Told not to do low carb!

[gale1960]

Just been for my second diabetic check up and when the nurse asked me if I'd changed my diet I told her I was following a lchf diet. She became quite snippy and told me that would make me poorly and it wasn't advisable. I told her I was feeling very well, sleeping better and losing weight. She told me I needed to have some starchy carbs at each meal or my energy levels would drop drastically and that the fat would put me at even more risk of heart attacks. I told her I actually seemed to have more energy and that isn't it proven that animal fats are deemed good for your health now. She said not in my case as diabetics were at higher risk of heart disease so it wasn't advisable. Then she asked if I was agreeable to taking metformin. I refused so she's giving me three months and if my blood test shows a drop in levels I can continue with diet control. So now I'm a little worried that my levels may rise and I'll have to go on meds.

 

[Resurgam]

Excuse me - I am laughing rather a lot here.

 

[Jam&Scones]

I take it your levels are high at the moment? If you stick to lchf, 3 months is enough time to show improvement, so I wouldn't worry

In terms of fat, I am pretty sure it is your body that produces lipids, so it doesn't necessarily follow that high fat diet = higher cholesterol. If your cholesterol is in a good ratio, you are less risk from heart attack.

Stories like this make me glad my practice have always been supportive - they have never said do not do lchf, only looked at what I was eating and questioned whether I was getting enough calcium, etc. I even got told to eat more fruit and I thought 'oh oh here we go' but then the nurse said berries would be good as they are low carb

Good luck and don't stress it! Remember, at the end of the day, no one can force medication on you, it is your choice.

 

[bulkbiker]

She told me I needed to have some starchy carbs at each meal or my energy levels would drop drastically and that the fat would put me at even more risk of heart attacks.

Complete and utter drivel.. and a very late 20th century nurse..
If your HbA1c's continue to improve then like so many of us you'll prove her wrong!

 

[mouseee]

I did 3 months LCHF between diagnosis hba1c and the next. Dropped from 101 to 46. DSN did an actual double take and asked me what I'd done. Her only concern was that I needed to find a balance so it would it would be sustainable.

I've not been perfect but I am sure its sustainable.

 

[Member496333]

Worse than clueless. Keep calm and carry on with whatever improves your health. Be it low-carb, medium-carb or whatever. Most importantly do not be intimidated or coerced by someone who doesn’t have the faintest idea what they’re talking about and doesn’t have to live with the consequences of their worthless 1980’s dietary advice.

Sometimes I think DSNs should be outlawed. I’m convinced many of them do more harm than good.

 

[gale1960]

I take it your levels are high at the moment? If you stick to lchf, 3 months is enough time to show improvement, so I wouldn't worry

In terms of fat, I am pretty sure it is your body that produces lipids, so it doesn't necessarily follow that high fat diet = higher cholesterol. If your cholesterol is in a good ratio, you are less risk from heart attack.

My levels were at 49 which the nurse said wasn't particularly high and she wants to see it come down to around 46. My cholesterol is at 4.2 which she said is good and nothing to worry about.
I'm also doing fasting, eating between 11.30am and 7.30pm. I'm waiting for a bg meter to arrive which I think will help calm my fears.

 

[michita]

Sadly HCPs tend to say not to low carb. I don’t think they know what they are talking about. Still makes me angry if you think about what is at stake. They should know better.

 

[KK123]

[QUOTE="gale1960, post: 2209156, member: 518497" Then she asked if I was agreeable to taking metformin. I refused so she's giving me three months and if my blood test shows a drop in levels I can continue with diet control.[/QUOTE]

Sorry, just this line alone makes my blood boil! Is that how she put it? It's NOT up to her as to whether you continue with diet control or not, she is there to give you the actual facts and to help you, NOT dictate. Stand your ground with people like that, I am not one for dismissing health professionals in a rude manner or ignoring what they say out of hand but what the heck gives her the right to lecture you like that! x

 

[xfieldok]

levels were at 49

That's ridiculous. With luck and your meter yoou might be around 38 in 3 months. Download the mysugr app to track your progress.

 

[DCUKMod]

@gale1960 - I'm afraid it looks like your nurse has a bit of catching up to do.

Now, obviously nobody can guess how you'll do or react to a way of living longer term, but by cutting back the carbs a bit, in your shoes, I'd be optimistic of a decent improvement.

Obviously, I am quite a different person to you (there's only one you and only one me), but I went from 73 to 37 in about 3 months, and never sought keto. I ate to my meter. Big numbers = an issue - decrease amounts or give it up. More moderate numbers = carry on eating. For me, I kept it simple.

