Good Guys

[cugila]

Can anyone tell my why GP's bury their head in the sand with type II and testing. Surely it is important for us to know what is going on with our sugars rather than rely on testing once a week. My GP absolutely hates prescribing test sticks for me (even when I have to take steroids for my asthma and my sugars rise to 20!) he just says no need for testing so much! :roll:

It's plain and simple COST.

Until the message that testing is important for everybody untill everything is well controlled we are always going to have this problem. My GP is an intelligent and enlightened man - some of the others have very little between the ears and just stick with old doctrine. Keep pushing your GP and bombard him with LOGIC and FACTS. He/She might one day see the light ?
Then again Pigs and flight etc......... :lol:

Ken

 

[bunty]

My view is that the GPs will continue to be reluctant to prescribe test strips until enough diabetics convince them they wont be wasted.

I'm thinking of Type 2s, here.

My GP asked why i wanted to test and what i'd do with the information, given that i cant take anything for immediate lowering if it's a high reading.

I explained that i would take action by altering what my next food intake would be, as compensation, by becoming aware of what had caused the rise, so i could prevent a repetition in future, and that i could choose to do some additional exercise to help my levels reduce.

So many diabetics just swallow a metformin and carry on regardless, or take the strips and essentially, play with them by testing and doing nothing proactive or worse yet, by testing friends and family. And i know one diabetic who's party piece is to test everyone before and after dinner!

The reason my own GP agreed to provide me with strips on demand is because she can see by my HbA1c results that i take this seriously and i manage decent control.

I only wish that other GPs would be as sensible, where they are shown similar responsible behaviour.

As with most things, it comes down to education, doesnt it? Not just of the GPs but of us, too.

Although having said that, by virtue of being on this forum at all, shows that the majority of us do indeed take this seriously and do strive to achieve control, according to our individual abilities, of course.

bunty

 

[gardenfairy22]

Bunty - thank you, I have cut and pasted comments into a word document. As I have my first 3 month check in two weeks time, I know I shall get flumoxxed (sp) but if I can take in notes, such as that, to help me put my point across, perhaps they will understand how keen I am to keep problems at bay.
To moderators - are there any rules about using (copying) bits and pieces culled from the forum and using them in this way? In any case, keep up the good work everyone.
Carole

 

[graham64]

After seeing my DSN today I can now include her, i think she has seen the light not only has she stopped pushing the carbs she has also reinstated my test strips on repeat prescription

 

[fergus]

Carole, feel free to cut and paste anything from the forum which helps you make your case.
Might also be worth suggesting your HCP takes a look at the forum for themselves and see what well informed diabetics are doing?

All the best,

fergus

 

[ally5555]

fergus - alot of hpc look at this site and think blimey !

 

[fergus]

Yup, must be quite a shock to see so many diabetics with non-diabetic blood sugars, lower meds, weight loss and feeling much better in themselves, eh?

fergus

 

[ally5555]

no fergus because they have the same results .

 

[Dennis]

fergus - alot of hpc look at this site and think blimey !

Let me finish that sentence for you Ally

. . . and think blimey, I never imagined that a reduction in carbs could work so well for so many people!

 

[ally5555]

dennis - u dont listen or want to mod carbs ! The reason hpc look at this forum and say omg is because it is frankly biased and overun by a few people

 

[ally5555]

yuk

 

[sixfoot]

Ally if all the HCP you talk of get such good results .....Why is there a growing Problem ???

Dave P

 

[bunty]

With regard to requesting test strips, i should add that i dont test daily. I dont personally feel that's necessary, considering i know my HbA1c is stable and i have a fairly good idea of which foods are problematic.

My approach was to say that i needed to have 'testing days' on a regular basis, where i would monitor myself for one whole day, then the next day at a reduced number of times, followed by a few days of testing perhaps twice a day, tailing off to no testing other than when i felt there might be a problem.

I suppose because i'm not a 'no-carber' or even a 'really low carber', my GP feels i'm not what she refers to as 'an extremist' (she had spent some time trawling through this and another site, after having asked me for the URLs). She cautioned me to try to remain a moderate, for at least as long as my HbA1cs were stable and acceptable.

