OK, I’m not so sure… I am thinking since he is the dr for the professional hockey team… that I was doing pretty good. He was easy to talk to and he answered some of my husband’s simple questions.
hmmm… He did not tell me my cholesterol number, he just put me on medicine for it.“Lisinopril” I did hear that my blood pressure was 117 over 70 and I was told “not bad.” I got put on medicine for that too. "Lipitor"Of course, I got “Fortamet 500mg for the type 2 diabetes.” and I guess because of my age 1 baby aspirin everyday. ( to decrease the risk of heart attacks etc.)
Today, I called in to mention that I have had absolutely no appettite yesterday or today since taking this medicine.
I asked if I should be changing anything that I eat.
I was told to just "watch my bloodsugar numbers and eat like a normally have."UGH!!!
Somehow, I thought I would at least be told “eat so many calories/carbs and no more.” or "something!"
What in the world should I have expected? What should I be asking for? As it is; my next appt is “See ya next month, and come back to get your eyes checked as soon as you can get an appt in.”( eye appt made for 9/13.) sigh…
No new ideas,knowledge… nothing. What real good is this medicine going to do?
Are type 2’s mainly the dr’s ideas of "keep it simple stupid?and keep them in the dark?"
MeadowLark
Some answers:
-
I was put on Metformin at first b/c of the Type 2 diagnosis (you know, b/c nobody in their 30’s gets diagnosed with Type 1) and it did a number on my digestive system. This is a pretty normal side effect and it should go away after a month or 2. They may also want to ease you onto it. I hear the side effects aren’t as bad if you start small and gradually increase doses or if you use the extended release version.
-
You need to meet w/ a CDE - they can get you on a diet plan, explain all sorts of things to you, etc. You will most likely need a referral. Ask the doctor to refer you to one or to a diabetes self management center/class. I would also suggest getting an endo as they specialize in hormonal diseases, such as diabetes.
-
You need to be responsible for your own health. If you want to know what your cholesterol levels were, you need to ask. Better yet, get a copy of your test results. And ask them questions. I know you fear that they will treat you like a doofus, but you might find that they won’t and instead realize you are taking your health seriously. This is where the CDE and endo office might come in very handy. General practices don’t have as much experience/knowledge as specialists.
-
Your blood pressure does look good. Especially for being so nervous about going to the doc. Mine has a tendency to exhibit its highest reading at doc appts. Congrats.
Keep it up!
Lisinopril is an ACE inhibitor. ACE inhibitors protect your heart and possibly your kidneys. Lipitor is a cholesterol medication.
Ask your doctor all these questions when you go back in a month. The fact that you’re going back in a moth is a good sign. He wants to see how these medicines do, and make adjustments. It’s when the doctor shoves a bunch of medicine at you and tells you to come back in a year that you have problems. You’ll have the rest of your life with diabetes, and you don’t have to figure out the perfect treatment all at once. Mention that you’re interested in treating it with diet/exercise. Maybe he can set you up with a nutritionist or a diabetes educator. And if he forgets to tell you your cholesterol number or any other number, ask. Sometimes it helps to bring a list of questions you mean to ask so you don’t forget anything.
I guess that is what gets me. This practice actually is “the” Center for Diabetic Education in this area. ( thanks on the congrads:) I was nervy!)
The eye dr is there too. LOL! convenient:)
Thanks Molly,
I’ll have to figure out how to be proactive in asking questions etc…
For now, I guess I get to just keep pluggin along and see what happens.
MeadowLark
Doctors never tell people with Type 2 that carbohydrates are what raise blood sugar and that if they would eat less carbs they’d get much better blood sugars. They also tell you that blood sugars that are much higher than normal are great. That’s just how it is. Unless you luck into a doctor who HAS diabetes, the rest of them only know what they hear from the drug reps and what they read in journals which are all about drugs.
