• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Dietician

Sarah69

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,534
Location
Hethersett, Norwich
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Anything healthy!
I went to see a dietician a few weeks ago as I was referred by my dr because of my apalling eating habits. Unfortuneatley as I guessed it was a waste of time. I dont think she had come across anyone like me before. I was there over an hour but she was no help at all. I gave her a list of foods I'd eaten over the last few days. All she seemed to focus on was jam sandwiches I'd taken to work 2 days. I normally have a pkt of crisps, 1 sandwich, 2 peanut tracker bars and a bit of cake. Sometimes ill have 2 kitkats on my afternoon break. Id taken jam sandwiches because I was fed up with ham, fish paste, corned beef. i have no interst in savoury food at all, I dont enjoy it, I hate the smell of it cooking. She suggested I see a psychologist but ive seen 1 and they didnt seem to think I had a problem. Im just at a loss to what I can do or who can help me.She did suggest I speak to my dr and to come off metformin for a while to see if my appetite returns.
 
Indy51 said:
Pretty sure various people at this forum have suggested the same thing (or reducing dosage) to you on various threads in the past.
Click to expand...
Yes they have but I can't just stop these tablets unless I'm told to by a dr! It may bring my appetite back but it's not going to help with cooking smells!
 

Hi Sarah69, I am veggie - no meat, meat substitute, fish, shell fish, sea food, because I don't like the taste and yes to me the smell is unpleasant ( not down to my meds, have been veggie for 40 years and diabetic for 2 months!) I mainly eat veg, dairy, salad and eggs but I manage well. I do eat a whole grain seeded bread a couple of times a week but try not to over do it. Hope you find a solution.
 
Sarah69 said:
Yes they have but I can't just stop these tablets unless I'm told to by a dr! It may bring my appetite back but it's not going to help with cooking smells!
Click to expand...

When reality hits you, belt it back. Goal #1 is to change that diet which leads to goal #2. Decreasing the meds. Simple equation. Self imposed barriers don't help as you appear to be more reliant on drugs rather than enforced diet changes. 6 months and I was off them all. It can be done. Nothing different from smoking or alcohol dependence, just the mental approach

... and no, I am NOT nor have ever been on insulin
 
Last edited:

Just the jam sandwiches? That doesn't sound like a suppressed appetite, I'm not sure why anyone should think Metformin makes you eat ****. It sounds much more like poor dietary choices especially if you have type II diabetes. It's a free world so nobody can tell you what to do or what to eat. If Metformin is the cause of your poor dietary choices you will of course have my unreserved and most humble apologies.

By your own admission you have appalling eating habits so you know what has to be done.

Sarah69 said:
I'm just at a loss to what I can do or who can help me.
Click to expand...

You are the only one who can help you, nobody can wave a magic wand, it needs willpower. At some point in time we have to take responsibility for ourselves.

I hope that wasn't too brutal but you seem to know what has to be done.
 
Actually, metformin can affect both taste and smell, but totally agree with the rest of your comments @DavidGrahamJones:

https://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/blog/diabetes-taste-disorders/

Sarah69 said:
Yes they have but I can't just stop these tablets unless I'm told to by a dr!
Click to expand...
What do you think will happen if you stop taking them, even for a brief time to see if they improve your taste/smell? The doctor can only advise you, the choice to take medication is yours and yours alone. Why haven't you discussed the issue with a doctor before now? Give the doctor a copy of the article above if you need proof that metformin can mess up taste/smell.
 
I truly hope you get around your issues but @Sarah69 take note of the advice. Malice is not the intent, just a serious look at solutions as opposed to reasons why you don't try them. You rest on 2 crutches for the time being. Life is a lot easier on one and then none
 
"i have no interst in savoury food at all, I dont enjoy it"

When you have T2 diabetes, food is your medicine. You are placing your appetite for junk food above your need to control your condition. Fair enough, but be prepared for the consequences.

If you don't like the smell of cooking, you could eat a raw diet.

I agree with the others who say check with your doctor that the metformin is not affecting your sense of taste/smell.
 
What problem do you think you have? What could the dietician say that hasn't been said over and over here? If your appetite was lost, you wouldn't want to eat jam sandwiches, cake, kit Kat's and crisps. I'll be blunt, at the risk of seeming unsympathetic (and if anyone think I am, I've posted a good few times on similar threads).
No amount of Metformin is going to give you carte Blanche to eat all the foods that will keep your diabetes spiralling. If you want better control, you are going to have to suck it up, and make changes. You can eat other foods, apart from what you've listed here - you choose not to. If you had no sweet ****** carb laden foods in the house, what would you eat? Would you starve? Nope.
I'm sure I've asked this before, but I'll ask it again. How much effort have you out into dietary changes, if you have cut most of the bad stuff out, how long did you give it? In other words, have you ever had a period of time where you have refrained from eating pastry, cakes, chocolate, bread and crisps etc?
 
