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Amazing

S

sheepie123

Well-Known Member
Messages
106
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Hey Folks,

Went to my First Appointment with the Dietician she was a young girl early 30s and she started asking
  1. What type of Diet are you on presently. I said that I was on LCHF and she looked at me as if I had two heads. I explained to her that given that I am 29 years old and will live with T2 for a large part of my life I wanted to cut out carbs early.
  2. She then said that she would not advise me to go low carb as I could take a Hypo. Even though all medical resources say Type2 Generally cant get hypo's unless on medications as our body will dump glucose if we are low.
  3. She then proceeded to tell me I should be eating the NHS Eat Well plate and that I should eat plently of potatoes / rice and pasta.
  4. She asked me what I had for breakfast... Knowing the game she was playing I said Wheetabix when in fact its bacon and eggs.
  5. She what do I have for lunch? I said sometimes nothing as I would rather trade off a little hunger for complications down the line. She said that she advises me not do that and eat plenty of carbs.
  6. She asked do I eat fruit -- Again I responded no because I don't want my levels going too high.
  7. She asked if I had been feeling thirsty and peeing more - I said only on Metformin and that I never had any traditional symptoms
  8. She then offered to explain Diabetes more to me to which I humoured her and asked stupid questions such as 'How did I get it / Why does it happen?' These questions in and of themselves are not stupid but considering I told her I was on this forum and I was on LCHF I would have thought she would have realised that I actually want to take control of my T2D and would have probably read everything about it.
  9. She told me the NHS would rather the results stable than the blood levels be low She said the rise from 5 - 7 isn't good
    Based on her logic I should be running 6.5 with an occasional blip to 7.0
I then revealed that I had a meter and gave her my results

Fasting 12 Hr (4.2 - 5.0)
Before Meals Random (5.6)
2 Hours after Meals (6.1)

Max Recording 8.9

She said those seem to be very good control ------ (To myself I was like what! you just told me I was doing it wrong).

Ultimately though she kept battering on about the NHS Eatwell plate and how great it is - I looked at the first few pages with her and thought this is a very quick way to poison yourself with the sugar.

I agreed to change my diet (I wont LCHF with 100g carb cap keeps me happy). She said she would see me in 3 months to tighten my diet (She wont).
 
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Ignore everything she says. You are doing fine.
 
Its the fact she was so robotic about it like not even swaying her opinion. People on here say their nurses and dieteicians say the truth but this one literally repeated 4 - 5 times the NHS eatwell. She even told me to cut down on protein!
 
Well done. I find it difficult not to contradict the dn but unless I want to be labelled 'difficult' I shall have to try.
When I told her that I had a few trip ups and had eaten bananas she looked at me daft and asked what on earth is wrong with bananas. Quick as a flash I said 'Oh nothing at all except there are better fruit to eat'. When I'm losing patience I can tend toward the brusque.
keep doing what you are doing, it obviously works for you. Well done.
 
"Trust a Dietician" as they say at the BDA (Association of UK Dieticians). Er, no, I don't think so.
Sally
 
Hi @sheepie123 ..
Welcome to the madhouse .. sadly, this is exactly the sort of nonsense that many people have to put up with. Same thing happened to me at my dietician appointment and, as a result, I developed a simple strategy for dealing with Doc, Nursie and assorted HCPs ..
# Listen
# Nod
# Smile and say thankyou
# Ignore
It works for me ..
 
Totally agree. I get nowhere with my DN so I do the above. They are really pleased with my results but do not want to know how I get them
 
She even said an HBA1C below 51 - 50 is fine.

I recorded the whole thing on my phone as I've had enough of NHS lies I know their under pressure but saying things just to get patients out the door is wrong!.

I will never be back with advice like hers. I do worry about the amount of Elderly and those less savvy to check online as they would lap it up. I know a guy at my healthsuite who is T2 and loves his Dietician and eats potatoes every night with rice for lunch and a big bowl of cornflakes.

I tried to explain that what he was doing was bad but he was having none of it saying its the NHS!
 
I feel incredibly lucky with my DN. While she's still very NHS-by-the-bookish, she's willing to be persuaded and recognises that patient choice trumps her advice any time of the day. She's very sensibly decided it's probably better to work with me and understand what I'm doing so she can help if it goes wrong than to work against me, get my back up and never hear the truth again.

Lots of T2s here have reported a hypo. When I suspected that I'd had one the other day, lots of people replied with brilliant info, and not one person replied with "T2s can't have hypos".

