Hello, I'm Meggy and my story is very similar to many others I've read while lurking around this forum. I was diagnosed 18 months ago and told to keep to a healthy diet everyone should have, and to make sure to have carbs at every meal. I did as I was told and my blood sugar levels crept up of course. I thought I was doing something wrong and started to eat more fruit, under protest as I don't like it much. After a couple of days without fruit, my BG levels went down and I spoke to the DN on the phone and told her so. She said I must eat fruit and not to test so much or they wouldn't prescribe any more strips. I was surprised and asked how often I should test. One test a week is plenty she said. Another nurse said to test twice a week, four times a day, which I did after a visit to my doctor. I asked him why I was given a meter and then told not to test. He said if I was motivated to test, then of course it was all right and put the strips on my repeat prescription. Nice man, my doc.
I did the Desmond course and had found this forum and tentatively mentioned low carbing, which produced much derision and gales of laughter from the nurses. I found out that people had been given three months to get their BG down and I hadn't been. Next visit to DN I entered to find her writing a prescription. 'I want you to take this drug along with the Metformin' she trilled. I let her go on a bit then told her I wasn't going to be taking anything for three months. 'Other people are given three months and I haven't been, so I'm taking it,' I said. She said it was up to me, but did I realise my BG would skyrocket? I did, but it didn't make a lot of difference. Only low carbing made any difference.
The last time I had a sandwich (home made bread) it was ham and low fat spread, and next morning my BG was 21.1. After a few days I decided I would low carb as the numbers were 14 - 17 and I knew it was far too high. I wasn't certain what I was doing, but this forum was a mine of information and has links to more information and I learned a lot and and I thank you all for that. My BG came down to an average of around 7.5. I got my latest HbAc1 today and it's 7.6, which is much lower than on the DN's idea of a diabetic diet. I don't see her any more after she told me that testing too much makes people paranoid and they think they can't have things like potatoes (after I told her they affect the BG too much). I said 'Of course I can have potatoes, just not very much.' She was livid but isn't allowed to shout at me so I told her I was testing peas and carrots next. I thought she'd explode so I cast around for something else to tell her to annoy her a bit more, but there was only bread at the time. It worked though, hee hee.
She sent me to a Diabetes Clinic eventually because I didn't want to go onto Gliclazide, and I got a very definite 'NO' when I asked for Junovia. I was prescribed Vildagliptin at the clinic and after about three weeks had symptoms of not producing bile (white poo, brown wee) so I stopped taking it and things returned to normal. At the clinic, I saw a diabetician who had a prescription at the ready and a dietitian who told me to listen to him, instead of listening to me about low carbing. I said I'd learned it from other Type 2s on this forum and he said he was trying to educate me and I was to listen to him and not listen to rumours :shock: I said 'Why can't I listen to 'rumours'? You do' After a few minutes of 'I don't' ,'You do' he said he reads reports by people who do research. I said, 'Yes, rumours, it's not your report is it? It's someone else's work.' He was late for the next patient by now, but I was enjoying myself and kept him a little longer, explaining about the low carb diet. He said there are no carbs in vegetables. Maybe there aren't on his planet. I refuse to go back to that clinic, they don't listen to a word I say and my doctor does, so I will remain under his care and continue to see another dietitian who keeps up with new research and backs me up with my diet. I've even managed to lose a few pounds, which seemed impossible before. I lost 10 stones and put 1 back on. I think it's very unfair that I had no diabetes until I'd lost all that!!
Today I saw my doctor and agreed to try sitagliptin, so maybe that will work for me. I notice that it's Junovia, which DN said I couldn't have! Sorry it's so long, but it's my first post and I have a lot to say.
Thanks for reading it.
Meggy
I did the Desmond course and had found this forum and tentatively mentioned low carbing, which produced much derision and gales of laughter from the nurses. I found out that people had been given three months to get their BG down and I hadn't been. Next visit to DN I entered to find her writing a prescription. 'I want you to take this drug along with the Metformin' she trilled. I let her go on a bit then told her I wasn't going to be taking anything for three months. 'Other people are given three months and I haven't been, so I'm taking it,' I said. She said it was up to me, but did I realise my BG would skyrocket? I did, but it didn't make a lot of difference. Only low carbing made any difference.
The last time I had a sandwich (home made bread) it was ham and low fat spread, and next morning my BG was 21.1. After a few days I decided I would low carb as the numbers were 14 - 17 and I knew it was far too high. I wasn't certain what I was doing, but this forum was a mine of information and has links to more information and I learned a lot and and I thank you all for that. My BG came down to an average of around 7.5. I got my latest HbAc1 today and it's 7.6, which is much lower than on the DN's idea of a diabetic diet. I don't see her any more after she told me that testing too much makes people paranoid and they think they can't have things like potatoes (after I told her they affect the BG too much). I said 'Of course I can have potatoes, just not very much.' She was livid but isn't allowed to shout at me so I told her I was testing peas and carrots next. I thought she'd explode so I cast around for something else to tell her to annoy her a bit more, but there was only bread at the time. It worked though, hee hee.
She sent me to a Diabetes Clinic eventually because I didn't want to go onto Gliclazide, and I got a very definite 'NO' when I asked for Junovia. I was prescribed Vildagliptin at the clinic and after about three weeks had symptoms of not producing bile (white poo, brown wee) so I stopped taking it and things returned to normal. At the clinic, I saw a diabetician who had a prescription at the ready and a dietitian who told me to listen to him, instead of listening to me about low carbing. I said I'd learned it from other Type 2s on this forum and he said he was trying to educate me and I was to listen to him and not listen to rumours :shock: I said 'Why can't I listen to 'rumours'? You do' After a few minutes of 'I don't' ,'You do' he said he reads reports by people who do research. I said, 'Yes, rumours, it's not your report is it? It's someone else's work.' He was late for the next patient by now, but I was enjoying myself and kept him a little longer, explaining about the low carb diet. He said there are no carbs in vegetables. Maybe there aren't on his planet. I refuse to go back to that clinic, they don't listen to a word I say and my doctor does, so I will remain under his care and continue to see another dietitian who keeps up with new research and backs me up with my diet. I've even managed to lose a few pounds, which seemed impossible before. I lost 10 stones and put 1 back on. I think it's very unfair that I had no diabetes until I'd lost all that!!
Today I saw my doctor and agreed to try sitagliptin, so maybe that will work for me. I notice that it's Junovia, which DN said I couldn't have! Sorry it's so long, but it's my first post and I have a lot to say.
Thanks for reading it.
Meggy