Zoe, I am learning that myself. I am finding it more beneficial to learn from other Diabetics online as opposed to going to the doctor. I just go to my endo for check ins and if I need changes to my prescriptions.
Primary care doctors are definitely not the ones to go to for advice. Again, they believe that everyone is type 2 and if you're a 1 you could be losing valuable time and Beta cell function.
The PCP's that I went to TOLD me that they wanted to wait until my pancreas stopped working to put me on insulin. I am not kidding.
Yeah, totally forgo the honeymoon and throw me right into the seven year itch why doncha.
Unbelievable, Toddy. (But delightfully put..lol)
I think doctors are only good for one diabetic thing---prescriptions.
I have had some pretty bright endo/researchers at major universities over the years. They love to write papers about me and all my weirdness. But they have been able to give me very limited help in management of this disease. That is up to me.
I find most docs are pretty clueless about diabetes, so I am not surprised when they are.
I've definitely found this. I've learned to assume that unless a doctor/nurse/dietician actually specializes in diabetes, then I need to take anything they say about it with a grain of salt. My OB, for example, told me that I should be eating things like peanut butter when I have a low blood sugar, "Not candy!" Ummm. Really?
So I rely on my endocrinologist only at this point. If I needed to find someone new to help with my diabetes, I'd find another endocrinologist or someone recommended to me by another type 1 diabetic.
I have been T1 for 27 years and I have had good and bad. My dad is a GP. He has apologized to me for sending me for a painful test, after he himself had it a few years later.
Once I had a Endo that mostly treated T2. He told me that the pump was a reward for diabetics who were under control. I had a yelling and crying match with him and found a new endo. I found a new endo and had my pump 1 month later. I have never had better control.
I have found that this is a crap shoot. A doctor is only as good as what he treats. Everything is in theory until then. When I was sent the survey about inviting non diabetic professionals- I was not thrilled, because it is easy to give advice and directions when you have never done it.
I am a type 1 close to 60 who has had diabetes since I was 7. Over the years I have had experiences with several specialists who have really shown their lack of knowledge. One was a dermatologist who suggested that maybe if I lost 20 pounds I would't have to take insulin (he thought the insulin was causing my rash). He didn't have a clue about type 1, My internist but things in perspective by reminding me that this particular doctor's specialty was dermatology and he probably hadn't heard about diabetes subce medical school. And then there's docs who think they know everything. Example, I told my rheumatologist on the first visit that both my internist and my neuphrologist said absolutely no steriods. He didn't like that and told me he was an internist too and thought I should have steroid shots. When I asked him why, his answer was, "Because I said so." Not the way to continue to be a part of my medical team. I really appreciated it when my new CDE (a type 1 married to the endo, who is also type 1) told me that I was something new for both her and her husband--they had never treated anyone who'd been diabetic as long as I had and we'd have to try things together. Bottom line: I pick my medical team carefully and, when the doc agrees, have a sit-down before making an actual appointment to assess whether we will be a "good fit." Yes, sometimes you have to pay for that, but it's well worth it to me.
I should also say that I have a LOT of respect for doctors who DON’T pretend to be experts on D if they aren’t. My GP was the one who diagnosed me, and she immediately made referrals, “because I am NOT an endocrinologist!” She got me set up with a CDE before I could actually get into the office of an endo, and that CDE also helped her by telling her what to prescribe for me in the meantime. (My GP had initially prescribed only a long-acting insulin and not enough enough test strips.)
Aside from thinking she kicks ■■■ for having diagnosed me in the first place, I trust that she’s never going to play the game of, “I am Doctor! I know all!!!” 