To think my doctors have been negligent?

[foreverold]

I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2018. Had my HBA1C tested every 3 months since then as fasting bloods were high a few times.

During the summer I began to feel unwell, despite healthy eating and daily exercise (cardio/weight training/yoga) I felt constantly exhausted. Sleep 10 hours a night plus 3 - 4 hour naps in the day. Has constant dry mouth despite drinking 4-5 litres of water a day, peeing more and feeling quite nauseous.

On last HBA1C test I was told I was pre diabetes, given 500mg of metformin (which is a ridiculously low amount) and basically left to get on with it.

I felt okay for a few months but have now started to feel exactly how I did in summer, nausea, napping, dry mouth, peeing more.

I have my HBA1C tomorrow and I'm pretty positive they will tell me I am now in type 2 diabetes category.

I feel really frustrated as feel I have been left to get on with it! AIBU? Or is there really not anything else they can do? I really feel the doctors dealing with this have been incompetent and not helpful in the slightest.

[FireflyRainbow]

YABVU

[Mmn654123]

@dontdisturbmenow

stop making this about your 'men's rights' agenda
Where do I mention men's right. Don't twist my words. I'm challenging the statement that misdiagnosis or delay in treatment us a fenale issue. They might be more vocal about it then men but first make a sex issue, not men idiots for not seeking help sooner.

You rarely meet a woman who hasn't felt poorly treated medically or sometimes completely dismissed just for being female
I very often meet women who have had no issues with their GP or feeling discriminated because of being female.

Maybe you're projecting making it a female issue.

You are being exceptionally naive and clearly are not at all educated on this topic.

Gender based bias within medicine is well documented and evidenced. Try reading up.

There are many papers but this is an easy read:

www.bbc.com/future/article/20180518-the-inequality-in-how-women-are-treated-for-pain

[AbsentmindedWoman]

@Kitkat151

Why are you so aggressive OP....just change your doctor ( and your attitude maybe )

I don't get an aggressive vibe from the OP at all.

I'm more picking up deep frustration and anger that she feels like shit and there is no clear signposting to address her issues.

Anger is not a bad thing, it is justifiable and it will fuel her determination to get appropriate medical help.

Women fall through the cracks in healthcare all the time. It's disgraceful.

[Namechange1991x]

I feel for your.i have pcos, am 29, conceived my baby on Metformin and have all the associated symptoms..it really does get you down, particularly as a young woman. I had GD in pregnancy and at the moment I don't take anything, not sure if I am meant to...Metformin was given to help me conceive then it was stopped. It seems they don't know what to do with ladies like us. Took me.enough time to get any help, I was always fobbed off. Pcos is a poorly understood condition. I know how you feel. X

[Kitkat151]

Why are you so aggressive OP....just change your doctor ( and your attitude maybe )

[AbsentmindedWoman]

Can you buy Freestyle Libre over the counter with no prescription?

If so, perhaps you could buy a month's supply (so two sensors, unless things have changed with Libre 2) and then you can get some hard cold data to go armed to the doctor's with.

14 is a high fasting glucose (until, of course, your body becomes accustomed to being high and then it feels normal - so you feel shaky and hypo when your numbers are actually normal) so tbh I think I'd buy keto sticks as well.

If you have anything over small ketones and swinging sugars I'd go to A&E, because you might need insulin and if that's the case the sooner the better - whether it's classic type 1/2/ LADA/ MODY.

If I was taking a guess this sounds like LADA (latent autoimmune diabetes in adults) to me! Not that, obviously, you are relying on randoms on the internet like me

because it's hard.

[RiojaRose]

If you’re getting readings of 14 first thing in the morning you’ll have trouble getting up because you’ll feel exhausted. It could be dawn phenomenon, in which case a snack at bedtime (e.g. a banana or a handful of nuts) will probably counteract it. It’ll take a few days of trying something different before you get a sense of whether it’s working because managing diabetes is like a huge experiment. Hope you get a good result on Friday.

