have vastly more experience on the subject, be up to date with the latest research, and be able to offer more treatment options. But this isn't always the case, and most T2s don't really need that quality of care. This forum has done far more for my control than my endocrinology appointments.
I have been seeing consultants and registrars annually for 15 years now, and I have to say that only 3 of those visits were worth the petrol. Pretty bad odds, eh?
But those 3 were so excellent that they made huge differences to my quality of life. Interestingly ALL of those great visits were with young registrars. The twice i have seen the head honcho Big Cheese Consultants, i left wanting to shoot them for their patronising arrogance.
If the doc tells you that T2 should be treated entirely with tablets and to carry on life as normal, then i would be asking for a referral to a diabetes clinic!
But then, the consultant may do that too...
In theory, the consultant and registrars at the endocrinology or diabetes clinic will have vastly more experience on the subject, be up to date with the latest research, and be able to offer more treatment options. But this isn't always the case, and most T2s don't really need that quality of care. This forum has done far more for my control than my endocrinology appointments.
I have been seeing consultants and registrars annually for 15 years now, and I have to say that only 3 of those visits were worth the petrol. Pretty bad odds, eh?
But those 3 were so excellent that they made huge differences to my quality of life. Interestingly ALL of those great visits were with young registrars. The twice i have seen the head honcho Big Cheese Consultants, i left wanting to shoot them for their patronising arrogance.
CollieBoy
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From my experience the consultant/endo & his DSN know infinately more about your D and the implications than the poor old GP and his overworked /undertrained practice nurse
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My first comment would be that I doubt @Brunneria meant we T2s don't need the quality of care, I would think she meant the depth or complexity of treatment usually handled by specialist Consultants.
I have never seen a specialist about my diabetes, but did have the opportunity to chat with one, recently in a social setting. Unless he was really watering things down, due to the circumstances of our chat, his approach was extremely "light touch", and as a result, I wouldn't find myself beating a path to his door.
Is there anything anyone on here might be able to help you with?
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Absolutely!
Thanks for clarifying my vagueness
You gave me the opportunity to unleash my inner pedant! Yay !!
So many sometimes feel T2 isn't treated seriously, so didn't want anyone to feel you were in that camp.
Mep
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From my experience, it was the endocrinologist that ran the GAD and c-peptide tests on me, then again in 2010 when things weren't working out. It's been a blessing for me seeing an endocrinologist for years because not only does he help with my diabetes, but he has also been on hand to help me when I've had other hormone problems. For example, I had 2 drugs that caused my prolactin levels to skyrocket and the next I knew I was leaking breast milk (sorry if tmi)... but anyhow scary when there was no obvious reason I should be doing that. My endo got involved and he phoned me at home to discuss how I'm going and to advise me what to do with my drugs... the next step was to check for a pituitary gland tumour if the drugs changes didn't work. He also advised my GP what to do. Anyhow, thanks to him that's how we worked out it was in fact 2 of my drugs interacting together (as they didn't cause the problem on their own). So I was pulled off one of the drugs and the dosage of the other was increased... problem solved. It took a few months to figure it out though and that entire time my endo was fantastic. He is very interested in my overall health and often wants an update from me about the latest with my health. He said in his opinion I'm dealing with some severe symptoms. He said out of everything I'm dealing with my diabetes he considers is under good control considering what I deal with. He said ideally he'd prefer even tighter control but he said he weighs up everything that his patients are dealing with. But he wants to continue to see me mainly because I've got uncommon conditions I think and he wants to see how they affect my diabetes if at all. It's funny though as when I first met my endo it was when I was in hospital and he came in with a few student docs in tow and he was so arrogant and I couldn't wait for him to leave. So when I got told I had a new endo and he called my name I took one look and thought oh no not this arrogant man. But I have to say he has been the best endocrinologist I've ever had (I had 2 before him) and he's been seeing me about 10 years now.
