MY DIABETIC REVIEW AND THEIR OPINIONS VS YOURS.

[zand]

She told me, ready; dont get to sucked into these forums none of them are medics nor had the training we've had. I fired back with some of the successes I've read on here, that I've bought scales and a cheese cutter to control portions I'm reading packets again just like y'all have told me and I got a "choose for yourself" which is what I've had for a few members on here, I find those comments so disheartening.
BUT.. my after breakfast fast before dinner came in at 7.4. I was so happy such a small thing made my day.

There are some enlightened medics and ex medics on here. @Rachox maybe you could put Q's mind at rest.

 

[bulkbiker]

That'd be great thank you. Q.

I just linked to it in my reply..

 

[Q007]

I am so very sorry Q007 - what a terrible thing for your family to have to go through. Be gentle with yourself and take all the time you need to try and make a start with your recovery. There are no quick answers to this sort of dreadful event, and nothing anyone can say will help.

But please - look after yourself - it won't help your family if you are unwell.

Bless you x

 

[Q007]

Hopefully this link still works

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/lowcarb/

You don't actually need to join it, you could just get advice from all of us, but I feel the programme gives 'low carb' and air of respectability that should settle any worries that Health Care professionals may have. Dr Unwin, a member here and an NHS GP helped to design the course. He has saved his practice thousands of pounds by allowing his patients to follow it.

That's very kind of you thank you, I promise to give it a good read later after supper. Q.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I gave you a winner badge for the 7.4. Well done!

As for the nurse, she really needs updating on the latest information about controlling T2 with low carbs. Given the choice between a non-diabetic nurse from the ark and a forum made up of diabetics of one sort or another with years of experience in controlling diabetes between them, I know which I would chose.

 

[Rachox]

There are some enlightened medics and ex medics on here. @Rachox maybe you could put Q's mind at rest.

I am a retired nurse and although diabetes wasn’t my speciality, I obviously did encounter diabetics during my work. However once diagnosed Type 2 and landing on this forum I was shocked at my lack of knowledge of the detail of metabolism in diabetes. I have learnt way more about it here than I ever did during my nursing career and have put it into practice for myself. My GP and DN whilst not advising me to eat low carb or self test acknowledge and congratulate me on the success I’ve had with it.

Edited for typo.

 

[xfieldok]

So very sorry for your loss. But as has been said, you have to look after yourself. We muddle through as best we can when life chucks lemons at us.

@bulkbiker has given you a pretty comprehensive explanation of things.

Note that it is against forum rules for anyone (whether medically qualified or not) to give medical advice. Such posts would be deleted along with a slap on the wrist. Rather we share our experiences. Like snowflakes, we are all different. What works for one will not necessarily work for others. There is no one size fits all with T2. We all have to find our own way.

 

[Q007]

Have you had any grief counselling? Sounds like this might be necessary to combat the snacking. Well I know it helped me anyway

Thank you for the suggestion and thought. Counseling they said I wasn't ready for yet, that you have to grieve some. I'm mad with the world for taking him, my daughter had him early so I was a young granddad. I was already angry with my faith as I was so young to get hit with all these illnesses so early on, my problem is I need to do what my Dad beat into me and man up instead of letting go. I apologise for the off-topic rant. I'm Sorry. Q.

 

[Q007]

Bless you x

Bless your days. Qx

 

[Q007]

There are some enlightened medics and ex medics on here. @Rachox maybe you could put Q's mind at rest.

It's OK I'll trust your post, thanks for the reply good to read them

 

[Q007]

I gave you a winner badge for the 7.4. Well done!

As for the nurse, she really needs updating on the latest information about controlling T2 with low carbs. Given the choice between a non-diabetic nurse from the ark and a forum made up of diabetics of one sort or another with years of experience in controlling diabetes between them, I know which I would chose.

Oh, no question from me I'm with you all. I've always felt you can't beat personal experiences vs knowledge. Thanks for the kind reply. Q.

