If they'd done it right, I might not have been here

[hanadr]

I have downloaded a copy of the "TReatment Flowchart for people with type 2 diabetes"
from my PCT's website.
STep 1 is the first that was never followed for me.( Initial Group education)
it goes on until it says that Normal weight people, needing more than Metformin, should get Gliclazide and over BMI 20 should get a glitazone.
I am over BMI 20, and was five years ago at diagnosis. I was put on Gliclazide, which definitely causes weight gain. Evidently they knew that. I ended up with a BMI of 36.6 (I've got it down to 29.9 after a year of low carbs.
I shall be charitable and suggest that 5 years ago they didn't know any of what is in this flow chart now and that since I was diagnosed in a hospital following a stroke, No-one there knew what they should do. I do remember asking a dietician what to eat and being told to take the hospital's Diabetic diet as my guide. You should have seen the size of the portions of rice and mashed potato!
Still if I'd had better advice and being basically compliant, I might never have had to start out on this crusade that I'm on.
Maybe it's fate and I will get that Ph.D sometime

 

[Dennis]

Normal weight people, needing more than Metformin, should get Gliclazide and over BMI 20 should get a glitazone.

Hana, Sorry but I couldn't help laughing when I read that bit.

Yes, a side effect of gliclazide in many cases can be weight gain, but the most common side effect of glitazones, in practically every case, is enormous and very rapid weight gain! I think the idea seems to be to get your BMI of 20+ up to 30+ as quickly as possible.

 

[fergus]

Your story upset me, hanadr. Bad enough that it should happen to you, but I imagine it's happening to others around the country right now.
It exposes the flawed logic of diabetes treatment, doesn't it? Normalising blood sugar is clearly a first priority, as of course it should be. But how should this be achieved?
Medication is the first resort for the health service, while it is a last resort for many forum members.
Clear headed logic would suggest restricting the foods most likely to elevate blood sugar, while you were actively encouraged to eat more of them! :evil: This is non-negotiatable it seems, so the only option remaining is medication. Any medication which introduces exogenous insulin, or stimulates insulin production, will inevitably result in weight gain, so exaccerbating T2 diabetes, and increasing the need for medication.
I really don't understand why dietary treatment, so clearly very successful for so many people here, is so difficult for the health service to accept.
On the other hand, what else would we talk about otherwise!

All the best,

fergus

 

[Pattidevans]

Clear headed logic would suggest restricting the foods most likely to elevate blood sugar, while you were actively encouraged to eat more of them! :evil: This is non-negotiatable it seems, so the only option remaining is medication. Any medication which introduces exogenous insulin, or stimulates insulin production, will inevitably result in weight gain, so exaccerbating T2 diabetes, and increasing the need for medication.

I do so agree.... You see the same thing in just about every diabetic forum on the web. The ADA are finally coming round to it.. but the NHS? Not on your nelly.... I do wonder why no-one ever asks "real diabetics" what works and I've been infiltrating as many NHS forums as I can and saying just that!

 

[hanadr]

Still if the NHs were not closed to ideas and had their thinking muscles engaged, Who would I be battling?
Hana