Desmond course - worth using a day's annual leave?

[nymple]

I went on the desmond course a couple of years ago and honestly, I would save your annual leave for something else.

They taught the Eat Well plate and stressed the importance of eating carbs with every meal. They talked about cutting down on sweet food and sugar in general and did some "healthy swaps" but obviously there was no real talk about how foods without mountains of sugar in them might effect your blood sugar.

There was a small science type section which discussed the different types of sugar and how they are made up and therefore dealt with by your body, but this was very very basic.

The afternoon was spent in a nearby supermarket, wandering around and learning to read the labels on foods.

There was no talk of testing as Type 2's aren't encouraged to do so.

I would personally suggest, as @ladybird64 mentioned that if you are looking for real life support you may benefit. However as someone who already seems clued up, is testing and doing well with low carb, that you are unlikely to benefit from the content of the course in regards to learning how to control your diabetes.

 

[eldergarth]

Iwill be attending my local Desmond course on April 13th I will be happy to post my findings for you @TooManyCrisps

 

[TooManyCrisps]

Iwill be attending my local Desmond course on April 13th I will be happy to post my findings for you @TooManyCrisps

Thank you @eldergarth, that would be helpful. I should also have my next HBA1C result in April, so I can see if what I'm doing already for myself is making a difference.

 

[bobrobert]

If I was still working then I would expect that the course would be medical leave? In other words....sick leave.

 

[PenfoldAPD]

I went on the course. I run my own business so time off not a problem. Would I recommend? I think it depends how 'clued up' you think you are. I went 3 weeks after diagnosis, by which time I'd discovered this forum - understood LCHF and was monitoring. There were others on the course who 'just don't know what to eat', I have to admit I despaired. I was the only one testing, the only one who seems to understand my diabetes. I've seen you on here a bit @TooManyCrisps so maybe you are learning and Desmond would be of little use. I would question if you have to take as paid leave, should it not be sick leave?

 

[MargJ]

I did this course a few weeks after diagnosis when I knew nothing. They recommended the eat well plate - very carb heavy and spent ages discussing diabetic complications. I came home totally depressed. There was no recommendation to test blood sugar or do anything more than cut out obviously sugary food. Fortunately I found this forum. You will learn more from it and be more positive about things too.

 

[PatsyB]

I did ask to go on this course when i first found oiut i had Diabetes and never even got an invite to it.... never bothered after that

 

[Sirmione]

I can understand that a Desmond course would be of value to anybody who was either suffering post-diagnosis shock or are in denial or just didn't understand at least little of the science of how one's body uses sugar, I can also understand the value of the mutual support.
However I would suspect most people who have found this forum will have at least started to come to terms with our health condition(s) and have used the internet to self-educated themselves on diet and the consequences of going off the rails.
The forum also gives lots of mutual support (which I for one truly appreciate) but it would be nice to meet others facing the same challenges.

 

[Sirmione]

I did ask to go on this course when i first found oiut i had Diabetes and never even got an invite to it.... never bothered after that

;-(
What was it Groucho Marx said.... "I would never want to be a member of a club that would have me as a member."

 

[Diamum5972]

I did ask to go on this course when i first found oiut i had Diabetes and never even got an invite to it.... never bothered after that

I was diagnosed in October last year and my DN said she was registering me for it, but I haven't heard anything since. I don't know if I'm going to bother either

 

[lizbet9]

I found it quite useful - it's better for a recently diagnosed, I'd had diabetes for a number of years so didn't get too much out of it. I asked to do DAFNE but because I was type 2 couldn't. My local hospital (City in Nottingham) was trailing a type 2 on insulin course which was brilliant - very similar to the DAFNE - see if there is something similar near to you

 

[RoseofSharon]

I complained to Barts health trust . It's ridiculous that they only do the course during working hours. Diabetes is a long term condition but losing your job would make it worse. I'm the CE of a small charity and cannot take half a day off every week for 8 weeks. It would be untenable. So I learn via the Internet, this forum etc . Really I love the NHS but sometimes they need to think about people's needs

I understand where you are coming from, but unfortunately the nurses/clinical educators who are brought in to do these courses only work during the 9-5 Mon-Fri work week which of course then means that there is a limited time span when the NHS can actually run the courses. Also please remember that these courses are provided on top of all the other tasks that nurses and clinical specialists and specialist educators do. Having seen the other side (1.5years of adult nursing training) the strain on the NHS with under staffing etc. at the moment is such that we really are lucky to have these courses free at all.

