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Diabetic Nurse was useless

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
zoeynewman

zoeynewman

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
So I finally had my appointment with the diabetic nurse and I thought she was useless.
She told me she mainly deals with type two's and doesnt really deal with type ones, which is a big difference well I think there is.
She did a blood test, no idea why though.
I told her how painful I find injecting myself (takes me 2-6 times before I can fully insert the needle, its get me so down and its so painful to the point where I want to cry, Sometimes I bleed after and I get horrible yellow bruises) and she basically told me that she reckons I should go up to 4 injections a day.
I asked about a pump and she was like you wont get on this soon :/
Was so annoyed it was like she didn't listen to a word I say.
How long did it take for people to get there pumps.
Sorry about the moaning, would of thought they would of least got me to see someone who deals with type ones.
Just got to wait for letters to come through to see someone who will actually help me, shocked at how long it is taking :( good old NHS.
 
zoeynewman said:
So I finally had my appointment with the diabetic nurse and I thought she was useless.
She told me she mainly deals with type two's and doesnt really deal with type ones, which is a big difference well I think there is.
She did a blood test, no idea why though.
I told her how painful I find injecting myself (takes me 2-6 times before I can fully insert the needle, its get me so down and its so painful to the point where I want to cry, Sometimes I bleed after and I get horrible yellow bruises) and she basically told me that she reckons I should go up to 4 injections a day.
I asked about a pump and she was like you wont get on this soon :/
Was so annoyed it was like she didn't listen to a word I say.
How long did it take for people to get there pumps.
Sorry about the moaning, would of thought they would of least got me to see someone who deals with type ones.
Just got to wait for letters to come through to see someone who will actually help me, shocked at how long it is taking :( good old NHS.
Click to expand...

ask to see a different nurse/ consultant. My motto is becoming - ask for a second opinion. I'm two weeks into pumping no thanks to the first two consultants I saw. It won't get rid of needles completely though - I now have to insert the needle once every two days (which is an improvement) . I know some people have to do it slightly less often. One of the people who started pumping with me has been fighting for a pump for 10 years, but I achieved it in months (though my situation is unusual- my brother is looking for a freak show to sell me to!). hopefully your time scale will be more like mine.
 
Ahah that very nice of him
Aww bless you
She said I should have letters coming to see a diabetic nurse who deals with the food sides and someone else can't remember who as it was a posh name.
Seems like all of the people that have talked to me or seen me since having it are useless.
Once every two days I could deal with, your so lucky 🙂
I really hope it is to can't be dealing with injections twice soon to be four times away, I dread it aha.
 
Sorry you;ve had a disappointing appointment Zoey :(

There are criteria you need to meet to qualify for a pump, and one of those, depending on how it is interpreted in your area, seems to be that your HbA1c stays too high despite trying all the most up-to-date insulins/regimen. Or that an on-target HbA1c is only possible by keeping levels too low with lots of / risk of / history of severe hypos.

If you are still on 2x a day I suspect you would need to try 4x a day basal:bolus/MDI and get your head around carb counting/dose adjustment. A pump would be little use to you anyway without these skills.

If you have a severe/serious problem with fear of injections you should ask if you can be referred for some specialist psychological support. If your injections are always very painful you should ask about different needle lengths and proper injection technique. Modern microfine needles should be very nearly painless. I certainly 'feel' set changes way more than I ever did injections.

Hope you manage to make some progress soon
 
zoeynewman said:
good old NHS.
Click to expand...

I think you hit the nail on the head there!!! good old NHS....i agree that you should see someone else if you are not happy with her and also should these nurses not no about both type 1 and 2 as they differ so much? i mean whats the point calling your self a diabetes nurse if you only have the knowledge about one type and not the other...hope you get it sorted 😉
 
Now then Zoey, injecting yourself heres some tips (been doing this for twenty-five years now). I use BD 0,25 x 5mm needles.
Only use the needle ONCE, I see you are having five or six goes prob using the same needle. The needles are only any good for using once (NHS advice but I have used one four times a day then changed it, but not good).
If you squeeze your arm/leg/tummy/ thigh/ bottom and inject into the squeezed up portion that is the pain free way to do it.
Practice leaning your arm against a door frame so its squeezed up then stick the needle in the squeezed up bit.
Whatever you dont think about it just push it in, inject and pull it out you wont feel a thing guaranteed. Good luck now AM.

edit..once you have injected the insulin in count three and pull needle out (pulling it out quickly after injecting may not allow the whole dose time to pass through the needle.
 