 

[Q007]

I am a retired nurse and although diabetes wasn’t my speciality, I obviously did encounter diabetics during my work. However once diagnosed Type 2 and landing on this forum I was shocked at my lack of knowledge of the detail of metabolism in diabetes. I have learnt way more about it here than I ever did during my nursing career and have put it into practice for myself. My GP and DN whilst not advising me to eat low carb or self test acknowledge and congratulate me on the success I’ve had with it.

Edited for typo.

Well I'll read your posts, thank you for the reply. I've seen other posts from you and wondered where the detail now I know, shame you've retired all that knowledge going to waste but shared so passionately here. Qx

 

[KK123]

Hmmmmmmm. In the end it is up to YOU to decide on what action to take whether good or bad. You can listen to your Nurses or Doctors and you can listen to people on this forum who actually HAVE diabetes and are reporting back on how their approach has actually WORKED for them. All I can say is I am well informed from a number of sources and I do what I know works for me. I will converse politely with those in the NHS that I have to deal with but I won't be spoken to or treated as if I am a child and a particularly dim one at that. You are an adult, not a naughty schoolboy and just because you have a health condition does not mean you have suddenly become an idiot. Do you know why your h1ac has risen at all, if you can figure this out you can take steps to improve it which I am sure is what you want to do given you are on this site. I appreciate the NHS massively and the people who work there and do the best job they can (usually by following NICE guidelines) but as I said, in the end this is YOUR health. x

 

[Q007]

So very sorry for your loss. But as has been said, you have to look after yourself. We muddle through as best we can when life chucks lemons at us.

@bulkbiker has given you a pretty comprehensive explanation of things.

Note that it is against forum rules for anyone (whether medically qualified or not) to give medical advice. Such posts would be deleted along with a slap on the wrist. Rather we share our experiences. Like snowflakes, we are all different. What works for one will not necessarily work for others. There is no one size fits all with T2. We all have to find our own way.

Ah, now those words that we're all not one size fits all did come from my GP. But, then after my seven nanosecond consultation had finished she said she'd give me a script for a months supplies and said that'd be enough to see what spikes you.

I'm thinking of switching to another primary care practice where I've heard great reviews about the diabetic team from some of my T2 friends on Facebook. Kind regards Q.

 

[Q007]

Hmmmmmmm. In the end it is up to YOU to decide on what action to take whether good or bad. You can listen to your Nurses or Doctors and you can listen to people on this forum who actually HAVE diabetes and are reporting back on how their approach has actually WORKED for them. All I can say is I am well informed from a number of sources and I do what I know works for me. I will converse politely with those in the NHS that I have to deal with but I won't be spoken to or treated as if I am a child and a particularly dim one at that. You are an adult, not a naughty schoolboy and just because you have a health condition does not mean you have suddenly become an idiot. Do you know why your h1ac has risen at all, if you can figure this out you can take steps to improve it which I am sure is what you want to do given you are on this site. I appreciate the NHS massively and the people who work there and do the best job they can (usually by following NICE guidelines) but as I said, in the end this is YOUR health. x

Hope your day was great and thanks for talking to me. I've come from 25 yrs in business where we're taught to gather as much info as possible from both sides before you can make a true considered decision, that's what I'm doing. I could see the nurses getting hot n bothered over opinions and paths to follow on this site which are shared vs the mighty NHS . One thing they did well on the XPERT course was explain and discuss anatomy and how we became T1 / T2. I find if you use this knowledge in conversation with my primary care diabetes team they get ratty, which is why I have to get away from them and join a 21century practice.

Enjoy your evening my nickname is Q (long story!)

 

[Rachox]

Well I'll read your posts, thank you for the reply. I've seen other posts from you and wondered where the detail now I know, shame you've retired all that knowledge going to waste but shared so passionately here. Qx

Thank you for your kind words. Unfortunately I had to take early retirement due to another health problem unrelated to diabetes. Infact I wasn’t diagnosed diabetic til nine months after I had retired but never mind I’ve found my place helping others here instead

Edited for typo.

 

[xfieldok]

I would say a month's supply is no way near enough. However I can only go by my own experience.

At the beginning I made loads of mistakes. My meter guided me. When I got a higher reading than I thought I should have, out came the packet from the bin. I would pour over it until I found the culprit.

