Considering seeing the DSN

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SilentAssassin1642

SilentAssassin1642

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Tomorrow I'm going to phone the DSN - she's probably fed up of hearing from me by now. But I really think itd be good for me to go and talk to someone. My sugars have been bouncing all over the place today, I'm trying so hard to get the doses right and its just not working. Whatever I do, it's either low or high, there's nothing I can seem to do. I'm wondering if its my lantus affecting me, whether I should change the doses of that or even go on a new insulin?! I think it would be good to talk to her and tell her that its really getting me down. But I don't want just a phone call, which is all she seems to do! I want to be able to go in and see her, discuss things.

But to be honest with you, I don't think that will happen...the health care in this town is awful. They've done nothing but mess me around for the past 3 years and I'm fed up of it. Do I tell her this or do I just tell her I'm worried and the issues I'm having? I'm just really fed up of dealing with this on my own.
 
Hi Sam, is there no chance you could ask to be referred to the RHS clinic in Southampton? It's only a short train journey away, and they really are excellent.

If not, then definitely ask for an appointment rather than a phone call - it's so much more natural I think when you can talk face-to-face with someone rather than over the phone.

Liked your blog BTW - goodness, what an introduction you had to diabetes!😱
 
Go see her or him!!

I put it off for ages when I had issues a few months ago, and I phoned up eventually and couldn't get through but managed to leave a message saying I wanted to make an appointment, it's tomorrow, not exactly sure what to ask but I have a list of quesions, I guess it's just good to talk/ramble sometimes.

Good luck
 
salmonpuff said:
Tomorrow I'm going to phone the DSN - she's probably fed up of hearing from me by now. But I really think itd be good for me to go and talk to someone. My sugars have been bouncing all over the place today, I'm trying so hard to get the doses right and its just not working. Whatever I do, it's either low or high, there's nothing I can seem to do. I'm wondering if its my lantus affecting me, whether I should change the doses of that or even go on a new insulin?! I think it would be good to talk to her and tell her that its really getting me down. But I don't want just a phone call, which is all she seems to do! I want to be able to go in and see her, discuss things.

But to be honest with you, I don't think that will happen...the health care in this town is awful. They've done nothing but mess me around for the past 3 years and I'm fed up of it. Do I tell her this or do I just tell her I'm worried and the issues I'm having? I'm just really fed up of dealing with this on my own.
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Yes absolutely tell her. You are entitled to good care and if you feel let down by the system in your area, tell her. I would say you are thinking about a referral to Southampton as you know they have an excellent service there. You don't have to be thinking about that but by saying it you are making it clear to her that you know you are getting a bad deal and you want more and better care. You should be given a psychologist to see, its all part of the team, bet you've not seen one have you? Wonder if they have one, they should have and it should be offered to you at least once a year at the annual review. Do you have an annual review? Lots of places don't and all of them should. It should include feet, eyes, psychologist, bloods etc etc. You tell her. Don't be shy, its your health and its your life, its not hers. She gets paid to look after you, make sure she does that, if not go somewhere else. We are all here to help you and guide you though the thick of it when needed.

Good luck
 
Go see the nurse, it is better talking face to face. Tell him or her how you feel and see what happens.

Also is there a support group near you? If there is and you can join, it might help you feel less isolated. It is hard trying to do things when you feel you're doing it on your own.
 
Hi Sam,

Cant really add anything other than what has already been said. But please make an appointment to see your DSN.

Good Luck, please keep us posted how this goes

Heidi
xx🙂
 
hey puff yes please go along make appt asap ,, good luck and keep us posted hun x
 
Hi, Hugs for you.. go see her, if she is no help you can look into other options. You should have been offered councelling i think.

Julie x
 
Agree with everyone else, ask her for an appointment so you can go through things. It will be easier for her to look through your results face to face and see the patterns.
Find out if they have a psychologist avaliable, i know my clinic does and was offered to see them but declined. There might be one or it might be through general mental health services. Good luck
 
Adrienne said:
Yes absolutely tell her. You should be given a psychologist to see, its all part of the team, bet you've not seen one have you? Wonder if they have one, they should have and it should be offered to you at least once a year at the annual review.
Good luck
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I didn't realise that?! No one has ever mentioned a psychologist to me, even when I had PND?! Oh well...

