Talk Openly With Your Doctor

It is important to have a good working relationship with your health care team to manage your diabetes successfully. With a close partnership you can obtain guidance, support, feedback and inspiration that is needed to cope with diabetes day after day.

The quality of your relationship does not matter I your health care team is not providing you with the best and most professional care.

As a first step this means checking your feet, eyes, blood pressure, lipid levels, kidney function and A1c levels regularly. It also means providing the most up-to-date treatment recommendations.

Strategies to help build a better relationship with your health care team:

1. Prepare for your visits

   Before your next appointment, take a few minutes to write down what you would like to cover at that visit. For example, any unusual blood glucose readings, any problems in exercising or with taking your medicines.

2. Ask about the results of your medical tests

   Make sure to ask your doctor about the important medical tests (A1c, lipids, blood pressure, kidney test) which are important for good diabetes care. You need to know if these tests are being done regularly and what the results are .

3. Be an active participant in deciding about changes in your diabetes care

   Your doctor may suggest one or more treatment action, such as a change in medication, referral to another specialist, or more frequent testing of blood glucose. If you don't understand what the recommendation is or why it is being made, don't be shy about speaking up. By knowing the what and why of this particular recommendation, you will have a much better idea about what to do.

4. Take the risk of being open and honest

   The secret is to become aggressively honest. Rather than hiding your blood glucose records or doing everything to avoid talking about how poorly you have been eating, do the opposite! Make your struggle with diabetes elf-care your focus of your conversation with your doctor.

5. Be aware of the pressures under which your care team must operate

   This helps you build a more effective partnership with your doctor.

Using these strategies, you can be confident that your next visit with your care team will be more productive.

This information is a summary from "Diabetes Burnout" hand has been provided with the permission of the American Diabetes Association.

"Diabetes Burnout" is recommended by the American Diabetes Association as an invaluable guide that addresses the emotional issues that can become barriers to good self-care.

Click on the image to go to the American Diabetes Association bookstore.

Note: Care4life has no commercial interest in any of the books or resources it recommends.