PR SUCCESSES - GETTING THE WORD OUT THAT LCHF IS THE BEST DIET TO HELP TREAT TYPE 2 DIABETES

jjraak said:

Fully agree there @Pipp

While I can see there are other avenues, should the advice allways default to the EATWELL plate in so many instances.

I'd of been happy to try another after my first 6 weeks of EATWELL was an abject failure

And for me, that's the crux of all this.

How can one surgery, be turning out stunning results for type 2, yet all I got offered was a proven to fall, archaic diet of EATWELL.

Praise to all who succeed in lowering, reducing, getting to remission, whatever... this insidious disease.

But should THAT really be in the hands of individuals to find for themselves ?

Thank God we don't DON'T use that method with every other disease.

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That happened to me. Hba1c 62 = metformin and statins, and told its progressive. Usual course of action I know now. Not a mention of an alternative. I Asked for 2 months to try to reverse it, knew you could, simply because my sister had with bariatric surgery . Google gave me the solution. A lifestyle disease requires a lifestyle change. Majority of sites for reversing pointed to lchf. The you tube 'reversing diabetes ' success stories were lchf! I jumped in feet first. Never looked back.

Fortunately for me I didn't have other complications. I took to the new woe well. Symptoms disappeared practically overnight and my hba1c dropped to 47 within weeks. I knew I was on a winner. Weight dropping too....bonus! Then down to 39. I was SHOCKED! How is this not even an option?

So I'm out there raising awareness for

1) offering bg monitors (I was told I shouldn't test as it could become obsessive, no need to)

2) give people the choice and educate DESMOND not fit for purpose

Wont stop till we are given the option. Then we can take it or leave it. Choice is ours.

Fndwheelie said:

My thoughts are that I’d continued to eat healthy as suggested by the nurse, cutting out sugar and cakes, but was eating a huge amount of carbs, cereal for breakfast, main meal with potatoes or pasta and rice and a couple of slices of bread, supper was a few slices of toast or bread rolls, no one told me that was bad, it is almost the commonly accepted diet.

I think I was too far gone for LCHF to work on its own, I started it for about 4 weeks, my numbers dropped from the teens & 20s to 6-7 but I was still spiking 11-12. And still required my 50+ units of insulin a day. Further research I came across the direct study, and total food replacement 800 calorie shakes, as soon as I started this I came off insulin and have been for a month. My target range is 4.5 to 7.5 on the libre and most days I’m in that 100% of the time.

This is a very difficult diet, I find myself slipping up often (though I try to keep slip ups to egg and bacon), and not sustainable long term, and when I finish my 8 weeks of shakes I will be returning to LCHF. I hope the VLCD is the kick start my body needs to start working for itself. If I’d been given the information of LCHF when I’d been diagnosed I think that would have been enough for me to achieve remission, but I’d slipped too far down the progressive condition that is diabetes.

While the VLCD does work for some, I think if my diabetic nurse had pushed for me to go on it I would have pushed back. Felt miserable and not continued with it. Nothing but shakes for 8-12 weeks is not fun, and I put myself on this diet I have a lot invested into getting better, if someone wasn’t 100% committed this diet isn’t for them.

On the other hand if the nurse handed me out something about carbs being the enemy in the beginning I might have made them adjustments from the off and never ended up on insulin, yes going very low carb is a substantial change, but cutting out the highest carb culprits more often than not, can be quite easily achieved at the start. This will reflect in the hab1c and then people can work towards lowering carbs further if needed.

But diabetes is different than most conditions, if you break a leg, or have an infection or cancer you go to the doctor they give you treatment and the condition goes away or is managed. Too many people use this mindset with diabetes, take medication and then the condition is managed. Diabetes and especially type 2 is a diagnosis that requires the patient to take action themselves, and in taking action and finding the way of life that works for them it won’t be a deteriorating life sentence.

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You got off to a bad start, you weren't given the best advice. But well done for tackling it head on and finding your own path. Wishing you continued success and ultimately good health without insulin injections!

Isnt it so sad that we are having to.find our own paths like this. We haven't spent years in medical training yet are finding better solutions for our individual journeys than those who have.

