Anyone else having the same experience?

[Mickeyminime]

So i was text by the GP surgery on the 27th which had a link to a letter saying isolate for 12 weeks as i was identified as vunlerable to the virus. However, i've noticed a lot of people struggling to get help, information or just support in general. To be honest, i don't think i'll even get a physical letter come through the door as others have said the same thing.

I've been back and fourth looking for information and its always different. YouGov and the NHS sites seem to be very messy and barely explain anything and it no doubt seems to be causing chaos for those who are vunlerable.

Despite being told that i need to isolate and avoid people for 12 weeks. When i tried to apply for the YouGov support page so i could get online orders. Diabetes wasn't on the list despite the letter from the link i got on the 27th saying Diabetes HbA1c (hope i got it right) over 75. Because of Diabetes not being on the YouGov application, i'm not able to get any online orders.

I don't really have any friends, just work colleagues to whom i wont ask to put there lives or health at risk for someone like me. My mother who is type 2 is living in Scotland while i live pretty much in London. My brother is with me, but he's very unreliable and wont go outside, specially as he can work at home while someone like me works in a supermarket. I do plan on asking him to collect the insulin tomorrow and if its a no, i'll have to do it myself despite being told to isolate. To be honest, me and my brother have never gotten a long since we where very little.

Is anyone else having the same problem where we are being told and forced to isolate, but no help seems to be avaliable.

Its gotten so bad, i'm wondering if its just worth going back to work. If my condition doesn't kill me, its the virus, if its not the virus, its the NHS/Government or lack of information and support. If its not that, its my state of mind or the family and so on.

I can manage and deal with it to a point despite the mental affects its having on me, but i do worry for many others out there, specially the elders and all.

Stay safe everyone

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hello @Mickeyminime

You are not the only one to have felt confused by similar advice, and then on further investigation have found that diabetes was not listed as a condition that needed the full ‘12 week isolation’ measures.

So much so that Diabetes UK prepared a statement on it:

“having diabetes alone does not put someone into the self-isolation group, but they still must keep very strict social distancing advice. Self-isolation advice is given to those with severe respiratory conditions, some cancers, and those receiving immunosuppressants or with severe immune system challenges, such as kidney disease. Many of these people will have diabetes also. If you have been advised to self-isolate at this time and are unsure why, we would suggest you continue to keep to this advice and speak to your GP regarding the specific details of the need for this.”

Essentially, diabetes alone shouldn’t mean you need to completely isolate, but there may be other aspects to your individual case which make you potentially more vulnerable. So it’s best to contact to your GP for clarification.

Hope that helps?

 

[Mickeyminime]

So far, all the info i got was that the HbA1c has to be over 70/75. It was on the link from the text i got from the GP surgery. My levels where in the 70's back in Jan/Feb when i had my blood test done. I was diagnosed in 2018 so my levels have been going down ever since, but apparently not fast enough. As i work in a supermarket, distancing is near impossible. I was working on thursday, the day before the text and i couldn't even avoid anyone, staff or customers a like. I can avoid people on the way to work as i can walk, but once i hit town or get in the building, Its impossible, specially when doing 8/10 hour shifts.

 

[Ralph-YK]

I was under the impresstion that diabetics were not being counted as part of the "particularly at risk" groups, and didn't need to isolate any more than anyone else.
As Everydayupsanddowns says, your personal circumstances have to be accounted for. It's possible the HbA1c could make a difference. Check with your GP. Get something specific you can use when asking for help.

 

[Mickeyminime]

2 work colleagues who have diabetes isolated themselves. I don't know if they where asked to do so by the company, manager or GP. I don't even know what type they are either. I would have thought that if they where told to isolate by the manager or company, i would have been told to do the same thing. Other colleagues who know diabetics have told me they themselves isolated themselves and no one knows if it was GP related or health related.

At the moment since the lock down, i've seen so much confusion with diabetics. I was contacted by the GP surgery on Friday just as i was about to go to work. The link with the letter has diabetics on it. As far as i've been told in the past, the lower the Hb is, the better you are from long term problems. I took a screen shot of apart of the letter i got from the link in regards to diabetes. I've even got a shot of the message i was given from the GP/Surgery too.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Interesting @Mickeyminime - This is the first suggestion I have seen is an HbA1c cut-off suggesting increased risk - in this case 75mmol/L (9%)

I will ask Diabetes UK how widespread this is as a ‘flag’ for increased risk.

 

[grovesy]

Interesting @Mickeyminime - This is the first suggestion I have seen is an HbA1c cut-off suggesting increased risk - in this case 75mmol/L (9%)

I will ask Diabetes UK how widespread this is as a ‘flag’ for increased risk.

I have not seen that one either. I have not seen HBA1C mentioned on any of the Twitter feeds either.

 

[Mickeyminime]

I've taken a screen shot of the whole message, sadly as its on my phone so it might not be easy to see. But this came from the very link from the text from the GP surgery on Friday.

 

[Mickeyminime]

the one on the right is where it says Diabetes HbA1c

 

[grovesy]

It is practically unreadable.
I was not saying it not true.

 

[Inka]

First I’ve heard about that but it seems to the advice given to GPs to help them identify other patients at risk.

It’s mentioned here:

http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/co...practice-nhs-letter-23-march/20040424.article

Scroll down to the section under the list of organ recipients, etc:


“Additional patients with long term conditions considered to be at high risk

Category C (Group 4) in the table above refers to patients which General Practice will be asked to add to the Very High Risk Group. General practice is asked, where practically possible, to carry out a review, which will rely on a combination of patient knowledge and local system interrogation, to identify this group. The methodology for this review will vary locally according to demographic but examples of patients to look for might include:

• Patients with diabetes with HbA1c greater than 75, recent diabetic ketoacidosis or poor medication adherence; “

 

[Mickeyminime]

 

[Mickeyminime]

i was screen shooting this earlier today as some on facebook where talking about it. Hopefully its easier to read 🙂

The diabetes mention is second from the bottom