It's as well our sodium tends to be low - I find the NHS guidance needs a large pinch of salt.
 
@SockFiddler perhaps I got it wrong - Though your Hypo could be induced due to the Mediciation you are on.

A T2 cannot get a Hypo without Medication or Insulin. Metformin what I am on will never give a hypo.

I read the Liver dumps glucose when it gets too low in a T2 to prevent this happening though I guess with Medication or Insulin then the liver wont work the same.

Though even so she still should not be concerned about that. As bad as a hypo sounds id rather thave that every day than be blind for 40 years.
 
HEya @sheepie123 - I@m still learning, but my takeaway from the "Hypo?" thread was not that hypos are impossible but that false hypos (when your BG drops below a level you're comfortable with, but possibly not below 4) are more likely.

This I agree with entirely, though:

Though even so she still should not be concerned about that. As bad as a hypo sounds id rather thave that every day than be blind for 40 years.
Click to expand...

... and still get hypos!
 

Sheepie - Whilst few T2s taking Metformin have hypos, some do.

I'm fortunate never to have taken any meds for diabetes, and nor have I ever had a worrying hypo, despite very low numbers, in the hypo range. These days, I just accept my numbers run low.

I really would urge you not to be too fixated on the number 4.0 and below, but pay attention to how you feel, as well as what the meter says.
 
Unmedicated or metformin only hypos are rare in type 2's but anyone, diabetic or not, can go hypo if the conditions are right.
 
A t2 unless due to Medication can’t get a “real Hypo”, the sort of Hypo that results in blue lights to the A&E with a person that is none responsive. But anyone can get BG low enough at times to make them feel unwell or have some illness that makes their complete body shut down.

Medics often don't consider it a hypo unless the BG is under 3, but your mind will disagree at the time, as our brains don't like any fast drop in BG.

(If just on Metformin you can't get a "real hypro", but you can get low BG like anyone else can.)

Hence people should not remove all carbs from meals some days, but eat normal carbs other days. Fasting is OK (unless on some meds) as the body is designed to cope with not catching any food for a few days.
 
Sorry @ringi

But my personal experiences contradict a lot of your post.

I've had hypos for a lot of my life, both before and after my blood glucose reached diabetic levels. All of them while not on Metformin or any other diabetic medication. Lowest recorded hypos have been well under 3mmol/l.

We've got a few threads in the Reactive Hypoglycaemia section of the forum where several of us discuss our experiences of this.

I agree that there is a difference between 'false hypos' and 'real hypos' but the symptoms can be very similar and seem very real - and i do absolutely agree that for me, the faster the blood glucose drops the worse it feels.

And i also agree that Metformin doesnt usually cause hypos (there is always an exception!), but Metformin won't prevent people from experiencing a hypo while taking Metformin.

There are a few other reasons for hypos than just diabetes and diabetic drugs, so both non diabetics and diabetics can experience hypos, even if they are not on blood glucose lowering medication.

Edited to add a couple of words to make more sense!
 
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Brunneria said:
so both non diabetics and diabetics can experience hypos, even if they are not on blood glucose lowering medication.
Click to expand...
Yes they can. My friend had one last week, it so happened she had blood tests that morning (an hour after her breakfast) and it was picked up then or she wouldn't even have known that her BG was as low as 2.5. She felt fine and isn't diabetic and her other blood tests came back as normal. She isn't taking any medication at all.
 
Hi @sheepie123. I am not sure if this individual really has a handle on this! Your bgl's are quite good, I envy you!! If you have doubt, then by all means get a second opinion. This is your life and wellbeing so guard it well.
 
sheepie123 said:
Its the fact she was so robotic about it like not even swaying her opinion. People on here say their nurses and dieteicians say the truth but this one literally repeated 4 - 5 times the NHS eatwell. She even told me to cut down on protein!
Click to expand...
Why were you referred?
You had lost alot of weight lately or your still in their chart as being overweight?
The person who referred you hasnt listen to your needs.

My dietician believes in low carb for weight loss.
Old dietician believed in eat well plate, for everyone.
 
@sheepie123

I am on Metformin and I have definitely had hypos. It was in the days when I exercised like a made person and before I had the level of control I have now and it happened several times when I out-exercised my body's store of glucose. I agree that its unusual and hasn't happened since I stopped exercising like that but I have heard of other diabetics having hypos while taking Metformin.
 
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