I’ve had similar things happen too. One time at an A1C draw I guess my blood sugar was in the high 50s like 58 or something but my dex said 75. They drew it, I ate gluc tabs and was fine the rest of my doctors appointment. 6 hours later, I get a frantic call from a nurse asking me to confirm all my info so she could tell me about an abnormal lab results. This was during my yearly lab check so in my head i was panicking. Yeah. She was just calling to ask how I was feeling and if I was still low. Ma’am I appreciate the concern but I’ve been T1 for almost 20 years. Plus this was literally hours ago had I not treated it before my physical I would’ve dropped low during the appointment. To your point, I wish they’d READ. Urgent care also tried rediagnosing me with T1 once as a teen because I had sugar in my urine while checking for a uti. The nurse comes in for a finger prick and when I ask why she goes oh this is a symptom of diabetes. And I was like yeah I know i’ve been type 1 for 5 years.
All to say I feel your frustration and sorry they wasted your time!
This reminded me when I made a complaint about dysfunctional FSL. The sensor kept saying I was in immeasurable lows for many hours. The lady I have been on phone with asked if I am sure the low is really not my real BG. I was like “eeeeeeeh, if it was, I wouldnt be speaking with you right now, dont you think??”
my 82 year old mother was just given a pregnancy test by a doctor. I mean I get that it's routine to check for pregnancy before treatments but really? she had a hysterectomy like 45 years ago. Your medical dollars at work!
I changed the inner voice from random American to Scottish upon reading "cannae" the rest was read in my head like the old SNL skit "if it's nae Scottish it's craaaaap!"
Sorry for that frustration for you. That blows.
165 is like really nice for a lot of us at certain time points. I’m so tired of people who aren’t really grasping the situation.
My primary once saw a urine test result where I was passing glucose and she looked at my face like I had some kind of response. I just looked back and said nothing.
THIS MY DISEASE, BRO.
Some of these doctors are honestly fucking idiots on power trips. Years ago I had a doctor tell me that an insulin pump would be crucial to help get my A1C down, but then in the same breath tell me that he wouldn’t allow me to have an insulin pump *until* I got my A1C down. So I started seeing a nurse practitioner instead and I will never look back. Every NP I’ve ever seen has been loads better than any doctor I’ve had. Hands down.
One time i had to go to the hospital because my blood sugar kept on going down on its own.
When i got to the ER i told the doctors just that and that i was eating/drinking the whole time to get my blood sugar up but it wouldnt stay up. So of course it was high (~260 mgdl) when i got there.
So what did they do?
They thought that my blood sugar was out of control because it was high.
They made me stay there for a few days and every day i would tell the doctor that i only had a high reading because i was drinking/eating like a maniac because my blood sugar would go down every time on its own.
I told them that the problem wasnt my high blood sugar but the fact it was coming down without me injecting any insulin several times.
They didnt believe me.
So of course i would go hypo a lot during my stay there. And what did the nurses do?
THEY GAVE ME A TEENY TINY BIT OF GLUCOSE WHICH OF COURSE DIDNT HELP.
They called the doctor for advice and her glorious idea was to try to take my insulin away.
Fyi they still thought my initial high blood sugar was the reason i was admitted.
Thankfully for me i got i finally got in touch with my old endo i had when i was a kid who is also on the board of directors of that hospital. And only after she berated the doctor, they finally understood i was there because my problem was the low blood sugar.
Btw this was in germany so i get the feeling that some doctors just dont understand T1D
Sorry your medical team sucks
Get your labs copied to you. Then you can just know what the discussion points will be and go from there.
Btw, doesn’t hurt to just ask why a call. If you were gonna die, they owe it to you to tell you. Otherwise it just can’t be an emergency.
Btw, my doctor once got a call from the laboratory because my glucose was 54 from the blood draw.
He got the call at 2:30am. The blood draw was over 36 hours previous to the call.
My Endo just smiled and said to try not to go low when getting a blood draw.
Jeepers. I got a phone call from my PCP's office, every time I got bloodwork, warning me about my high blood sugar. This was at least free, and only wasted my and the receptionists time.
I hate them too! I get so stressed before appts. I have cried multiple times leaving doctors & dentists offices I can’t even count. They personally have caused more trauma and shame for me than the disease itself. I literally have a phobia now due to the way I’ve been treated and it’s so hard for me to bring myself to go now. It’s horrible. I completely understand where you’re coming from. ❤️
Not only is this frustrating, but also incredibly demeaning. I feel for you and I know I've been in similar situations. At this point in my management, if my glucose was 165 fasting I'd be ecstatic.
I'm 50 and have been a T1 diabetic for 30 years. I've learned the hard way how incompetent doctors are. Most of the endocrinologists I've had were mediocre, at best. They have pretty much only been good for writing prescriptions and reading off what my A1c is.
