stuff i should know about....

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annemaria

annemaria

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
where do i find the basics a newly diagnosed diabetic (type 2 on metaformin) needs to know like......
do i need to contact the dvla?
do i need to contact my car insurance company?
do i need a flu injection?
do i get free prescriptions?
do i need to do blood tests?
do i need to take counts of stuff like sugar levels and all that?
what do i do when i eat the wrong stuff and feel ill?
whats the worst thing that can happen?
do i need an identity card of any kind on me?
do i need to carry sweets or gluoces tablets or anything?
do we type 2s need insulin ever?
do we type 2s have hypos?
what is a hypo?
what do we do if we experience one?
is this whats going to kill me one day?
will my children get this in years to come?
can i prevent the above?
..........sorry but along with depression this is really beginning to do my head in, ive read every website i can read and i now need this in english i can understand and you lovely people are my last resort. sorry for the list and thankyou to anyone who cares to help me out. xx Ann.
 
Dear Anne Maria I have tried to answer as much as

do i need to contact the dvla? Yes you do
do i need to contact my car insurance company? Yes
do i need a flu injection? You dont have to but you might as well, they are free and are just a re assurance
do i get free prescriptions? I am type 1 and do, I beleive Type 2's do as well but someone else can confirm
do i need to do blood tests? For good control over your blod sugars yes
do i need to take counts of stuff like sugar levels and all that? To start with it helps to keep a diary but after a while you start to learn what is happening
what do i do when i eat the wrong stuff and feel ill? As long as you are keeping a well blaanced diet this shouldnt really happen
whats the worst thing that can happen? To high blood sugars or to low really
do i need an identity card of any kind on me? Better to be safe than sorry, wear a neclace or something in your purse to tell people who you are and you are diabetic
do i need to carry sweets or gluoces tablets or anything? Again I do just to be safe
do we type 2s need insulin ever? You may need to at some point depening on how your pancrease is working on producing insulin
do we type 2s have hypos? Yes
what is a hypo? It is where you blood sugar drops below 4, people react differently, for me I become shakey and faint
what do we do if we experience one? Eat something sugary, drink an apple juice, lucozade, sugary tea etc
is this whats going to kill me one day? Lots of diabetic people are still strong and helathy into old age, so no, well controled you are the same as anyone else
will my children get this in years to come? Diabetes is not heriditory (sp)
can i prevent the above? see above :)
 
Dear Anne Maria,
Aaron has done a good job, so I will not give you a repeat. If you have not already had it, your diabetes nurse/dietician will give you lots of information but it will be the conventional approach. However, there are alternatives. One can be found in "Blood Sugar 101 - What They Don't Tell You About Diabetes" by Jenny Ruhl, Amazon stock it. I have a copy and found it excellent - it has a protocol for finding out what foods you can tolerate and at the same time keeping near-normal blood sugars!
 
thanks, i dont really know where to start as ive never yet tested or taken a note of my own blood sugar level and wouldnt know how to. when do the nurses tell you all that stuff?
 
Are you quiet newly diagnosed? Have you had a first meeting with the diabetic nurse? I was told on my first vist which was a few days after being diagnosed
 
annemaria said:
thanks, i dont really know where to start as ive never yet tested or taken a note of my own blood sugar level and wouldnt know how to. when do the nurses tell you all that stuff?
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Your GP should have fixed this up when he/she diagnosed your condition, clearly this did not happen. Go back and ask for it to be fixed
 
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i was diagnosed about a month ago, had to wait almost 3 weeks for an appointment with diabetic nurse and all she did was weigh me and tell me about stuff that would happen eye and foot checks and stuff, basics on healthy eating, ie eat whatever u like as long as its healthy and .... end of.... i feel abit robbed of information now actually. she didnt tell me my sugar levels or whatever and/or how to take them or whether to take them, she gave me tabs to take and i go back 4 weeks after appointment to see if they working....
 
Aaron said:
Dear Anne Maria I have tried to answer as much as

do i need to contact the dvla? Yes you do
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DVLA ruling changed on this a year ago.
T1 must

T2 only have to notify dvla if there are complications, but you must inform your insurance company/broker.

There is advice on blood glucose levels when driving which has been mentioned two or three times on other posts on this forum.

Great breakdown of answers Aaron
 
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I would go back and see your Doctor, it doesnt sound right. Being diagnosed is pretty scary in itself and a daunting task to know about everything with help, with no help you must be clueless! They need to show you how to do blood tests etc
 
annemaria said:
where do i find the basics a newly diagnosed diabetic (type 2 on metaformin) needs to know like......
do i need to contact the dvla?
do i need to contact my car insurance company?
do i need a flu injection?
do i get free prescriptions?
do i need to do blood tests?
do i need to take counts of stuff like sugar levels and all that?
what do i do when i eat the wrong stuff and feel ill?
whats the worst thing that can happen?
do i need an identity card of any kind on me?
do i need to carry sweets or gluoces tablets or anything?
do we type 2s need insulin ever?
do we type 2s have hypos?
what is a hypo?
what do we do if we experience one?
is this whats going to kill me one day?
will my children get this in years to come?
can i prevent the above?
..........sorry but along with depression this is really beginning to do my head in, ive read every website i can read and i now need this in english i can understand and you lovely people are my last resort. sorry for the list and thankyou to anyone who cares to help me out. xx Ann.
Click to expand...


