Help please with gold score

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Dralina

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Type 1
Has anyone had a gold score above 4? I'm a bit confused as I've had a letter sent to my gp saying hospital has approved funding for cgm as gold score above 4.....I read what this meant and seems suggest I'm hypo unaware....which I'm not! The only thing I can think of is I put at the bottom that I have a fear of hypos and get anxeity over it. Alot! I'm concerned that my gp will think I'm hypo unaware and can't drive! I suppose what am asking is does this score suggest I'm hypo unawre or have they given me the score due to fear of hypo????? Anyone know much about this? Sat here stressed that my licence will be taken off me when there is no need for it to be! Never had a severe hypo ever ie needing help Andrea
 
Hope someone can help,but I have never heard it mentioned on the forum before.
 
grovesy said:
Hope someone can help,but I have never heard it mentioned on the forum before.
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I had 'GOLD score 1' on one of my letters from the hospital last year, after I’d had a telephone review. This was after I’d been prescribed the Libre. I'd not heard of it before, but the doctor did ask me how I felt a hypo coming on. I’ve just had a Google, and come up with the fact that it seems to go from 1-7 and is concerned with how well you detect hypos, so awareness, rather than how you feel about them.
 
Robin said:
I had 'GOLD score 1' on one of my letters from the hospital last year, after I’d had a telephone review. This was after I’d been prescribed the Libre. I'd not heard of it before, but the doctor did ask me how I felt a hypo coming on. I’ve just had a Google, and come up with the fact that it seems to go from 1-7 and is concerned with how well you detect hypos, so awareness, rather than how you feel about them.
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This is what concerns me......I get 2arning symptoms and don't understand why they gave a score of over 4
 
I had never heard of the "GOLD" score. Just checked my last letter from Consultant and nothing mentioned other than that I have "good hypo awareness".
If you are not happy about it and believe you have been wrongly scored then I think you need to challenge it when you next have an appointment and ask them to explain why you have been scored at 4 and get it amended if it is incorrect or discuss ways to improve it if they have good reasons, but sounds like an error to me and one that definitely needs correcting due as you say to the potential implications for your driving licence.
 

Awareness of hypoglycemia is commonly measured using one of two scales, both developed in the 1990s. The Gold score13 asks one question, in which the person with diabetes rates on a linear scale the degree to which they know when a hypoglycemic episode is commencing (1 = always aware, 7 = never aware).
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Pumper_Sue said:
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Hi yeah this is what I've read. I think the diabetes panel have definitely made a mistake or interpreted my answers in a different manner.........if there was a scale I would have put 1. They have called it the gold score yet the questionnaire I filled out was called clarke/edniburgh......it had some questions at the bottom which you circle the extent you feel them.......I've just realise I've circled them as if how much I hate the symptoms.......they did make me full it out in a rush......I will be making a complaint if this makes me.lose my licence when there is no need to!
 
The Gold and Clarke scores are established and validated ways for HCPs to try to work out where you are on a spectrum of hypoglycaemia awareness.

A score of 4 doesn’t mean you are completely aware, it’s the point at which you have some impairment to hypoglycaemia awareness. It is possible to continue to drive with some impairment, depending on the extent and level to which your symptoms may sometimes be delayed or weakened (eg do you get clanging signals every time you gently drift to 3.9, or does it sometimes take until 3.5 or 3.6 for your warning signs to become clear). Other questionnaires may ask at what level BG you always feel symptoms.

The DVLA sets the bar at 4.0 (four is the floor, and five to drive), and awareness is usually scored accordingly - even though it’s quite possible for non-Ds to have a busy, frantic day, skip lunch, rush to their car and set off feeling hungry and a bit hangry with their BG at 3.8. No one would worry, because their functioning metabolism is going to sort that out, and they don’t have medication on board that can push their BG lower still.

Might be worth having a chat about it with your GP, to check that the scoring that has been recorded accurately reflects your current awareness. Do you sometimes get surprised by occasional 3.8s on your meter that you hadn’t felt coming?
 
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Thanks for this. I'm so anxious about it all. I've messaged my nurse explaining that I've stupidly filled out the scores at the bottom on the basis of how much I hate the symptoms rather than the extent they show. I feel stupid. It was done in such a rush as she forgot to send me the form ans needed it to go to panel ASAP.......the reason she was putting me.forward was for extreme anxeity at the thought of having having a hypo and the the fact that my background insulin had to be changed alot due to hormones........I really hope they realise what has happened. I would rather they not give me the fu ding and give it to someone who does have reduced awareness.....I thi k my mind d set was thinking about how much I hate the symptoms rather that the extent they show
 
Also I presume the letter would have said not to drive if they deemed it serious? ......it didn't....
 
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