Doctors can prescribe helpful medications and you can discuss various options with them, but they don’t’ have the time or knowledge to manage the day to day challenge of diabetes. You’ll have to do a lot of the work yourself, including that of coming up with the good questions.
And they are almost all WAY out of date on dietary advice, since doctors do NOT train in nutrition and mostly get their “knowledge” of nutrition from the same media as everyone else.
Your new doctor may be good, but he doesn’t sound like he’s more than generally familiar with diabetes. You have a special condition so you should be working with a specialist, too. If not an endocrinologist then a certified diabetes educator (CDE) who can advise you about food and nutrition, exercise and point you to resources that can answer your questions.
To echo what others have said:
- we are in charge of taking care of ourselves and our diabetes.
- ask questions and insist on answers.
The day is past when patients just nodded while the doctor talked. If you don’t understand, ask. If you still don’t understand, ask again. You will feel uncomfortable at first but, believe me, after the first time it gets easier and easier. Take notes if you have a hard time remembering things OR ask for copies of test results. Ask to see the printouts from the lab test and have the doctor point to the number he’s reading and explain what it means. I never new if tryglicerides=38 was good or bad until I asked. (It’s good.)
And above all, know what the medicine you are taking is for. write it down.
- Take your time.
You’re going to have this disease the rest of your life. You’re not going to control it all at once. Take baby steps, cover one thing at time and things will fall in place.
BTW, Go light on the carbs for yourself. Don’t worry yet about the carbs your hubby gives the kids unless the kids are also diabetic. if you’re really anxious about that the best solution I found to keeping carbs out of kids mouths is to keep the carbs out of the house. If the carbs are there, they’ll eat them. Or someone will give it to them. When hubby sees there’s macaroni in the house how is he supposed to figure that it’s a bad thing to serve to the children? If there were some crunchy apples around though . . .
Terry
Good call Terry.
Doctors, at least in my experience, sometimes treat patients like an assembly line factory worker. You go in to the waiting room and wait for eons. See the doc, they don’t say much, and 7 minutes later you’re giving the nurse your $20 copay and making an appointment for the next time.
You ever notice that there are never any clocks in the exam room?
Terry is definately right about getting a copy of the labs and prescriptions you are taking. If you ever need to change doctors or see a specialist, this will make it much easier. Besides the information is about you and you should always ask the healthcare to explain them and flag any abnormal results. Try to ask for a refferal to a CDE and take your labs with you as well as a log of your daily testing. Everyone is right when they say you should take control of your own health. Think of yourself as the client and the healthcare professionals who can be fired from the job if they perform poorly!
Lindsay, Terry, Tim and Chlo are all right about this one. I’m not that impressed with your Dr. atleast he is having you come back in a month! That way he can kind of see what the new meds are doing for you.
sigh… I screwed up. After talking with you guys; my husband came home and I asked him and he said the dr had explained all the medicines… I just didnt process it as fast as my husband did. ( Stephen “gets” info faster than me. I need handouts to read and go over tons of times.)
I guess I thought that because I knew that I was diabetic ever since the baby was born ( now soon to be 3.) that I would automatically get to see a nutritionist sooner.
Since the doc just saw me… his way of doing things isnt what I figured.
Of course, I’m not good at these 15 minute visits. I talked about lots of stuff and wanted to be assured that he understood my “why” I was there etc… ( I was his last patient of the day and he seemed cool and did spend more time than 15 minutes with me.) I just gotta learn how to give what he wants and get what I want a whole lot faster. I will do my best to give him a chance ( amongst all my previous not good experiences with dr.'s. and hope that he gives me the time I need without running out of patience with me.) I did email him and hope that we can iron out a rough start.
He actually read my posts here including this one. ( at least the first post and first 4 answers… I hope he’ll keep reading.)
