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Small Rant About Local Gp Practice And My Diabetes

P

Primrosefairydust

Member
Messages
13
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I was diagnosed about 4 years ago with type 2 diabetes and really the only help has been loose weight and take more exercise. I'm on the maximum dose of metformin and my BG is still high,sorry can't remember the numbers. So about 4 months ago I had yet another blood test and yet again BG was high this time the help came from the diabetic nurse and I quote "Give up carbs, have them once a week as a treat". End of advise.
A couple of weeks later had to see a doctor about something else and mentioned this advise and was told to look on the internet as it was all on there , no Web site suggestions nothing but I went looking found the low carb program but as I have high blood pressure (under control most of the time) the gp said I can't have high fat.
So I feel I'm on my own with no medical support.
As for self testing that feels like a joke.........
Good news I've lost a stone in the past 3 months. Next set of results on the 20th when I see the DN.
 
Primrosefairydust said:
So I feel I'm on my own with no medical support.
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Unfortunately that is the situation many/most people diagnosed with T2D find themselves.

I will tag @daisy1 for the welcome pack in case you have n't seen it.

I too was worried about eating too much Fat when I was first diagnosed, but research and reading a book by Dr Trudi Deakin "Eat Fat: Step-by-Step Guide to Low Carb Living" changed things and opened my mind to LCHF.

There are numerous other sources of information, and plenty of support on the forum if you need help.

Everyone here will try and help if they can.

You might have little support from your HCP but you will get plenty here.
 
Primrosefairydust said:
as I have high blood pressure (under control most of the time) the gp said I can't have high fat.
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Interesting I wonder why they said that.. with the weight loss I managed on LCHF (with the high fat) my blood pressure came down to normal.. The fat is what keeps us feeling full for longer so low carb and low fat is pretty hard to stick to..
The nurse that said give up carbs sounds useful though and quite unusual...she was right of course..
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. I am tagging @Rachox who has experience with blood pressure issues and who has made remarkable progress with the low carb way of life. I will let her tell you her story.
 
Yes but more information and how to do it would have been even more helpful. Until I found this site I was definitely starting to flounder and on te point of giving up
 
Hi primrosefairydust. My blood pressure was normal (120/80) when I started eating lo-carb. I have increased my intake of fats, both saturated fats like butter and cheese and also from oily fish and avocados and have lost over 2 stone. My blood pressure has decreased (110/70). However, I also gave up work (less stress) and now exercise more as well. Having spoken to a doctor I have halved Metformin to 500mg/day and will be going for an HbA1c test soon. My readings have been in the normal range for 4 years.My total cholesterol has increased to 7.4 though during this time but I am not particularly concerned about this as the ratios are ok. More importantly, I feel that I am continually heading in the right direction and I am fitter and healthier than I have been in years. I realise that it may be difficult to bring about a complete lifestyle change but a LCHF diet may bring a range of health benefits beyond just controlling blood glucose levels. I still find it difficult to go against a lifetime of messages about the alleged dangers of fat in the diet. Good luck with reassessing your eating habits.
 
Welcome! You are not alone! I gave up long ago with my local Surgery. Thinking for yourself is not so bad after the initial learning curve. The GP's 8 minute symptom solution followed by a "try this" prescription is universally bad, but it's all we have until and unless we take charge of our own health. You will become your own expert on you, likely drug free, and most of the info you need is in here......just start digging.
 
Hi and welcome well done for deciding to find out more - as you say though shame hps can’t give a bit more info great though that they do seem supportive of low carb if not the high fat bit!
I had some success initially with low fat - and the calories cut at the time meant I probably lowered my carbs a bit when I was diagnosed in 2015 with hbaca1 of 97. I did have some success to start with losing two stone and lowering hbaca1 but surprise suprise being hungry all the time I probably upped my carbs (looking back as I thought fat was evil) I put back on one of the lost stones and my bloods started creeping up yet again! Last autumn I discovered the low carb programme almost by accident when browsing and have never looked back since. I’m now a low normal weight and low blood glucose but never feel hungry and never ever felt fitter in my life thanks to the helpful advice from many on this forum.
Become as much an expert as you can it really helps the more you read and or use the following site for brilliant info lots of it in video clips and visual charts
Www.dietdoctor.com
 