In response to the OP: my advice is to take the course. Although the course I was referred to is the xpert course I imagine the content is similar. I have gained two major benefits (as I see hem) from it, firstly the time they go through reading food labels is beneficial (although ignore what they say over fat content) secondly I was able to get my bg strips on prescription by taking one of the bg monitors they were handing out (had to get the girl to write a letter to get the strips - but hey I got them). The NICE guidelines state that by attending such a course we are entitled to the strips as part of our self monitoring (sorry if I've just butchered that!). The other thing that was interesting was some of the handouts etc that we were given. Oh and yes I do not subscribe to the healthy eating plate as advised by the NHS and really didn't expect to get anything out of the course (of course dragging hubby along has stopped his moaning at me about my strictures on our diet a which I suppose was another benefit).

 

[MargJ]

I understand where you are coming from, but unfortunately the nurses/clinical educators who are brought in to do these courses only work during the 9-5 Mon-Fri work week which of course then means that there is a limited time span when the NHS can actually run the courses. Also please remember that these courses are provided on top of all the other tasks that nurses and clinical specialists and specialist educators do. Having seen the other side (1.5years of adult nursing training) the strain on the NHS with under staffing etc. at the moment is such that we really are lucky to have these courses free at all.

In response to the OP: my advice is to take the course. Although the course I was referred to is the xpert course I imagine the content is similar. I have gained two major benefits (as I see hem) from it, firstly the time they go through reading food labels is beneficial (although ignore what they say over fat content) secondly I was able to get my bg strips on prescription by taking one of the bg monitors they were handing out (had to get the girl to write a letter to get the strips - but hey I got them). The NICE guidelines state that by attending such a course we are entitled to the strips as part of our self monitoring (sorry if I've just butchered that!). The other thing that was interesting was some of the handouts etc that we were given. Oh and yes I do not subscribe to the healthy eating plate as advised by the NHS and really didn't expect to get anything out of the course (of course dragging hubby along has stopped his moaning at me about my strictures on our diet a which I suppose was another benefit).

It's interesting that you got offered a monitor. The course I went on never mentioned monitoring your own levels and although encouraging us to read food labels, they said we didn't need to worry about how many carbs were in the food, only the of which sugars bit.

 

[RoseofSharon]

@MargJ

It would appear that different advice is given out at different times. I too was surprised that they were just giving them out to all of us who wanted on on the course.

 

[MargJ]

It occurred to me that those diagnosed as pre-diabetic would benefit from Desmond. It might kickstart them in to making changes that prevent them becoming diabetic. Some doctors seem to think that can't happen but I feel sure it can or can at least delay things.

 

[RoseofSharon]

I agree, I also think that prediabetics should be taught how to use a bg monitor so they can find and eliminate problem foods long before they get to diagnosis,

 

[TooManyCrisps]

Hi Everyone. Thanks for all the responses. I have booked my course - in May - and will give it a go. I decided that if I don't learn anything, all I've lost is a day's leave, but I might get something out of it.
@PenfoldAPD, I could possibly ask for it as sick leave, not sure about that, but I think I'm already pushing my team's flexibility as I do flexible hours because of childcare arrangements. And at the moment, for various complicated reasons, I'd rather not disclose my diagnosis to my manager, which I'd have to do if I was asking for a whole day off work for a medical appointment.

I'll come back and tell everyone about the course once I've done it. I do feel that I've learned a lot form this forum, and also by testing my BS before and after every meal, but there's always more to learn, isn't there? Maybe they'll be able to tell me how to get my BS down in the mornings which is driving me insane at the moment!!

 

[RoseofSharon]

They won't.

More likely they will wonder how you know what your FBG is.

Unfortunately I have to second this

Most likely they will give a list of possible reasons for it, but they don't really give tips for reducing fbg.

 

[Hiitsme]

I went on Desmond last September. About half were monitoring their levels which the people running the course thought was good. They said that we should aim to be back under 7 after 2 hours, but nobody asked how, why didn't I think of it at the time? Some of the food labelling was interesting. We were told to reduce carbs which I was pleased to hear as my husband came with me.

 

[Naomi425]

Well after complaining that they only do the course during working hours, they have put on an evening course so I feel obliged to go. I have a feeling I'm going to be a difficult student and they may regret their decision


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