Just diagnosed and not entirely impressed with GP surgery

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Sherrin

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I have just been diagnosed with type 2 and had my first appointment with the 'diabetes nurse' last Friday, all she did was hand me three leaflets and tell me what I had been referred for (foot check etc). She didn't check my weight, blood pressure or anything, I was in and out in ten minutes. From what I have read on this site and discussions with a good friend who has been type 2 for years this doesn't seem right. I would be interested to hear what everyone thinks, Thanks 🙂
 
I have just been diagnosed with type 2 and had my first appointment with the 'diabetes nurse' last Friday, all she did was hand me three leaflets and tell me what I had been referred for (foot check etc). She didn't check my weight, blood pressure or anything, I was in and out in ten minutes. From what I have read on this site and discussions with a good friend who has been type 2 for years this doesn't seem right. I would be interested to hear what everyone thinks, Thanks 🙂
Hi Sherrin. Your friends is right. Things should be different, but your experience, sadly, is not altogether uncommon.

At my own diagnosis, my GP told me not to ask any questions as he had a lot to get through in 10 minutes. I still reckon, almost 10 years on, that he was lucky to live.

My very best advice to you would be to own your diagnosis (you don't need to love it to own it), and educate yourself into what you need to do. First purchase, again, in my opinion, would be a blood testing kit. That way you can begin to understand what's happening to your body day to day, and often meal by meal.

T2 isn't necessarily a slippery slope. I was diagnosed almost 10 years ago, but have been in remission for over 9, living a great life, without diabetes medication or complications. Some reckon they are much healthier, knowing they have T2 and being able to take steps to live healthily.

That you are concerned and questioning suggests to me , you will be fine.
 
She didn't check my weight, blood pressure or anything
These measurements are done at home or in the surgery by yourself at my practice and you just drop the numbers in. There’s a scale and a BP monitor available for use. They don’t find BP readings that accurate when taken in appointments. Is it the same as yours? If you wanted weighing and don’t own scales you could ask at reception?
 
Fantastic advice ^^

Yes, do your own research. Don’t expect your GP or nurse to provide you with everything because they won’t. My GP was really good and I was also offered an XPERT course which was also excellent but I’ve learnt a MASSIVE amount from this forum and wouldn’t be without it.

Finger prick testing was invaluable to me when first diagnosed to understand where my baseline BG was at before food and what foods I could tolerate that didn’t send it stratospheric!! My GP gave me a Contour Blue+ which I can recommend but there are others.

I’ve followed a low carb approach and it has worked really well. My blood results are down, weight is also down and it’s had the added bonus of being good for my tummy issues. Don’t panic, take time to process your diagnosis then work on a plan. It does get easier.
 
Hi Sherrin. Your friends is right. Things should be different, but your experience, sadly, is not altogether uncommon.

At my own diagnosis, my GP told me not to ask any questions as he had a lot to get through in 10 minutes. I still reckon, almost 10 years on, that he was lucky to live.

My very best advice to you would be to own your diagnosis (you don't need to love it to own it), and educate yourself into what you need to do. First purchase, again, in my opinion, would be a blood testing kit. That way you can begin to understand what's happening to your body day to day, and often meal by meal.

T2 isn't necessarily a slippery slope. I was diagnosed almost 10 years ago, but have been in remission for over 9, living a great life, without diabetes medication or complications. Some reckon they are much healthier, knowing they have T2 and being able to take steps to live healthily.

That you are concerned and questioning suggests to me , you will be fine.
Thanks, I have already bought a blood glucose monitor but when I said this as I was leaving she tried to say that I shouldn't check my own as I would damage my fingers which struck me as a very silly thing to say as those who are insulin dependent have to check
 
These measurements are done at home or in the surgery by yourself at my practice and you just drop the numbers in. There’s a scale and a BP monitor available for use. They don’t find BP readings that accurate when taken in appointments. Is it the same as yours? If you wanted weighing and don’t own scales you could ask at reception?
It's not like that at my surgery so I think I am just going to have to monitor myself
 
Fantastic advice ^^

Yes, do your own research. Don’t expect your GP or nurse to provide you with everything because they won’t. My GP was really good and I was also offered an XPERT course which was also excellent but I’ve learnt a MASSIVE amount from this forum and wouldn’t be without it.