Just one thought Salmonpuff, how are your injection sites? Ages ago I had a bit of an issue with varying insulin absorption from different areas because I hadn't moved site much & had got raised areas that were nice & comfy to inject in 😛 but in hindsight mucked up my insulin absorption - high some days, hypo others! Just something else to rule out!

As everyone else has said, do see your DSN, you deserve good care!

Hoping things stabilise for you soon,

T.
 
Hi everyone, am just sat in the unilibrary waiting for the oh to get back from picking his work up. Just back from the dsn

I mentioned the issues I'm having and she has said carb counting is the way to go. I said that Ive been trying out the basics on my own, she thought it was a good idea but reckons maybe ive been injecting too much.

SO

she said to lower my lantus at bedtime to 14units and have a baseline for my novorapid at 5-6units. Because when she pointed out the patterns in my log book, I have indeed been injecting too much insulin 😱 what a dummy eh?

So I'll try that tonight and see what happens.

I also mentoned the issues I've been having with the consultant and she was a bit surprised because apparently he's supposed to be a nice bloke. Ha, as if. And I told her under no uncertain circumstances would I go back to that clinic. I mentioned a transfer to southampton, and she turned her nose up, said I should be careful and do my homework to make sure I went to the right hospital there as one of them is apparently awful.

I'll write all of this in my blog later i think. But I didn't mention my nueropathy fears because quite frankly I am being paranoid, but I did mention that its been getting me down lately - she didn't seem too bothered at all.......seems as if the standard of care is indeed rather bad here.

She was very clinical and very cold which put me off a bit. But in her own way she was nice enough I guess. She's referred me to a dietician to start me carb counting properly, and gave me a special diet sheet which I have to fill in to show the dietician when I go. She also suggested BDEC or whatever it is, and also gave me a photocopy of a carb counting artucle from DUK.

Wow, essay much? 😱 :D
 
so apart from being referred to a dietician she was useless?. I thought nursing was a CARING profession!

Have a think about Southampton. Chin up

Julie x
 
What I'd suggest would be to get yourself on a a carb counting course. Even though I've only been doing this for little over four days now the benefits of it are begining to show through. I've had pretty much all of my tea time bloods below ten whereas before I started to get the hang of this thing they were all routinely above ten. It does take time to get the hang of and i'm learning that and probably learning it the hard way. Then again the results are worth the effort. For me it's also the first step to getting a pump as my PCT states that I have to count carbohydrates to get a pump.

Tom H
 
Sounds like actually there was some pretty positive stuff that came out of your meeting. She said that carb counting was the way to go and thought it was good that you had started leaning yourself. She has refered you to a dietician, they are usually great at teaching carb counting and given you resources and pointed you to a very good resource that we often recommened here, the Bournemouth site.
She looked at your numbers and saw some patterns and advised you of some changes to insulin doses to try.

What I find interesting is how we feel about the encounters and relationships and that it seems to be even more important than how knowledgeable or clinically good the professional is. I've had consultants I hated and refused to go back to see as they made me feel so bad so can understand you not wanting to see particulars ones again. I have now found one that I really like and also respect her knowledge and feel she respects my choices. Is there any other consultants that you can see at your clinic?
 
Salmonpuff, the Royal South Hants diabetic clinic in Southampton is where I attend. I can't really speak for the resident consultant there, as I have yet to meet her (I think it's a 'her'!), but the DSNs are top notch!:D
 
Hi Sam...

Some of what your DSN said was quite positive..as Nikki said.

But I get the feeling, by what you have said that you feel very up supported, let down, and are scared to mention things about yourself or diabetes related, that you are worried about. This is deffinately not how you should feel..If transferring to a different hospital ensures you will have better care, etc. Go for it..and dont give up..:D

Heidi
x🙂
 
Northerner said:
Salmonpuff, the Royal South Hants diabetic clinic in Southampton is where I attend. I can't really speak for the resident consultant there, as I have yet to meet her (I think it's a 'her'!), but the DSNs are top notch!:D
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really?! I see the consultant every 4-6 months and only see a DSN if I want to.
 
Just a little point to Salmon and all.

It's in the patient or hospital/nhs charter that we can go wherever we want for our hospital quack/dsn, I aked today as I'm trying to move house and was enquiring what to do, nursey said do nothing stay with us, then when you're settled have a look to see what your new area is like in terms of Diabetes care.
 
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