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Permalink Reply by Daena on August 15, 2007 at 6:17am

Hi Connie, first of all, it's great that you're seeing an endo. Soon your endo will become like your best friend. I had my first endo visit sitting in a hospital ward - she had to come to me because I was still quite sick after that DKA episode.

Anyway I expect the endo to review your medicine dosages. So bring along your blood sugar log, because that is how they review your dosage. I bring mine along every time I've seen my endo and she uses it to adjust my insulin dosages accordingly. You should clear any doubts about your medication that you have not already gotten answered, like what does this drug do or what side effects could occur. Perhaps you could ask questions about any other medical conditions related to diabetes you might be experiencing and he could get you a referral to a specialist for those issues. Basically if anything is affecting you, and your diabetes and you are not sure why it's happening, you should be clearing your doubts with the endo. Also if there is any part of your treatment that you are not sure of.

An endo visit may also entail a blood pressure test and possibly a HbA1c test. I saw the endo three months after I was diagnosed and got sent for both. He might also want to send you for more blood work, such as tests to measure your cholesterol levels and fasting glucose numbers. Be prepared for referrals to get your retinas scanned as well.

Hope that helped and keep us all posted on your visit!

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Permalink Reply by Jenny on August 15, 2007 at 6:42am

Some endos are wonderful. Some are incompetent boobs. So some of what you are asking should be questions to determine where this one you are seeing falls.

ASK:

1. What do you consider a healthy blood sugar for someone with my kind of diabetes, and why.

2. How long ago did you do your training in endocrinology. (The more recent, the better. Some of the ones trained years ago still adhere to treatments and diagnostic criteria that are outdated. I've run into this problem personally.)

3. What kind of diet do you recommend to people with diabetes (if it's low fat, run away. The doc is way out of date.)

4. Can you lend me a CMGS so we can get a better idea of how my blood sugar is behaving. This is the latest thing that some better doctors are doing. It's extremely helpful.

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Permalink Reply by Dave on August 15, 2007 at 7:21am

1. I would ask them to check my cholesterol, A1c, T3, T4, Cortisol.
2. I would ask them their opinion on Insulin Pumps-If they have issues with them I personally think that would be a red flag against them.
3. What kind of a diet do they recommend- Low carb, low fat or higher carb and moderate fat etc.
4. Urine sample so they can get a baseline for protein and future Ace.

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Permalink Reply by josephine on March 22, 2009 at 4:37am

What is T3 and T4 ?

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