Shakes for 8 to 12 weeks is a challenge in itself. I'm not surprised you have slipped now and again. But at least the slips have been informed choices and good options. Your choices. Had your DN been involved no doubt it would have been an entirely different matter.

Fndwheelie said:

YES!!! And I will honestly admit I’ve done the research, and put theories into practice before telling my diabetic nurse what I’ve done because I fear she would have persuaded me away from what I was thinking. Doing it my way (buying libre sensors, going LCHF, starting the VLCD, and stopping insulin) has been very hard for her to argue with me as the evidence is sitting there in front of her. (Thanks Libre) I have kept her in the loop, albeit a week or so behind.

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You are truly amazing with what you have done. You were determined to come off insulin and found the way to do just that. Inspirational. Great you are sharing your journey to help others too.

I am loving my libre. Only bought for my clinic to show pts and I'm doing a talk next week to @ 100 ppg/ccg members. I want them to understand just how important testing is in the battle to regain control. It was £48! But a great investment. I

I'm really enjoying seeing the graphs. And very surprised at how low I go during the night! Do you find the same thing?

Fndwheelie said:

I think Libre should be prescribed to everyone who is serious about reducing their hab1c. Even if only 6 sensors at first then 1 every 6 months. But as they are hit and miss prescribing metres and strips that will probably never happen.

I found that while on insulin I could drop in to the red at night, and with a fresh sensor it happened, but I didn’t feel rough upon waking so I think it could have been inaccurate sensor because of laying on the sensor. I tend to put my sensor on the arm 1-2 days before activating it and find it’s not as bad at showing lows now. But maybe I’m not going low at night anymore because of the changes I’ve made. I like seeing the last 24 hour graph, but I tend to focus on the daily patterns graph.

I think I will keep funding Libre continuously maybe until the new year, then allow myself one 3 times a year to keep check or something. I like having it all the time, but not sure it’s worth £50 it if it’s not telling me much.

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It's such a fabulous tool. I just love it. No chance of getting funding for them as you day, cant even get bg monitors. I'm going to get another ordered tomorrow. Might give it a couple of days before activating. See if that makes a difference.

Listlad said:

I thought the This Morning programme was great. It might not have ticked all the boxes completely but it was a very good step in the right direction.

( Did anyone else notice the faux pas by Phil Schofield on the high blood in the bloodstream?)

Anyhow I managed to get both of my local surgeries to enter the This Morning video clip on their respective Facebooks and also the first day’s Sun link.

This work you are doing Deb, our surgeries have one eye on you just now as a great target to aim for in our own back yard. I have another PPG meeting on Tuesday evening and the work you are doing will be in its content.

I thought it might be hard to get this material onto the surgery Facebook pages but not so. It helps that you are local but it is possible for any one of us to get stuff like that onto our respective practice’s Facebook pages.

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It was such a massive positive, getting lchf out onto mainstream TV, not only that but onto this morning with holly and Phil who are most peoples favourite presenters. I got over where to find more info (wasnt allowed to say DCUK or bring on my monitor) got in how it helps with BP and BS also cholesteol not an issue as holly confd its healthy fats got in that carbs turn to sugar which will be news to so many as it was to.me! And that fats help to satiate. I wish I had mentioned that it can help reduce meds, even come off including insulin. But overall it gave hope to so many. And the video is clocking up 1000s of views on YouTube . Sadly they took the video down from this morning Twitter page probably due to some negative tweets. Passions are running high. But we dont want our media coverage to end up being deleted. Every little out there helps people find a way that might suit them as it has so many of us. Its not for everyone as dr zoe said. But it is a long term option. As oppose to low cal. Or 800 cal shakes for 12 weeks. And good for slim diabetics too.

I'm delighted it's gone into surgery fb pages. I've been so busy of late but my plan is to contact local surgeries in the hope of meeting up to take the lchf message to them direct. With my box of goodies!

I have a surgery now where I hold 1) clinics for diabetic help 2) low carb for weight loss - only new but hoping they will become popular and help many.