[PaperMonster]

Sorry you’re having such a rough old time. What @Grinnypig says is very useful. I’ve been put on the low dose Metformin as I’d gone into the Diabetic range (HBA1C was 50) despite low carbing and I have to go back in four months. Never had a fasting reading as high as 14 though. Only had one that high when I ate a small roast potato!! Good luck and I hope you get some answers x

[Wondermule]

Above 14 and you’re at high risk of ketoacidosis which is very very dangerous, if this really is the case please seek medical advice asap

[Grinnypig]

You’ve been given your HBA1C result in the ‘old’ way. 7.2 equates to 55 in the ‘new’ way. Pre diabetes result is 42 to 47. Above that is diabetes. It’s better to think of the figure in the new way because otherwise you can easily get mixed up with the finger prick before after meals readings. Which is different.
I’m really surprised you are getting the readings you are with the diet you are eating. Very few carbs which is what spikes the sugars.
I don’t think your GP has been negligent. But you do need to have a conversation with him/her about the blood test result. Metformin doesn’t actually have a huge effect on sugar levels. On those levels and your weight/diet I think you probably will be prescribed additional medications. And as others have said it may not be type 2 you have. Or type 1. There are others.
There is a useful forum at diabetes.co.uk (which is unconnected to diabetes U.K. charity)

[SirVixofVixHall]

All the women I know with female (or predominantly female) diseases such as autoimmune disease, endometriosis, ovarian cysts, have spent years and in several cases decades being fobbed off, told they were imagining it, that it was “stress” . For some reason my GP felt it more likely that I had alcohol based liver damage (I have on average three units of alcohol PER YEAR) than that my raised liver enzymes, a common factor in both of my autoimmune conditions, could be due to something else.
I absolutely believe that female medical issues are dismissed in the way that men’s are not.

[dontdisturbmenow]

stop making this about your 'men's rights' agenda
Where do I mention men's right. Don't twist my words. I'm challenging the statement that misdiagnosis or delay in treatment us a fenale issue. They might be more vocal about it then men but first make a sex issue, not men idiots for not seeking help sooner.

You rarely meet a woman who hasn't felt poorly treated medically or sometimes completely dismissed just for being female
I very often meet women who have had no issues with their GP or feeling discriminated because of being female.

Maybe you're projecting making it a female issue.

[Redruby2020]

[quote foreverold]@Howdoin not put me on a ridiculously low dose of metformin that has no effect on a person whatsoever. Even an endocrinologist agreed with me on that one. Said I should be on 2000 mg not 500 mg.

@Sparky888 yes, I know low carb is the way to go and is what I do, I have always been relatively healthy and a healthy weight so the problem here is not my diet. I have insulin resistance PCOS which has a high correlation to developing diabetes unfortunately. Still feel shit even with eating well.
[/quote]
Yes I agree as I was diagnosed with OCOS in 2007, and within a short space of time I was given Metformin, I think I had as much as you if not more than you are on, eventually, as it was built up slowly. I lost loads of weight which was great, and the GP I had at the time was good. The next one, okay but said look it's not like you can stay on it forever and the weight loss would probably stop 🤦‍♀️🙄 I mean yeah, ruin it why don't you! My BMI had gone down drastically which was great, gone up a lot since, you would think that was a good thing and they would want to do what was working!

I think the main thing in your case is that they have continued to do tests and prescribed medication, if you think the dose needs increasing then tell them.

[BrumBoo]

@dontdisturbmenow

That's in no way comparable to women who know there's something wrong and get fobbed off for months/years for just having women's problems. Women are suffering/dying from being ignored, not the same as dying for being pigheaded
Why make it a gender issue in the first place? Women AND men are suffering/dying because they are ignored.

Your assumption that men don't go seek medical help because of being pigheaded says more about you then them!

@dontdisturbmenow, stop making this about your 'men's rights' agenda. There is a sex issue at hand, where women are more likely to go to the doctors but also take much longer to be diagnosed/treated based on doctors not taking female issues seriously. You rarely meet a woman who hasn't felt poorly treated medically or sometimes completely dismissed just for being female. Let's not derail this thread any further on the matter.

[tigertubbie]

Okay so OP you do sound a bit nuts. The doctors don't always get it right first time. They have to follow the standard of care and they aren't fortune tellers. Imagine they put you on a super high dose and you went into a coma? Diabetes is also a very complex disease which brings all sorts of things into play.

But some posters are being pretty judgmental too. What's your diet? What's your weight?

