low carb diet in hospital

[devans]

I was recently admitted to hospital for 2 weeks. My BGLs rose dramatically and Dr wanted to increase my insulin. I knew that this was a result of the high carb diabetic menu but fought constantly with the medical staff over this, I was in hospital because of a broken bone not my diabetes. Australian dieticians in general including those who work for Diabetes organizations are so far behind the times. I ended up getting my family to bring me in suitable meals and guess what the BGLs dropped. Has anyone else had this experience??? and if so how did you handle it? I am so tired of fighting with health care professionals who are so ignorant about diet and diabetes/

 

[Guzzler]

The same thing happens here. Members report having to have family bring in suitable food which is mind boggling at best. If I was ever in hospital for more than 24 hours I must admit I would scream and shout at everyone from consultants to HCAs. It makes no sense to have people made more ill on discharge than they were on admittance.

 

[devans]

I couldn't agree more. If I had followed advice my insulin levels would have been through the roof. I went form and average 5-6 to 14 on hospital food. Levels dropped within 12 hours when I went back to eating low carb.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Yes, it is the same in the UK, and not only high carbs and stodgy but also quite disgusting. I wasn't diabetic when I was last in hospital but my family still brought most of my food in or I would have been very hungry and may not have recovered as well.

 

[Jaylee]

Yep, As mentioned above.

Cut a long story (a long time ago.) short...
My T2 dad went in with a chest infection.. (Granted he had an infection & was elderly & frail.)

By this time I'd lowered his carb intake by around 60% & he was pulled off Metformin by the GP. (He had unusually been prescribed a meter & strips by our GP.) He suffered from dementia, but his A1c great.

So.. This nurse tests his BS & clearly all the work had been undone in two days. I ask what his BS is. "Very good!" She casually replied... (They were in the mid teens.)

I did inform her she was talking to another diabetic..

 

[CarbsRok]

I was recently admitted to hospital for 2 weeks. My BGLs rose dramatically and Dr wanted to increase my insulin. I knew that this was a result of the high carb diabetic menu but fought constantly with the medical staff over this, I was in hospital because of a broken bone not my diabetes. Australian dieticians in general including those who work for Diabetes organizations are so far behind the times. I ended up getting my family to bring me in suitable meals and guess what the BGLs dropped. Has anyone else had this experience??? and if so how did you handle it? I am so tired of fighting with health care professionals who are so ignorant about diet and diabetes/

As you were on insulin why oh why didn't you just increase the amount your were injecting? being in hospital ie. inactive and with an injury would increase your numbers as well so you were on a hiding to nothing.
Hopefully you are now on the mend.

 

[Guzzler]

@CarbsRok

The issue at hand is the lack of awareness/will to take into consideration the dietary requirements of a patient on insulin. Patients in a hospital enviroment should not be forced to adapt their medication to suit food served up, rather the patient as a whole should be treated.

 

[Biggles2]

Yup, I had the same experience over here on the ADA's Consistent Carbohydrate (CHO) Diabetic Diet. I believe this dietary approach was rolled out in 2012. The goal is to keep carbohydrates at the same level for each meal. On the consistent CHO diet the total daily CHO intake is 185 grams/day, so it is 65/60/60 for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is usually paired with a sliding insulin scale to be administered if post-prandial glucose rises above 140mg/dL or 7.8mmol/L.

It is definitely geared towards individuals taking insulin, and it does make sense when you are carb counting for insulin. When you are in the hospital, the goal is to keep blood glucose levels a little higher in order to avoid hypoglycemic episodes.

However, for non-insulin dependent T2DM it makes no sense at all, especially for those of us trying to control things with LCHF! In my case, I was so ill with flu/pneumonia/sepsis that I ate nothing at all for the first 4-5 days I was hospitalized. Unsurprisingly, I lost 18 pounds in short order. I believe that this rapid weight loss produced an unintended (but much appreciated!) ND diet-like effect on my liver and pancreas.

Here is a link to one U.S. hospital's information on the Consistent Carbohydrate Diet for unit staff: http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/root/p...it_Staff_on_Consistent_Carb_Diabetic_Menu.pdf

 

[Jaylee]

@CarbsRok

The issue at hand is the lack of awareness/will to take into consideration the dietary requirements of a patient on insulin. Patients in a hospital enviroment should not be forced to adapt their medication to suit food served up, rather the patient as a whole should be treated.

To be fair to @CarbsRok , the OP could be on an MDI Regime?
Possibly @devans could confirm what insulin is prescribed?

However, I have noticed insulin dependant's medication taken away in hospital. (Only to be administered by HCPs.)
The guy in the next bed to my father's during his stay (is one example.) in my previous post (told you it was a long story.) from my observation & accounts mentioned on this forum too.

 

[miszu]

It was that one week when I was diagnosed with T1D. I knew nothing about carb-counting, but after getting the lecture from the nurses I clearly understood, that their diabetes menu isnt good for me and yes, they were giving me more insulin because of that hosp food. My roommate was someone with overactive thyroid plus high BP. I was not allowed to eat, she was forced to eat every hour. Good combo isnt it haha ? We switched food many times, she gave me her LCHF when she had such, I gave her all the high carbs I got from hosp. Thats how I managed it after figuring that docs and nurses dont feel what its like to be getting more and more units for each meal. I was devastetad when they forced me to eat a whole bun just so then they can show me how high my BG raised and they got to give me more insulin. Really, we f.cked them over with my roommate, sorry for language, but that was a harsh week for me. I had a few hypos for not eating what they gave me in secret, but that forced them to lower my insulin units. But otherhands, my mother was so strong she fought for me actually and brought me all low carb foods from home like spinach etc. I know she cant see it here, but love u mom, thank u so much. X
I was underaged back then, couldnt argue too much with the hospital coz they told us they are reporting mom to childcare and police if we restrain. But please if u can, then do not get on with hospital menu, I find that they dont quite prefer LCHF diet. Hope everyones doing okay. X

 

[CherryAA]

I know this may be forlorn hope, But Jenny Ruehe in diabetes 101, suggests that all low carbs diabetics attempt to get a letter from their GP specifiying that they are follow a specific dietary path - eg no more than 10 g per meal etc - which is the basis for their insulin/ lack of medication regime . In the end the hospital might ignore it, but it gives you a basis upon which you can say - this is is essential to my health and if you force me to eat other stuff I will sue.
I know for many getting the letter may be tough/impossible but its worth a try.

