confused and a little frustrated

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Cobgirl

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
hello everyone. I don't post often but I'd love to know that I am not alone with this.
I've been feeling really tired the last couple of months, spoke to my diabetes nurse (only ever by phone, I can never seem to get a face to face appointment with her, which is one of my frustrations), she said that my B12 is good so that shouldn't be the cause (I have 3 monthly injections of this) and just to keep an eye on it. This is one of my concerns that I don't feel like I'm getting the support I need. Is this just me? how do I go about changing this?
Also, I was told I don't need to test at home, but my dad has been told by his (different to mine) GP/nurse. anyone have any idea why? should I be testing? I'm wondering if my BG is high and if this is causing my tiredness?
I apologise if this is inappropriate to ask but I'm feeling rather out of my depth and alone at the moment. I'm so fed up of being diabetic.
I am type 2 if that helps with any answers.

Thank you for listening,

Sarah xx
 
I'm t1, but t2 are normally advised here to test at home, before and after a meal, so they can work out if they can deal with a meal or not. If you haven't been prescribed a monitor and strips then you can ask your gp, or another t2 will be able to advise the ones that work out to be most affordable.
High blood sugars can result in tiredness.
Do you know your a1c? It may help us advise
 
Testing at home is something that many find a useful tool along with diet and medication if you are taking it. It not only allows you to see what foods YOUR body can't tolerate and what it can so helps make better meal choices. If you are not testing it is a bit like driving a car without a speedometer you don't know if you are exceeding the speed limit just as you don't know if you are eating too many carbs.
Lack of energy is often a symptom of high blood glucose.
Inexpensive monitors can be bought on line the GlucoNavii or TEE2 are ones with the cheaper test strips.
This link may help you with some ideas for modifying your diet as that is important in managing blood glucose. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
 
I too am very tired and I think the low-carb diet helps. I did not get test strips or a meter as they do not really recommend that. Conversely, it is really useful if you are trying to sort out what is a definite no to eat and what is. I did not look or test as I wanted it to go away and it went too high. It is better to know where you are to work to get it down. A lot of DN just put everyone on metformin as a thing to do if your HbA1C is over 48 but it differs from clinic to clinic.
I post too much these days but it helps me and the advice here is really good.
If your Blood sugar is high it causes tiredness but also feeling you have no support and are not in control does too. Just not getting help is enough to make you tired.
It is worth getting a good sleep too and if sugar is high, one thing I can now do is go longer in the night so even though I did not think I was always running to the loo I was.
Keep posting as many will reply there is a great forum here so welcome and I hope all things improve.
 
So - as you apparently have not seen the DN at your GP surgery face to face ever since you first joined this forum - where on earth are you getting all the annual checks we are all supposed to have like to check your feet for signs of neuropathy, or your eyes for signs of retinopathy?
 
trophywench said:
So - as you apparently have not seen the DN at your GP surgery face to face ever since you first joined this forum - where on earth are you getting all the annual checks we are all supposed to have like to check your feet for signs of neuropathy, or your eyes for signs of retinopathy?
Click to expand...
I get an annual check but the health care assistant takes blood and does neuropathy checks. I do get reminders from the hospital and go for my eye checks, but I haven't seen anyone face to face for results since covid (so within 12 months of diagnosis). they either send a letter out or it's a quick phone call. I'm not sure if I can ask. I feel like they rush me for results and haven't taken me seriously with my concerns about feeling tired all the time. so frustrating
 
Tdm said:
I'm t1, but t2 are normally advised here to test at home, before and after a meal, so they can work out if they can deal with a meal or not. If you haven't been prescribed a monitor and strips then you can ask your gp, or another t2 will be able to advise the ones that work out to be most affordable.
High blood sugars can result in tiredness.
Do you know your a1c? It may help us advise
Click to expand...
my last 6 month a1c was 6.6%.
 
thank you all for your replies so far. My last HbA1c was 6.6%. I'm on metformin (4 tablets a day, so 1000mg) and trulicity once a week (though still struggling to lose any weight).
 
