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Controlling with low carb - GP /nurse unimpressed

Bex72

Well-Known Member
Messages
191
Location
East of England
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
government policies that increase inequality, brussel sprouts, neighbour's karaoke at 2am
Following a recent T2DM diagnosis my BG levels fell rapidly and are in the range for a normal person now.
Metformin made me feel dreadful and I stopped it after 6 days. My BG was in a normal range by then.

Rather than showing any interest in my low carb diet, my nurse and GP seem disinterested and dismayed. It is as if I am now a problem for them. I feel as if I am an alien from another planet. I have not followed their advice.

The GP doesn't seem to be able to understand why I am testing my BG.

My nurse left magazines for me with pasta and rice recipes in.

I would have thought that like any professional, if you do not stay on top of your subject your professional standing becomes weak.

Had I not found this forum goodness knows what mess I'd be in.
 
Looks like their standing is already weak. It's just amazing how they can ignore such results. You cold teach them a thing or two, because they are now the problem. A refusal to even acknowledge positive results and a refusal to even want to know how you have achieved them is just ignorance on a grand scale.

Keep up the good work. You know your on the right track.
 
I'd give back the magazines with a note to say that they were given to you by mistake.
So far - in over 3 years, my successful descent from high Hba1c has never been acknowledged except by a new nurse who changed my status to in remission and said well done, and off I went after about three minutes in the room. I also hold out little hope for the NHS maintaining any sort of professional standing over treatment of diabetes.
 
Yes, I'm afraid that is the response I get too. Just ignore them. The official line has not yet changed, so they are not giving updated information yet.
 
My endo told me to eat more carbs. So did two dieticians and one of the two nurses. One nurse and my GP told me to stick with it if it was working, but to keep testing (I was self-funding, and they were fine with that, as then I'd know if something went wrong). So yeah, we get some backlash... I mean, the Dutch diabetic foundation sent out magazines with a high tea on the cover with more carbs than most here would put away in a month. That's when I cancelled my donations. Follow your own path, do what's working for you, and just nod and get what you need from the pro's. As long as you're getting your check-ups and tests done, who cares what they think?
 
Guys thanks so much for your comments and encouragement. There is a lot to come to terms with, however I do realise that I am lucky as it is all going well. My family keep "helpfully" saying that I should eat carbs or that I will be able to soon (arghhhh). It means so much to be understood. Thanks
 
I think the issue is they do not listen to what an individual is telling them. They assume that every human being is exactly the same, they look the same, they act the same, they do exactly the same things, therefore the so called advice is the same. Their text books are telling them 'These people are eating 300 carbs a day as is everybody else on the planet so we must administer medication galore to lower their glucose and then tell them to carry on with the carbs to match the medication'. God forbid we should advise people to eat fewer carbs, might get sued! I am sure Mr or Mrs average might well carry on as before with more and more medication but surely they should inform and educate people and tell them there are choices and different ways to tackle this.
 

Families eh, well meaning but......tell them you are allergic to pasta/bread/potatoes/cereal, that cuts out a lot of the baddies and makes them think twice about assuming you must be missing out! I am sure no family member would force gluten on a coeliac.
 

It sounds like we have the same doctor and nurse!!

It is frustrating. Any doc I have spoken to can’t understand why I test. They are genuinely shocked. I have tried to explain that it makes a huge difference, but you can see they don’t want to hear that. Crazy.
 
I read this thread and it felt like a trip back to Victorian England. Eat carbs and don't test is what my surgery used to tout ten years ago but they got over it. These days I get quizzed about what I eat for each meal. They are still a bit handy with the pills but I am working on it.

Someone wiser than me said that you can't change the opinions of some people, you have to wait for them to die out.
 
My DN doesn’t bother to ask me what I eat and I don’t tell her as I can imagine her face if I told her I ate lots of cheese, butter, full fat yoghurt and drank full fat milk!! She wasn’t impressed when I told her I tested and she told me it wasn’t needed and I would get sore fingers!
 
I have had all nurses and GPs tell me not to test at home and not to do any low carb nonsense as it’ll make me ill. This is when I was originally told I was type 2. I did have one Gp who was temping I saw her saying I couldn’t tolerate metformin any more, my sugars are high and I feel ill... she told me to look at the diet doctor website and go low carb, that she did it lost weight and felt good. So she must be a very rare anomaly.
But yes it is so disheartening to be smashing it and be fronted with ignorant dismissal. I’ve found the more I challenged GPs the worse it was! I was finally after 2 years referred to endo. Hey ho type 1!
I think if your seeing fab results carry on, it’s your body your choice. Make use of the diabetes checks, hba1c, liver etc and feet eyes. They’d be a good indicator on how well it’s going. X
 
Hi Rose, thanks for the message of support. Wise words indeed. Thank you
 
Daibell said:
Hi. You know what is right and the experts obviously aren't the experts they think they are. My lovely DN suggested I reduce my carbs a bit more to lower my HBa1C so there is at least one person who is up to date in the NHS!
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Wow, you are fortunate to have such a DN, it is reassuring to hear. It is all harder over the phone too. Maybe we'll have a face-to-face one day. it is quite emotional getting to grips with the changes too.
 
KK123 said:
. God forbid we should advise people to eat fewer carbs, might get sued!
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I think there is some truth in that. All part of the 'don't want the patient having normal glucose levels,' so keep them up higher advice.
 
Bex72 said:
Wow, you are fortunate to have such a DN, it is reassuring to hear. It is all harder over the phone too. Maybe we'll have a face-to-face one day. it is quite emotional getting to grips with the changes too.
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I told my nurse and doctor about going lower carbs and they didn’t exactly support but they didn’t dismiss it either. The fact I dropped from 78 to 46 within 3 months and over 18kg weight loss speaks for itself

thing is, I worked out on the meds I’m on I’m costing the NHS nearly if not over £100 a month. You’d think the improvements however made would be something they would cheer about especially if I can come off the drugs from my efforts

So, if we can keep showing the benefits then it’s a slow win
 
bulkbiker said:
The trouble is that the surgery don't get rewarded for de-prescribing.
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I was taken off my bydureon, about a decade ago to be fair, and I felt very much that cost was a factor and I only got it back because I used to be on it, again due to cost I felt

Maybe I misinterpreted? But surely removing costly drugs out of patients hands is a good thing? Or maybe in the huge budget £100 a month doesn’t even count
 
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