As your A1c is just over the diagnostic threshold, I would urge you to think about how much you modify your diet in the early stages. If you can keep certain foods as options in your way of living, why give them up? But those are choices for you to make.

Your meter will be your friend. That's for sure.

Edited to add, your nurse could find the Health Professionals area of the Low Carb Programme (LCP) website to be insightful. The LCP is approved, for prescription on the NHS, so you will apprecate it has been through a rigorous approvals process with medics, dieticians all over it for safety and efficacy.

The relevant section can be found here: https://www.lowcarbprogram.com/nhs/#contact-request Whilst that looks simply a contacts page, some summary data is published, related to published results.

 

[Listlad]

Just been for my second diabetic check up and when the nurse asked me if I'd changed my diet I told her I was following a lchf diet. She became quite snippy and told me that would make me poorly and it wasn't advisable. I told her I was feeling very well, sleeping better and losing weight. She told me I needed to have some starchy carbs at each meal or my energy levels would drop drastically and that the fat would put me at even more risk of heart attacks. I told her I actually seemed to have more energy and that isn't it proven that animal fats are deemed good for your health now. She said not in my case as diabetics were at higher risk of heart disease so it wasn't advisable. Then she asked if I was agreeable to taking metformin. I refused so she's giving me three months and if my blood test shows a drop in levels I can continue with diet control. So now I'm a little worried that my levels may rise and I'll have to go on meds.

An all too familiar story.

 

[ickihun]

Worse than clueless. Keep calm and carry on with whatever improves your health. Be it low-carb, medium-carb or whatever. Most importantly do not be intimidated or coerced by someone who doesn’t have the faintest idea what they’re talking about and doesn’t have to live with the consequences of their worthless 1980’s dietary advice.

Sometimes I think DSNs should be outlawed. I’m convinced many of them do more harm than good.

I thoroughly agree.
Getting the wrong dn can impact badly on anyone's health.

 

[zand]

Many T2s are insulin resistant at diagnosis. This means their bodies can't process carbs properly, so your DN is wrong because when we eat carbs the body can't use them properly for energy anyway. Carbs are the wrong fuel for most T2s. Diesel is a perfectly good fuel for diesel engines, not so good for petrol ones though. It's the same with us. If our insulin isn't used properly due to IR then carbs aren't good fuel. You wouldn't purposely damage a car by using the wrong fuel so why are they telling T2s to damage our bodies? This has been brought home to me today particularly. My diet for the past 2 days has been high carb low fat and fibre. I have consumed more than usual but am totally exhausted - just like I was for many years before diagnosis. The sooner the medical profession as a whole recognise that T2 is a metabolic disorder and therefore we don't use carbs effectively the better.

 

[Listlad]

One of the DN’s at mine knows about LCHF but is confused by conflicting training that she has received.

 

[Mike d]

Not a good look for a DN to appear a fool.

 

[Member496333]

One of the DN’s at mine knows about LCHF but is confused by conflicting training that she has received.

I think this will be a common phenomena in the coming years as HCPs wake up to the truth. Some will be conflicted against the orthodoxy. Others will be in flat-out denial because no one really wants to come to terms with the fact that they have been giving damaging advice to their patients for decades. Even if it's not necessarily of their own making. Many will just dig their heels in deeper.

 

[HSSS]

https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/low-carb-program/ Proves the nhs supports low carb even if your nurse doesn’t know about it. And the RCGP website has a training module that gets CPD credit on low carb written by Dr Unwin. Maybe a link needs sending to her!

 

[Oldvatr]

My levels were at 49 which the nurse said wasn't particularly high and she wants to see it come down to around 46. My cholesterol is at 4.2 which she said is good and nothing to worry about.
I'm also doing fasting, eating between 11.30am and 7.30pm. I'm waiting for a bg meter to arrive which I think will help calm my fears.

IMHO you are doing the right things, so keep calm and carry on. I had similar grief when I first went LCHF four years ago, but now all my HCP's (And I have many of them) have told me to carry on as I am since it is obviously working. I too dropped from 101 to the 40's within 3 months, and my HbA1c;s have been consistently good since, even when I was forced to munch on Hospital food (ptoui!) You have done your homework, so are better prepared for the next visit. Ig it works and you feel comfortable about it then nod the head and silently cross your fingers as you say I hear you (but disagree = keep stumm)

 

[Listlad]

https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/low-carb-program/ Proves the nhs supports low carb even if your nurse doesn’t know about it. And the RCGP website has a training module that gets CPD credit on low carb written by Dr Unwin. Maybe a link needs sending to her!

I see no clue that a number of health practioners at my surgery aren’t either unaware or ignore. This is despite one GP rolling it all out to the rest several years back*

*said GP with very strong connection with Dr Unwin’s surgery.