Cobgirl said:
thank you all for your replies so far. My last HbA1c was 6.6%. I'm on metformin (4 tablets a day, so 1000mg) and trulicity once a week (though still struggling to lose any weight).
Click to expand...
Cobgirl said:
thank you all for your replies so far. My last HbA1c was 6.6%. I'm on metformin (4 tablets a day, so 1000mg) and trulicity once a week (though still struggling to lose any weight).
Click to expand...
Have not seen my dn face to face for over a year,only phone calls thats when she remembers
I suffer with ibs and metmorfin makes it worse my gp as taken me off metmorfin for 4 weeks am bg weekly its been about 7.5 8.0 after meals .
Used to have d n see me every 6 months these was all before covid
 
@Cobgirl - what are your female hormones doing right now plus, have you ever had any cheks to see what your Thyroid function is up to? and why are you quoting your HbA1c as a percentage in the UK in this day and age?
 
i get good care at Crocus medical but its at a price if you are overweight they shame n blame you . However they do blood trsts offer feet and eye tests . Some are very good but they dont understand how medication is good for most but not an individual who would love to be like everyone else .
 
What on earth is this Crocus thing? I'd be very doubtful indeed entrusting my healthcare to people who don't recognise that different people have different reactions to drugs - or that Fat Shamed patients or anything like that.
 
@Cobgirl - I also was told I do not need to test at home. So many Type 2's are told this. The explanation I was given was that I was not at risk of hypos - which was true as I was not taking any medication to lower my blood sugar. However, my use for testing was to check how I reacted to foods, and without testing with a BG monitor at home I don't know how else I could have managed my T2 diabetes. I pay for my monitor and strips myself. Occasionally a Type 2 on the forum reports they have been supplied with a monitor, but mostly I read similar experiences to myself.
 
@Cobgirl My comment is almost identical to @DiaboloT2

T2s do not HAVE to test unless they are on a medication that can cause them to have hypos. This means that BG meters and strips are not routinely prescribed ... which saves the NHS money. 40 years ago my Dad was diagnosed T2 - he got testing kits, appointments with Dietician, yearly reviews with DIabetes team at hospital and appointments inbetween with the practice diabetic Nurse. I got nothing at all.

I pay for meter/test strips myself. I test at least three times a day to keep an eye on my BG. That's my choice - the NHS says its unnecessary but without it I wouldn't have reduced my HbA1C back to normal levels in 3 months.

I think that T2s really need to understand how their body reacts to different foods, as we all react differently. I know I can't tolerate bread - I get a BG spike but then stay high for 5 or 6 hours. Others are ok with bread, but can't tolerate porridge, which I can. We are all so different.

My strategy was to know which foods cause my BG to stay high, then avoid/reduce them, to lower my BG and hopefully stay healthy for longer.
 
Without a meter I would never have realised that the expected carb count of legumes is less than I can extract from them. The exact difference, as close as I can calculate it is 180% - and other people have reported that they see the same thing.
Knowledge is power.
 
Hi. I feel your frustration. Was diagnosed T2 in the middle of COVID. Care is incredibly shoddy. I have only seen my GP - once face-to-face and loads on the phone. She's monitoring me 6 monthly. My bloods are taken by the practise nurse - never seen a diabetic nurse. Had my eyes checked twice at the hospital.

Metaformin is HELL! On 1000mg slow release but can't take any more as previously suffered from chronic diarrhoea after my gall bladder was removed.

Chuck in the menopause and depression diagnosed on the same day as T2 and it's all great!!!

I didn't get any monitor and frankly am too skint.

And don't get me started on help for depression - I've been on the waiting list for 2 years.
 
Cobgirl said:
hello everyone. I don't post often but I'd love to know that I am not alone with this.
I've been feeling really tired the last couple of months, spoke to my diabetes nurse (only ever by phone, I can never seem to get a face to face appointment with her, which is one of my frustrations), she said that my B12 is good so that shouldn't be the cause (I have 3 monthly injections of this) and just to keep an eye on it. This is one of my concerns that I don't feel like I'm getting the support I need. Is this just me? how do I go about changing this?
Also, I was told I don't need to test at home, but my dad has been told by his (different to mine) GP/nurse. anyone have any idea why? should I be testing? I'm wondering if my BG is high and if this is causing my tiredness?
I apologise if this is inappropriate to ask but I'm feeling rather out of my depth and alone at the moment. I'm so fed up of being diabetic.
I am type 2 if that helps with any answers.