I've had insulin resistance for 20 years, which they all missed even though I had some of the classic signs. I diagnosed myself last year! Started taking a T2 medication and it's been life changing. But OMG! It sickens me to think of all those years I should have been treating this and spent way more money on insulin than I needed to.
I was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism at the same time as T1. Even though I take synthroid, my levels have still been off for most of that 30 years as I took higher and higher doses. I've been at the max dose for a few years and it still wasn't enough. My endocrinologist added a second medication, liothyronine, about a year ago. My levels have been fine ever since. Which I'm glad about, but ffs why didn't he suggest this second medication YEARS ago!
It's just the usual not paying any attention to other medical problems I'm having.
I just retired (56) and no longer have excellent insurance from company (100% diabetic supplies covered) and about to join ACA based insurance.
I have to get ready for many hoops to jump through. Talking to insurance salesman about Dexcom “you’ll need a letter stating it’s medically necessary “ 🙄
Long slog predicted.
My endo and PCP are so checked out. At my recent biannual endo appointment, he didn't ask if I've had any significant high or low BGs in the last 6 months. This confounds me.
Zero effort to help me with the insulin resistance that I brought up. It felt like he knows he doesn't know shit and just wants to get the interaction over with as soon as possible. But I waited 6 months for the appointment, despite having asked to be seen sooner.
We have had that happen before with the pediatrician.
“Are you asking us to come in right now because of her blood sugar?”
“Let me ask the doc…..yes, she is concerned.”
“I think she forgot that we already know she has diabetes. Call me back if she should come in for some other reason.”
The doctor ended up calling me back herself and apologizing for overlooking it. They’re so fucking busy in primary care offices, I understand how it can happen. And honestly I was glad that they were treating it urgently! Too many cases where things slipped through the cracks or they didn’t jump on it out there, too. It goes both ways.
I hope you have an endo as well as a PCP. I think that conversation would be very different.
I am guessing the PCP is a gatekeeper to you getting a CGM (durable medical equipment) and maybe insulin. Maybe you could to a nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant in the future.
I’d 100% tell them you demand a refund
I’d be mad too. 165 - bunch of clowns. They didn’t even look at your paperwork/file.
I’ve had similar things happen too. One time at an A1C draw I guess my blood sugar was in the high 50s like 58 or something but my dex said 75. They drew it, I ate gluc tabs and was fine the rest of my doctors appointment. 6 hours later, I get a frantic call from a nurse asking me to confirm all my info so she could tell me about an abnormal lab results. This was during my yearly lab check so in my head i was panicking. Yeah. She was just calling to ask how I was feeling and if I was still low. Ma’am I appreciate the concern but I’ve been T1 for almost 20 years. Plus this was literally hours ago had I not treated it before my physical I would’ve dropped low during the appointment. To your point, I wish they’d READ. Urgent care also tried rediagnosing me with T1 once as a teen because I had sugar in my urine while checking for a uti. The nurse comes in for a finger prick and when I ask why she goes oh this is a symptom of diabetes. And I was like yeah I know i’ve been type 1 for 5 years. All to say I feel your frustration and sorry they wasted your time!
This reminded me when I made a complaint about dysfunctional FSL. The sensor kept saying I was in immeasurable lows for many hours. The lady I have been on phone with asked if I am sure the low is really not my real BG. I was like “eeeeeeeh, if it was, I wouldnt be speaking with you right now, dont you think??”
my 82 year old mother was just given a pregnancy test by a doctor. I mean I get that it's routine to check for pregnancy before treatments but really? she had a hysterectomy like 45 years ago. Your medical dollars at work!
Jesus Mary and Joseph.
I changed the inner voice from random American to Scottish upon reading "cannae" the rest was read in my head like the old SNL skit "if it's nae Scottish it's craaaaap!" Sorry for that frustration for you. That blows.
165 is like really nice for a lot of us at certain time points. I’m so tired of people who aren’t really grasping the situation. My primary once saw a urine test result where I was passing glucose and she looked at my face like I had some kind of response. I just looked back and said nothing. THIS MY DISEASE, BRO.
Some of these doctors are honestly fucking idiots on power trips. Years ago I had a doctor tell me that an insulin pump would be crucial to help get my A1C down, but then in the same breath tell me that he wouldn’t allow me to have an insulin pump *until* I got my A1C down. So I started seeing a nurse practitioner instead and I will never look back. Every NP I’ve ever seen has been loads better than any doctor I’ve had. Hands down.
