Interested to hear what help you got at first diagnosis

[Maca44]

Hi all,
So I am week 2 into confirmation that I have Type 2 and the day I got a TX from my GP they sorted all my meds, got a call from diabetic nurse and BG reading device. I was impressed with the speed of help but then nothing, is this the norm, I just kind of worked things out for myself thanks to this site and a few Google searches. Don't get me wrong, they have given me a diabetes booklet and have referred me to a days course focusing on diet/exercise etc but I just feel a little let down or am I exspecting too much from a strained NHS.

I would be interested what your experience has been from you GP's at first diagnosis.

 

[ColinUK]

I had a GP say “well you’ve been diabetic for years...” and I hasn’t been told anything previously.
An appointment was booked with the Diabetes nurse for two weeks or so after that and I was packed on my way with a prescription for metformin and told to not bother doing anything but taking the tablets. I don’t see that GP anymore.

 

[Maca44]

I had a GP say “well you’ve been diabetic for years...” and I hasn’t been told anything previously.
An appointment was booked with the Diabetes nurse for two weeks or so after that and I was packed on my way with a prescription for metformin and told to not bother doing anything but taking the tablets. I don’t see that GP anymore.

It's not just me then, I was expecting to see my gp face to face to at least tell me what the drugs do but nothing.

 

[pm133]

Hi all,
So I am week 2 into confirmation that I have Type 2 and the day I got a TX from my GP they sorted all my meds, got a call from diabetic nurse and BG reading device. I was impressed with the speed of help but then nothing, is this the norm, I just kind of worked things out for myself thanks to this site and a few Google searches. Don't get me wrong, they have given me a diabetes booklet and have referred me to a days course focusing on diet/exercise etc but I just feel a little let down or am I exspecting too much from a strained NHS.

I would be interested what your experience has been from you GP's at first diagnosis.

When I was diagnosed I had a GP on the phone and the diabetes clinic people kept in touch.
And then after about 2 weeks the DN said she'd call on Friday. That was about 3 months ago and she never called.
Fortunately I'm quite happy to go it alone. I have my prescriptions, my insulin and I know how to carb count and set my insulin doses so that's not been a problem for me. It was a shock to see the support drop so quickly.
In the meantime, I've had appointments by letter to get my eyes tested (which are fine) and a strange letter this week telling me I have a diabetes centre phone call appointment next month but from a different clinic to the one I was diagnosed at.

It's pretty clear to me that this diabetes is my problem to own and to drive forwards and that I just can't rely on anyone to do that for me. I'm quite happy with that but I imagine there must be a lot of people feeling abandoned by this system.

 

[Sharron1]

Hi all,
So I am week 2 into confirmation that I have Type 2 and the day I got a TX from my GP they sorted all my meds, got a call from diabetic nurse and BG reading device. I was impressed with the speed of help but then nothing, is this the norm, I just kind of worked things out for myself thanks to this site and a few Google searches. Don't get me wrong, they have given me a diabetes booklet and have referred me to a days course focusing on diet/exercise etc but I just feel a little let down or am I exspecting too much from a strained NHS.

I would be interested what your experience has been from you GP's at first diagnosis.

Hi, No it's not you. I wasn't allowed a blood test to see if I was diabetic but the GP said I could privately
I went privately and the receptionist explained the result to me. All the help and advice I needed came from this forum. Ask away.

 

[ColinUK]

It's not just me then, I was expecting to see my gp face to face to at least tell me what the drugs do but nothing.

I also did a post on my initial experience at the GP.
To say I was shell shocked is an understatement but this place, and more importantly the people here, really helped me.

Thread 'Bit of a shock'

 

[Maca44]

Thanks all

I guess after the initial shock/worry I just expected more help to get me started but I'm doing ok on my own and getting results already and feeling so much better.

 

[Lucyr]

The only help I was given when diagnosed (12 years ago age 21) was advice to stop putting sugar in my tea. I didn’t drink tea...

 

[What the..?]

