Out of curiosity

My GP is very, very unusual as he supports low carbs. He didn't give me a figure, but when I said I did under 20g a day, usually 10g he was more than happy with that. Most will say a lot, lot more.

My specialist DSN told me unless I ate MORE than 200g a day she wouldn't prescribe me any medication.

We weren't given any idea of amounts, portion sizes. We were just told that Mh's diet should be built around starchy carbs (what's with that btw? What do the NHS base their advice on?). At a later appointment the GP said she wanted MH eating 250gm porridge for breakfast, a jacket spud for lunch (at least 200gm uncooked) and rice, pasta, boiled potatoes or even oven chips at supper. To be fair, she did also say lots of green veg. But that was it, diet advice.

Last Thursday MH went on an educational day course. They marked his card as a heretic, a deviant, as soon as he mentioned that he follwed a low carb diet. They rubbished every point he tried to make, and even said that his BG readings were 'false'.

Lunch, btw, was sandwiches made with white bread, and fruit platters made with grapes, oranges, bananas, honeydew melon and pineapple fingers. Tea and coffee were put out with digestive biscuits and there was fresh orange juice for those who didn't want a hot beverage. There was no water jug.

(oh sheesh, don't get me started on this, I'm so glad I didn't go)

Ju

My Dr handed me straight over to the nurse. She said to aim for 17 grams of carbs per meal. She is a very good person to have onside even though I eat less than that carbwise.

Julia..That wasn't a DESMOND course by any chance was it? :think:

Paul1976 said:

Julia..That wasn't a DESMOND course by any chance was it? :think:

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No, it definitely wasn't that. Our DSN called it Education for Diabetes.

MH said there were people there who needed serious diet help, struggling with high BGs etc, and that's the extent of the dietary advice they were given. Quite a few people did ask him about his diet as he had the lowest readings there before and after lunch (I packed him a low carb mini picnic) and he referred them to this forum. I hope they come here and get the proper advice they need.

Ju

I hope they find this place too Julia!! The course your husband did must have left him feeling patronised for his 'common sense' views on carb reduction! :thumbdown:

At first he was interested in what they had to say, keen to learn etc. But as they wouldn't tolerate his point of view he got a little cross (in a polite way) and kept asking them to verify their statistics etc. Asking about the trans-fats they were prescribing, the cholesterol lowering drinks they kept saying everyone should have every day 'even though they are expensive', but he was just ignored for the most part. He can be a very charming pest.

The senior dietician took him to one side to say that he was seriously endangering his own health by following a low carb diet. MH pointed out that his BG (4.1mmol) was lower than that of the dietician, who took his as an example of non-diabetic levels (5.3mmol) but the chap was determined that MH is going to kill himself.

Ju

What a rubbish day for your OH Julia. I know mine was the same, but we did get water :wink: The man who took our talk thing, asked did I want to be referred to a dietician, just because I low carb. I asked him why should I want that, my results are normal :lol:

I refused to go and my GP just smiled and said I probably wouldn't get anything out of the course anyway. Hence no course for Defren!

I refused to go and my GP just smiled and said I probably wouldn't get anything out of the course anyway. Hence no course for Defren!

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Can't say I refused. Just didn't see the point of wasting my time and at my expense, as a self-employed person.
Think she said she'd leave it for future consideration.
Don't think they believe in self-educators :roll:

Geoff

I have been told, last week, by the Specialist Diabetes Nurse at my practice, to aim for around 180g of carbs a day.

40g with each of 3 meals, 10g for each of 3 snacks, and the rest in drinks. About 1800 cals a day too. I am 5' 2" tall.

And she still expects me to continue to lose weight and come back in 4 weeks for a review and possible more medication to get me 'stable'

:crazy:

lucylocket61 said:

I have been told, last week, by the Specialist Diabetes Nurse at my practice, to aim for around 180g of carbs a day.

40g with each of 3 meals, 10g for each of 3 snacks, and the rest in drinks. About 1800 cals a day too. I am 5' 2" tall.

And she still expects me to continue to lose weight and come back in 4 weeks for a review and possible more medication to get me 'stable'

:crazy:

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Are you sure me and you don't have the same fruitcake Lucy? Like I say mine said I had to eat more than 200g / day and to expect to put weight on!

I am going to see my normal DSN on Monday for a 3 month review. Will be taking printouts of the Swedes "Kost Vid Diabetes" guidelines and the new USA / European self management doc so I can ask her what my next HbA1c target should be.

Good luck with that xyzzy. Let me know how you get on. I would wear an air bag if i were you, so you dont hurt yourself when they bounce you out of the surgery :lol:

My husband has come up against the same kind of thing for years wih the Nurse at he asthma clinic.. e habve moved around a bit and hese clinics and extra responsibilities don't appear to be taken very seriously by the personnel concerned.
Most of hem are just not interested.
Although asthma can kill and often does i feel that the treatmment of diabetes is a matter of more concern because of the potentially dangerous drugs involved and the fact that so much responsibility is given to the nurses.
My husband would still be able to consult a docteor wtih should feel the necessity , ..
I know i would be referred back to the diabetes nurse should I attempt to cosult a GP about diabetes,
They atnd more courses you know, :lol:

My doctor just said to me that if I got my weight down to 10 stone and below that my levels would drop. She said moderation was the way to go and I should find what worked for me. I saw her weekly at first because of stroke issues and told her that I was going to reduce carbs and she said to go for it. Looking back I am very grateful to her because there was never any question of putting me onto medication straight away. I was quite shocked at the time. I had assumed if I was a diabetic I'd have to take medication at once, but she told me that she had faith that I could sort it out myself.

The diabetic nurse when I first saw her handed me the leaflet telling me to eat starchy food. I can remember reading it and thinking this is what I was eating before, so I'm not doing that. She gave me a monitor - purely because I'd had a stroke, not because I was Type 2 and sent me on my way.

We had never had any further discussions about my diet until I went in for blood tests this March and the diabetic nurse was on blood-taking duties. She could see my massive weight loss and was seriously impressed. I told her that I didn't eat starchy food and she couldn't really say a thing because she could see that it had worked for me. She then said that she'd been to a conference for diabetic nurses where the Newcastle Diet doctors had been talking and that she had been quite impressed by what they had to say.

My goodness, these people are dangerous aren't they.

My (former) GP was very 'laid back' about diet - our NZ patient brochures are all carby too. They use a traffic light colour-coding system instead of assuming patients can understand what a gram or a calorie is.

SweetHeart, those 'cholesterol reducing drinks' at the course were probably made by a company that either sponsors part of the health sector or has close links to people in high places. I haven't had so much as a sip of fruit juice since I was diagnosed with T2 - why on earth would I?

lucylocket61 said:

Good luck with that xyzzy. Let me know how you get on. I would wear an air bag if i were you, so you dont hurt yourself when they bounce you out of the surgery :lol:

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Actually Lucy the one I'm seeing on Monday is just the practice DSN. She's quite a nice lady and I have categorised her as "mostly harmless" in terms of my health. The dangerous one was the Specialist DSN so sounds like yours and mine attended the same "101 ways to kill a T2 quickly" course at some point.

I am determined to re-educate the practice DSN. Looking back I think she recommended I saw the specialist one as I probably confused her the second time I saw her. By then it was already obvious to her I had got my self well under control BG wise and was losing weight etc. by doing everything she thinks is wrong.

My only concern is that based on my latest HbA1c, cholesterol and weight loss she's going to pronounce me "cured" and nick my Metformin. I think I will have to just stamp my feet and tell her not until my GP confirms the cure by proving I can pass a GTT.