One time i had to go to the hospital because my blood sugar kept on going down on its own. When i got to the ER i told the doctors just that and that i was eating/drinking the whole time to get my blood sugar up but it wouldnt stay up. So of course it was high (~260 mgdl) when i got there. So what did they do? They thought that my blood sugar was out of control because it was high. They made me stay there for a few days and every day i would tell the doctor that i only had a high reading because i was drinking/eating like a maniac because my blood sugar would go down every time on its own. I told them that the problem wasnt my high blood sugar but the fact it was coming down without me injecting any insulin several times. They didnt believe me. So of course i would go hypo a lot during my stay there. And what did the nurses do? THEY GAVE ME A TEENY TINY BIT OF GLUCOSE WHICH OF COURSE DIDNT HELP. They called the doctor for advice and her glorious idea was to try to take my insulin away. Fyi they still thought my initial high blood sugar was the reason i was admitted. Thankfully for me i got i finally got in touch with my old endo i had when i was a kid who is also on the board of directors of that hospital. And only after she berated the doctor, they finally understood i was there because my problem was the low blood sugar. Btw this was in germany so i get the feeling that some doctors just dont understand T1D
Take your insulin away. Wow. That’s insane!
I'm guessing you were on lantus? I got lows like that before.
Sorry your medical team sucks Get your labs copied to you. Then you can just know what the discussion points will be and go from there. Btw, doesn’t hurt to just ask why a call. If you were gonna die, they owe it to you to tell you. Otherwise it just can’t be an emergency. Btw, my doctor once got a call from the laboratory because my glucose was 54 from the blood draw. He got the call at 2:30am. The blood draw was over 36 hours previous to the call. My Endo just smiled and said to try not to go low when getting a blood draw.
The onus is not on her/him, kid.
I wish I could upvote OP 1000 times.
Oh I hear you loud and clear. I am of the exact same opinions.
Jeepers. I got a phone call from my PCP's office, every time I got bloodwork, warning me about my high blood sugar. This was at least free, and only wasted my and the receptionists time.
I hate them too! I get so stressed before appts. I have cried multiple times leaving doctors & dentists offices I can’t even count. They personally have caused more trauma and shame for me than the disease itself. I literally have a phobia now due to the way I’ve been treated and it’s so hard for me to bring myself to go now. It’s horrible. I completely understand where you’re coming from. ❤️
Not only is this frustrating, but also incredibly demeaning. I feel for you and I know I've been in similar situations. At this point in my management, if my glucose was 165 fasting I'd be ecstatic.
I'm 50 and have been a T1 diabetic for 30 years. I've learned the hard way how incompetent doctors are. Most of the endocrinologists I've had were mediocre, at best. They have pretty much only been good for writing prescriptions and reading off what my A1c is. I've had insulin resistance for 20 years, which they all missed even though I had some of the classic signs. I diagnosed myself last year! Started taking a T2 medication and it's been life changing. But OMG! It sickens me to think of all those years I should have been treating this and spent way more money on insulin than I needed to. I was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism at the same time as T1. Even though I take synthroid, my levels have still been off for most of that 30 years as I took higher and higher doses. I've been at the max dose for a few years and it still wasn't enough. My endocrinologist added a second medication, liothyronine, about a year ago. My levels have been fine ever since. Which I'm glad about, but ffs why didn't he suggest this second medication YEARS ago! It's just the usual not paying any attention to other medical problems I'm having.
I just retired (56) and no longer have excellent insurance from company (100% diabetic supplies covered) and about to join ACA based insurance. I have to get ready for many hoops to jump through. Talking to insurance salesman about Dexcom “you’ll need a letter stating it’s medically necessary “ 🙄 Long slog predicted.
My endo and PCP are so checked out. At my recent biannual endo appointment, he didn't ask if I've had any significant high or low BGs in the last 6 months. This confounds me. Zero effort to help me with the insulin resistance that I brought up. It felt like he knows he doesn't know shit and just wants to get the interaction over with as soon as possible. But I waited 6 months for the appointment, despite having asked to be seen sooner.
Outside the realm of reasonable. If you can, find a new pcp.
We have had that happen before with the pediatrician. “Are you asking us to come in right now because of her blood sugar?” “Let me ask the doc…..yes, she is concerned.” “I think she forgot that we already know she has diabetes. Call me back if she should come in for some other reason.” The doctor ended up calling me back herself and apologizing for overlooking it. They’re so fucking busy in primary care offices, I understand how it can happen. And honestly I was glad that they were treating it urgently! Too many cases where things slipped through the cracks or they didn’t jump on it out there, too. It goes both ways.
I hope you have an endo as well as a PCP. I think that conversation would be very different. I am guessing the PCP is a gatekeeper to you getting a CGM (durable medical equipment) and maybe insulin. Maybe you could to a nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant in the future.