• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

Out come of Dr visit

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

Andrew

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Well I have been to the Dr where I Advised my Dr of acquiring my Freestyle BG meter -- very very negative response, no interest in personal BG readings or variation in readings taken before and after meals, I was advised that they do not think personal meters are a ?good thing? as they induce un necessary panic in patients, He was very interested in my raised blood pressure, lack of sleep, cholesterol level, head aches, asthma, toe nail infection, (which has cleared up), (state of my right foot which is twisted due to my mother driving over it 40 years ago(it makes shoes interesting to buy)) chest infection (which has not) ---but he almost seemed uninterested in the diabetes!


He was far more concerned with my medication, 4 Bolamyn SR 500g ? I Asprin ? 1 Ramiprill ? 1 Simvastin per day ---- and that I should be taking them with food etc.

I am not sure what to think!!
 
Hi Andrew
Sorry the appointment did not go well the Dr sounds very disinterested in testing goodness knows why, maybe the headaches and lack of sleep could be your levels but how are you supposed to know that if he does not what you to test?Its craziness in my opinion we need to be able to test its VITAL in maintaining patterns,for finding out what foods to what to our blood sugars.I can see his thinking on testing making a pacient panic BUT would they not panic more if they were hyper and had no clue because of lack of resources from there doctor.
Have you seen the link on here for a free freestlye meter? I cant find it right now but im sure someone can out it up
 
Andrew said:
Well I have been to the Dr where I Advised my Dr of acquiring my Freestyle BG meter -- very very negative response, no interest in personal BG readings or variation in readings taken before and after meals, I was advised that they do not think personal meters are a ?good thing? as they induce un necessary panic in patients, He was very interested in my raised blood pressure, lack of sleep, cholesterol level, head aches, asthma, toe nail infection, (which has cleared up), (state of my right foot which is twisted due to my mother driving over it 40 years ago(it makes shoes interesting to buy)) chest infection (which has not) ---but he almost seemed uninterested in the diabetes!


He was far more concerned with my medication, 4 Bolamyn SR 500g ? I Asprin ? 1 Ramiprill ? 1 Simvastin per day ---- and that I should be taking them with food etc.

I am not sure what to think!!
Click to expand...

Hi Andrew, my DN told me not to test because its your HbA1c result that is important not the day-to-day results. However, I think its important to be able to take control over something that you need to keep under control. I brought my own tester from the chemist and buy the strips from Ebay. Its a small cost but one that will help in the long-run. Take care. Amanda x 🙂
 
Mete

Hi

I did get a meter and 100 strips from a friend in Wales who had a spare, from the drs comments i will be buying the next lot!
 
Sorry you got what seems to be the normal response Andrew - it does make me angry.
Surely it is up to you to decide if seeing your blood sugars will make you panic or not - or at least they let you try testing for a set period and see if more good than bad comes out of it.

I still think its purely down to funds and am getting tired of hearing the 'panic' excuse.

Is there another doctor you could see that might be more willing to listen Andrew? I suppose though if it s the practices way of treating diabetics the only other thing to do is move GP's - but you really shouldn't have to.

Kep trying though - I had to with mine and they gave in in the end.
 
When I was in my teens and was still doing urine tests, my dad asked the consultant about home blood testing. You had to compare the strip colour to a chart on the tub then, but it was way better than urine.

His response was very similar to your GP's. Makes the patient paranoid.

We swapped clinics and were told that blood testing was a good idea.

Some doctors just can't see it from the patient's point of view and think we're all stupid. Some just exist in a pre-war state of mind.

Either way, if you have the meter and strips, use them as you see fit and cut him out of the loop. The other things he's concerned about are equally important so hopefully he's helping you to get those sorted.

Rob
 
Dr's

Hi

I live in a rural area swopping Dr's is going to mean a practice outside of the catchment area. so due to location I am stuck with the Dr I have, they seem to have some sort of rule about out of hours visits!
 