Last edited:
Thank you both,
I asked her about carb counting to and she told me nothing basically
I have to wait till I get a letter to see someone else to go up to 4 injections :/ not looking forward to it.
I pick things up really quickly and would do anything to have a pump/something less painful.
I told her about my needle size think there 5mm and they have a purple tab lid.
She told me to increase my 16ml dosage to 18ml and then in 3 days if there still high to go up to 20ml and only go up to 22ml before I see her again.
Dont see much point in seeing her again as she has no idea about type ones.
Ive always hated needles but now I have to live with them, it sounds silly but it takes me a while to prick my finger have to pluck up the courage to do it :(
You would think people would be more educated on it and how different they are, so far all the people I have seen have been useless, one of my gps when I tired to talk to her about my problems she was like I don't deal with that blah blah and didn't give me any advice, she was like just book a appointment with a diabetic nurse, knowing that the surgery's diabetic nurse knows nothing about type one's.
Just want some help from people who know what there talking about, guess ive just got to wait :(
 
That's how I do it know squeeze the skin put it in then when in let go and have one hand on each of the ends so it doesnt come out then count to ten before taking it out and its still do painful.
When I try to put it in a it really hurt the needle hasent really gone in at all :/ its just like a little prick but I just know its going to hurt so I try somewhere else if that makes sense.
Sometimes it really stings during injecting and for ten minutes after, stinging like when you put cream on a bite eg :/ and I don't understand why.
But thanks for the other tip I will try it out 🙂
 
Stinging doesn't sound right. Is there any kind of lump under the skin? Lantus has a reputation for stinging, but that is down to its acidity.

Might be worth trying 6mm or 8mm or even 4mm needles as an experiment?

Have you only been on one type of insulin? Any chance you are having a reaction to one or other of its ingredients?

If so, changing to 4x a day may make things much easier despite having extra jabs to do...
 
Hi Zoe,
sorry you had a more than useless apt.
This so called nurse you saw, was she at your GP practice by any chance?
If so then she probably is as good as useless. They have 1/2 a days training and gain a certificate in diabetes care 😱

So if this is the case then you need to go and see your GP and ask him/her what is going on regarding your health care. Tell him/her you are less than happy with things as they are, and you want to see a consultant and a diabetes specialist nurse. (This is your right)
 
There are no lumps that I no of.
Someone else told me to try 4mm needles, would I just need to ask my doctor or wait till I see a diabetic nurse ?
Im on novomix 30
When I was on the hospital I was on a different insulin for two days then they changed me to novomix 30
Im not sure but I no it hurts/painful/stings more often than it going fine, if that makes sense.
 
You can ask your doctor for 4mm needles.

It also sounds like you might have got yourself in a vicious circle. Insulin injections (if done right) generally shouldn't sting. You've obviously had a bad experience and I'm guessing now that before you do an injection, you probably always take a deep breath, needle hovering over you and then do the jab nervously.

The problem is that your brain now expects the injection to hurt, which means you become hyper-sensitive in anticipation...meaning the jab DOES hurt, although it's psychosomatic.

Luckily, your body has a handy combination that can help you retrain your brain - a large, easy to reach injectable spot that is the least sensitive part of your body where you will carry the most sub-q fat, and you also can't quite see where the needle's going to hit so you don't have the same level of targeted anticipation.

It's your arse cheeks :D

Give them a go if you're not already - it might not work but my theory is if you can't quite see where the needle hits, you won't anticipate pain, and you won't feel it. Remember, arses are primarily for sitting (that's SITTING!:D). They're designed to take your entire bodyweight on small area. If they weren't designed to have a low sensitivity for pain, we'd never sit down. I've an average BMI but I can stick a 12mm needle in my cheek and not feel it at all - you'll be fine with a 4mm needle. Granted, it's not the most convenient place to inject in the world (don't try it in a restaurant, people react surprisingly badly to someone dropping their trousers the moment the starters arrive) but it could help you build up your confidence.

Otherwise, make sure you've got good injection technique - you don't need to pinch up with 4/5mm needles unless you are really thin, but every little helps. Just don't pinch up too hard. Also, always make sure you inject at a 90 degree angle to your skin. The needle is designed to have a point to ease entry - if you inject at an angle, the blunter part of the needle could hit your skin first, which is more painful.
 
