Spreading The Lchf Word Together, Maybe The Way Forward?

Debandez

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4,019
Type of diabetes
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Its going to take a while this so may I suggest you make yourself a coffee and top up with lashings of double cream of course! Or if you are reading this during the evening maybe a glass of the red juice! Maybe it doesnt have to be evening.....or red! Just make yourself comfy. Here goes....

I joined this amazing forum towards the end of last year following my shock diagnosis. Worried sick. Clueless apart from the Eat well drawing in my hand, done very roughly by hand (in my very first appointment where you are still in shock) by my diabetic nurse, who also confirmed that this beast that was now inside me was progressive. I would need drugs, and more drugs and maybe insulin. She was the same nurse who had treated my mum for about 10 years before her death 11 years ago. I thought 'she knows best, im doomed'. I knew my mum's had been progressive so why would i even question her statement. The good news was that basically i could eat what i liked but just had to cut down on sugar. I could eat plenty of starchy carbs with a low GI, eat plenty of fruit and veg, cut down on fat, choose low fat dairy, lean meat, blah blah blah. You know the script as you had exactly the same no doubt. All backed up on the nhs website. The threat of metformin was hanging over me as my hba1c was over 48 (62). I shudder at the thought of having to take tablets as my mum was offered thalidamide when she was pregnant with me as she was so sick. Thankfully for me she did not take them. I know metformin works well and has been going for years but i just wanted to see if maybe, just maybe, i could reverse my diagnosis with diet alone. I had heard reversal was possible. I knew it was as a very close member of my family had a gastric bypass and the t2d disappeared over night more or less. I didnt want to go down the same path as my poor mum who eventually ended up on insulin, registered blind, high BP, stroke and leg wounds that were proving difficult to treat. So i googled 'reversing diabetes' and this was the first site i came to - thankfully it wasn't diabetes.org! And i have never looked back. I learned so much from all the amazing people who are very happy and willing to share their knowledge and can never thank them enough. And also the abundance of info on the site itself. I started on the LCHF Woe. The weight dropped off me. I went back to the DN with my project book in hand, my weight loss details, my BS readings. She said 'nobody has done what you are doing'. I checked what she had just said. 'Nobody....ever....in all the years?'. She replied 'Not one person has come through that door ever doing what you are doing, they look to me as their google and just follow my advice'. I could not believe it because by this point my BS had come down to non diabetic levels (41). All through diet. And not the one recommended!! Meds were not mentioned. I told her on my 2nd appointment about the diet i was on and she rolled her eyes. I said it would only be until i reversed things as i thought that the HF might cause health issues. She was happy with that. I asked for the 2nd appointment specifically for her to check my hba1c and cholesterol. That was 6th feb and it hba1c came back as 47 (pre diabetic) but i knew i was on the right track and felt happy to continue. Cholestrol was ok too. And now i feel happy to stay on this woe permanently as i dont want to get back into that same boat ever again. Plus i know that the HF part is nothing to concern myself over.

When i lost 3 stone i wrote up my journey details in the forum thread 'success stories and testimonials'. Dajana from the press office linked to the site contacted me asking if she could go to the local paper and maybe even national papers with my story. Yes, absolutely, spread the word. And within a short period of time i was in touch with my local gazette who sent around a photographer. I sent my story to them by email and i spoke to the journalist on the phone. She only confirmed my age as she said everything she needed to know was in my write up. My story went in the paper a week ago today. The journalist had edited quite a lot out but still kept much of the important info in so i was happy enough. She apologised and said it was a specific template but hoped she had done my story justice. When i saw me on the FRONT of the gazette at the check out in the sainsburys superstore at 10.30am i nearly choked on my adonis bar!!! I was expecting it that day but in the afternoon when they usually arrive in the shops. I quickly bought a copy....and another 6 just in case. Not sure of what but i thought i better had anyway. What if everyone wants a copy as soon as they see this story of reversing diabetes. Surely everyone would want to read about it. All diabetics would want to know how i did it. I went online and sure enough it was there too! I thought i better get myself home and at my pc ready to answer the influx of questions. I was so excited to spread the word.....

To date only one comment has been left!!!

Gutted is an understatement. Then a couple of days ago it popped up on my facebook feed. And the comments started!!! I can't tell you how happy i was sitting here on my orange box talking of finger pricking, testing, remission, weight loss, low carb, high fat and people were interested. But to me this is a drop in the ocean. As happy as i am to reply and help if i can, it's not enough. I could send my story template to magazines, national papers in the hope it might get published but i know now the response would not be what my heart would yearn for, to ultimately get the message over that they are treating diabetes wrong, giving out bad advice which is ultimately making the disease progressive. Putting patients on meds immediately (my friend wants to stay on them so he can eat what he wants even though i have explained this isn't the case, this is not emphasised enough at the outset and if it was maybe people might try this diet). The doctors get more money i believe when a patient is put on meds and the pharma companies make billions from it. Not to mention slimming products and weight loss programmes etc. And the food industry continue to profit from heavily prossessed foods making us hungrier than ever. Viscious circle.