Hello Maca44, I was diagnosed about a month ago, and it was rather a shock, as I'd imagine it is for most people - don't underestimate the emotional impact of that. My GP just said - so you've come in because your're diabetic - which knocked me for six. I'd had a blood test, and a receptionist at the clinic had phoned to make an appointment for me, simply saying my bloody sugar was a little high. So I had prepared myself for perhaps being pre-diabetic, but was not prepared for what the GP assumed I already knew. I wasn't at all happy with how that appointment went, as I suggested I could attempt to reverse things by diet and exercise and he was extremely dismissive, just prescribed medication, and sent me off, very shaken. I was given no other information or help until I saw the practice nurse a couple of days ago, which was a month after diagnosis. She was, frankly, not very helpful, it felt like a box-ticking exercise, and I had the strong sense that I knew as much, if not more, about my condition than she did. I knew next to nothing about diabetes, but found this forum as soon as I was diagnosed, and have learnt so much from it. I think it is good to understand your own body, and how you can best handle your diabetes, in your own way. Obviously listen to all the advice, but judge it for yourself, keep informed by reading posts on this forum, and as I've seen often said on here, don't be afraid to ask questions if there's something you aren't sure of. Good luck!

 

[adrian1der]

Hello @Maca44

I was diagnosed in the middle of September. GP phoned me to explain the blood results. he sorted out a visit to the health care assistant for my feet (filament test and pulse) within a couple of weeks and a cholesterol check. The diabetes nurse phoned me at the end of November two and a half months after diagnosis! She arranged a a place on liva - the first consultation happened on Saturday and I had an eye test at the beginning of this week. I also got called in for a flu jab. I'm booked in for my next HbA1c on Wednesday morning and they are going to do a pneumococcal jab at the same time.

I have to say that without Gretchen Becker's book and this forum I would have had virtually no clue as to what to do. A big thank you to everyone here

 

[Maca44]

The only help I was given when diagnosed (12 years ago age 21) was advice to stop putting sugar in my tea. I didn’t drink tea...

That has made me laugh what great advice 🙂

 

[DaveB]

The simple answer is none at first, then Metformin. My first GP, although he was the practice diabetes 'expert', hadn't a clue.

 

[chaoticcar]

Advice from the GP
Eat lots of fruit and vegetables .not melon or mango !!!

 

[Christy]

These responses are actually shocking! I had never heard of blood sugars. Was told face to face in August this year I had diabetes (HbA1c 49) then told to lose weight & be re-tested in 3 months. Didn't even know I was being tested for this. No hints, tips or follow up. No eye/feet check. No specialist nurse. Thankfully came on here & followed dietary/ lifestyle advice and follow up result much improved. No thanks to Primary Care ....

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

Diagnosed January 2019.
Given metformin had an appointment made to take my blood for another hbA1c about six weeks later I think.
Had an appointment to check my eyes and had my feet examined.
All were ok.
I think I was offered an appointment with a nutritional person and also offered a spot in a self-help group. I declined both because I don't do 'peopling' and I was fairly confident I would be able to tackle it on my own as I was once doing a medical degree (dentistry but the first year was near enough the same as the medics and dentistry covered quite a lot about digestion and carbs etc) and so felt capable of finding the information I needed online.
I think my GP surgery is pretty good. I wasn't offered a monitor but as I progressed with my successful attempts to regulate my condition by diet only I asked for one and I had an appointment with the practice GP who was the diabetes specialist and he was very pleased with how I was doing and agreed a monitor would help me make more informed choices going forward.
At first the nurse who was the diabetic nurse was dubious about keto, but the GP specialist was all for it and then we got a new diabetic nurse and she was fully on board with keto too. I haven't seen anyone since just before Covid kicked off. I was about to have a hbA1c test done and I am pretty certain it would have been/is in the 30s range now.

 

[trophywench]

The internet hadn't been invented when I was diagnosed and nobody had written a book in plain readable understandable English either.

First piece of 'advice' I received was from an elderly woman who shuffled down the Ward in an old pair of 'granny' lace-ups which even my mother wouldn't have been seen dead in, wearing an equally elderly and very faded overall (well, at least that meant it had been washed lots of times I spose) similar to what the cleaners wore (cos floors were cleaned and polished every 2 days) bearing leaflets, plonked herself down in the chair by my bed and pulled the curtain so that Brenda in the next bed couldn't hear her properly without straining her lugholes - and immediately said on noticing my birth control pills just inside the open part of my bedside locker 'You'll have to give up taking them now, won't you!'

