[Nada]

She has Type 2 and is on a couple of oral meds. Her doctor recently told her, after she asked about insulin, that as long as her A1C is under 10, she will not have kidney damage so insulin is not necessary. She is currently right under the 10 mark.

She already has painful neuropathy in her feet. I don't get it.

I'm thinking though that maybe since she has expressed an objection to needles and that the is only willing to test herself once every few weeks, the doctor isn't eager to help.

I feel like I should do/say something but I don't think she wants to hear it. Frustrating I tell you.

[Funnygrl]

I would not only fire that doctor, but find the appropriate people to report him to (ADA? AMA? AACE? is he even an endo?), and shove a copy of the DCCT right up his @$$.

[Keezheekoni]

Some docs aren't willing to help people who won't help themselves. For example, my dad who is a T2, will ONLY take NPH. He refuses to go to MDI because then he'd have to check his bg more than twice a day. It's frustrating, for sure. I keep trying to get my dad to try other things, to check more often, but even his endo won't do more for him, since he's unwilling to do anything for himself... He also believes that MDI is what causes you to lose limbs, as his brother and father both did. He thinks that the more insulin you use, the more likely you'll lose appendages. ARGH What can you do?

I told my dad that when he's in pain from all his complications and tells me how horrible he's feeling, that I'll have no sympathy and hope that his suffering is extreme. I have no sympathy for people who aren't pro-active in their health care, especially when it's so easy to really take care of *this* disease.

[duck]

I hope your colleague misunderstood the doctor, I really, really do.

[Nada]

Nope. She didn't. IN ADDITION to that, she told him her fasting BG is usually 12+ when she takes it (once every few weeks). And he specified that she must be "evening out" during the day since her A1C is still below 10.

[TAutry]

This won't shock anyone here, but too many doctors are clueless about effective diabetes management. Even some of the better seeming ones suggest that a Type 2 test their blood sugar twice per week.

At Diabetesforums and some other forums, we are a unique, highly motivated group. While most of us would bid farewell to doctor that gave that sort of 'advice', many other patients simply do not know enough.

[Funnygrl]

I really think there needs to be some kind of diabetes doctor liscensing exam. If you are a doctor you can't say the word diabetes until you pass said exam. And you need to renew annually. I can't stand doctors.

[ladytaz]

Originally Posted by Funnygrl

I really think there needs to be some kind of diabetes doctor liscensing exam. If you are a doctor you can't say the word diabetes until you pass said exam. And you need to renew annually. I can't stand doctors.

I SO agree with you!! It burns my butt to hear the **** that some of these doctors say to thier patients!!

[grace girl]

Reality is that there are bad doctors out there. I was under the care of one for four year...with a stunning a1c of either 9 or 10 the whole time. I was never told that this was a problem, or that other insulin regimes would improve my control. I had always assumed that I could just trust a doctor, so I believed everything he did (or didn't) tell me. If you don't know anything else, what else will you believe?
If I were you I would try and talk to her, try to help her. You'll know soon enough if she's one who simply refuses to make the effort, or if she's among the unfortunately ignorant masses.

[seacomp]

Originally Posted by Funnygrl

I really think there needs to be some kind of diabetes doctor liscensing exam. If you are a doctor you can't say the word diabetes until you pass said exam. And you need to renew annually. I can't stand doctors.

I don't think the problem is limited to diabetes and doctors. The main difference with diabetes is that, because of the nature of the required self-care with the disease, there is a body of patients who know quite a bit about what's up. With heart disease or infection, for example, I'd expect that there are as many doctors who are really clueless as with diabetes, but there's no educated patient base.

[Funnygrl]

Originally Posted by seacomp

I don't think the problem is limited to diabetes and doctors. The main difference with diabetes is that, because of the nature of the required self-care with the disease, there is a body of patients who know quite a bit about what's up. With heart disease or infection, for example, I'd expect that there are as many doctors who are really clueless as with diabetes, but there's no educated patient base.

Yes, diabetes is all about self care. But it's up to the doctors to give patients the resources to handle the self care. And telling a patient that an a1c of 9 something is acceptable is failing at this job. I'm not even expecting primary care physicians to know the ins and outs of diabetes, but the bare minimum is good. And I know there aren't enough endocrinologists to go around. So refer the patients to CDEs.

If a babysitter is left with children, the babysitter is responsible for those children. But the parent still needs to oversee things. The parent needs to set bedtimes, and meals, and give the babysitter a phone number. If the parent fails to do those things, if the child goes unfed or isn't put to bed, it's the parent's fault, not the babysitters, though the main responsibility is the babysitter's. Corny analogy, I know, but it kind of works.

[duck]

I bet your colleague feels like **** 24/7 and has no idea she can do and feel better.

Maybe suggest she join up here?

[grace girl]

Originally Posted by duck

I bet your colleague feels like **** 24/7 and has no idea she can do and feel better.

Having just come off of a 4 year stint where she lives, I can tell you how she feels. She's tired all the time, but rationalizes it for other reasons, can't think straight but may not actually realize it herself, doesn't sleep well at night, but rationalizes that, too. She's probably hungry all the time, but doesn't ever seem to gain weight, has massive sweet cravings 24/7 and just generally is a total mess, but so used to it that she just keeps on plugging along.
She needs a wake up to what's possible like I finally got earlier this year. My numbers still aren't quite what I want them to be, but I feel like a completely different person that I did last winter. Completely. And now I know what I can do to get it even better, and that I don't have to feel like I'm 90 years old when I'm only 38.
This is a subject that I'm pretty passionate about, but for obvious reasons. I was blessed for most of my life by having wonderful, attentive doctors who always steered me in the right direction. When I ended up with the quack I was at for 4 years it never occurred to me that a doctor wouldn't know what he was talking about, wouldn't make the effort to keep up to date....I now know how stupid that was, but there it is. As was said before, diabetes is a self-care situation, but you have to have some guidance, some truthful information, some knowlege base to work from and it should be a doctors responsibility to make sure that you are educated, and if they can't do it themselves then send you somewhere that can.
If you could get her to this site it would be great. I've got a better doctor now, but it's been what I've learned here that has really made the difference for me.

[xMenace]

Invite her here. You'll never convince her with reason. You need us unreasonable types to gang up on her.

Did that make sense?