annemaria

I recommend Diabetes for dummies. I got diagnosed with type 2 a year ago and reading this book really helped me.
 
do i get free prescriptions?
Hello AnneMarie,

I am Type 2 and just joined this website. The only question not answered is the above one. Type 2's do get free prescriptions even if not diabetes related so enquire at your surgery for the form which they endorse and then send off. A few days later you will then receive a white credit type card which lasts for 5 years giving you a medical exemption for prescription charges.

It is all very frightening to start off with I was diagnosed 2 and a half years ago and started off on a half gliclazide tablet. I am now on 4 x 80mg gliclazide, 3 x 850mg metformin, 1 x 100mg sitaglipten (new drug and just been prescribed by the hospital, 1 x 40mg simvastatin and 1 x 75mg aspirin per day. I had 2 1 hour long sessions with my group practice diabetic nurse to start off with and she pointed me in all the right directions.

Help is out there and this excellent site which I have just discovered although I have been a member of diabetes UK since diagnosis is one way for the help. I will certainly be posting for advice as I am now very close to having to go on to injecting insulin.

Just remember to keep smiling although initially I thought that my world had come to an end. I was 49 on diagnosis so having to make life style changes and still having to make them isn't easy. It does get easier but unfortunately it is a very lengthy process.

I hope that this helps.

Regards.
 
Like Ikey the Tinker, I found "Diabetes for Dummies" really helpful when first diagnosed - and still do

Just to clarify, you will get free prescriptions if you are prescribed drugs to treat your diabetes. If you are solely on diet and exercise then you would still need to pay for your prescriptions but may find that a pre-payment card works out cheaper. If you have a pre-payment card and then become eligible for free prescriptions because you go onto diabetic drugs the the Prescription Pricing Authority will refund the balance of your pre-payment. They did this pretty quickly for me too
 
annemaria said:
i admit it! im clueless!!!!! lol
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Glad you have found this site so that we can help! There are loads of great people on her regularly posting with great advice and never forget that the only stupid question is the one that is not asked!!
Thank-you Aaron for the great response. :)
I don't like to make assumptions but it sounds like your GP and nurse think you are a 'mild' Type 2 (that is an expression I have heard the medical profession use - not my expression before everyone jumps on my back!) and can be controlled by diet and exercise - but this is no excuse for them not giving you more information. I think you should go back to them and say that you are taking this seriously and wish to avoid bringing on any further complications in the future and want their support and more information. I have not read diabetes for dummies but it has many recommendations and reading up is recommended. You may be able to avoid regular blood testing by adjusting your diet - blood testing for type 2 is a personal preference - some like to test a much as type 1's others find they only need to test when they have been 'naughty' or once or twice a week to judge what is going on. In diabetes everyone is different and everyone has to find their own levels. I really think a return visit to your nurse/doc and a list of questions is advisable. Good luck :)
 
My apologies I should have clarified that Type 2's get free prescriptions if on diabetic medication.

It is nice to know for people like me who are very close to starting to inject insulin that the help and advice will be there for me on this site as I will certainly need it when I start, however, although not wanting to inject believe that my diabetes will be better controlled by injecting as, as far as I see it tablets are set in stone with the dosage whereas insulin you can juggle it to a certain degree which will suit me more I think.

Thanks and regards.
 
Hi Annemaria, i'm afraid to say that we all have to start somewhere, i don't think i'd be far wrong to say that just about everyone in the forum has been where you are now, i know i was i was like a headless chicken for ages after being diagnosed and as you said you don't really get much information an dwhat you do its
 
lynn said:
Hi Annemaria, i'm afraid to say that we all have to start somewhere, i don't think i'd be far wrong to say that just about everyone in the forum has been where you are now, i know i was i was like a headless chicken for ages after being diagnosed and as you said you don't really get much information an dwhat you do its
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sorry about that i pressed wrong key! DERRRR lol.
To get back to the message and what they tell you is jargon, i really found a lot of info on the diabetes uk web-site although a lot of it scared me but, i was diagnosed 7 years ago and you do find out that if you look after yourself you can live a long life but, of course it can be harder sometimes and i suffer terribly with anxiety and depression so i do know some of what your going through so many people with diabetes suffer from these other conditions so we must support each other, and i'm afraid the condition can be passed on to your children not in all cases of course, but both of my parents ( unfortunately my dad passed away at the age of 55 with a massive heart attack 26 years ago) got it my dad at the age of 50 my mum (who is 80 next march) just about a year ago and, i am the youngest of 5 girls and one of my sisters found out she had got it about one and a half years ago but, so many people are being diagnosed with it now that i think if your gonna get it you will get it i think its something that your born with it just lays dorment some people are lucky they don't have it in their families and unfortunately WE DO! lynn x
 
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