Newly diagnosed with type 2

[Ricku2]

I had what I call my yearly mot blood test results and had a call from my GP surgery to say that my blood sugar level was 58 mol, I was asked to repeat it 2 weeks later and it came back as 60 mol, I was informed that as I have had 2 high results I'm diabetic, my GP wants to try and reverse it with diet first rather than going straight on to Metformin, so I have been sent on a mydesmond course, 1st of 2 3 hour courses this week Thu, has anyone else been on one of these courses, what is discussed and how did you find it?

Thanks
Richard

 

[catinahat]

Welcome Richard
I hope you find the Desmond course a useful start to your diabetes education. I would urge you however not to just blindly accept everything they say.
Although the NHS are slowly coming round to accept a more modern approach to T2 care. They seem to be clinging to old ideas and outdated advice

Just a few misleading things you might be told are

wholemeal/brown carbs are preferable to white.

Your body can only see the carbs not the colour, the brown carbs may take a little longer to release the glucose, but will still cause your blood sugar levels to rise.

Slow release carbs are good for you

Slow release carbs, like porridge for example, just mean that your blood sugar will rise slowly, stay high for longer and still be elevated by the time your are ready for your next meal.

T2's not using drugs that can cause low blood sugar do not need to test

This for me is the most damaging piece of advice you are likely to hear, most of us who have managed to put our T2 into remission, have done it by using our meters to test our meals so we understand how our bodies react to different foods.
It's how I learned that a sandwich made with wholemeal bread is just as bad as one made with white.
That porridge is not a good breakfast, that carbs affect me more first thing in the morning, that eating fruit has less impact if I have it as desert after my low carb evening meal and that bananas are unaccessible at anytime.
Good luck with Desmond, I hope its useful, but do your own research.

 

[jjraak]

Welcome @Ricku2

Pretty much identical to my entry into Type 2 (T2D) & Diagnosis (DX)

Congratulations on having a GP tuned into trying a diet first .

As for Desmond's...mmhh

Mine was 2 meetings long.

I would second everything @catinahat said .

My Desmond's was months after DX.

By then I had found forum
Read up & been guided by the wonderful real life experiences of the forum members .

At the course I was likely the best informed attendee, apart from the tutors (and even then, I'm not so sure I wasn't ..mmhh )

I personally learnt more from here, then anywhere else, Inc the course .

Which as @catinahat points out has/had some very misleading statements, I have come to believe .

Note in your profile, you tested pre & post meal ?

I made that my mission in the early months.

I found the meter V waiting for my next HBA1C as distinct as flicking a glance at a watch or building a sundial.....at night .

No idea what foods etc impacted on me, until months later

Seemed an easy choice to make, from where I sat.

You're making great early progress .

Best of luck.

 

[KennyA]

I had what I call my yearly mot blood test results and had a call from my GP surgery to say that my blood sugar level was 58 mol, I was asked to repeat it 2 weeks later and it came back as 60 mol, I was informed that as I have had 2 high results I'm diabetic, my GP wants to try and reverse it with diet first rather than going straight on to Metformin, so I have been sent on a mydesmond course, 1st of 2 3 hour courses this week Thu, has anyone else been on one of these courses, what is discussed and how did you find it?

Thanks
Richard

Hi Richard and welcome.

I went on a similar course (different name, same idea) just after diagnosis. I think I was lucky. There was a traditional Diabetic Nurse (who had never heard of Dawn Phenomenon) giving out the eatwell plate advice to newly diagnosed T2s - "eat plenty of starchy carbohydrates and limit meat dairy and fat" but for balance there was also an NHS dietitian who was a low-carb enthusiast. The obvious problem was that both were in the room at the same time saying completely different things - for example - DN: "carbohydrates are essential in the diet" - dietitian - "no, we can happily live without any carbohydrates whatsoever".

I'd guess two thirds of the group was more confused after the course than before. The third that wasn't had informed themselves on low-carb before the course. There was also substantial drop-out as the course went on. I stuck it out but some of it was really basic stuff - I suppose they have to start by assuming zero knowledge; some a bit misleading - eg the course used "normal" (as in "normal blood pressure") meaning "normal for diabetics", not for the non-diabetic population, leading to a bit of confusion. They did cover meters and testing but DN's view was that "T2s don't need to test anyway so it is an expense you can avoid".

The venue (an NHS health centre) also provided tea and coffee with sugar (no sweeteners available) and huge plates of biscuits.

Evidence from people on here indicates that the courses are a bit of a mixed bag and it depends entirely on who is running them in your area. I would still give it a go.

 

[Outlier]

The venue (an NHS health centre) also provided tea and coffee with sugar (no sweeteners available) and huge plates of biscuits.

Oh good grief.

Great advice as always from KennyA, and Ricu2 do keep in touch and ask any questions you want. We are real people with real experience, including of the dud advice given by some medicos and courses. Your GP is a dude for not putting you straight on drugs but instead giving you the chance to nail your diabetes by gentler means.

 

[Ricku2]

Hi Richard and welcome.

I went on a similar course (different name, same idea) just after diagnosis. I think I was lucky. There was a traditional Diabetic Nurse (who had never heard of Dawn Phenomenon) giving out the eatwell plate advice to newly diagnosed T2s - "eat plenty of starchy carbohydrates and limit meat dairy and fat" but for balance there was also an NHS dietitian who was a low-carb enthusiast. The obvious problem was that both were in the room at the same time saying completely different things - for example - DN: "carbohydrates are essential in the diet" - dietitian - "no, we can happily live without any carbohydrates whatsoever".

