Did anyone else take a back step after the diabetic nurse??

MissMac said:

@Rosie'Ma if you don't mind me asking what book did you get? I am getting so bogged in information at the moment, still googling my little self out to find me a dietician or someone who is up to speed with keto-diet or LCHF or whatever we wanna call it!! It's all a bit much for my lazy head to take!!
I am rather impressed with myself this morning though as I ate a hot flaxseed breakfast and it weren't that bad! Not a lot different to weetabix really but didn't need to cover in layers of sugar!!
I think it is truly shocking how so many people are having bad experiences...making me wonder if I need to go and become a diabetic nurse specialist once I get a handle on myself!!! x

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To be fair, I think very few Type 2s are lucky enough to see a DSN at their surgery. It's usually just a nurse with an interest in diabetes.

My DSN is fantastic and has a huge amount of knowledge. She's also very up on all the latest research, but that's probably easier when you work in a hospital and liaise with a consultant, dietician, and a big diabetes team.

And all this after the staff regularly attend training days.
I was told to eat less cheese, drink skimmed milk and avoid red meat like the plague.

Ignored all those and Im still alive with no heart issues, both my legs and with a good weight and spot on BMI .
Sadly they churn out this rubbish coz someone trains em to do so.
Eat and drink sensibly, do some walking around and live your life as you should.
Enjoy.

I was diagnosed T2 in December 2011 and like everyone else was given the standard NHS advice. When I saw the dietician she thought my diet was pretty good and only required a small adjustment. It would appear that by following NHS guidelines it's only possible to control your diabetes with medication. My DN was a bit surprised that I was T2 as I wasn't really over weight, her advice has been generally along NHS guidelines.
Since I heard a doctor on the radio criticizing the NHS advice and saying it was way out of date I started doing a bit of research.
I have found a lot of advice on this site and others and now look at who sponsored the research as it always tends to lean towards their products.
My diet has been modified to be largely LCHF with a reasonable amount of success.My DN has been following my progress and I am slowly being weaned off medication. Only snag is she retired about six weeks ago so I have now got to educate her successor. My next appointment is next Monday so I hope I have progressed enough to drop the medication

MissMac said:

There definately needs to be a massive and I mean monumental shift in what is being taught but it is SO embrioled in corporation and money it's really quite gross and that's being tame!! @ColS I hope it's all good news for you! x

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It is really not any different in Canada and the US I am afraid.

Its not much different in Australia either.
And I second the phlaunt website and any of Jenny Ruhl's books. Currently reading Think like a pancreas which is also extremely interesting

@MissMac just because we have low carb down under does not mean that dieticians, gp's and specialists aren't behind the low carb way for diabetics.

My last appt with a dietician pushed heavily for the typical eatwell plate. I am lucky in that my gp and specialist are behind me in low carbing.

Diabetes Australia and the state diabetes groups still push the eatwell plate and low GI. I could never get my numbers down on them.

Our main magazine Diabetic living is the same.

Very little is written about low carbing.

I feel grateful that I found diabetes.co.UK and dietdoctor and real meal revolution and other groups.
My numbers are well down, I am in ketosis and have lost just over 10 KGS since joining here.

I am very lucky that my partner has also joined me in low carbing and apart from his occasional oops with some foods he has embraced the lifestyle and is also having good results with with his weight, IBS and reflux.

The journey has really only just begun. So get on board and join the wild ride

My DN still insists that there is no need for me to test as it will only make my fingers sore!

I had an experience like this only with an nhs diabetes diatician, I went in all positive only having type 1 for 6 months and having learnt a lot. Thinking was I was in for an in depth explanation of what certain food groups could do to help me. The advice I actually received from this professional dietician was "decide what you want to eat and then google glycemic indexes". Fuming didn't do how I felt justice, I requested my parking money back and everything lol.

I only see my DSN once a year at my local GP's. It wouldn't be this often but for the fact that the surgery threatened to take me off the list if I failed to attend.
Obviously this concerned me greatly at first, but I now realise that the 1/2 chat me and my DSN have yearly is extremely beneficial.
I leave the surgery happy in the knowledge that I've helped someone have a greater understanding of diabetes.
My DSN is a wonderful woman but by her own admission knows very little about diabetes.
Is this her fault? As a DSN she should know, but not being diabetic she'll never know and understand.

therower said:

My DSN is a wonderful woman but by her own admission knows very little about diabetes.
Is this her fault? As a DSN she should know, but not being diabetic she'll never know and understand.

