Type 2 Diabetes

I was diagnosed with Diabetes Type 2 in March 2000, was put on Metformin and diet control, unfortunately in October 2004 after struggling for a long time with it out of control, and my doctor using me as a testing bag and trying different drugs, I was rushed into hospital where I spent about 10 days getting my blood sugar to a safe level and was put on insulin along with the Metformin. Have since moved back to Doncaster and when signed in at a surgery in 2005, I feel I am being left to get on with it, have very little contact with anyone at the surgery, was told once a year will have sugers checked through blood samples and pulses in feet checked and once a year a blood test taken to check sugar levels, and was told that was fine, and if I was worried about anything just to make an appointment with my doctor, which is hard to get, I preferred it when I went to Hospital clinic to be checked, can I request to do that at the surgery and can they refuse to do that for me.
Everything I read is either for Type 1 or Type 2, but nothing for Type 2 and on Insulin, which for I have to inject twice a day, No-one has told me how to regulate how much Insulin to take, just given amount to take in morning and teatime, I get a lot of times where my sugars have dropped and darent take any Insulin as it will drop even lower and that scares me
I feel I have been dumped by the wayside and just been left to get on with it, and hope that I am managing it right.
Can anyone give me advice on what road to take next, if at all,

Hi Ebony, what a mess the diabetes situation is countrywide. The help and back-up is so different from place to place throughout the whole county. Well I can't offer any advice on the type 2 bit but on the type 1 bit and insulin. You are doing the sensible thing not taking your insulin injection when your sugar levels are too low, the trick is to work out what's making them low. I take insulin twice a day, once in the morning and then again around 6pm, roughly half an hour before I eat. Different insulins have different reaction times, I think the Diabetes UK website may have a page which gives you an approximate time line from injection, to it acting, to it wearing off. I take a short acting and a longer acting mix of insulins together. Do you get the blood testing strips from your doctor? When I changed insulin I used to check my blood sugars 5 times a day, so could adjust my own doses to suit what I needed. For instance if I know I'm going out and will be taking more exercise (that means walking round the shops with my sister) I either reduce the morning dose of insulin, or take something chocolate like with me, so I can top up if necessary.
I'm sure you will be ok to be referred back to the hospital, just tell your surgery that you have not got the confidence to control the blood sugar levels yourself, due to lack of proper information and would appreciate talking to specialised diabetic staff in order to get a better insight into what to do and not what to do.

The whole area of diabetes care seems a mess, even with doctors in the same practice disagreeing. I find it helps to be informed, and use these forums. We need more support groups and expert help.

Thankyou for your reply, I have just had a letter to go for the blood test before a checkup, the first this year at the surgery, will have a word with them when i go, i feel they are useless up there, i dont see a doctor when i go, just a nurse, yes i do get the strips to check my bloods, the chocolate bit i was told not to do as they told me if i do that it will just send it up and drop fast again, and was told to carry the dextrose tabs or have a glass of lucosade with a biscuit or something, since writing in the post about all this, have had 2 more bouts of my sugars dropping and couldnt figure out the reason why, i have over the last 6 mths manage to lose a stone in weight which was done under calorie control, and am beginningto wonder if i am now taking to much insulin and should be taking less now, but i dont know how to work out with a sugar level test how much i should take, they were all over the place before i lost the weight and feel i still dont have them under control now, am def going to request going to the hospital clinic

Hi ebony,
Do ask your GP to refer you to the hospital diabetic clinic !!!! There, hopefully, you will get to know the staff and have a named nurse you can ring when you need help.
You say you have lost weight.....maybe you can eat a bit more now or lower your insulin dose but you need to be told what to do.

I've been to the clinic today with my husband who's blood sugars have gone off the chart. The appointment was made at my insistance. The GP said the usual "must do better" HAH He is going to have one long lasting injection and carry on with the tablets but a lesser dose. I am his carer so all of this is down to me but after the nurse told me what to do she said she will ring us in three days time to see how we are getting on. You don't get that at the surgery !!!

I was told years ago that being diabetic you are your own doctor. True!!! but we all need help sometimes.

Good luck and do not be too timid in asking.

Hi Ebony,

I cannot stress too much how important that it is that you ask/tell your GP to refer you to the specialist diabetic team at your hospital. Once you get under their wing you are able to be referred to so many different health professionals who are lead either by a Consultant Diabetologist or Endocrinologist with specialist groups such as Podiatrists, Orthotists (if necessary) and a specialist Diabetic nurse who is often far better qualified than the local special interest in diabetes nurses.

You should be having your bloods checked x2 a year not just once and those results should be checked by your GP and you should be getting a 1 to 1 with him/her afterwards. If you aren't demand it !

I despair at the state of the NHS in different parts of the country and from what I have read on here about nurses and GP's then it makes me wonder how they stay in their jobs...I guess people just don't complain too much about them as some help is better than none (although I am not sure that's quite right!)

Very best wishes

Nick

Standards are different from town to town too. We changed GPs when I came out of hospital and I can't believe the difference. Sometimes it pays to ring round surgeries to find out what services they provide. If you aren't happy with the treatment that you're receiving (or not), change doctors......And explain to each practice why you want to change.

Clare wrote:Standards are different from town to town too. We changed GPs when I came out of hospital and I can't believe the difference. Sometimes it pays to ring round surgeries to find out what services they provide. If you aren't happy with the treatment that you're receiving (or not), change doctors......And explain to each practice why you want to change.

Well said Clare

Nick

Thanks Nick

We're a very complacent nation (as I've had pointed out to me recently), and we put up with whatever is thrown at us.
The way I see it is that if we don't speak up for ourselves, especially when it comes to health care, someone is going to either become very ill or even worse, die - I speak from experience here.
There are lots of extremely good doctors, nurses and other health professionals out there, so we really don't need to settle for second best.

If you're unsure if a service in your area is good, put an add in your local paper asking for D sufferers to get in touch with you. If they are receiving a sub-standard service, use your collective voices to make a difference. Not only will you be helping yourself, you'll be helping others too.

*........climbs down from soapbox .......*

Heheheheehe Join me on that soap box !!
Well said again Clare

Nick

Thankyou for your most welcome replies, have only just been able to read them as my pc went down big style and have had to save to get another, I did finally go to my docs, and sadly they still lacking with check ups, was last Nov when I had a check up, I had to say at an appointment what was happening and had to tell her what I felt I needed to do (lower amount of insulin) and she agreed, but I had to figure it out myself and cant believe I had to tell her, but after saying that feel loads better even tho I still get some lows and the odd high, but I can pin point as to what caused it, am moving soon and will have to change docs, so will see what happens then, thankyou again for all comments dont feel so alone now that i have you all to talk to when I get worried, no good goin to docs here.

Hi Ebony,

Maybe the problem is that you are on the wrong type of insulin and should be on long acting as opposed to quick or vice versa. I say again don't mess around with the GP's tell them you want an urgent consultation with an Endocrinologist/ Diabetologist. They are the experts and contrary to popular belief they should be deciding what you take and how and not a nurse!

If you are getting such lows now maybe you should not even be on insulin. Maybe your weight loss and getting to grips with your diet is helping and as there are various other drugs on the market to be used as an adjunct to Metformin (Exenatide and Liraglutide) then maybe you could be using those instead. Doesn't seem as though they have done any tests to see if you are still producing insulin yourself or indeed any tests other than basic HbA1c/annum.

Go get 'em girl and get your life back in your own hands and let us know how you are getting on !!

Take care

Nick