Thank you for listening,

Sarah xx
Click to expand...
I am unsurprised at the care you are not getting, my experience is just the same. I suspect that the practice nurse isn't up to speed and fits in the Type 2's amongst her other workload.
 
berryr99 said:
I am unsurprised at the care you are not getting, my experience is just the same. I suspect that the practice nurse isn't up to speed and fits in the Type 2's amongst her other workload.
Click to expand...
The practice nurse who oversees the diabetics at the surgery will have had some inhouse training from a hospital DSN who may attend the surgery once a month to help with the more complex cases and certainly at my surgery, the practice nurse has also been trained to manage the asthmatics within the practice and probably a whole range of other conditions that require routine management, so by no means a "specialist" in diabetes but probably has a better general understanding than the GPs and certainly in the case of my own nurse, she had a direct line to the hospital clinic staff for more support if she needed it. There were telephone case conferences with the consultant regarding me in the first few weeks when I was diagnosed. I think I was very lucky and perhaps our hospital clinic encourage this training and support system more than others. My gut feeling is that the consultants foster this collaboration with the practice nurses within their area, but it may depend on both the GP practice freeing up it's staff for training and the consultants promoting good practice and support of them. I am lucky in that my GP practice is very forward thinking but retains old fashioned values and the two consultants at the clinic are both very approachable and highly regarded by the staff who work under them. Not all areas are so lucky.
 
Cobgirl said:
hello everyone. I don't post often but I'd love to know that I am not alone with this.
I've been feeling really tired the last couple of months, spoke to my diabetes nurse (only ever by phone, I can never seem to get a face to face appointment with her, which is one of my frustrations), she said that my B12 is good so that shouldn't be the cause (I have 3 monthly injections of this) and just to keep an eye on it. This is one of my concerns that I don't feel like I'm getting the support I need. Is this just me? how do I go about changing this?
Also, I was told I don't need to test at home, but my dad has been told by his (different to mine) GP/nurse. anyone have any idea why? should I be testing? I'm wondering if my BG is high and if this is causing my tiredness?
I apologise if this is inappropriate to ask but I'm feeling rather out of my depth and alone at the moment. I'm so fed up of being diabetic.
I am type 2 if that helps with any answers.

Thank you for listening,

Sarah xx
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear you are feeling down. On the positive side, your HbA1c 6.6% is only just in the diabetic range - equivalent 49mmol/mol. So the diabetes shouldn't be the cause of your tiredness, I wouldn't have thought. It's easy to think just because you are diabetic that must be the reason, but there are other causes of tiredness. Someone else raised the question of the menopause, which made me wonder what your hormones are doing. May I suggest you push to see a real doctor and ask if the cause of your tiredness can be investigated, if it is not diabetes or vitamin B12.
I think I have a really good GP practise, as they keep on top of appointments. I'm seen by a care assistant who takes blood, does the foot test, and all the other measurements. These are passed to the diabetic nurse who usually phones me to discuss results. I'm called annually to hospital for the eye tests. This year I was actually seen by the nurse - first time since pre-COVID - as I had been ill 3 months ago and my HbA1c had risen a bit. So I think what you describe seems to be standard practice these days. I've always got my support from this Forum, and friends who are also diabetic.
 
trophywench said:
@Cobgirl - what are your female hormones doing right now plus, have you ever had any cheks to see what your Thyroid function is up to? and why are you quoting your HbA1c as a percentage in the UK in this day and age?
Click to expand...
right, my GP surgery still uses % to record, so that is all I know.
I am going to push to see if I can be tested for menopause and thyroid, having spoken to my mum about family history for these things. hopefully I'll get sorted
 
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