On one visit, she did half-heartedly suggest that my control was too tight and that i might consider allowing myself to view 6.5 as a praise-worthy HbA1c result but she soon capitulated when i calmly argued against that view.

In the end, i think it is a matter of balance. There are a few posters here who are hard-liners but i have come to see that we need them, as well as moderates like myself, to offset those who come here with sky-high numbers and horrible complications but who are determined not to alter their food intake.

bunty

 

[ally5555]

six foot - we dont get good results with everyone and we never will. I work with people every day and they just ignore everything - too much food, smoking and booze. Some people just dont care and some just dont understand how food effects them but maybe want to. We need to target resources in a more local and individual way.

Look at the MEND prog with kids - devised by a dietitian and now getting great results as it is working with families. I worked on a project a few years ago that was based in a local community and it was having a massive effect on lifestyle but the funding ran out and all the good work went with it!

 

[sixfoot]

Then how do you account for all the people still comming on here and have followed the advice and seen dieticians and still not getting any where.

Dave P

 

[ally5555]

six - there are people on here who have and maybe those who are happy do not feel the need too!

Life is not perfect I know that - maybe I should post some differing case studies so u can see what we are dealing with - it could be an eye opener and real life!

 

[sixfoot]

Ally my life IS real life, as are all those who post here ......... In what ways are your patients any different apart from being yours

Dave P

 

[sugarless sue]

Ally,you seem to miss the point of this forum.All the diabetics on here are dedicated to helping their own and others diabetes.These are not the constant noncompliant no hopers that you keep talking about but well researched and educated people who are trying to control their diabetes by whatever way possible to further their health.

 

[Aadrgon]

Ally

What Sue says

Basically the bottom line is we all care about retaining our eyesight and our feet and any other bits that might go wrong or drop off. The overall impression I get from my DN / Doctors surgery is that I'm diabetic number xxxx. low carbing for me might help me acheive that. The British Hypertension Society diet sheet I was given by my DN will not. I'm diabetic not hypertensive.

If you want to help Ally put some good meal plans on the forum including ones for LOW carb/ LOW GI.

 

[viv1969]

I have tried to avoid threads on here which seem to always go down the same “he-said-she-said” route, but I’m afraid I am actually offended by your attitude Ally. My life IS real life, and my results since restricting my intake of carbs speak for themselves.

Your opinion seems to be that restricting carbs is bad….full stop. Your opinion is the only one that matters to you and you will not even conceive of the idea that someone else’s words and methods may hold merit.

Those who post here of the virtues of restricted carb intake, do so with evidence of their own excellent results, mine included, and I constantly see comments such as ‘it may not work for all, but it sure works for me!’. When I saw those comments, I decided that I would try it for myself and see what happened. Why? Because for a year I had been following the advice of both my Dr and my DIETICIAN, and for all that time my BG levels remained steady at around 10 – 11.

Following A LOT of research, both here and other sources, I now have my levels down to around 5 – 6, I feel SO much better, and I am finally beginning to lose weight.

Incidentally, there is one fact that no-one can argue with, and that is that it does not matter what kind of dietary regime you follow, forget fats, forget salt, forget carbs…..if your intake of CALORIES is higher than the energy you expend then you will not lose weight. Therefore yes, it is the reduction of calories which often goes hand in hand with carb reduction which results in the often yearned for weight reductions we see going on around us.

Ally, your battle cry seems always to be “I am a dietician….I am a dietician….you MUST listen to me”.
Well I’m sorry, but I am a university educated woman; I am able to conduct my own research and make my own informed decisions, and I WILL NOT listen any more to advice which simply makes me sicker.

If you are unhappy with what you read in the Low Carbing threads, my advice to you would be to not read them.

I don’t want to ‘convert’ all diabetics to low carbing, but I do want…..no I INSIST that the medical fraternity start listening to their patients, and start to recognise the facts which are presented to them.