Finger prick testing was invaluable to me when first diagnosed to understand where my baseline BG was at before food and what foods I could tolerate that didn’t send it stratospheric!! My GP gave me a Contour Blue+ which I can recommend but there are others.

I’ve followed a low carb approach and it has worked really well. My blood results are down, weight is also down and it’s had the added bonus of being good for my tummy issues. Don’t panic, take time to process your diagnosis then work on a plan. It does get easier.
Thanks, I have been referred for the MyDesmond course so I will be doing that
 
Thanks, I have been referred for the MyDesmond course so I will be doing that
Reducing your blood glucose is all about reducing carbohydrates and the MyDesmond course which I did on line during lockdown follows traditional NHS guide lines which I found too carb heavy as I had already embarked on a low carbohydrate approach following the principals in this link https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/.
If you look at that it may prompt you with questions for your course if face to face. The most valuable tool was a blood glucose monitor and I established what foods and meals I could tolerate by testing before eating and after 2 hours and if the increase was more than 2-3mmol/l then something had to go or portion reduced.
Once you have established what is OK then you can reduce the testing and only test new stuff.
The other useful resource was the book Carbs and Cals (there is also an app) which was and still is my bible.

Did your doctor tell you what your HbA1B was as that will indicate where your starting point is and how much work you need to do. It doesn't sound as if you were prescribed any medication so hopefully you are not too far into the diabetic zone.
 
Reducing your blood glucose is all about reducing carbohydrates and the MyDesmond course which I did on line during lockdown follows traditional NHS guide lines which I found too carb heavy as I had already embarked on a low carbohydrate approach following the principals in this link https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/.
If you look at that it may prompt you with questions for your course if face to face. The most valuable tool was a blood glucose monitor and I established what foods and meals I could tolerate by testing before eating and after 2 hours and if the increase was more than 2-3mmol/l then something had to go or portion reduced.
Once you have established what is OK then you can reduce the testing and only test new stuff.
The other useful resource was the book Carbs and Cals (there is also an app) which was and still is my bible.

Did your doctor tell you what your HbA1B was as that will indicate where your starting point is and how much work you need to do. It doesn't sound as if you were prescribed any medication so hopefully you are not too far into the diabetic zone.
it was 50 on the first test and 48 on the second, they have put me on Metformin and a statin. I had no symptoms and the high reading was picked up in blood tests for something else
 
it was 50 on the first test and 48 on the second, they have put me on Metformin and a statin. I had no symptoms and the high reading was picked up in blood tests for something else
It is a pity that they have not given you a 3 month period in which to address your HbA1C which is just over the diagnostic level of over 47mmol/mol as dietary changes are going to need to be made anyway and can be equally if not more powerful.
They must think your cholesterol is higher that they like if in an 'at risk' category, they seem to like it to be 4 or below.
Just to say I reduced my HbA1C from 50mmol/mol to 42 in 3 months with no medication foloowing the low carb regime which I still do, it is my new way of eating and 2 years on It is 39mmol/mol.
 
it was 50 on the first test and 48 on the second, they have put me on Metformin and a statin. I had no symptoms and the high reading was picked up in blood tests for something else

That's only just into the diabetic range. I'm not sure you'd get any symptoms there. They start at much higher hba1c.
Good that it's been caught early!

My own surgery has been useless.
 
