My experience at GPs today

[cazscot]

Got a phonecall this morming to say practice nurse was off sick again (last 2 appointments cancelled as well). So asked to see a doc (havent seen the doc before about my diabetes).

Doc was great. I went over a few concerns I had with her and she took the time to sit and listen to me. I was a wee bit concered about my cholesterol rising slightly (see other thread) but she said and I quote "there is no need for you to go on statins at the moment, the less tablets you need to take to manage your diabetes the better, we will review it in 6 months" you could have knocked me over with a feather . I thought she would insist on me going on statins! She also reminded me that this is not my fault I have not caused it, and that I have a predisposition to it with other family members being T2 as well. I was also praised on my weight loss. The only issue was since my HbA1c is good she said there was no need for me to be testing, but I have enough strips left from the ones I bought on ebay so will tackle that another time...

I know a lot of you out there have dreadful experiences with your care but I just wanted to let you know about mine, as I came out of the surgery feeling a lot better (emotionally) than when I went in 🙂

 

[RWJ]

Excellent Caz, pleased to hear you have good care. I'm in Fife and they are excellent as well. Relax and enjoy the moment

 

[Northerner]

That's great to hear Caz! A doctor who listens! And doesn't insist on filling you full of drugs! Blimey😱 A lot of doctors insist that you have to get your chol. below 4.0 if you're diabetic (for which I believe they receive an 'incentive' payment). Make records of your test strip usage so you have some ammunition to get them prescribed next time. Even if they only give you one box a month, that's money saved.🙂

 

[C*5_Dodger]

I know a lot of you out there have dreadful experiences with your care but I just wanted to let you know about mine, as I came out of the surgery feeling a lot better (emotionally) than when I went in 🙂

Dear cazcot,

How refreshing to read about a doctor who is so open minded. I'm happy for you because we get so many horror stories on this forum about our carers

Warmest Regards Dodger

 

[Copepod]

Really encouraging to hear about a GP who treats you as an individual, not as a potential target component.

 

[Emmal31]

Hi Caz,

I think it's really nice to hear someone getting good care from their team/ GP for a change! and it's always nice to hear your doing well from someone. Long may it continue.

Emma x

 

[Peter C]

I know a lot of you out there have dreadful experiences with your care but I just wanted to let you know about mine, as I came out of the surgery feeling a lot better (emotionally) than when I went in 🙂

Hi there,

I think you should look up the dieatary advice on the web about how to lower cholesterol. Having said that ...

The main issue with chols is that T2 diabetics in particular suffer from Diabetic Dyslipidemia - the features of which are raised Total Chols, raised LDL ("bad lipids"), raised Triglycerides and depressed HDL ( "good lipids"). When chols rise in T2s it usually means thats what happening. Diabetic Dyslipidemia needs to be tackled. Optimization of the lipid profile is said to be the single most important intervention to lessen heart and stroke problems for t2s.
NICE guidelines recommend total chols under 4 ( Scottish SIGN guidelines are feeble on this issue ). Research has shown that each 1% reduction in total chols lowers mortality risk by 1.1% ( Circulation 1998). Yours went UP by 10%.

 

[am64]

Hi there,

I think you should look up the dieatary advice on the web about how to lower cholesterol. Having said that ...

The main issue with chols is that T2 diabetics in particular suffer from Diabetic Dyslipidemia - the features of which are raised Total Chols, raised LDL ("bad lipids"), raised Triglycerides and depressed HDL ( "good lipids"). When chols rise in T2s it usually means thats what happening. Diabetic Dyslipidemia needs to be tackled. Optimization of the lipid profile is said to be the single most important intervention to lessen heart and stroke problems for t2s.
NICE guidelines recommend total chols under 4 ( Scottish SIGN guidelines are feeble on this issue ). Research has shown that each 1% reduction in total chols lowers mortality risk by 1.1% ( Circulation 1998). Yours went UP by 10%.

sometimes peterC, by being encouraged in sucess however small, can spur people to strive onward and upward for further challenges and even more sucess. Encouragment (congratulated) not discouragment (told off) often does wonders.

 

[AlisonM]

I'm really pleased for you Cas, it's great that they're treating you like a grown up. Mine aren't too bad either, the only issue I have is the same as yours, testing. Other than that I'm really happy with them.

 

[Admin]

Glad you had a good experience Cazcot!! Great to hear and ditto with regards to Am64 and Peter's comments.

As far as I am concerned diabetes does not cause high cholesteral - just that a lot of T2's get it as a result of lifestyle and the condition often goes hand in hand but is not caused by diabetes - that is just a persoanl opinion.

Anyway - I diversify - I think you have done tremendously well - keep it up!!

 

[cazscot]

To me your Doc is complacent and triply incompetent ...

You KNOW she is wrong about testing, what makes you believe she is right not to tackle your rising chols ?

All I will say Peter is that you were not in the room with me, and I am happy with the very indepth conversation we had (I am helped by the fact that I am studying for my degree so we went into quite a bit of technical detail re levels, drugs etc). Yes my cholesterol has increased (my triglyceride has decreased) and will have to be dealt with but at the moment my doctor is happy with my personal level considering my health situation. We had an open and frank discussion and I am extreamly happy and informed about my care.

 

[Northerner]

All I will say Peter is that you were not in the room with me, and I am happy with the very indepth conversation we had (I am helped by the fact that I am studying for my degree so we went into quite a bit of technical detail re levels, drugs etc). Yes my cholesterol has increased (my triglyceride has decreased) and will have to be dealt with but at the moment my doctor is happy with my personal level considering my health situation. We had an open and frank discussion and I am extreamly happy and informed about my care.

Well said Caz, how many times do we say that we are all different? It's great that you have a GP who treats you as such - mine is the same, she's brilliant!

 

[am64]

Glad you had a good experience Cazcot!! Great to hear and ditto with regards to Am64 and Peter's comments.

As far as I am concerned diabetes does not cause high cholesteral - just that a lot of T2's get it as a result of lifestyle and the condition often goes hand in hand but is not caused by diabetes - that is just a persoanl opinion.

Anyway - I diversify - I think you have done tremendously well - keep it up!!

my high col (down to 3.1 last test) was definately due to eating crap , which was due to depression,which was due to terrible mood swings ,unwellness, infections,tiredness, and sickness which was due apparently to being T2 undiagonised for i reckon at least 10 years .The Diabetes is a factor of the cause of my depression...which caused me to eat badly,which cause the D to be bad... so its a vicious circle....now i have been diagnoised and got more control so im not eating crap anymore... so my col is reducing.
my diabetes was not due to eating crap it was in me anyway but it was aggrevated by eating crap due to the depression it caused ...does this make sense?

 

[shiv]

so glad to hear you had a positive experience!

 

[Steff]

great to hear caz always good to have good care and be well looked after x

 

[rachelha]

Caz, good to hear that you are getting good support and not having to go on the statins

 

[karinagal]

Hey Caz - that's great news re your meeting with the doc. It must have given you quite a lift getting some positive reinforcement from your healthcare team!

Take care

Karina

 

[Tezzz]

Great news about your doctors visit.

I hope you get strips on prescription on your next visit. I showed the doctor my diabetes diary and my better numbers and got the strips.