That made me giggle but also very helpful :D
Thank you so much
Will deffo ask for smaller needles
Will try injecting in my bum later woo aha
I started off injecting in my tummy but it hurt to much so moved to thighs but it still hurts
Id like to think im thin aha im anything from size 8-12 but more on the 10 side
So do you think I should try just jabbing it in rather than squeeze and inject.
Before taking a injection I try to become calm to try and stop the pain but it doesnt work :/ when im finding it hard to inject someone will always offer to do it for me but id rather do it myself :/
 
Hi Zoe, sorry to hear your Diabetic nurse was useless, most of them are! mine was!....Keep trying with the injections,it does get easier,sometimes you dont even feel it. I agree with the last comment,go to your GP and ask to see the specialist Diabetic nurse or to go on a course so you can learn more.
You will get there, before you know it you will be doing your injections in seconds and not even think about it. I know what you mean tho, it really gets you dont and on your mind constantly,ive been a diabetic since i was 18, and went on to have a good life and 3 healthy kids..Hugs to you lovely xx 🙂
 
I find sometimes if I'm going to do a set change etc, if I'm feeling nervous about it hurting, digging ny thumbnail into my index finger & concentrating on that sensation can help. I also found when I was on mdi using fresh needles & just 'going for it' helped. At one time I did develop an allergy to one of the preservatives in my insulin (might have been isophane?! One of the older ones)...it felt like an insect sting & left blotchy red itchy bruises...but a change in insulin fixed that, phew! 🙂. One last thing - I did once have a dodgy batch on needles - I'm convinced they'd not been manufactured quite right - fresh barch of needles (checking different batch/lot numbers) & sorted.

It is really hard not to 'expect' it to hurt if you've had a bad experience, so you have my sympathy! Xx
 
Aha.

I've never had Novomix, BUT I was originally on Lente for years and years and years. Stung every single time.

Then eventually when they'd invented new insulins, I went onto Humulin. That still hurt but only sometimes.

This continued, with my just going sod it every time I had a jab. Then I changed to Lantus and the old disposable pens for Lantus reuired a 'click on' needle rather than a 'screw on' needle. So the pharmacist had a look to see what ones were on offer and for whatever reason, I landed up with Ypsomed needles for my Lantus, and still on BD for my Novorpaid. (still with me or asleep with boredom yet)

Still stinging ... but then I realised that when I jabbed the lantus, the jab of the needle didn't hurt - the stinging only happened as I pressed the punger. So the needle was OK, the Lantus itself stung. The Novorapid jab just stung anyway.

So then I thought right. And found out there are some 'matching' needles for Novopens - called Novofine - so I asked doc to change em on my scrip from the BD to the Novofine. It worked! The Novorapid jabs became utterly pain free, after approx 36 years. Hurrah !!!! The last thing was to change from Lantus to Levemir, which doesn't sting at all, and can use the same Novofine needles on both pens.

We've never got to the bottom of it at all and the only possible thing me and my 'team' think it must be, is that I must be hyper-sensitive to the lubricant which BD use on the needles themselves. Which is a joke really as I have no reaction to absolutely anything else ever. I'm the least hyper-sensitive person in the world otherwise, I think. And I always got told 'Nobody else has ever had this problem so it can't be that'
Well I do, and it is. So there ......

I haven't got any 5mm needles but I have got a few in-date 6mm needles, expiry March 2015 so they are well-in - just haven't had the heart to throw em away, old friends LOL

PM me your address and I'll gladly send you half a dozen in the post to try.

If it is the same as me, it's easily remedied by getting your prescription changed by your doctor to specify the right make of needle. If your scrip specifies that make, that's the only sort they can give you. If they still sting, then explain to doc what happens and what you've already tried and get him to check what other makes are available. I think Ypsomed do make screw-on needles actually so that is another brand you could try.

Finally, the nurse at my GP surgery is fairly useless too, as Sue says, half a day and they firmly believe they are experts. At least yours admitted she wasn't, that's a major step forward.

Honestly, the sooner you can get seen by proper knowledgeable people at the hospital, the sooner you'll feel better about everything. And if we can help you get rid of this horrible pain with the jabs, the more confident you are gonna feel about the entire thing.
 
Hi Zoe, have you tried diffrent types of moisturising cream on skin to stop pain. Keep at them about getting pump & DONT give up ! That nurse said it herself she is used with T2s which is very different to treat. Bad day at the office 😉
 
Hey Zoey,

If you find injecting hurts then you can smaller the size of the needle and use EMLA cream (available from chemists) pretty cheap and put tiny bit on 5mins before injecting. EMLA cream is what profession call 'Magic cream' to kids lol but it's amazing stuff. We use it on the animals sometimes to help them.

Kim x
 
It was just the diabetic nurse for my local surgery :/
Yet she wasent really educated on type 1
 
Gosh that was a lot to take in :L
Thank you everyone for your help and advice
Deffo gonna keep pushing for a pump.
Never new they only do a half a day course and that is it :/
Even though I havent really been told much about my diabetes deffo felt like I new more than her aha.
Ive been diagnosed for just over a month now and havent seen any professionals that have actually helped me or anything, I think its disgusting.
 
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