Pleased to be a new member.
I was diagnosed with type 2 in Feb 2018 and it's now suspected that I am a 'late onset type 1'. After 2 years I am on an insulin regimen, which I'm happy with and which seems successful. My first year, however, was horrendous!
After a routine blood test at my GP in early 2018, I received a letter saying that she had made an appointment for me to see a diabetic nurse two weeks later. There was no explanation: I wasn't asked to see the GP again and I was left to suspect that I had been diagnosed with diabetes. In the meantime, I did a blood sugar test one evening (using my adult son's testing kit) and my b/s was 21.
I kept the appointment with the nurse and was told that I had type 2 and prescribed metformin (1 tablet daily). I was promised a meeting with a dietician.
My adult son has been type 1 since the age of 4 and so I knew a little about the condition and its control, and so I invested in a test kit. My b/s were pretty consistent: 15 in the morning and 21 at night, and the metformin seemed not to help at all. Three months passed and I'd heard nothing - nothing from the nurse and no appointment with the dietician. I had to visit a GP to get a repeat prescription for metformin and I told him that I was checking my own blood glucose and they were consistently high. He said that type 2 diabetics 'don't need to check their own blood glucose' and he advised me to take an additional metformin. I repeated that I was testing daily and was very concerned that my b/s were high. I felt as if was 'rocking the boat'.
After 4 months I had an appointment for minor surgery cancelled as an HbA1c (which the surgical clinic took) came back at 91.
At the 6 month point, I'd still heard no more. I phoned for an appointment with the diabetic nurse and was told that there no longer was one. I mentioned that I still hadn't seen a dietician and my request was noted. In the meantime 2 metformin daily were having no effect: my bs were still 15 and 21, so I increased myself to 3 tablets.
After 9 months, I felt as if I'd been abandoned. My b/s were still 15 -21 but, at last, I had a meeting with a dietician and through that meeting arranged to see another diabetic nurse. Yet again, I protested that I was testing my b/s daily and they were high and had been for 9 months. She seemed blinkered and confirmed that, as a type 2 , I should not be testing my own b/s and that they relied on the HbA1c (which, incidentally was then 84). I told her that I frequently felt unwell and I was starving myself of carbohydrate in a desperate attempt to bring down my b/s. I asked to go onto insulin, but she declined, saying that they used insulin 'as a last resort', and increased my metformin to 4 daily saying that she'd see me in 3 months.
At the one year point, in Feb 2019, I was on holiday in the Philippines. In one year I had lost 26lbs in weight and was underweight for my height. Feeling quite ill one day, my wife and I walked into a local hospital, where I was lucky enough to see a private diabetologist. I told him my tale of woe and a blood test revealed an HbA1c of 11.5%. He was surprised that I'd been left with high b/s for 1 year by Britain's NHS and recommended that I immediately went on to 10 units of long acting insulin daily.
On the second day, I felt better than I had for one year. He gave me a letter for my GP and I was able to continue with the long acting after my return to UK. There then seemed to be an air of embarrassment at my lack of support here, and an appointment was made for me to attend a diabetic clinic at a hospital local to my home. The specialist there seems to think that I'm a late onset type 1 and I'm now on the long acting insulin at night, with quick acting 3 times daily and my b/s are all in single figures. I've regained 1 stone in weight, to a healthy weight and I'm feeling great.
Sorry to drag on, but I feel particularly angry at the system here that adopts a very blinkered approach to newly diagnosed diabetics: deliberately ignoring consistently high b/s readings, because they don't encourage type 2 diabetics to test. I felt that the writing had been on the wall after 3 to 6 months and I see no reason why insulin could not have been utilized much sooner. However, all's well that ends well!
I was diagnosed with type 2 in Feb 2018 and it's now suspected that I am a 'late onset type 1'. After 2 years I am on an insulin regimen, which I'm happy with and which seems successful. My first year, however, was horrendous!
After a routine blood test at my GP in early 2018, I received a letter saying that she had made an appointment for me to see a diabetic nurse two weeks later. There was no explanation: I wasn't asked to see the GP again and I was left to suspect that I had been diagnosed with diabetes. In the meantime, I did a blood sugar test one evening (using my adult son's testing kit) and my b/s was 21.
I kept the appointment with the nurse and was told that I had type 2 and prescribed metformin (1 tablet daily). I was promised a meeting with a dietician.
My adult son has been type 1 since the age of 4 and so I knew a little about the condition and its control, and so I invested in a test kit. My b/s were pretty consistent: 15 in the morning and 21 at night, and the metformin seemed not to help at all. Three months passed and I'd heard nothing - nothing from the nurse and no appointment with the dietician. I had to visit a GP to get a repeat prescription for metformin and I told him that I was checking my own blood glucose and they were consistently high. He said that type 2 diabetics 'don't need to check their own blood glucose' and he advised me to take an additional metformin. I repeated that I was testing daily and was very concerned that my b/s were high. I felt as if was 'rocking the boat'.
After 4 months I had an appointment for minor surgery cancelled as an HbA1c (which the surgical clinic took) came back at 91.
At the 6 month point, I'd still heard no more. I phoned for an appointment with the diabetic nurse and was told that there no longer was one. I mentioned that I still hadn't seen a dietician and my request was noted. In the meantime 2 metformin daily were having no effect: my bs were still 15 and 21, so I increased myself to 3 tablets.
After 9 months, I felt as if I'd been abandoned. My b/s were still 15 -21 but, at last, I had a meeting with a dietician and through that meeting arranged to see another diabetic nurse. Yet again, I protested that I was testing my b/s daily and they were high and had been for 9 months. She seemed blinkered and confirmed that, as a type 2 , I should not be testing my own b/s and that they relied on the HbA1c (which, incidentally was then 84). I told her that I frequently felt unwell and I was starving myself of carbohydrate in a desperate attempt to bring down my b/s. I asked to go onto insulin, but she declined, saying that they used insulin 'as a last resort', and increased my metformin to 4 daily saying that she'd see me in 3 months.
At the one year point, in Feb 2019, I was on holiday in the Philippines. In one year I had lost 26lbs in weight and was underweight for my height. Feeling quite ill one day, my wife and I walked into a local hospital, where I was lucky enough to see a private diabetologist. I told him my tale of woe and a blood test revealed an HbA1c of 11.5%. He was surprised that I'd been left with high b/s for 1 year by Britain's NHS and recommended that I immediately went on to 10 units of long acting insulin daily.
On the second day, I felt better than I had for one year. He gave me a letter for my GP and I was able to continue with the long acting after my return to UK. There then seemed to be an air of embarrassment at my lack of support here, and an appointment was made for me to attend a diabetic clinic at a hospital local to my home. The specialist there seems to think that I'm a late onset type 1 and I'm now on the long acting insulin at night, with quick acting 3 times daily and my b/s are all in single figures. I've regained 1 stone in weight, to a healthy weight and I'm feeling great.
Sorry to drag on, but I feel particularly angry at the system here that adopts a very blinkered approach to newly diagnosed diabetics: deliberately ignoring consistently high b/s readings, because they don't encourage type 2 diabetics to test. I felt that the writing had been on the wall after 3 to 6 months and I see no reason why insulin could not have been utilized much sooner. However, all's well that ends well!