I'd guess two thirds of the group was more confused after the course than before. The third that wasn't had informed themselves on low-carb before the course. There was also substantial drop-out as the course went on. I stuck it out but some of it was really basic stuff - I suppose they have to start by assuming zero knowledge; some a bit misleading - eg the course used "normal" (as in "normal blood pressure") meaning "normal for diabetics", not for the non-diabetic population, leading to a bit of confusion. They did cover meters and testing but DN's view was that "T2s don't need to test anyway so it is an expense you can avoid".

The venue (an NHS health centre) also provided tea and coffee with sugar (no sweeteners available) and huge plates of biscuits.

Evidence from people on here indicates that the courses are a bit of a mixed bag and it depends entirely on who is running them in your area. I would still give it a go.

I had a call today from the facilitators of the mydesmond course, they said to take any drinks and snacks i may need as they are not allowed to provide anything, so maybe they have learnt from previous experiences, i work in social care and one of our ladies was diagnosed pre diabetic, we cut her carb intake and she is now in normal range, so I guess I can learn from that, my main concern is that I know when things get stressed at work I can reach for something sweet like biscuits or chocolate, i also brought it to a team meeting that I noticed that colleague's were grabbing biscuits in between tasks, as it's sometimes crazy busy and that's a quick easy option.
I have tried having overnight oats with low fat Greek yoghurt and mixed berries, but having read the comments to my post wonder if this is a good option, thanks to you who have responded to me, and I agree it's better to discuss with people going through the same thing, as to how they coped with certain things as they crop up.

 

[KennyA]

I had a call today from the facilitators of the mydesmond course, they said to take any drinks and snacks i may need as they are not allowed to provide anything, so maybe they have learnt from previous experiences, i work in social care and one of our ladies was diagnosed pre diabetic, we cut her carb intake and she is now in normal range, so I guess I can learn from that, my main concern is that I know when things get stressed at work I can reach for something sweet like biscuits or chocolate, i also brought it to a team meeting that I noticed that colleague's were grabbing biscuits in between tasks, as it's sometimes crazy busy and that's a quick easy option.
I have tried having overnight oats with low fat Greek yoghurt and mixed berries, but having read the comments to my post wonder if this is a good option, thanks to you who have responded to me, and I agree it's better to discuss with people going through the same thing, as to how they coped with certain things as they crop up.

That's really encouraging. Best of luck, and please let us know how it goes.

PS - That's a good spot about work. My last years in employment (happily retired) were madly busy and there was always cakes, biscuits and sweets around. Haribo is the devil. Plus my employer was all-in on Eatwell and loads of carbs in the canteen.

Oats don't feature in my eating these days - just far too many carbs for me. I used to love porridge - you get the picture.

 

[Ricku2]

That's really encouraging. Best of luck, and please let us know how it goes.

PS - That's a good spot about work. My last years in employment (happily retired) were madly busy and there was always cakes, biscuits and sweets around. Haribo is the devil. Plus my employer was all-in on Eatwell and loads of carbs in the canteen.

Oats don't feature in my eating these days - just far too many carbs for me. I used to love porridge - you get the picture.

Most of the people on the course were diagnosed from just a few weeks ago to a couple of years, most found out through routine blood tests, 1 found out after a stroke and 1 while in hospital following a seizure .
One thing that surprised me was 2 of the people are T2 but on insulin, i thought that was only for T1, so as the saying goes you learn something new everyday, I mentioned this forum as a great place to get advice from people who are on the same journey, and that it's especially great for newbies to get advice, so hopefully some will download the app.
One question I didn't get to ask but could ask my GP next week is the blood test raised that I have inflammation of my liver, GP not sure what is going on, I've had a scan done and been told to stop my statins which I've been on a few years now, could inflammation of the liver cause diabetes or diabetes cause inflammation?

 

[KennyA]

Most of the people on the course were diagnosed from just a few weeks ago to a couple of years, most found out through routine blood tests, 1 found out after a stroke and 1 while in hospital following a seizure .
One thing that surprised me was 2 of the people are T2 but on insulin, i thought that was only for T1, so as the saying goes you learn something new everyday, I mentioned this forum as a great place to get advice from people who are on the same journey, and that it's especially great for newbies to get advice, so hopefully some will download the app.
One question I didn't get to ask but could ask my GP next week is the blood test raised that I have inflammation of my liver, GP not sure what is going on, I've had a scan done and been told to stop my statins which I've been on a few years now, could inflammation of the liver cause diabetes or diabetes cause inflammation?

Short answer is that I would advise you to get your doc's opinion on that, and a referral to a specialist if necessary. We can't diagnose on here. I do have the experience of a lot of inflammation-related things while running high bgs - gout, muscle aches etc - but just because they happen at the same time doen't mean that one causes the other.

 

[AndrewU]

I have been T2 for ~12months, and officially in remission for 6 (although BS in normal range for 10). I went on Desmond at +3months and had a similar experience as the others, the dietary advice was wrong for me as it was to achieve weight loss (I was the only skinny one on the course) and my problem was in maintaining my weight as my diagnosis was triggered by rapid weight loss 2.5stone in 1 month, when my BS goes high my body consumes itself .
In my case testing shows oats are OK, but other b'fast cereals are a no. I don't/can't eat bread, potatoes, cakes, pasta, processed food. I eat a lot of celeriac, swede and cauliflower to replace these. I play with keto recipes and have some great additions to my diet both sweet and spicy. I have never been a snacker but when i get the munches I eat nuts.
I agree with the above advice test regularly to see what works for you. I also pay for a freestyle libre every couple of months to keep me on track.
Exercise is good, for me even a 10 min walk or 15mins on the exercise bike can allow me to have a treat.
Low carb is now a way of life for me, but I don't need to go 'no carb'