There is a lot of stigma around type 2 diabetes because everyone automatically assumes you must be greedy, lazy, and overweight. In many cases that is the link, but not all.

I come from a family of endocrine issues going back generations. I feel you OP - it's frustrating. You've done nothing wrong and you get the joker card and have all these health problems and it's worrying and a lot is out of your control. But that doesn't automatically mean that it is in the doctors immediate control either.

Try seeing your doctor as a partner in this. You have to work together to find a solution, and that might mean experimenting until you find a solution because that's how medicine works sometimes. I'm sure a cancer patient who has had multiple different therapies over years until they started to see their tumor shrink will attest to that. Doctors aren't your enemy here.

[GreenSlide]

Blimey are your fasting levels really 14? That is high. Adding breakfast and a snack before bed might help. You really should have access to a diabetes nurse.

[LIZS]

I think continuous monitors are usually for type1. Eating regularly ie not skipping breakfast, keeping hydrated and exercise will all help steady blood sugar levels , whether someone is prediabetic, diabetic or not at all.

[LIZS]

Sorry but yabu. You have been given a low dose to see if that helps and are being reviewed regularly. Were you also given diet and lifestyle advice as that can have a bigger impact longer term. After the next blood test results you can ask what the next step is, if nothing has changed or it has progressed, but this is not negligence on gp part.

[dontdisturbmenow]

That's in no way comparable to women who know there's something wrong and get fobbed off for months/years for just having women's problems. Women are suffering/dying from being ignored, not the same as dying for being pigheaded
Why make it a gender issue in the first place? Women AND men are suffering/dying because they are ignored.

Your assumption that men don't go seek medical help because of being pigheaded says more about you then them!

[ExConstance]

OP, I'm sorry people are being so unkind to you on here. You clearly have worrying ill health at an early age and at the very lest your G.P.has not taken the trouble to talk to you about why they have taken the action they have and what the various outcomes might be. Given that you are already well within the normal weight range this doesn't sound like a situation where any sort of diet is going to be our answer.
You could go privately to see someone, I've done that a couple of times and always felt a lot better to have had time to talk through the options and get a detailed description of what is going on. I has two miscarriages years ago and it was the kindness and attention of the gynaecologist I saw privately who really helped me through it.
You could also change G.Ps - maybe someone you know can recommend someone with good people skills as well as professional expertise. Our practice has a new G.P. who is really wonderful (the others there are not very caring in their approach) I had some really good treatment for menopause there recently which took time and was expensive for the practice - this type of doctor does exist.
I hope you find a way to get the advice you need.

[BrumBoo]

Oh and here we go with women have it so much worse! Men are much more likely not to be treated for underlying conditions because they are less likely to seek medical advice.

If you're not going to seek medical advice, then how on earth can you be treated? Oh poor men, they're too manly to see a doctor until they're practically dying . That's in no way comparable to women who know there's something wrong and get fobbed off for months/years for just having women's problems. Women are suffering/dying from being ignored, not the same as dying for being pigheaded.

[toomanycremeeggs]

@Sahm101

I really can't understand the bashing and mean comments to op.

Have you read all the comments from last night !?

[foreverold]

Thanks everyone for the helpful and kind responses!

I have not had my ketones checked as far as I am aware @Focalpoint. Am I right in saying this is checked through urine?

@Aisforharlot I would be open to perhaps add a few carbs on exercise day it's just I've read so much online about how carbs spike insulin so I almost view them as the enemy now. But i would be willing to try if it might improve my tiredness, even just things such as adding a sweet potato at dinner or something or having a banana maybe. I never thought of that.

Thanks to other kind posters who have posted advice, I will certainly look into everything that has been mentioned.

A PP said about a continuous blood glucose monitor, I didn't even know this was a thing and have found one very reasonably priced and so am going to order once I get hba1c results back. So thanks for that, I think it will be ideal to pinpointing what my body isn't tolerating well as will keep a food diary alongside it.

That's my test done at 8 am this morning so will hopefully have results by Friday afternoon.

[Changeismyname]

To be negligent they would have had to acted in a way no other reasonable GP (not a specialist) would have done. Very frustrating, yes, but almost certainly not negligent.

[Sahm101]

I really can't understand the bashing and mean comments to op.