Interview Section : Healthtalkonline

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A doctor speaks – an introduction to diabetes type 2
Early signs and symptoms
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Controlling diabetes :
Food, eating and diets
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Testing blood glucose
Controlling diabetes with oral medications
Coping with insulin
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Possible complications :
Managing hypos
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Depression, feeling down and mood swings
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The long view :
Managing diabetes at work and driving
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Adjustment to diabetes and changes in self-image
Misunderstandings about diabetes

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Diabetes Type 2

People's stories

Aged 66 - 69

James - Interview 26

James - Interview 26

Age at Interview: 67
Sex: Male
Age at Diagnosis: 42
Background: James is a partially retired university porter who is married with two young sons and also a grown up son and daughter from his previous marriage. Ethnic background/Nationality: Born in the West Indies, living in UK.

Brief outline:Diagnosed 25 years ago, James takes metformin, doxazosin, lisinipril, gliclazide and sotacor.

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James says he feels proud of the care he receives from his GP.
Print Nowadays you go to the Caribbean and there's a lot of people down there with diabetes and they have got to pay for all their medication. And the doctor never seems to… Just give them the medication, and [they] never test it you know to know whether it is the right medication for them, whether they should increase the does or reduce it or change it to something else. I have seen it done there, with people I discuss this sort of thing, they don't do anything, just give them tablets and think that is it, that will calm it down - it doesn't. So you feel yours is quite well managed? Yes. I think mine is 100% managed yes. I feel proud of this and my GP. Proud of this. I didn't know anything about diabetes. I never met anyone with diabetes except, yes, I have, except my own people said that they diabetic and they inject themselves, so I wondered what it was like until my GP told me. This is something that can give you strokes, is it high blood pressure or sugar level? But sometimes with my diabetes if I stay too long from eating anything I became hot and sweaty, feel weird and [laugh] at one time my GP, I was in his surgery and he took my sugar level, and I showed him the reading I had which was 2 point something. And he just got up like this and just run downstairs and got some biscuit.

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