So my question is this, i am one tiny voice. Nobody can really hear me. As loud as i am shouting. Most people are happy turning a deaf ear. But what if we got together to do a newspaper article? Can you imagine the headline ' between them they have lost 100 stone (or more depending on how many are involved) and all of them have reversed their diabetes' this would be eye catching. Im not sure all of us could get on the sofa with holly and phil but we could give it a whirl. And I'm not sure everyone would be happy classing it as reversal as this is a grey area. We all know that going back to the old way of eating would usually put us right back to square 1 but it would definitely grab attention more than remission! We could protest about the way diabetes is being treated currently, maybe go down the rebellious route and march on with banners demanding to speak to the PM (although i think she might have enough on her plate at the moment.....i dont know if it will be low carb food on there either even though she is diabetic!)

I felt so good doing the article but then so flat at lack of feedback.

Here is the gazette link so you get an idea of how little response it got. I have however had over 40 comments on their facebook link to the article. And they are still coming in I'm happy to say.

https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/...is-and-lost-weight-by-cutting-carbs-1-9233089

Not giving up spreading the word thats all i know at the moment. Need to tell newbies and those who have had it for hears that the beast can be tamed. Just wondering if its worth us forming a group so that little voice becomes louder. We could do it over the miles with modern technology. Many of us have before and after pics and a story to tell. We could even write a book! Jason fung eat your heart out! 'We ALL reversed our diabetes'.

We could maybe meet up even if its just a few of us. Local cafe, i can see it now. 'Can i order the quiche salad please, i hope that wasnt made in a factory, can you take off all the pastry, i only want half a tomato, heavy on the cucumber and lettuce, sprinkle of onions. What!!! You only have low fat mayo!!! But im on a diet and it has to be loaded with fat, fuller the better!!! And please don't even mention jacket potatoes, oh well, while we are on that subject do you realise how many sugars there are in one of those....well let me tell you (queue forming benind and lots of tutting and blowing). A drink? yes please, tripple shot coffee (unless you serve bullet proof!) with lashings of double cream. You might as well throw in 3 strawberries but not too big size wise. Do i want chocolate on the top? If its 85 per cent yes if not can you throw on some flax seeds!!!!'

So im just asking you if you have any ideas or if you think its fighting a losing battle. Any feedback welcomed!!!!!!
 

shelley262

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4,918
Type of diabetes
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Excellent thread @Debandez well done you it takes some courage to put your story out there.
Count my three and a half stone in on the total tonnage lost on LCHF and more importantly a drop from my diagnosis hbaca1 of 97 to 30 in May this year.
Let’s go for it and raise awareness I would love to be involved however we go ahead
Happy to be involved either virtually initially - via this thread maybe interested people could link together in a group conversation to move it forward ? or via a meet up maybe somewhere central?
Count me in you’re doing a great job
 

xfieldok

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,182
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
Excellent article. I am still on meds but expect non diabetic HbA1c at the end of the month. In may it was 35 and mySugr estimates 37 at the moment. After my test I will be discussing reducing my meds with the DN.

I am in Fleetwood, I'm in!
 

carol43

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Messages
1,193
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
I spread the word as much as I can. In Sainsbury this morning I was looking for Oppo ice cream (nothing). There was an elderly lady (I think older than me) looking for ice lollies with the lowest sugar because she told me she was T2 on insulin. In her trolley was a ready meal with rice and a box of battered fish. She said her DN had said she could have these things.
 
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Mbaker

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4,339
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Available fast foods in Supermarkets
I spread the word as much as I can. In Sainsbury this morning I was looking for Oppo ice cream (nothing). There was an elderly lady (I think older than me) looking for ice lollies with the lowest sugar because she told me she was T2 on insulin. In her trolley was a ready meal with rice and a box of battered fish. She said her DN had said she could have these things.
Sometimes I think it is just me. The world over intelligent learned and TRAINED persons are telling Type 2's to effectively hasten complications; it more than beggars belief.
 