I begged her pardon so she repeated it. I asked 'Why? - does that cure diabetes then?' - knowing 110% it didn't. Oh well, some people believe the pill might cause it! So what if it did, if packing them up doesn't cure it again, why the hell would I want to stop taking them if I don't want to get pregnant - which I don't! So are refusing to stop taking them? Yes I am. Sharp intake of breath - I'm going to have to report this to the Professor!! and left.

As Brenda and I both agreed 2 minutes later - there were no reasons or explanations given and we still didn't know either who the hell she was nor this Professor person - hence no way was I going to agree with her.

Next thing of note was on the Monday morning when a right gang came through the double doors from the corridor the other end of the Ward, and Brenda and I thought the oldest man looked like he might be a consultant and all the others (young men) looked like they could be medical students. This was a bit odd - Kidderminster General was never a teaching hospital in the first place. Ever. Anyway after the older chap had stuck his head round the door to the Sister's office, the gang processed along the central aisle and all stopped at the foot of my bed. Oldest bloke said in a loud voice to me 'I'm looking for a young lady with a mind of her own - would that be you?' to which I grinned and replied 'It might be - who wants to know?' and thus began my relationship with Prof M. He was a teaching Prof at Birmingham University Medical School at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and lived in rural Worcestershire - in fact his son was a GP in Bewdley. As he was reducing his workload getting towards retirement, he had arranged to do an OP Diabetes clinic at KGH on Mondays as it saved him the hassle of trecking into Brum on Mondays and thus made his weekends a bit longer. These were trainee Drs, doing their rotational stint in diabetes who he'd dragged over to Kiddy for the morning for a change for them - coming in the opposite direction in the rush hour, was comparatively easy peasy.

Anyway - he had NP whatsoever really with me staying on the pill. Ironic really, as I only discovered many years later because it was diabetologists at that teaching hospital in Brum, who had brought about the very first live births for diabetic mums in the UK in the early 1950s - when the Prof would have been 20 years younger and in his prime working there! They admitted them to hospital as soon as preg confirmed - so that would be approx 3 months back then - and kept em there until after safe delivery - so not an easy option for the families whatsoever.

Just as well we had to be so strict with everything really - at least the instructions were simple - and you were always rewarded by suffering in some way if you didn't stick to being strict with yourself.

Things really have changed for the better haven't they?

 

[SweetGuy]

At least my GP behaved as though it was a some big deal. I am dismayed to hear how some people a treated. I was slightly relieved that it was not something that was going to kill me in the near future lol.

 

[Mark C]

I got very little advice in August at diagnosis. Given my metformin and told to eat more fruit and veg and change all my usual carbs to whole grain. Was given a leaflet produced by the British Heart Foundation, probably no more than a 150 words in total and sent on my way. I was told that there wasn't any point in testing my own blood glucose as I couldn't get hypo from metformin.

Two or three days later I found this forum, folk literally explained what diabetes was and gave the first real advice on the management of the condition. The advice from the experienced hands on here was invaluable.

 

[ColinUK]

I was also told not to bother trying to lose weight and to just “shut up and take the medication”.

 

[Iwillgetthere]

Following a set of investigational blood tests for pains predominantly in my legs and feet I was diagnosed by telephone conversation with a locum Dr. They said I had diabetes and if I felt bad just to go to hospital and to start taking Metformin immediately. They made an appointment for the DN to ring 3 weeks later and that was it. No further help or support, not a mention of diet change, not of the pains that has first brought me to seek out help.
Luckily for me I found this forum and was even luckier that there are some amazing people on it who are so happy to share their stories and wisdom.
Being Pro active in your treatment is the way forward. I have ditched the Metformin and am following low carb diet (less than 40g per day).
I have recently completed an online diabetes education course where we were all told that grapes, bananas and mangoes are fine to eat along with your pasta, rice and porridge.
I know that there are those that can tolerate these things but it is disheartening to know that this is out of date thinking. One gent was told he was fine to carry on with honey in his tea and on his breakfast cereal.
These are people who put their trust in the health professionals to tell them the right way forward. These are people that will find their diabetic journey difficult and perhaps fruitless. I hope not