I have just been diagnosed with type 2 and had my first appointment with the 'diabetes nurse' last Friday, all she did was hand me three leaflets and tell me what I had been referred for (foot check etc). She didn't check my weight, blood pressure or anything, I was in and out in ten minutes. From what I have read on this site and discussions with a good friend who has been type 2 for years this doesn't seem right. I would be interested to hear what everyone thinks, Thanks 🙂
Diabetes UK used to publish a list of 15 tests a T2 should have at least annually. But Type 2s are poor relations all too often as far as the NHS is concerned, fobbed off with the Practice Nurse.
 
I have just been diagnosed with type 2 and had my first appointment with the 'diabetes nurse' last Friday, all she did was hand me three leaflets and tell me what I had been referred for (foot check etc). She didn't check my weight, blood pressure or anything, I was in and out in ten minutes. From what I have read on this site and discussions with a good friend who has been type 2 for years this doesn't seem right. I would be interested to hear what everyone thinks, Thanks 🙂
Hi I was diagnosed about a year ago and everything you say is what was said to me to they don't explain nothing and I've told them several times what should I do but they don't seem to no so your on your own good thing we have Google but not so good if u still don't understand
 
Thanks, I have already bought a blood glucose monitor but when I said this as I was leaving she tried to say that I shouldn't check my own as I would damage my fingers which struck me as a very silly thing to say as those who are insulin dependent have to check
Bonkers, isn't it?

My own nurse told me not to test because I wouldn't understand the results. We had never met before that day. She had no idea of my background or education. I mean, big number = bad news, smaller number = better news. It really isn't rocket science.

My father developed diabetes, as a result of some medication he had to take to extend his life, and tested his blood sugars, so I fully understood the benefits.

You'll do fine.

Edited to strike through a question someone has already given you a steer on.
Do you have an idea of when to test, for best bang for your buck (in terms of costs)?
 
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I have just been diagnosed with type 2 and had my first appointment with the 'diabetes nurse' last Friday, all she did was hand me three leaflets and tell me what I had been referred for (foot check etc). She didn't check my weight, blood pressure or anything, I was in and out in ten minutes. From what I have read on this site and discussions with a good friend who has been type 2 for years this doesn't seem right. I would be interested to hear what everyone thinks, Thanks 🙂
Hi Sherrie, I was diagnosed a few weeks ago with HbA1c of 81.
I have had 2 appointments with GP surgery nurse, she told me that she needs about 45min with each newly diagnosed patient. I probably got 2 x 20 mins, a BG monitor (Accu-Chek instant) and a referral for an eye test at the end of June. I had a telephone consultation with the GP who put me on 500mg metformin, 3 times a day. I am also in the process of filling in a form for Desmond.
I was asked to speak to the GP surgery pharmacist about going on statins as I am classed as high risk of CVD due to age (56), family history etc. I haven’t received the prescription for these yet and I am slightly reluctant. I can’t really complain about the treatment as I know they are under pressure. There are lots of people on here to give good advice as I am also finding out a lot about this condition.
Our GP surgery has a machine that checks your weight, height and blood pressure in the waiting room. As you don’t have too far to go to bring it back to normal level, you may only need a couple of dietary changes.
 
Diabetes UK used to publish a list of 15 tests a T2 should have at least annually.

I think this is the list you are remembering @Burylancs ?


There’s also this guide to what sort of care to expect, and hints on how to make the most of your appointments @Sherrin

 
I think this is the list you are remembering @Burylancs ?


There’s also this guide to what sort of care to expect, and hints on how to make the most of your appointments @Sherrin

Thanks. Not hear much about the annual diabetic MOT nowadays.
 
Thanks. Not hear much about the annual diabetic MOT nowadays.
Do you not still get invited?

I have 2 supposedly annual appointment that I’ve tried to space 6 months apart for years - a toe tickle, weight, BP and general 30,000 jab service at the GP… and then a pump clinic at the hospital.

They always seem to drift in timings so that they get to be only a few weeks apart - but I generally do get them each year.

Maybe you should chase your surgery up?
 
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