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Rachox

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15,898
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Brilliant post Debandez, I’m so frustrated by how slowly the NHS advice is catching up, if indeed it ever will? Also the poor knowledge amongst some health professionals is astounding :banghead:
A friend of mine was tested as pre diabetic on her HbA1c over a year ago, the nurse advised weight loss, which she has had little success with at Slimming World or it might be Weight Watcher’s, I glazed over when she told me, it’s one of the 2! Despite my banging on about how low carb would achieve two aims at once she carries on eating her daily treat of 5 Foxes Glacier Fruits or a small packet of Dolly Mixtures which are allowed on her ‘diet’ :rolleyes: She asked her GP when she should get another HbA1c when she was attending an appt for yet another infection, and he said ‘no need, you’re fine’! :wideyed: So she is now swanning along thinking she’s ok. I’ve tried to advise her, she’s seen my successes but trusts her Dr, it’s so wrong :(
Anyway back to your proposal Debandez, count me in! I have been approached by Dajana from the press office too and am waiting to see if anything comes of it. I do hope so.
I love your Café scenario, I’ll smuggle in the Adonis and phd bars for afters! I have car will travel as I’m a bit further south than Blackpool!
 

NicoleC1971

BANNED
Messages
3,450
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Pump
I think you did a really good thing sharing what you did and it is a great and motivational story. Those stories are getting out there. I volunteer with DuK but generally talk about this site and low carb! Its such a contradictory message to most folk who have just heard the message about low fat/high carb for so long that it has become the only story. But things are changing - see the recent mainstream tv programmes on the topic of reversing diabetes. Even if you don't agree with the method shown (drastic calorie restriction) the principle was demonstrated. So there is momentum out there.
If you look up Dr David Unwin on YouTube you may see that he i s a Gp in the NorthWest who turned his own practice low carb, reversed lots of type 2 diabetes and saved his practice lots of drugs budget! He has just done a 30 minute e course on the topic for GPs/HCPs which you could show toyour GP/DSN to raise awareness.It has some simple handouts plus plenty o f evidence for the GP to feel happy that it is not a mad, bad or faddy diet!
Its on the Royal College of GPs site and I am linking to it below.
http://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/course/view.php?id=291
 
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DCUKMod

Master
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14,298
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I reversed my Type 2
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@Debandez - I saw links ot your press story via Twitter around the publication date. Well done for going forrward with it.

I know it's easy to feel like a lone voice at times, when considering our results, in discussion with our HCPs, largely because, thus far, the "enlightened" are few and far between. Indeed, I had a discussion a couple of years ago with a consultant Endo who declard he didn't talk to his T2 patients about the ND or other very different (from the Eat Well Plate) way of eating, becuse "people don't want to change". When I explained I didn't want to change into someone dependent on meds, with a close tether to the pharmacy, he was at pains to tell me how different I was from others.

Needless to say, I found the experience disappointing to say the least and I will be interested when I see him again in a few weeks whether his viewpoints have shifted at all in recent times

In terms of the bigger picture, there is actually quite a lot going on, both via DCUK who are spending a lot of time travelling talking about the LCP and so on in the four corners of the globe.


The data now emerging frorm the LCP (and forgive me this YouTube clip is getting on a bit, so the numbers are now much bigger) is quite astonishing.


There is also the Public Health Collarboration UK (PHCUK) doing great works, with the LC way of eating, although not sspecifically focusing on diabetes. The PHCUK has a lot of HCPs within their membership, and many of them are very passionate indeed, but however hard we trry and small units (by comparison to the NHS), it takes a long time to turn the Titanic.

https://phcuk.org/

Please, please don't think I write any of this to discourage you from doing what you feel passionately about, but more to encourage you that there is a lot going on out there, but clearly still more needs to be done.

A bit well done for yur efforts to wrangle something into shape. It's important work.
 

smw99

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Messages
109
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I read your story on a link from eat the butter I think. Well done! Don't feel too discouraged because every time a story like this appears, it sews a seed. I get frustrated with slow progress towards giving low carb advice but we have to keep on taking small steps. Things are changing!!
 
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Debandez

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4,019
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Excellent thread @Debandez well done you it takes some courage to put your story out there.
Count my three and a half stone in on the total tonnage lost on LCHF and more importantly a drop from my diagnosis hbaca1 of 97 to 30 in May this year.
Let’s go for it and raise awareness I would love to be involved however we go ahead
Happy to be involved either virtually initially - via this thread maybe interested people could link together in a group conversation to move it forward ? or via a meet up maybe somewhere central?
Count me in you’re doing a great job
Thanks for this. You are prime candidate @shelley262 with what you have achieved. Great weight loss and wow to the drop in hna1c!!! Impressive. I'm going to keep the details of the people interested and see what the take up is to start with. It feels good to be highlighting it any which way!
 
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Debandez

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4,019
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Excellent article. I am still on meds but expect non diabetic HbA1c at the end of the month. In may it was 35 and mySugr estimates 37 at the moment. After my test I will be discussing reducing my meds with the DN.

I am in Fleetwood, I'm in!
Excellent article. I am still on meds but expect non diabetic HbA1c at the end of the month. In may it was 35 and mySugr estimates 37 at the moment. After my test I will be discussing reducing my meds with the DN.

