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Going It Alone

I try to work with my hospital team but have to admit Ive totally given up on my GP when it cometo anything to do with diabetes.
I take the line that the endocrinologists know a s***load more about treatment options than I do, but that what I know when it come to my own diabetes is equally important and can help educate the medics
My favourite consultions went along these lines (2 different conltants)
Consultant 1 - diabetes always gets worse, but yours has got better. Are you sure youre diabetic?
Me - well youre the doctor, you tell me!
After which he read through all of my notes, then said “ well, yes you definately have Diabetes”
then we had a conversation about using aggressive testing, 100g ish carbs and eating to the meter as a management strategy
Consultant 2 - that hba1c is fantastic, the change from Gliclazide to Januvia has worked wonderfully
Me - actually I never changed - I didnt like the look of the side effects so I just took my carbs down further to see what that did
Consultant - oh my God dont tell me you’re doing Atkins!
Me - no mainly organic veggie diet 25-50g carbs a day
Consultant - Low carb is the way to go for most diabetics, but not many can keep to it
 
To stick to low carb you have to overcome the fear of fat, and most doctors will not help someone to do so.........
 
ringi said:
To stick to low carb you have to overcome the fear of fat, and most doctors will not help someone to do so.........
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I wonder how Dr. Unwin gets around it? Probably by promoting olive oil etc and a little butter maybe?
 
ringi said:
To stick to low carb you have to overcome the fear of fat, and most doctors will not help someone to do so.........
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I dont agree - i stick to low carb but do not go overboard on fat either - I gain weight if I do
 
Boo1979 said:
I dont agree - i stick to low carb but do not go overboard on fat either - I gain weight if I do
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I'm different. Increased fats seem to have marginal effects on me. No one size fits all, after all.
 
Guzzler said:
I'm different. Increased fats seem to have marginal effects on me. No one size fits all, after all.
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Same with me, as long as my carb intake is low enough I can increase fats as much as I like. Of course there's a natural limit though, It's not so easy to eat huge amounts of fat without carbs :)
 
Guzzler said:
I wonder how Dr. Unwin gets around it? Probably by promoting olive oil etc and a little butter maybe?
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Yes I think that's how he does it, it's a shame he can't afford to be more positive about increasing fats, but no one in the medical profession would listen to him if he was.
 
lindisfel said:
I have have read of instances where potassium has dropped so seriously on keto, patients have died.
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If my understanding is correct, when potassium levels are low, the cells cannot repolarize and are unable to fire repeatedly, and muscles and nerves may not function normally. The effects of low potassium may cause the following symptoms: ... muscle cramps, and. heart palpitations (irregular heartbeats). The more at risk of fatal arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death a patient is, the more attention should be given to the potassium homeostasis. ... Disturbed potassium homeostasis among heart cells is such a trigger. Thus, hypokalemia and, also, more transient reductions in plasma potassium concentration are of importance. Therefore several signals would have to be missed before something fatal occurred, not impossible but who ignores the signs? I expect some!
 
Boo1979 said:
I dont agree - i stick to low carb but do not go overboard on fat either - I gain weight if I do
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That's the difference between being feerful of fat and hence chooseing food due to them being low fat, and being sensible. For examle steak has a lot of fat (even when the fat has been cut off), but I no longer feel guilty about eating steak, this is very different from adding lots of fats to meals for the sake of it.
 
DavidGrahamJones said:
herefore several signals would have to be missed before something fatal occurred, not impossible but who ignores the signs? I expect some!
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Maybe I would? I am so used to being told that everything is down to the fact that I am obese ( and being told off for it) I don't usually ask for help until I am in dire straits.
 
I think you place too much faith in medical professionals. In the UK we have to go thru our GP and many diabetics are managed, like me, just by their GP and/or DN. GPs cover a ridiculous range of conditions and become jack of all trades and master of none - they are not superhuman. Many GPs know little about diabetes which puts us at risk if we don't do our own homework. My first 'diabetes expert' GP knew very little about diabetes and my second one is an excellent GP but knew little about diabetes when she managed me and then handed me over to the real expert DN. Yes, if you have multiple conditions you need to take extra care but if you want to survive in this world you need to use a bit of your own intelligence and know which experts to use be it the GP or Dr Google
 
On my first ever endocrinology appointment the consultant told me, "we don't really know that much about diabetes". That was only 4 years ago.

So I go for my annual reviews and I stay in touch with them in case I need them but most of what I've learned came from this forum and interacting with other diabetics.

So I don't feel that I'm going it alone and I like to think that my actions are the result of informed choices.
 
can you give me reference for sodium increasing potassium.
I think you may have got that wrong.
When the body increases aldosterone to retain sodium, potassium is peed out.
D.
ringi said:
I know of very few NHS GP who have the skills to give people surport with low carb, so we have to choose between taking a little risk by going it a allone or except the normal outcome of lots of complications.

As I understand it, the most common reason for low potassium on a low carb diet is due to someone not getting enough sodium, hence the advice to add a little salt. At least in the UK we all have access to healthcare, and potassium levels will be check by a GP if people are fealing faint.
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urbanracer said:
On my first ever endocrinology appointment the consultant told me, "we don't really know that much about diabetes". That was only 4 years ago.

So I go for my annual reviews and I stay in touch with them in case I need them but most of what I've learned came from this forum and interacting with other diabetics.

So I don't feel that I'm going it alone and I like to think that my actions are the result of informed choices.
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My endocrinologist has so far given good and based on results accurate advise in terms of minor tweaks in basal and the like, but she's listed as diabetes/endocrinology on the consultant page, no idea if that's standard or not.
 
zand said:
Maybe I would? I am so used to being told that everything is down to the fact that I am obese ( and being told off for it) I don't usually ask for help until I am in dire straits.
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Don't believe its all obesity, Zand. The way our individual genes act can change, scientists now talk about epigenetics. The gene expression can even vary among identical twins.
D.
 
Hi John,
My eldest is a GP she is allocated 10mins to each patient.
If the surgery is aware of our heath and actions they can take better remedial action in the event of an emergency.
D.


JohnEGreen said:
I agree but and there is always a but, some times it seems that the professionals either don't have the time the specialist knowledge or quite frankly the will to be of much help at times many people here on this site are here because the professionals where not particularly helpful and their advise quite often just wrong this leads to people seeking help else where and this forum is a far better alternative than many other places that they could end up at.
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lindisfel said:
can you give me reference for sodium increasing potassium.
I think you may have got that wrong.
When the body increases aldosterone to retain sodium, potassium is peed out.
D.
Click to expand...

I never said sodium increase potassium, I just said the reason for low potassium is often low sodium. (potassium is coming in at a slow rate from most people's diet)
 
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