One example I have quoted before. I bought a frozen guinea fowl for an easy Easter dinner. 1.4 carbs, sounded great. I spiked something rotten. Read the packet. Additional ingredients included glucose syrup, dextrose etc. Don't rely on carbs reading on the packet. You need to read the ingredients as well.

Testing is not forever. Once your levels are where you want them and you know what you are doing. There is no point in checking whether bacon and egg spikes you when you've been eating a while and it hasn't in the past. I would always have it in my arsenal to make sure I was staying on the straight and narrow.

 

[Q007]

Ok unusually for me not sarcasm..so..
Daisy usually is tagged in to new members give everyone an intro to low carbing.. you may have missed out this extremely useful guide so here's a link.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.26870/

Keto is the state where your body is running or stored and eaten fat rather than glucose (obtained from carbohydrate ingestion) So effectively where you are "in ketosis" your body is using its stored fat as energy thus leading to weight loss.
This can usually be achieved by cutting way down on dietary carbohydrate (less than 20g per day should almost guarantee ketones in almost everyone). Its a great way to lower blood sugars quickly, lose weight and feel great.

As for your initial post
I'll try to answer the points one by one.

1. Fruit is best avoided by those with T2.. Fructose is processed directly by the liver and as a lot of T2's have NAFLD its best not to add to an already stressed organ by overworking it. So in tis case your DN's were half right. Apart from a few berries 50g of raspberries once or twice a week I avoid fruit totally.

2. "X-pert" is usually quite low carb advocating so that could be useful but only if you remember what you learnt.

3. The Eatwell Plate/Guide is designed for the metabolically healthy. (although it's probably not all that good even for them). You have T2 diabetes so you have a problematic metabolism so Eatwell is not for you.

4. The "fats causing atherosclerosis" is outdated rubbish. Fats keep us full there's no need to avoid them although no need to add too many extra..

5. If you can eat only 2 meals a day that's great but don't snack. Eating will cause you to produce insulin and excess insulin isn't good as it leads to storage of carbs as fat.

6. You're still here so you must think that the people who have been there and done it themselves may know more than a DN?

7. Don't have "treats' eat proper food twice a day in a large enough meal so you don't get hungry weekdays and weekends are the same.

8. Scales are great to measure food if you are going to record it and use the data along with blood sugar readings to see which foods cause your blood sugars to go up. The "tare" just means you can reset to zero after adding food to make recording easier without having to do subtraction.

9. Carbohydrates are carbohydrates. I'm not a believer in Low and High GI being important for a T2 just avoid the carbs altogether if you can.

10. Self testing is great providing you use the data and do something about it.
No your surgery probably won't fund it a sorry state of affairs but where we are today with the NHS.

11. HbA1c's are like a regular average check.. blood glucose readings before and after food show more detailed info.


That's my 2p on your post. If you have any more questions I can happily go into more detail but that just about sums up my 3 1/2 years of being here and how to put T2 into remission...

Good luck!

Excellent reply, it takes time to pen these doesnt it. I dont quite understand some of it, like how to get into ketosis and know you're there, another member posted 70gr carbs? Gosh 20gr of carbs is a cornflake. I heard you feel ill when you suddenly drop low carbing.

How do you stay under 20gr of carbs? What do you eat? Kind regards Q.

 

[bulkbiker]

How do you stay under 20gr of carbs?

Meat, fish, eggs, dairy makes up most of my own food. Keto diets also include green above ground veg, avocado and sometimes berries.

 

[Chook]

Just my opinion here, but your impartial meter not the nurses or the course are the best way to decide what is right for your blood.

Experiment.... go back to the Eatwell plate diet for a month or two (keep on testing your BG) if it works for you then, fine, stick with it. If, however, the results aren't as good as you would like them to be then try experiment 2 - a proper low carb diet with absolutely no cheating.

My personal diabetes history and experience is that by religiously following the Eatwell plate for some time I ended up very ill and was put on insulin - minimum of five insulin injections each day. I gained weight and felt rubbish while using the insulin - I'm not sure why because i know other people get in fine with it. I now eat a low carb diet and no longer need the insulin but we are all different and have different tolerances for carbs. You might be one of the lucky ones.