I am in Fleetwood, I'm in!
Fleetwood. I love Fleetwood. How close are we!!! You have done so well to get to non diabetic levels. Well done. I'm going to collate names/details for now and see how much interest is shown. The more the merrier. Thanks for your reply.
 
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Debandez

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4,019
Type of diabetes
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Diet only
I spread the word as much as I can. In Sainsbury this morning I was looking for Oppo ice cream (nothing). There was an elderly lady (I think older than me) looking for ice lollies with the lowest sugar because she told me she was T2 on insulin. In her trolley was a ready meal with rice and a box of battered fish. She said her DN had said she could have these things.
That makes me so sad and all the more detirmined to try and help change things in however small a way. Not the patients fault or the DN!
 
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Debandez

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4,019
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Sometimes I think it is just me. The world over intelligent learned and TRAINED persons are telling Type 2's to effectively hasten complications; it more than beggars belief.
It's like they are all in on some master plan. MI5 mission possible. It really is strange. I'm sure some Drs have t2d and know what's best. Can't believe it is taking so long to get the message out there. It does seem to be filtering through that said. But way to slow.
 

Debandez

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Messages
4,019
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
I read your story on a link from eat the butter I think. Well done! Don't feel too discouraged because every time a story like this appears, it sews a seed. I get frustrated with slow progress towards giving low carb advice but we have to keep on taking small steps. Things are changing!!
Yes they are. Seen the low carb programmes on TV.... articles in newspapers and magazines about how people have reversed it. You tube videos. Books. Studies (ND). Social media and web sites. Its happening.
 
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Debandez

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Brilliant post Debandez, I’m so frustrated by how slowly the NHS advice is catching up, if indeed it ever will? Also the poor knowledge amongst some health professionals is astounding :banghead:
A friend of mine was tested as pre diabetic on her HbA1c over a year ago, the nurse advised weight loss, which she has had little success with at Slimming World or it might be Weight Watcher’s, I glazed over when she told me, it’s one of the 2! Despite my banging on about how low carb would achieve two aims at once she carries on eating her daily treat of 5 Foxes Glacier Fruits or a small packet of Dolly Mixtures which are allowed on her ‘diet’ :rolleyes: She asked her GP when she should get another HbA1c when she was attending an appt for yet another infection, and he said ‘no need, you’re fine’! :wideyed: So she is now swanning along thinking she’s ok. I’ve tried to advise her, she’s seen my successes but trusts her Dr, it’s so wrong :(
Anyway back to your proposal Debandez, count me in! I have been approached by Dajana from the press office too and am waiting to see if anything comes of it. I do hope so.
I love your Café scenario, I’ll smuggle in the Adonis and phd bars for afters! I have car will travel as I’m a bit further south than Blackpool!
Yes we will certainly include desserts! I love an Adonis bar. YOU'RE IN lol. Its a sorry state of affairs and if I wasn't living it I would not believe it! Shocking is an understatement. I saw my poor mum struggle along, getting worse by the week. More and more insulin. And still eating all the bad stuff. That was going back 20 years. Hard to believe that bad advice is continuing!!! Your friend is a prime example. Drs word over someone's who has reversed it through LCHF. We have a battle on our hands. Thank you.
 
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xfieldok

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Can I just put something out here for consideration.

It goes without saying that I am concerned about the dire advice given to newly diagnosed T2's, I am also worried about people on low incomes or benefits.

If you are unable to self fund a meter, how can you be expected to improve your situation?

Just a thought.
 

Crocodile

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683
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I can't have it often
@Debandez
A noble gesture indeed. However, does it get to the bottom of the central issue. One could ask why the NHS and here in Aussie, the NDSS along with their American counterpart have the guidelines as they are. At first blush they look bizarre with a plate full of carbs, target prandial of 10.0 and HbA1c < 7.0%. Where did the figures come from and why. I feel that this needs to be answered first. I have my own suspicions but alas, hard to prove.
Good work all the same though.
Glenn
 
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Debandez

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4,019
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Can I just put something out here for consideration.

It goes without saying that I am concerned about the dire advice given to newly diagnosed T2's, I am also worried about people on low incomes or benefits.

If you are unable to self fund a meter, how can you be expected to improve your situation?

Just a thought.
You are so right. I daren't add up how much it's cost me in 6 months in strips alone. I've actually moved from an option neo to a codefree to save money. It was costing over £10 for 50 to just over £5. I use 8 strips a day at least. A small fortune still being used but fortunately I can just about afford this luxury! I feel every diabetic should be supplied with the tools to self test at diagnosis. It would be costly but could avoid complications which are also very costly to the nhs. It could help keep people off meds and save billions.

That said I wonder how many would use them. The advice being dished out needs to change to reflect the probable complications if LCHF diet not followed! Confirm how it would be progressive. More and more meds would be needed. I know people who think that taking the meds means they can still eat and drink what they want! More education required.