Losing faith

[John 2]

Hi , I have type 2 , had it since 2010 , my latest reading is 60mmo , before it was 55 and 64 before that , which is the highest I have ever been , I have just lost 14 lb in weight , am 76 and getting fed up with my doctors .

I have never spoken to a doctor since first being diagnosed , nurses vary in how they speak , one told me at the beginning I could not eat prawns , I said why not as they are ok , she then said because people have Mary Rose sauce with them which is not good , then tell me that , some give praise and some say not controlling it needs to be put on medication , none of this is helpful and to be honest , i am just getting so fed up with it all .

My question is , should I be getting better help from my practice or am I expecting more than I should .

 

[IanBish]

Hi John, welcome to the forum.

Do you have more weight to lose? If you have it may help.

Marie Rose sauce is just mayonnaise, tomato ketchup, lemon juice and a spice like paprika - it's hardly bad. Prawns are good, though.

At the end of the day, it's mainly up to you. People here often find that nurses don't always give good advice.

 

[John 2]

Hi , yes I have more weight to lose if I can , not so easy as you get older , regards nurses , very mixed feelings on them , not certain if to trust or not , I have had nurses that have been at odds with doctors , such as saying we should see you every 3 months and it would seem doctors saying 6 to 12 months , it’s all very mixed .

Interesting the chart you sent , never been that heavy and that is all about height and how much is fat or muscle , I am according to the practice 5ft 9 , so I should be 10stone 7 pounds they say .

 

[IanBish]

Regarding my progress list, I was diagnosed at my heaviest, and lost a lot of weight pretty quickly. My weight loss has slowed quite dramatically lately. According to Prof Roy Taylor, who did a lot of research into Type 2, weight loss may not be as effective the longer you are diabetic, but he says it's always worth a try.

 

[KennyA]

Hi , I have type 2 , had it since 2010 , my latest reading is 60mmo , before it was 55 and 64 before that , which is the highest I have ever been , I have just lost 14 lb in weight , am 76 and getting fed up with my doctors .

I have never spoken to a doctor since first being diagnosed , nurses vary in how they speak , one told me at the beginning I could not eat prawns , I said why not as they are ok , she then said because people have Mary Rose sauce with them which is not good , then tell me that , some give praise and some say not controlling it needs to be put on medication , none of this is helpful and to be honest , i am just getting so fed up with it all .

My question is , should I be getting better help from my practice or am I expecting more than I should .

Hi John and welcome to the forums. I think if you read around on here, you'll find that experiences are mixed. However, it's really not at all unusual to get very little help from the formal NHS structures - which is one reason why forums like this exist. My experience in December 2019 when diagnosed was to be offered metformin (which I refused) and told to come back four months later in April.

When I went back my BG was normal, where it's stayed since, thanks mainly to adopting the low carb lifestyle I'd read about on here. I've subsequently lost about 90lbs and am now about the same weight I was when I was 25. By the way, I'd happily eat prawns and marie rose sauce anytime, it's pretty much zero carb bar a tiny amount from ketchup (if you use that).

I certainly didn't get any advice from the practice. Partly this is because the NICE guidelines set the "officially endorsed" method of treatment, and that still holds to the very outdated idea that T2 diabetes is progressive and will get steadily worse and there's nothing you can really do etc. That approach still doesn't include changes in diet - it's really only about what medication and when. Fortunately there seem to be an increasing number of practices that are prepared to step outside that and encourage people to try something that might have huge benefits.

If you have a read of the "Success Stories" section of the forum you'll see that there are more than a few accounts from people (and I'm one of them) who have found that low carb works.

Best of luck.

 

[Duncan Mackay]

Hi , yes I have more weight to lose if I can , not so easy as you get older , regards nurses , very mixed feelings on them , not certain if to trust or not , I have had nurses that have been at odds with doctors , such as saying we should see you every 3 months and it would seem doctors saying 6 to 12 months , it’s all very mixed .

Interesting the chart you sent , never been that heavy and that is all about height and how much is fat or muscle , I am according to the practice 5ft 9 , so I should be 10stone 7 pounds they say .

A useful guide to the need to lose fat looks at your waist size. Basically your waist circumference should be less than one half of your height. Too much fat gathered around the waist reflects the presence of excessive visceral fat, i.e. the fat surrounding key organs (liver, pancreas, kidneys). Such fat is bad news for liver and pancreas health.

Keep the size of your waist to less than half of your height, NICE recommends

www.nice.org.uk

 

[John 2]

Regarding my progress list, I was diagnosed at my heaviest, and lost a lot of weight pretty quickly. My weight loss has slowed quite dramatically lately. According to Prof Roy Taylor, who did a lot of research into Type 2, weight loss may not be as effective the longer you are diabetic, but he says it's always worth a try.

