Boyfriend newly diagnosed, need help

daviemck2006 said:

I do think that the real experts are the people who are living with this, and not some jumped up scientist who can read things, but knows nothing!

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I am a scientist who has worked a lot with medics. Make no mistake, medics are not scientists, and many of them don't read the scientific literature much (or at all) - that is most of the problem. To be fair to them, most GPs do their best, but they have to deal with many hundreds of different diseases. They have to know a little about all of these. A specialist, or a research scientist, or a well read patient only needs to know about one. Therefor they will usually know far more about that one than most GPs. What annoys me is that many (not all) GPs are reluctant to admit their ignorance and call in a specialist. However, give me the opinion of a scientist over non-specialist medics any day.

IanD said:

When you've bought the meter, take the test strip label to the Dr & ask for the strips on prescription.

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Good luck with that! ;-)

Some GPs are great - many are, err... not!

Dave,
You are thinking along the right lines. Get yourself a meter first, before you try any dietary experiments, otherwise you won't know whether any change resulted from the meds or the diet.

Once you have started testing, and this only needs to be each morning before breakfast at first, try a reduced carb diet but for a week rather than for two days. As I said, you don't need to cut out cereals, bread, potatoes, etc, but just cut right down - say half of what you would normally have in a meal. Top up with extra meat or veg. If you feel like a snack then cheese or ham on a cracker or a handful of nuts should be enough to stop any hunger pangs but without spiking your blood sugar. Just steer well clear of peanuts and cashews - these are not really nuts but are members of the pea family and are very high in carb. Try it for a week and see what effect it has on your BS. I think you will see a difference.

I dont mean to upset any scientists just have a massive distrust of the NHS after a couple of different health problems I have had in the past. Instead of reading national health service it should be no hope service!!!!!!!! However I am going to hassle doc for a meter, and failing that will have to buy myself, prob off e-bay. I find that self-help groups are better for me than doctors, can get better advice from ppl living through similar problems than the doc who after all is a jack of all trades and master of none. I'll have to test for a few days to find out htat has happened since i was diagnosed, the only thing i know is that my inital reading was 18.5 on a fasting test. From what I can make out this needs to be reduced to less than 7. I am not too worried about being diabetic, I know I have the ability to control it through diet and lifestyle, which lets face it, having been overweight all my life I needed to do something about anyway. This is maybe the boot on the bum I need to improve my lifestyle, it's just that there is so much conflicting advice to try and decipher. If only there was some self help group of diabetics in my area (North-east Scotland) where I could go to to share our experience and to find out what works for others.

daviemck2006 said:

my inital reading was 18.5 on a fasting test. From what I can make out this needs to be reduced to less than 7.

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You need to get your fasting BG (i.e. measured first thing in the morning, before eating) to well below 7 (around about 5 is probably ideal). This will probably take a while to achieve - although you should be able to get it down from 18.5 within a very few days. You will see occasional glitches, don't worry about them - the important thing is that the overall trend is down. During the day it will go up and down a lot, and after eating will sometimes be substantially over 7. Don't worry about this - it happens even with non-diabetics. The important thing is that you keep the average well under 7.

daviemck2006 said:

I am not too worried about being diabetic, I know I have the ability to control it through diet and lifestyle, which lets face it, having been overweight all my life I needed to do something about anyway.

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That is a very sensible way of looking at it. Diabetes is a nuisance rather than a calamity, and if it forces you to lead a more healthy lifestyle then that is a very good thing. In the few months since I have been diagnosed I have made radical changes to my lifestyle - I am eating better, exercising regularly and I have lost a lot of weight. I feel better than I have done in many years!

daviemck2006 said:

I dont mean to upset any scientists just have a massive distrust of the NHS after a couple of different health problems I have had in the past.

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Oh no offense taken. In fact I agree with you about the NHS (much of it is an absolute disgrace), and I have deep concerns about the medical establishment. Don't get me wrong, there are wonderful and dedicated doctors out there, but my problems are with the way that medicine is taught (unscientifically), the arrogance of the medical establishment, and the way that the profession is massively influenced by the vested interests of pharmaceutical companies. I just wanted to point out that most medics are not scientists, and IMO (as a scientist) we would all be far better off if they were!

I must apologise to boyfriend, or maybe rather boyfriend's girlfriend, I'm not trying to take over your thread, it's just that it's the same problem I am facing. I would, and will, eat the correct diet for me, once I figure out what it is, but in my case it has to be done without much exercise as a result of major back surgery 3yrs ago which has left me in a lot of pain and restricted mobility on occasions (one of the things that the NHS let me down on, had to go private or would still have been waiting). Gonna go harrass the a*** off the doc next week to try and get a tester and strips, and referred to a specialist and a dietician.

Regards David

oh my - the nhs isnt perfect but for most people it does ok.

It drives me mad the way everyone cries it down - u really have no idea what it is like to be constantly criticised - most people are very dedicated who work in it .

Gps are generalists and will refer if required - yes there are a few stroppy ones . i dont know why anyone expects them to see every piece of research regarding diabetes - they are only human after all. The gps i work with all have specialties so all diabetics go to a particular doctor - u may find your gps have the same!

The gp s I see myself are brilliant apart from one!

I'm in a small rural practice, 2 gp's one practice nurse. Next closest surgery more than 10 miles away and will not accept patients from outside it's catchment area so I am stuck in the practise. One doc is hopeless (in my opinion) and you can get an appointment with her the day you phone. The other is ok and you need to wait 3 to 4 days for an appointment with him so it is maybe not only my opinion that the first is hopeless. I am not critising all ppl in nhs, only going by my own experience. Anyway this is getting away from what I am posting about, because all that I am looking for is some sound advice on how to deal with this illness, and since initial diagnosis two months ago I have not had any advice whatsover apart from eat low sugar, low fat and rich carbs, which does not seem to be correct advice

ally5555 said:

It drives me mad the way everyone cries it down - u really have no idea what it is like to be constantly criticised - most people are very dedicated who work in it.