I am giving a talk to around 100 PPG and CCG members on Wednesday. 10.minutes on the work I'm doing in the community with the ppg. It will include my journey and I will take this opportunity to offer my services.i will keep everyone posted.

We are in this together. I do think we could maybe work out a plan to get info to our own surgeries. We are spread out all over the country (the world in fact).

Listlad said:

I am bombarding the admin staff at both surgeries with stuff when it comes up. The lady admin we both met is looking at having a diabetes page on the surgery Facebook, one that is fixed at the top and doesn’t shift down over time, specifically relating to diabetes. So in the case of your This Morning video it would remain visible at the top of the Facebook rather than disappear down the listing over time.

This seems to be something that is working.

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Fantastic!!

ianf0ster said:

Hi Debandez.
I have just seen the video, congratulations on handling it so well. It must have been very difficult when both limited in time and by what you could mention.

Dr Zoe made it sound like it is relatively easy for a Type 2 to lose weight - not mentioning that it is the high Insulin (either natural or external) required to reduce the high Blood Glucose that actually increases the store of body fat. So that although being fat can drive Type 2 Diabetes, that in turn tends to make the patient even fatter and around and around it goes in a horrific worsening spiral.

What a shame too that Dr Zoe was able to be unchallenged on her statement that it is all about weight and give the impression that normal weight Type 2's can't benefit from LCHF. I noticed that there was no mention at all about monitoring one's BG readings with a meter.

For me as a TOFI, these are the two glaring deficiencies in the overall message.

Well done,
Ian

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I had my meter ready to go on, my meter was the tool that aided me teaching remission. I discussed with zoe beforehand asking if I could bring in but not enough time for our slot so couldn't bring in sadly. I'm tweeting on Twitter, I'm posting on Facebook and I'm sharing my story to anyone who will listen. Always confirm meter essential, food diary and mysugr app.

Another PR hit. This time in my local community.

My social media post from Wednesday:

I was invited by my adelaide street surgery practice manager to speak today at the Central West Primary Care Network Integration Workshop today about the work I am doing with the PPG. It's the coming together of several surgeries in Blackpool in an effort to strengthen the resources to help our community basically. Learn from each other. Brilliant idea. So about 100 would be there from Drs, health care professionals, council representatives from across different areas, fire service, social prescribing reps, PPG members and many more (didn't get to mix with every table as not enough time).

Errrr let me think about that one, talk in front if 100 people you say..... gulp...... YES YES YESSSSS!! If I can do LIVE BREAKFAST TV with Holly and Phil I can do this .10 minutes for my slot as a patient who helps patients and same for Paul Shanahan who is another patient helping others (mindfulness and mental health and wellbeing).

Well I did it. My blood sugars are so stable and never spike but today as you can see they went up! For no reason other than stress. (No food had been consumed). Along with my heart rate! Confirmation that stress has a negative impact on the body for sure. God only knows what my blood pressure was!

I wrote myself a script so I wouldn't forget to say the important stuff or over run (I could talk about diabetes til the cows come home).

I hoped I wouldn't get dragged offstage by a shepherds hook by one of the drs as I was encouraging a high fat way of eating, and letting them know that blood glucose monitoring is essential in this battle (its discouraged unless on meds that give you hypos or hypers but is most certainly how I've brought my blood sugars down and reversed my diabetes).

Anyway all good. I lasted to the end. Even did Paul's (another pt helping pts) section (as best I could) as he was sadly stuck on the m6 after an incident caused issues. Coming back from his jolies in Scotland for it too . Paul includes exercises in his classes . I did draw the line there .

A clip of my talk attached.

So lots of positive feedback after my slot. People came over for more info.

One lady gave me a hand written note that said simply 'thank you for sharing your story '. How lovely. Felt like saying 'if you have a week I will give you the full run down. '

As always at these events there were cakes to die for, biscuits that looked delicious too and fruit (boring and way too much sugar for me!) So I just had coffee, which actually hit the spot. (No cream available).

Tomorrow I'm off to Manchester for an all day health conference! Oh how my life has changed. Eric's too. He is now my PA!!! his badge actually said that today (he wrote it, cheeky b****r!!!).