Very interesting reply’s and thank you , I am getting a call tomorrow and will see what is said , I think what really bothers me is that you do not seem to get the encouragement you should have , in some ways it seems negative , I will continue to try and lose weight for all reasons , my diet is shredded wheat in the morning , not much at lunch and smaller amounts at tee time , this seems to be working on the diet front , more exercise maybe needed , but I have breathing problems to some extent that has not been diagnosed as yet .

Given how serious the illness is , you would think more help would be given , also all coming from the same book , seems not though .

 

[Lakeslover]

Have you thought about trying a CGM to see what affects your blood sugar levels?

Shredded wheat would increase mine significantly. Maybe look at checking, then looking at something like bacon and eggs and see what a difference it makes.

I agree, in general the support from the gp surgery can be lacking.

 

[IanBish]

Exercise, although good, doesn't come close to achieving weight loss as much as what you eat and drink, unless you run marathons. I'd limit the shredded wheat and try something like an omelette. It's low carb and filling, and may help you stay fuller for longer. I never eat breakfast, but that's because I don't feel hungry until lunchtime.

Have a read around the forum for various tips, etc. and feel free to ask more questions.

 

[John 2]

Interesting , I thought shredded wheat would be good , can I ask how tall you are and age please , your weight loss looks good , but that also depends on age and if you are short or tall , no criticism intended , just interested .

 

[Mark Rawlinson]

Re how often you see nurses vs Doctors. Nurses have more time and are there for that purpose (well at my practice) they also see and hear this all the time so are more experienced we;; I think so
*

 

[IanBish]

Interesting , I thought shredded wheat would be good , can I ask how tall you are and age please , your weight loss looks good , but that also depends on age and if you are short or tall , no criticism intended , just interested .

Shredded Wheat, as with most cereals, will spike your blood sugar. I'm 60 and 5'8".

 

[John 2]

Shredded Wheat, as with most cereals, will spike your blood sugar. I'm 60 and 5'8".

Thanks for that , another interesting bit of info , is it also true that not much difference between brown rice and white rice , regards your weight , that was very large for your hight if I might say and from what I can tell , you would lose a lot of weight at the beginning and then slow down , the closer you get I gather to the weight you should be , the harder it gets , the reason I asked about age is on average from what I understand on , being younger allows you to shed weight easier , could be wrong on that .

 

[IanBish]

Yes, there's not much difference between white and brown rice; both spike your blood sugar.

It was quite a large weight loss. It is indeed easier to lose weight when younger. I want to lose another stone, but it's coming off slowly.

 

[John 2]

Yes, there's not much difference between white and brown rice; both spike your blood sugar.

It was quite a large weight loss. It is indeed easier to lose weight when younger. I want to lose another stone, but it's coming off slowly.

Strange thing about rice , when you look up about what to eat and not to eat as a diabetic , it says use brown rice all the time , I realise it’s not as bad , but I can’t find much info in how much better , regards yourself , everything I have read says it gets harder on losing weight and if you gain more muscle , then you get heavier , but you seem very determined and steady at doing it , so I take my hat off to you and wish you well for the future Ian .

 

[IanBish]

Here is a useful infographic on white and brown rice:

I have joined a gym, but haven't been yet. Yes, muscle is heavier, but it increases your resting metabolism, so helps you lose fat. That's the plan, at least.

 

[lessci]

When it comes to carbohydrates, your body really doesn't know what colour it is. Brown can be a tiny bit better as it has more fibre which slows the digestion, but the general difference is miniscule. It not about eating less, it's about eating differently. Fewer carbs, both simple and complex, more green, leafy veg. If you like cauliflower it's a reduced/low carbers best friend. Fruit try to stick to berries

 

[Outlier]

I found nurses very ignorant on T2 diabetes, and I've just come out of 5 months in hospital. Sample advice when I declined something carby " You can have a couple slices of toast or some biscuits"

 

[John 2]

When it comes to carbohydrates, your body really doesn't know what colour it is. Brown can be a tiny bit better as it has more fibre which slows the digestion, but the general difference is miniscule. It not about eating less, it's about eating differently. Fewer carbs, both simple and complex, more green, leafy veg. If you like cauliflower it's a reduced/low carbers best friend. Fruit try to stick to berries

Hi , I love cauliflower and sprouts ,unfortunately not a big fruit eater including berries , but nice to be told about cauliflower , underrated veg I think .

 

[John 2]

I found nurses very ignorant on T2 diabetes, and I've just come out of 5 months in hospital. Sample advice when I declined something carby " You can have a couple slices of toast or some biscuits"

Yes , I have had similar comments at my doctors , not all nurses though , some understand more than others , as in my comment when first told I was diabetic , you can’t have prawn cocktail or should I say , can’t have prawns , when asked why , because people have them with Marie Rose sauce and as has already been said , nothing wrong with the sauce , that was from the diabetic nurse, I no longer see her for various reasons .