That is what I am going to do

Hi Testing seems an important technique for control so I will just have to keep testing and see where I go, 7.4 to 17.6 in 2 hours is the biggest swing I have had - weetabix X 2 at breakfast!



Robster65 said:
When I was in my teens and was still doing urine tests, my dad asked the consultant about home blood testing. You had to compare the strip colour to a chart on the tub then, but it was way better than urine.

His response was very similar to your GP's. Makes the patient paranoid.

We swapped clinics and were told that blood testing was a good idea.

Some doctors just can't see it from the patient's point of view and think we're all stupid. Some just exist in a pre-war state of mind.

Either way, if you have the meter and strips, use them as you see fit and cut him out of the loop. The other things he's concerned about are equally important so hopefully he's helping you to get those sorted.

Rob
Click to expand...
 
Andrew said:
Hi

I live in a rural area swopping Dr's is going to mean a practice outside of the catchment area. so due to location I am stuck with the Dr I have, they seem to have some sort of rule about out of hours visits!
Click to expand...

Very similar to here. I've had to fight to get the test strips I need and the GPs and DN aren't really interested in the results. So I do them for my own reasons and benefits and if they moan about it when I see them, I point to the positive outcomes for me.

Do what you feel you need to do. As long as you're gaining from structured testing and using the information in a positive way, I can see no reason not to test. If the results are worrying you or making you anxious, stop doing it for a while. But you've paid for the strips, so pay no attention to your GP.🙂

Rob
 
Andrew said:
Hi Testing seems an important technique for control so I will just have to keep testing and see where I go, 7.4 to 17.6 in 2 hours is the biggest swing I have had - weetabix X 2 at breakfast!
Click to expand...
That tells you that Weetabix isn't a good idea doesn't it? How would you know that without testing?

Unfortunately there was a very flawed study conducted about 3 years ago on approximately 70 men between 50 and 70 where they were given BG meters but told not to change their regime. So as the poor blighters couldn't do anything about high BGs they became depressed. Unfortunately this was publicised and the GPs only got the sound bytes without any background. I suspect that the PCTs leapt upon the study (which followed hard upon the heels of the dire Farmer study, equally flawed which said SMBG did not do any good) as a way of saving money.
 
Medical profession

Medical profession

I some times wonder if they are there to help or hinder






Pattidevans said:
That tells you that Weetabix isn't a good idea doesn't it? How would you know that without testing?

Unfortunately there was a very flawed study conducted about 3 years ago on approximately 70 men between 50 and 70 where they were given BG meters but told not to change their regime. So as the poor blighters couldn't do anything about high BGs they became depressed. Unfortunately this was publicised and the GPs only got the sound bytes without any background. I suspect that the PCTs leapt upon the study (which followed hard upon the heels of the dire Farmer study, equally flawed which said SMBG did not do any good) as a way of saving money.
Click to expand...
 
whilst you got strips keep a accurate diary ...then go back and show them what you have learnt ..the NICE guidelines state about 'education purposes' ..mods or someone can you fine the relevant quote ..
i dont test so much any more but only because i have a fairly good idea what to avoid ...because i learnt how to test and WHY from here not my Docs ....🙄
good luck andrew 🙂
 
Thank you

Hi Thank you fo your advice. I am going to keep an accurate diary for a couple of weeks to a month then make an appointment to see what is said,

I have it in mind that I need to know what questions to ask to go with the information - my DESMOND session was usless - and as for a carb counting session I will ask my DR next time and see what is said.







am64 said:
whilst you got strips keep a accurate diary ...then go back and show them what you have learnt ..the NICE guidelines state about 'education purposes' ..mods or someone can you fine the relevant quote ..
i dont test so much any more but only because i have a fairly good idea what to avoid ...because i learnt how to test and WHY from here not my Docs ....🙄
good luck andrew 🙂
Click to expand...
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top