I have to agree with @ladybird64, lots of us have given you the same advice over and over again but you ask the same question over and over again, I don't think you have lost your appetite in fact quite the opposite you eat a lot of food most of it not good for you or indeed anyone.

I'm not trying to be horrid here just giving tough love, if you always do what you've always done you'll always get what you've always got. The first line of defence in T2 management is lifestyle change, with respect any suggestions you are given you find a negative with - maybe seeing an expert psychologist can help you with this and the way you view food? Why will you not try it?
It's the old adage "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink"

I wish you well @Sarah69 and really do hope you get the help you need but only you can take control of your life
 

I have seen a psychologist early last year I think it was and she didnt seem to think I didnt have any issues. I appreciate all the advice that has been given to me on here. I know I eat junk food but its what I like. I bought a prepacked salad a few weeks ago and though that would make a change to take to work, so I added ham to it. When I had it at work then next day it was the most boring tasteless thing i'd eaten in a long time!! I have no willpower. I love chocolate its my passion, people say don't buy it so if I don't I crave it so much I have to go to the shop and buy it. I really don't know how to get out of this situation. The dietician was going through different fruits and I was just saying no because I dont like them!! I'm the same with a lot of food I just dont like it and no amout of keeping on trying is going to make me like it!! Im not having an annual review until I book an appointment next month the i'll discuss the metformin. I'm sure I cant be the only diabetic who is the way I am about food!
 
I used to crave chocolate but since swapping over to low carb high fat the craving disappeared overnight.

Is it worth making one change and sticking to it for a few days, then adding another change and so slowly take control?

In the end it is up to you - it is your body, your health (and possible complications as time goes by) and your life.
 
If your attitude towards the psychologist was the same as you present here - i.e. this is how I am, I can't possibly change, I can't be expected to take care of my health by eating food unless I like it - then he/she probably thought it was useless to persist with treatment. Frankly, it's hard to fathom how a grown adult can have such an infantile relationship with food.

My only suggestion is that I really hope you've added a good multi vitamin and mineral supplement to your regime as it's hard not to wonder just how many nutritional/micronutrient deficiencies you must have. If you've been taking a higher than the recommended dose of metformin for more than a few years, it's highly likely you have a B12 deficiency. Add to that the nutritionally deficient diet and it's hard to imagine how malnourished you probably are. Scary really to imagine what the long term effects of your diet are having on your health.
 
Last edited:
Sarah69 said:
I know I eat junk food but its what I like.
Click to expand...

It is unfortunate that you are unable to break the sugar addiction. Because your brain and tastebuds have been overwhelmed with sugar. You are unable to taste or appreciate any other flavors.

If you are able to find any food that is low carb and acceptable to you...try sticking to that for a while.

Nuts, cheese, butter, eggs, roast pork belly...these works wonder for me.

All the best.
 
Sarah69 said:
I have no willpower. I love chocolate its my passion, people say don't buy it so if I don't I crave it so much I have to go to the shop and buy it. I really don't know how to get out of this situation.
Click to expand...

You've been give more directions than a compass and every one of them valid. Your denial and refusal to accept the absolute basics is astonishing. You DO have the willpower, otherwise why get out of bed, go to work, earn a wage, pay the bills etc etc.

You're giving me the impression that an answer you like is what you need, and if it isn't, next doctor, psychologist.
 
Unfortunately we can't always have what we want/like. Maybe salad is boring, but then you choose whether you cope with 'boring' food or continue to jeopardise your health- it really does come down to choice. I would expect that was the opinion of the psychologist - you are making a choice rather than there being an underlying disorder.
You do seem stuck in the cycle of viewing healthy food is boring and therefore becoming overly focussed on it. Maybe you could change your approach and view food as a means to an end - I.e. It's to stop me feeling hungry, rather than having to be a pleasurable experience
 

You sound like a petulant child throwing a tantrum. You've had more advice than many, and keep replying with the "no amount of trying is going to make me like it"
So where's your part of the bargain, the work that's involved in getting diabetes under control? I see none, apart from looking for an easy option that just doesn't exist. How long did you try for, a day, two, a week?
Expecting magic answers that involve you eating what you want while taking a magic pill to reduce your levels isn't going to happen. At some point you accused me of bullying you for daring to suggest you do things differently.
Im no bully, this isn't a playground, but a supportive environment for people that genuinely want help - so I'll say it again, what help are you looking for, and what will you do to help yourself?
 
I really don't know why you keep coming back to the forum only to post the same things. What are you expecting us to do for you? There is nothing we can do other than repeat the same advice over and over.

We can't help you. There is only you that can help you.

It is up to you and your choice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…