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I meant no criticism of the people in the NHS. The NHS is, in principle, a wonderful institution built upon lofty ideals. The vast majority of people who work in it do so because they are dedicated to helping others and generally making the world a better place. Nonetheless, it is - in far too many parts - a bit of a shambles. This is mostly due to decades of chronic underfunding, mismanagement and politics. I have seen with my own eyes a surgical ward in a major NHS hospital (often reviewed as one of the best in the land), where they are so desperately short of staff that postoperative patients are put into dirty beds and excrement in the showers is left for hours - despite the staff being told about it.

ally5555 said:

The gp s I see myself are brilliant apart from one!

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Again, I didn't mean to criticize individuals - I agree, the vast majority of them are great. The problem that I have is with the teaching of medicine, the regulation of the profession and most importantly the vested interests of the pharmaceutical companies. Medicine is taught as a kind of biological mechanics. Medical students are given a truly enormous amount to learn, and they are taught a standard set of procedures for given circumstances - first you try treatment A, if that doesn't work you try treatment B etc. They are not taught to think! They are not taught objectivity or logic - and that is what I meant when I said that medics aren't scientists. Now, to some extent that is fine - because after all if you are ill what you need is a biological mechanic who will fix you. However, it does tend lead to very inflexible thinking - and that is all too common in medicine. It is true that some medics do become scientists, but they are usually the ones who go into research or specialist consulting. I have in the past been involved in the teaching of medical students, and I have railed against that sort of thing. That is when I have hit the arrogance of the medical establishment - I am not a medic, I am merely a scientist and educationalist so what do I know!

Although the vast majority of individual GPs hearts are in the right place, that can not be said of the drug companies. The only thing that they are interested in is maximising their rather obscene profits. They have a stranglehold upon much of the medical profession - at all levels. They are heavily involved in the teaching of medicine; in the professional bodies; in government; in hospitals (they directly fund "care managers" in some PCTs); and this goes right down to your local GPs surgeries. Most GPs spend a significant amount of time talking to pharma reps with glossy brochures and a wide range of freebies. A GP is far more likely to know about a new drug from the (biased) information provided by its manufacturers than from the (objective) scientific literature.

Sorry about this - we really are getting off topic here. That is what happens when throwaway comments hit a raw nerve! If we are going to carry on about this we should probably start a new thread.

Boyfriend said:

Hi all just thought i would let you that although boyfriends BS is still up and down, his eyesight has improved greatly which is a great relief to us both. I know that this will be extremely hard for him as to him it means a whole lifestyle change but it it is great to know that you guys are on hand if we need help. Thank you all so much.

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That is good news, & should encourage him to continue with the lifestyle change.

Once you get into the good habits, is easy to maintain them, especially now the benefits are visible. (pun intended.)

It does sound as though you have got through the worst of this now, and that is good news indeed. Change is never going to be easy, and it is a pain to have it imposed on you like this. However, it is important to concentrate on positive things rather than dwell on the negative. Although it might be hard to see this when you are in the middle of the bad times, there is an up side to diabetes! Many people have vague aspirations to become healthier some time soon (I know that I did) but, of course, "some time soon" never comes. By confronting you with some very stark choices, diabetes makes that decision for you. In the short term it is a pain, but in the long term once you and your boyfriend have got used to your new lifestyle you are very likely to find that you feel better for it. Before I was diagnosed I had lapsed into various really unhealthy habits. I lived a sedentary life, mostly sitting in front of computers, and - out of laziness - my diet consisted almost entirely of irregular meals of prepared and pre-packaged foods. The diabetes is under fairly good control now, but in that process I was kicked into a much healthier lifestyle. I have rediscovered the fact that I really enjoy cycling (my bike was in a sorry rusty state - now I spend at least an hour a day on it), and I have also rediscovered the fact that I really enjoy cooking. I enjoy food more than I used to, I am fitter and generally feeling better than I have done in many years.

I don't mean to make light of the rough times that you and your boyfriend have been going through, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and there are a lot of benefits to making the sort of changes that you now need to make.

Good luck,

Tim.

Hey girlfriend, you're doing great!

I was diagnosed 4 weeks ago with similar levels to your boyfriend i.e. fasting levels of 17.9. With 2 Metformin a day, cutting out all simple carbs, fats, and most other carbs I'm down to 8/9. And I still eat porridge/allbran/shredded wheat for breakfast most days. Don't though let him do what I did last week and cut out all carbs. I caught a cold and the levels went up. You can go too far!

I find regular exercise (4 times a week) and drinking lots of water helps too.

read your post regarding your bf .well done you for trying to find out how to help him cope,coz it aint easy ,lm type 1 diabetic and have been for 2 years .l take 5 injections a day and also metformin,l discovered l had it by checking my sugar level and went straight to my gp .prior to this l was having blurred vision at times ,went to get my eye screening done and as l thought l have slight diabetic changes in my eyesight .but they say its not threatning to my eyesight at this time .people with type 2 dont suffer hypos as much as a type 1 .so as someone said checking bs is important .also eating as healthy as possible ,l know it can be hard when at work because sometimes l would eat something l wouldnt normally at home ,is just depends whats on offer ,maybe if he took his own meal with him that would help,this probably aint much help take care x