Is DESMOND actually helpful?

[emily2136]

UK people who have been sent on this course by their GP when newly diagnosed... is it actually helpful/useful about managing your diabetes?

For context: I'm newly diagnosed MODY and attending this course will require me to take 2 days off work which means losing 10 hours pay.

I want to make sure I won't be wasting my time being passively bullied and patronised about eating healthy for six hours, whilst listening to peoe moan about not being able to have sugar in their tea...?

 

[Lainie71]

I didn't participate in the DESMOND but I did some kind of course directed through the DN. To be honest I found it okay as far as learning about the glycaemic index but that was about it. I educated myself more on here to be honest. Just my take on things though, each to their own.

 

[Lainie71]

For the sake of any newbies reading this thread ..I wouldn't want to put the kibosh on attending the DESMOND course ..as some of the patients in my cohort ..had started out knowing ✻zilch✻ about managing this complicated condition ..and probably benefited from attending.

Which is why I said everyone to their own

 

[AndBreathe]

UK people who have been sent on this course by their GP when newly diagnosed... is it actually helpful/useful about managing your diabetes?

For context: I'm newly diagnosed MODY and attending this course will require me to take 2 days off work which means losing 10 hours pay.

I want to make sure I won't be wasting my time being passively bullied and patronised about eating healthy for six hours, whilst listening to peoe moan about not being able to have sugar in their tea...?

Emily, as I understand it, and having read a lot on here, the DESMOND course can be quite variable, depending where you are, and who delivers the course.

People newly diagnosed should be offered such a course withing 9 months of their diagnosis, so some folks could be vert new and others living longer with T2.

If you would like to attend, it could be worthwhile contacting whoever booked you in. In my area there are some courses run in the evenings for those working during the day, or who need to cover child care.

 

[OrsonKartt]

When I was diagnosed type 2 I engaged with online courses some paid some free and read everything I could. - there’s a lot of info out there some good a lot not so good. Good luck in your endeavors

 

[LeafyArts]

I am doing an online Desmond course, it seems very informative. My GP referred me to them and they don't offer "in person" courses here anymore. All I had to do was give them my email address and they signed me up. It is quite easy, with videos and little quizzes.

 

[Iamnotizzy]

I did it earlier this year and found it to be a bit lacking tbh. When talking about testing they had no idea about continuous blood sugar monitoring- didn’t even mention it until someone wearing a monitor brought the subject up. I also found they were advocating high gi food as long as it was whole eg banana, wholemeal bread. And no mention that different food trigger different sugar level in different people.

 

[niblue]

I've not been offered any courses since I was diagnosed about 6 weeks ago, but doesn't sound like they are hugely useful if you've done your own research.

 

[HSSS]

It wasn’t Desmond but that kind of newly diagnosed thing. Personally it was an utter waste of time. I’d already massively overhauled my eating and self educated myself and was doing far better than I would if I had followed their eatwell advice.

However there were people there that didn’t have a clue about the nutritional content of their food, how diabetes works, what a carb is let alone what the effects are etc etc. For them (although I feel the advice was seriously unambitious and far too carb heavy with too much fear of fats) it probably was useful and if they followed the advice an improvement on what they were doing and understanding.

Depends how well you’ve done your own research first and the results you’re getting I’d say.

oh and it’s aimed at type 2 and if your variety of mody has different needs and issues then that will also effect it’s relevance

 

[Ricku2]

I did this course a couple of months ago after being diagnosed T2, I found the information good and I'm using it along side an app called food, i think it may only be available on android phones, but using it has helped me lose almost 10kg over 2 months, my Dr wants me to try reversing into remission by diet first, my course was run by 2 diabetes nurses.

 

[hboyt]

Be glad u don't have type 1 and the Dafne course is 5 days long! It toally different to the Desmond course and was almost 10 years ago I did it and was definitely worth the effort. Wish I could do a refresher course but now got two kids in the mix so not as easy to leave them for 5 days

 

[Diggler]

My online course wasn't DESMOND and was almost completely useless for my type 2 diabetes. I was shown graphics suggesting I should eat copious amounts of carbohydrate. At one point the medical professional running the course told the participants that we would almost all end up on insulin. Following their advice I suspect that was true. I chose to follow the guidance made b by the likes of Dr Cavan (I paid for an online consultation) and Dr Unwin. HbA1c from 99 to 43 in three months and lower cholesterol.

 

[MissMuffett]

When I was newly diagnosed about 8 years ago I went on 2 half day courses. It wasn’t DESMOND (who is he anywa?) I was told diabetes is a progressive disease and no cure! oh how little they knew. It looks like they haven’t updated themselves as I was given a diet sheet (copied from a diabetic clinic in West Sussex!) 3 weeks ago and it follows the old patterns - baked potato, oats, brown rice brown bread, low fat spreads and low fat yogurt! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. They obviously want us to stay sick

 

[Pat50D]

I was sent on this during covid so I did it via zoom over 2 days. Did I learn anything - not a lot! The person delivering the course did nothing to make it interesting, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I didn't log on for the 2nd session. You can learn as much as you need from Diabetes UK.