I am learning and I am slow with information. I know that my emotions hang on my sleeve. I dont think I care to change that. ( 
Through all my ups and downs… my Stephen loves me and my passion, the way I learn and when he gets frustrated; he still comes out my hero.) LOL! So everybody will just have to enjoy the good part of me and vent like me when I frustrate them. I’m a 48 year old fart with a rebellious teen mind!
MeadowLark
MeadowLark,
Your husband loves you and that’s a great place to start!
If he is good at taking in information send him to http://alt-support-diabetes.org/newlydiagnosed.htm to learn how people bring down those high blood sugars. Explain to him why blood sugars need to stay in the normal range and how carbs make that impossible.
You might also mention that neuropathy erodes sexual response. so you really don’t want to get it That always gets people’s attention.
You hubby sounds like he loves you alot! Sometimes it’s hard to get my hubby to come back to the Dr. with me! Oh he will take me to my Dr’s appoiment leave me there then come back and get me!!! You know the old saying 4 ears are better than 2? Well that’s what I tell him when he does things like that!!! Hang in there it WILL get easier!!
I am lucky with my Doctor. I went through 2 Doctors before I found one that had a decent bedside manner and also is very aggressive in treatment of my diabetes. When I first started seeing him over a year ago, my hba1c was 10.5, i have been as low as 6 since he started treating me. For me the most important thing in seeing a doctor is one that is open to suggestions from yourself on how to treat you. As he told me one day, the best specialist in a disease is the person that has it. They are the ones that will do the most research into new treaments etc. I am type 2 but am on insulin. Was started out on metafomirin and it wrecked my stomach to the point where I was being hospitialized with dehydaration on a regular basis. Now if I don’t take nexium I can’t eat. So they moved me in humalog 75/25. That did ok and then I heard about a new medication called symlin, did a lot of research on it and am now on humalog, symlin and lantus. My most recent hba1c was 7.5 which my doctor is happy with. I have also started working out 5 days a week and have worked up to 2 hours a day and working with a personal trainer as well and have a diet. I went through a week where my blood sugar was dropping to where at one point I went into shock and this was when I first started working out, so exercise does make a HUGE difference in blood sugars. I was on 325 units of insulin a day and in a week’s time from working out i have dropped it to 185 units. Because of this I am now seeing an endo doc and may be going on the insulin pump. You have to be proactive in your own treatment. A Doctor can only help you learn how to control your diabetes, ulitmately it is up to you to do the work to be able to handle it and yes it can be very scarey and it can make you feel like you aren’t normal. My life revolves around my diabetes and my asthma. I can’t leave the house without my diabetic supplies, asthma meds, snacks, etc. It is very hard to take control of your diabetes and not let it beat you. I always request my lab reports, in fact I talk to my health care team so much they recognize my voice and my phone number. I know my doctor is there 24 hours a day for me if I need him. The main thing about your diabetic care is a doctor that is knowledable and is willing to listen to his patients and their needs. Meadowlark, keep up on pushing him for the information you need, if he doesn’t give it then it is time to find a new doctor. Diabetes can be devasting if you don’t trust your doctor.
Hi Cody:) thankyou.
My main problem is that I’ve had sooo many bad experiences with dr’s that I havent actually been to one in like 14 years. ( except for prenatal.) I’ve emailed back and forth a couple times and I think I’m settling in… still nervous; but willing to work with him.
LOl! I hope he doesnt tell me to fly a kite because I’m so "set in my ways stubborn"
I’m starting my rollercoaster ride type 2 with an A1C of 6.9. ( Personally, I’ve been playing with gestative diabetes since my first pregnancy 16 years ago. Total denial.) Mainly because of no insurance and pure pertinacity:P I know. I’m paying for that in my health now. At least, a start is happening now. I’ve been lowcarbing/watching sugar and sugar alcohol whenever I see it.
Now to put some life back into daily living. I wanna find something enjoyable and somewhat challenging for me to do. ( of course take in consideration 6 kids with me from soon to be 3 up to 14 and low finances.)
I need to learn to play more!!!
MeadowLark