Diabetes education course

TTTE

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Last week saw me attend the Diabetes education course arranged via my GP at diagnosis.

It was an eye opener for a newbie such as myself (who is surrounded by so called "experts" at work, all of whom know a guy that met a bloke who once sold a dog to man that lived in the same street as their granny who once had diabetes!)

The course was 4 hours long, split into 2 halves. The first half was all about diet and was taken by a dietician who gave loads of advice about the food we eat and how much of it we should eat. She spoke about the "Well Plate" system of sorting out your food and dispelled a lot of the myths surrounding food in general. Whilst she agreed that "Diabetic" foods are no better for you (as a diabetic) than normal every day foods because the alternative to sugar that they use is just as bad as normal sugar, she stopped short of agreeing that it was a marketing scam

The second half was run run by a diabetic nurse and she took us through the things we will most likely come to encounter as a diabetic. She cleared up a few myths and chinese whispers about being diabetic and provided a wealth of information about the condition.

One point to note was that she seemed to follow the locals doctors line about not needing to self test your blood sugar levels. Something I disagree with. Given the ramifications of having high (or too low) blood sugar I test myself typically 3 to 4 times a day (work permitting). My results tend to be all over the place as I get to grips with this condition but the general trend is downwards (Hoorah!)

None the less, the course was educational and the reading material a great aide memoir.
 
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SueJB

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3,316
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Last week saw me attend the Diabetes education course arranged via my GP at diagnosis.

It was an eye opener for a newbie such as myself (who is surrounded by so called "experts" at work, all of whom know a guy that met a bloke who once sold a dog to man that lived in the same street as their granny who once had diabetes!)

The course was 4 hours long, split into 2 halves. The first half was all about diet and was taken by a dietician who gave loads of advice about the food we eat and how much of it we should eat. She spoke about the "Well Plate" system of sorting out your food and dispelled a lot of the myths surrounding food in general. Whilst she agreed that "Diabetic" foods are no better for you (as a diabetic) than normal every day foods because the alternative to sugar that they use is just as bad as normal sugar, she stopped short of agreeing that it was a marketing scam

The second half was run run by a diabetic nurse and she took us through the things we will most likely come to encounter as a diabetic. She cleared up a few myths and chinese whispers about being diabetic and provided a wealth of information about the condition.

One point to note was that she seemed to follow the locals doctors line about not needing to self test your blood sugar levels. Something I disagree with. Given the ramifications of having high (or too low) blood sugar I test myself typically 3 to 4 times a day (work permitting). My results tend to be all over the place as I get to grips with this condition but the general trend is downwards (Hoorah!) None the less, the course was educational and the reading material a great aide memoir.
Well done you for going with self-testing. If you don't know where you are in terms of BG, how do you know how to get to your destination of happy BG.
I worry about the "Well Plate", what did they say was OK to eat?
 

DavidGrahamJones

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One point to note was that she seemed to follow the locals doctors line about not needing to self test your blood sugar levels.

Good to hear you saw through that one. Does that mean your GP and DN are happy for you not to discover what your efforts to control BG are until you have your regular HbA1c (sometimes bi-annual, mine have been annual). The only thing I can say about my original GP's advice not to cut carbs was that for me my condition worsened to the point of discussing insulin. Carbs are very definitely not my friend.
 

Bluetit1802

Legend
Messages
25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
The first half was all about diet and was taken by a dietician who gave loads of advice about the food we eat and how much of it we should eat. She spoke about the "Well Plate" system of sorting out your food and dispelled a lot of the myths surrounding food in general.

This is worrying. What myths did she dispel?
 

Daibell

Master
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12,642
Type of diabetes
LADA
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Insulin
Hi. Like the other posts I'm really worried that the Eatwell Plate' was mentioned. It was largely formulated by the food industry who have an agenda to push low-cost carbs. Were you advised to keep the carbs down? if not then the course was not providing good dietary advice - sorry. You do need to self-test. The reason GPs advise against it is purely to save the NHS money. You may well need to buy your own test strips but you do need to test occasionally to see how you are doing. The important thing about being diabetic is the need to take control and work in conjunction with GPs and DNs but not let them take control. My DN is superb in that respect and we work as a 'team'
 

NewTD2

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1,563
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
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Tablets (oral)
I used to test 6-8x a day but now I only test before breakfast because I eat the same, regular food every week.

However if there's something new on the menu, I would definitely recommend testing before and 2 hours later.

The NHS Diabetes Education Course that I attended was a complete disaster.

We were advised by the Dietitian to "eat anything" but in small portions which literally means we can really have a bit of cake, ice cream, potatoes, sugary fizzy drinks, chocolates, doughnuts but as long as they are in small portions, all should be fine.

Please DO NOT follow the NHS Guidelines because they are appalling, outdated, totally irresponsible and some NHS Dietitians haven't got a clue and may have not been trained well enough about our condition.

So I went against the NHS Guidelines and immediately switched to low-carbing instead.

And these are my HBA1c results:

Sept 2017 (85 nearly died at the A&E)
Dec 2017 (46 pre-diabetic)
Jan 2018 (38 normal)

I can feel my HBA1c has dropped even further because I feel absolutely great!

Next blood test will be end of this month, April 2018, will keep you all posted...
 

TTTE

Well-Known Member
Messages
90
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
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Diabetes (but I may learn to love it)
The "Well Plate" system describes a dinner plate that was split into 3 sections. From memory (I'm at work) it was 50% fruit & veg. 25% proteins and 25% carbs. It was suggested that if you increase anything it should be the fruit and veg. if you do increase this you should reduce the carbs or the proteins.

The myths that were dispelled were things like special diabetic products such as Jams and chocolate etc are not any better than the normal every day products. The advice was to read the labels and see what the sugar and carbohydrate amounts are. Also things like Diet Coke is just as bad for you from a diabetic point of view because although the sugar is removed it is replaced with some nasty chemical substitutes that are just as bad for your blood sugar readings. The advice was that if its fizzy its bad. Normal water is the answer, add a bit (but not too much) of squash if you want some flavour
 
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EllieM

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Interestingly, my Dad's been T2 for 7 years, on 3 * 500mg metformin. He's been told not to test and appears to be stable, on a lowish carb diet (probably less than 100g per day but more than 50g). He's 87 and has quite a lot of health issues, but none of them obviously T2 related. Honestly, for someone his age, whose HbA1Cs are stable on less than the max dose of metformin, I can see the argument for not testing.
I've just told him to avoid carbs as much as possible. He says his DN told him to have an afternoon snack/biscuit at 4pm which I don't really understand, as I thought you couldn't get hypo from metformin???
 

Bluetit1802

Legend
Messages
25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Interestingly, my Dad's been T2 for 7 years, on 3 * 500mg metformin. He's been told not to test and appears to be stable, on a lowish carb diet (probably less than 100g per day but more than 50g). He's 87 and has quite a lot of health issues, but none of them obviously T2 related. Honestly, for someone his age, whose HbA1Cs are stable on less than the max dose of metformin, I can see the argument for not testing.
I've just told him to avoid carbs as much as possible. He says his DN told him to have an afternoon snack/biscuit at 4pm which I don't really understand, as I thought you couldn't get hypo from metformin???

Your dad has done brilliantly, and at his age if he were my dad I would just let him be. Testing may stress him if he happened to see a high number, and as long as he is stable with no diabetes complications, and on a lowish carb diet, I can't see the point. T2s on Metformin only are no more likely to hypo than a non-diabetic. It can happen, but it is rare. Our livers look after us. Maybe his DN didn't want to deprive him of an afternoon treat?