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Diabetic nurse

Well done! I am looking forward to seeing your next test of results.

I agree with the others, your goal should be to get off gliclazide if possible.
 
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Hi Smiler69,
It seems like your DN is telling you to eat to the meds, rather than eat to the meter.
We all know how crazy that is!
If you have not already seen it, I suggest you read the 'Newly diagnosed and Confuse' thread by @IBEX82 which is in the Type 2Diabetes forum.
I don't recall her fasting, but her LCHF was causing some low BG figures overnight and so her 'helpful' DN suggested increasing Carbs!

But it is a success story, because eventually the DN came around when faced with evidence and she got her gliclazide dosage modified to match her LCHF diet.

Some of us are lucky in out HCPs, but most just have to manage those that we are lumbered with.

Best of Luck,
Ian
 
Hi Smiler,

@ianf0ster is 100% correct. I was following LCHF and getting blood glucose readings below 4 while on glic. My DN suggested increasing my carbs which I was horrified at but actually to prove a point I did as she asked, and monitored my BG religiously.

As could be expected my BG shot up at every test despite the glic - I then went back to her and showed her my BG readings on LCHF and my BG readings while on her ‘higher carb’ approach. She conceded in the end that the LCHF was keeping my BG and actually stopped my glic, with the caution that I had to restart the glic again if I had any readings above 8.

Happy to report this was a couple of weeks ago and I’m still glic-free! I haven’t had a BG reading above 6 and I’m taking steroids too which is known to increase BG. I think sometimes they only see the ‘carbs will help..it’s not the meds, it’s got to be something you’re doing.’ As they are trained in that way.... I think the easy way for me was a show and tell of my BG levels on both diets as numbers don’t lie.

I hope you get sorted
 
My GP was willing to let me try, my nurse was concerned at first and thought the GP had 'forgotten' to prescribe metformin and statins, but the only person I had a real issue with was the dietician.
Like you I was told off for not eating enough carbs, and also not eating early enough in the morning. She got very huffy and told me that she was a professional diabetic dietician when I mentioned the low carb program (I have degrees in biology, psychology and applied statistics but I did not mention them!)

At the 3 month mark my HbA1c had dropped and so had loads of weight. By 6 months my diabetic nurse asked me for the website for the lowcarbprogram (she had ignored the letter and info I'd printed out from the site for my first appt).
It is a great pity that not all medical staff can find the time to keep knowledge up to date, and much worse that some are unwilling to learn even when the evidence is sitting in front of them.
 
TriciaWs said:
...much worse that some are unwilling to learn even when the evidence is sitting in front of them.
Click to expand...

Cognitive dissonance. Many would prefer to stick their fingers in their ears shouting "la la la" than have to come to terms with the idea that much of the advice they've been parroting for decades might have caused serious harm and even shortened lives. In my experience these types are not interested in learning from the actual patients who live with their condition 24/7/365.
 
Fyi Dr David Unwin has also done a 20 minute e learning course for the Royal College of Gps but anyone can access it. Might be an eye opener from an official source for the low carb sceptics!
https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/course/view.php?id=291
There is also the fact that the NHS has given the green light to the low carb programme:
https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/low-carb-program/
Obviously anyone taking a medication that stimulates insulin production like the OP is, needs to approach with caution and discuss with their DSN so that no hypos are suffered.
 
 
Smiler69,
Sorry to hear about your experience. It sounds as though your diabetic nurse is not fully conversant with all the avenues open to you. It appears to me as though you have made a remarkable progress fighting your diabetes. Well done.
 
Hi- what amazing results- dropping that much is wonderful! You should be so proud- you are actually demonstrating that diabetes doesn't have to be progressive. I feel so sad that the nurse let you down. With people like that in your corner who needs enemies.

You have achieve results that she didn't expect- I would consider that a medical professional would want to look at the results and try to find out what you are doing that is working so that other patients could also benefit. I would be really disappointed with the nurse. But even more than disappointed not to acknowledge how far you've come in a short time...

You are on your way to getting your levels even lower- congratulations!
 
TriciaWs said:
and much worse that some are unwilling to learn even when the evidence is sitting in front of them.
Click to expand...

They have been trained to be evidence blind, thinking that is the essence of evidence-based medicine which relegates "anecdotal" evidence as clinically irrelevant/worthless...

 
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