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Hello From The Diabetic 'Doctor'

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Dr H

Well-Known Member
Messages
62
Location
Coventry
Dislikes
- People without manners
- Being interrogated about non-low-carbing
'Hi there,

Well it finally happened. After 11 long years of fighting off the pre-diabetes, I finally succumbed to type II. The good news is that I'm used to the diet, seeing as I've been on it for the last 10 years (I spent a year in denial during which my condition progressed).

However, I'm a 26 year old trauma surgeon registrar from the UK. I'm a keen sportsman and it's a fact that endocrinologists are the third most boring people on the planet (after dermatologists and Jehovah's Witnesses).

I'm mainly on here to help other people get through the shock of being diagnosed, especially at a young age (I was 16 when I was diagnosed and it was devastating). Hope I can help.

Chat to you soon.
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

Being angry is all part of the process !!We all go through several stages,Denial,anger,bargaining,depression ,and finally acceptance when ever there is a major event in our lives .Some come to accept quicker than others.
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

I think your teens is possibly the worst time to be diagnosed, not that you have any choice in timing, I was 14. The last thing you want is to be told what to do, that something else now has control. As far as you're concerned you're going to live forever and complications are only a distant maybe. Any younger and I think you're more accepting of your new regime, any older and I think you have the maturity to realise you must adapt. Joining a group like this is a very good step in the right direction!
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

Hi Dr H.
Welcome to the forum.

Looking forward to seeing your posts. We need more Professionals on here.

Ken.
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

Hi Dr H
good to meet you
You say you are used to the diet, could you please elaborate which diet
Hana
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

hya dr and welcome to the forum :D
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

Well, when I was first diagnosed as being pre-diabetic the doctor put me on a low-fat diet to help me lose weight. It worked because I lost the stone and a half of fat that I had and was pleased that I was getting better. From there, he switched me onto a low carb diet, which sort of kept my blood sugar in control, but led to me being very lethargic.

So when I went to university, I consulted some of the nutritionists and we decided that the best course of action was to just eat a low sugar diet, and exercise regularly (which I do anyway) to burn off any excess carbs I have.

So I'm proud to say that it's been over a decade before I've eaten a Mars bar.

Also, totsy it says that you're from West Yorkshire. I went to Leeds Medical School and lived there for a couple of years afterwards.
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

So, Dr H.

What sort of diet advice would you give to someone then ? I think people on here are waiting for some more detail ?

Ken.
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

I can't really give advice from a medical perspective (I am an over-glorified butcher) however, the advice is simple.

A diet shouldn't be too drastic, low carb diets may be great for keeping your BS in check, but they come at a price. I've found that what works best for me (and maybe not for everybody else) is just a normal diet minus the obviously sugary things. So I still eat pasta and rice, but I don't eat doughnuts or muffins.

There's a debate raging whether low-carb diets are a good thing, and I don't think they are. If you're on a low-carb diet, you're not eating less, you're just eating more protein and fat. Which isn't good either.

So, the simple message is: Strike a balance. Eat your fruit and veg. And you'll be fine.

I hope that helps. But like I said, I'm a surgeon so I know as much about nutrition as most schoolchildren.
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

Thanks for that Dr H. I have the highest respect for Surgeons, they saved my life.

So, what's your opinion on a drastic reduction of carbohydrates in a diet, together with a low fat, low salt. low GI, low sugar approach ? You must have one if you have looked into the low carbs diet ?

Do you think the NHS diet advice is good ? Interested in your opinions.

Ken.
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

im about 20 mins car ride to leeds dr :D
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

I think there's a lot of benefit in a low carbs approach, but for me, the side effects aren't worth it. It can make you lethargic, and when you do come off it, your metabolism may be irreparably slow so you'll gain weight (which can increase the pressure on the feet and leave you with ulcers... Not good).

However, I think if your T2 diabetes was caused by having constantly high blood sugar (like mine was), then if you look at the diet, you can see whether you eat too many carbohydrates. In that case, perhaps it's worth lowering the intake of carbohydrates in line with the GDAs. But I disagree with only eating a tiny amount of carbohydrates.

I didn't really look into low-carb diets, because I was young when I was put on the diet. I was so lethargic during that point that I fell asleep during my first exam at med school, but I felt that it was normal for diabetics to feel this way. However, the university helped me get a more appropriate diet plan written out, which consisted of 2 regular meals (breakfast and lunch) and 2 smaller meals (at 3 and 5). This was to eliminate snacking.

On the other hand, many diabetics will swear by low-carb diets, and I guess that's up to them. They may not suffer from lethargy, or maybe don't work the same amount of hours that I do (it would be impossible for me to be on a low-carb diet now). Or perhaps, low-carb diets are easier for T2s to manage, because you're getting rid of anything and everything that might result in high blood glucose levels. I don't really know.

NHS advice in general is poor but I don't know what the current NHS advice is for diabetes management (I've been following the same plan for the last 8 years and it's been working fine for me).

@totsy: I don't live in Leeds anymore though. I moved to Coventry (biggest A&E in the UK) to complete my registrar training, but I'm planning on moving back up to Leeds when I'm done.
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

Thanks for your responses Dr H. Sorry for the 3rd degree, but I and others would like to know just where you stand on certain subjects.

I am intrigued by your comment that low carbs can make you lethargic. I don't think that many of the low or even reduced carbers would agree with that at all. I certainly don't. In my experience lethargy is usually caused by the elevated Bg levels and not eating regular meals at the correct times.

Ken. :D
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

I was just speaking from personal experiences. I went from having a very active lifestyle, and as a result eating a lot of carbs, to having almost no carbs and trying to do all the things that I had been doing. And it left me very lethargic.
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

The secret,H is to cut the carbs down a bit at a time.If you suddenly go too low then you will have cravings and ,because your body is used to running on high blood sugar levels you will feel very tired.
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

Yeah, but the problem for me was that I was really active. I captained both codes of rugby, played football, cricket, I did karate and I took up tennis at university. My body needed the copious amounts of carbohydrates. A low carb diet wasn't feasible for me, because I still did all these things, but I was just getting more and more tired.

In the end, I only cut down on the sugar and I only ever had a handful of readings over the norm, and even they were just 0.1 over.

It's each to their own, and for me, the low-carb route didn't work. It might work for other people, but I found that keeping carbs and cutting down on 'bad' food (fat, salt and sugar) worked.
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

Hi Dr H
Welcome to the forum from one newbie to another :)
I agree with you 100% Everyone is Different & it's all down to diet.

Quote"It might work for other people, but I found that keeping carbs and cutting down on 'bad' food (fat, salt and sugar") worked.
 
Re: Hello From The Diabetic Doctor

Hi Dr. H, always good to welcome a health professional to the forum.
Not that I want us to get off on the wrong foot or anything, but I'd certainly disagree that a diet that significantly reduces carbohydrates is in any way causative of lethargy or a slowed metabolism.
Both of those phenomena would suggest a calorie deficient diet, not the same as a low carbohydrate diet at all.
In fact I take a lot of exercise too, but find that my stamina is greatly increased on a low carb diet. I put this down to the replacement of glucose by free fatty acids in the Krebs cycle to generate adenosinetriphosphate. What do you reckon?

fergus
 
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