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A DSN (diabetes specialist nurse) will know a great deal about diabetes as that is their chosen profession.

The nurse you see in your gp surgery will be a Diabetes Nurse, their knowledge won't be on par with that of a DSN as one would expect.

noblehead said:

A DSN (diabetes specialist nurse) will know a great deal about diabetes as that is their chosen profession.

The nurse you see in your gp surgery will be a Diabetes Nurse, their knowledge won't be on par with that of a DSN as one would expect.

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Hi @noblehead . That probably explains a lot. 25yrs diabetic and still learning.
Raises the question why I've never seen or been offered the services of a DSN. Are they assigned or do you just request to see one?

therower said:

Hi @noblehead . That probably explains a lot. 25yrs diabetic and still learning.
Raises the question why I've never seen or been offered the services of a DSN. Are they assigned or do you just request to see one?

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You would see one in a hospital setting, so you would need to be under the care of a hospital diabetes clinic to see a DSN.

noblehead said:

You would see one in a hospital setting, so you would need to be under the care of a hospital diabetes clinic to see a DSN.

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Yes I'm under the hospital diabetes unit, 6 monthly visits to see the consultant and all that that entails. Strangely though have never encountered a DSN.
25yrs with out any complications is maybe the reason. If this is the reason the longer I miss out the better. Thanks for your advice.

therower said:

Yes I'm under the hospital diabetes unit, 6 monthly visits to see the consultant and all that that entails. Strangely though have never encountered a DSN.
25yrs with out any complications is maybe the reason. If this is the reason the longer I miss out the better. Thanks for your advice.

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That is great news @therower

Unless your having issues there's probably no reason to see a DSN if your Consultant is happy with things.

MissMac said:

So...this leaves the next question...HOW do we change the world?! I've just downloaded onto the kindle Dr Bernstein's book... @Cat0409_ have you seen the videos on "low carb australia"? I mean you don't have to be in Oz but it surprises me that with stuff like that going on the country is still behind xx

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Change the world? You're behind me in the quest for world domination. On a more serious note, I do think the world is changing, but it'll be evolution rather than revolution.

In June, I attended the Public Health Collaboration (PHCUK) Conference in Birmingham, where everything was low-carb based, to the extent the lunch was fabulously low-carb friendly. There was even an apology from the organiser because the complimentary nuts, put out with coffee (along with low carb truffle thingies) were actually nuts with dried fruit.

At the Conference, I met two other forum members (we simply didn't stop talking), and our very own site owner/Admin. We listened to presentations (posted on here) by David Unwin (@Southport GP ), Trdudi Deakin (@Deakint ), Admin (@Administrator), Dr Rangan Chattergee (Doctor in your House) and several others I'd bore you to list. Aside from the Fixing Dad guys, and Admin, every one was a HCP of one sort or another.

Have a look at the PHCUK website where they have links to their dietary guidelines and their quick flash guide on low carb eating (their version of the Eat Well Plate).

Edit: Just to add, the PHCUK is not all about diabetes, it's about healthy living.

Whilst not referring to a diabetes nurse, I was recently at a meeting, for diabetics (organisation not important), where the guest speaker was the local specialist Dietician, to talk about diet This was just after a lot of publicity of Dr Michael Mosely's Blood Sugar Diet book.

I think it's safe to say she wasn't a fan. The standout moment of her responses to me came when I asked her what her reaction was to some of the success stories, following the diet, or similar. That was when she told me that "people like that simply don't exist",

All I could say was "You mean people like me?" I nearly burst a blood vessel.

I accept that so many HCP's have so much n their plates they can't invest in the reading and research we do. Adding to that that it's my belief that so many of the nurses we see on a routine basis at our GP surgeries may have done a brief course (some hours or a day, maybe), but they do the Diabetic Clinics because they have been delegated to them by the practise. They probably do the smoking cessation and Asthma clinics on a similar basis.

HCPs are between a rock and a hard place. Their practise Partners will expect them to comply with NICE Guidelines, with little or no autonomy to flex the practise party line or customise their advice too much.

It's tragic, but having worked in the NHS (not in nursing), until I saw the direction it was heading, I know how difficult it can be to push that boulder against the hill, even when there's a personal passion. When I left the NHS, I retained my registration for a few years, then allowed it to lapse as I realised there was no way I was going to practise again in either the public or private sectors.