 

[CarbsRok]

@CarbsRok

The issue at hand is the lack of awareness/will to take into consideration the dietary requirements of a patient on insulin. Patients in a hospital enviroment should not be forced to adapt their medication to suit food served up, rather the patient as a whole should be treated.

The point I was trying to make was the poster has the tools to adjust to the situation, you need to fight the battles you are likely to win. A large hospital with loads of people in it can not always cater for everyone's wants. They have difficulty catering for people with coeliac even when told that an admission with celiac is coming in for surgery. ( I found out the hard way as wasn't fed for 40 hours due to nothing suitable) Most hospitals have menus to choose from so pick and mix the low carb options.

The majority of hospital staff have 10 mins training on diabetes whilst qualifying so we can not expect to much can we?

 

[CherryAA]

The point I was trying to make was the poster has the tools to adjust to the situation, you need to fight the battles you are likely to win. A large hospital with loads of people in it can not always cater for everyone's wants. They have difficulty catering for people with coeliac even when told that an admission with celiac is coming in for surgery. ( I found out the hard way as wasn't fed for 40 hours due to nothing suitable) Most hospitals have menus to choose from so pick and mix the low carb options.

The majority of hospital staff have 10 mins training on diabetes whilst qualifying so we can not expect to much can we?

I think if our health issue is controlled by diet alone ,then food IS already our medicine. We would not accept a situation where hospitals did not bother to provide the medication we have to take normally on the grounds that just because you want drug A doesn't mean we are going to provide it because we can't cater to all our patients medical needs . Neither should we accept it for food - it is not a question of our " wants" it is a question of leaving the hospital at least as healthy as we went in.

 

[KK123]

Such an interesting thread. They should think of people with diabetes as having an allergy almost, would they feed nuts to someone with a peanut allergy or pork to someone whose religion prevents it? I know you won't die immediately from a dose of high carbs but they really should respect a person's dietary needs instead of thinking of them as 'fussy'.

 

[Tannith]

You can always ask to see the dietician in hospital and he or she will prescribe a diet suitable for your condition.

 

[JohnEGreen]

Talking with an ex nurse the other day who had for several years worked on a ward taking care of patients with Vasucular Dementia he says that about 60 to 80 percent of the patients were T2 , and that the diet the patients were given being high carb made him so mad in that he felt it was making their condition worse in the end he had to leave as he could not stand it any more.

 

[VioletViolet]

It was that one week when I was diagnosed with T1D. I knew nothing about carb-counting, but after getting the lecture from the nurses I clearly understood, that their diabetes menu isnt good for me and yes, they were giving me more insulin because of that hosp food. My roommate was someone with overactive thyroid plus high BP. I was not allowed to eat, she was forced to eat every hour. Good combo isnt it haha ? We switched food many times, she gave me her LCHF when she had such, I gave her all the high carbs I got from hosp. Thats how I managed it after figuring that docs and nurses dont feel what its like to be getting more and more units for each meal. I was devastetad when they forced me to eat a whole bun just so then they can show me how high my BG raised and they got to give me more insulin. Really, we f.cked them over with my roommate, sorry for language, but that was a harsh week for me. I had a few hypos for not eating what they gave me in secret, but that forced them to lower my insulin units. But otherhands, my mother was so strong she fought for me actually and brought me all low carb foods from home like spinach etc. I know she cant see it here, but love u mom, thank u so much. X
I was underaged back then, couldnt argue too much with the hospital coz they told us they are reporting mom to childcare and police if we restrain. But please if u can, then do not get on with hospital menu, I find that they dont quite prefer LCHF diet. Hope everyones doing okay. X

Blimey , what you described sounds more like you're in a wartime sick bay drama using your wits to out fox the system and survive....

Without basic good nutrition how can anyone in hospital for whatever reason get well?

 

[vjaarsaj]

Type II spent 2 weeks in hospital in January just gave up fighting and ordered “normal” food as I refuse to eat low-fat anything and won’t touch bread unless I’m starving, lost a couple of pounds but that could just have been from the 450mg of antibiotics 4 x pd and the constant runs

 

[bulkbiker]

You can always ask to see the dietician in hospital and he or she will prescribe a diet suitable for your condition.

Good luck with that approach...

 

[miszu]

Blimey , what you described sounds more like you're in a wartime sick bay drama using your wits to out fox the system and survive....

Without basic good nutrition how can anyone in hospital for whatever reason get well?

I wasnt having a flu, I got diabetes. Sweet pasta, carrot soup, rice with peas, bread... that was their menu for me. I did everything they told me, but how they told me that high carbs are bad did not suit to what they actually gave me to eat. When asking them about it one nurse said that hospital cant afford to order diabetic food, another tried telling me that this is exactly what I need etc. Its me who cares the most about my health. I do not regret any of my choices while being hospitalized with t1d. Today I can eat the right amount of cabrs that suits me and give the right amount of insulin that Im comfortable with and live my life mostly happily. Thats what I fought for in the hospital. X