Primrosefairydust said:
Yes but more information and how to do it would have been even more helpful. Until I found this site I was definitely starting to flounder and on te point of giving up
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Yes indeed.. I'm afraid that currently there is little support for low carbing.. I was lucky enough to have found this forum a couple of weeks pre diagnosis so was more prepared than most for the onslaught of appalling advice I was given. I have since joined my practise PPG so am trying to get some changes made but it is a painfully slow process. The GP rep on the PPG sees "no need for urgency" on this which I found a bit worrying...
 
Primrosefairydust said:
Yes but more information and how to do it would have been even more helpful. Until I found this site I was definitely starting to flounder and on te point of giving up
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Hi @Primrosefairydust welcome to the forum and well done on weight loss. Great that you found this site, you will get all the help, advice and support that will help you so any questions ask away When I told my Dn that I was going on LCHF she wasn't that happy but I just said give me 3 months as they wanted to put me on insulin. 3 months later, HbA1c down from 82 to 41. Blood glucose down from 16.6 to 4.7 average over 30 days. Weight loss 4 stone! To say she and the Dr were shocked is an understatement!! I'm now off all meds for diabetes (keep taking 2 Metformin a day as supposed to help with fatty liver) but will stop these in a few months. Also off one of my blood pressure tablets. Good luck on your journey.
 
Guzzler said:
Hello and welcome to the forum. I am tagging @Rachox who has experience with blood pressure issues and who has made remarkable progress with the low carb way of life. I will let her tell you her story.
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Just spotted this in my lunch break at work. I’ll send a proper reply when I get home. Just commenting so I can find this easily post again.
 
Guzzler said:
Hello and welcome to the forum. I am tagging @Rachox who has experience with blood pressure issues and who has made remarkable progress with the low carb way of life. I will let her tell you her story.
Click to expand...
Rachox said:
Just spotted this in my lunch break at work. I’ll send a proper reply when I get home. Just commenting so I can find this easily post again.
Click to expand...

Well my story in a nut shell is this. Hypertension and very overweight for several years prior to my type 2 diagnosis. I was on two BP meds and even those didn’t really keep it down to acceptable levels. Move forward to May ‘17 and was diagnosed with type 2 and very luckily stumbled on this site that night. I saw straight away that low carb was the route I wanted to take. Now after 15 months of low carbing my weight is down, my BP is down (only on one tablet now), HbA1c is down, the only thing that’s up is my cholesterol! But ratios are good so I’m not worried even though my GP is when he sees my total!
You are lucky Primrosefairydust that at least your nurse advocates low carb even if she doesn’t follow it up with any further advice, but you’ve found this site so I’m sure you’re doing great. Well done on your weight loss and good luck with your next appt.
 
Hello and welcome, you have already had some success in reducing weight, well done, this will help to start reducing your BG levels.
As already mentioned by almost everyone so far, low carb and high fat really does work, for most people.
I was diagnosed in Oct 2017, standard advice given, eat balanced diet, including fruit and veg, try to increase exercise, see you in 3 months. I followed this at the time, I wasn’t aware of this forum. Thankfully just before Christmas I did find it, everything I read about LCHF made sense, the successful results achieved was also a great motivator.
I started making changes to my diet in the new year and haven’t looked back. I am lucky in, that despite being overweight, I had normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels. This is still the case, in fact both have come down a little bit, HbA1c now in normal range and weight loss to date almost 5 stone. I feel fitter than ever, I sleep like a baby, my fairly good skin is now like it was when I was 20, more energy, the list of benefits for me has been and continues to be life changing.
This forum is made up of lots of very individual people, each with their own stories to tell, successes, additional health concerns for some, but, the one thing we all have in common is a diabetes diagnosis. For many of us it was a shock but we also see it as a blessing in disguise, it was the kick up the perverbial that I needed. There are some very knowledgeable people who post here, the support, advice, friendship and encouragement is amazing, we all try to help where we can.
Good luck in turning your situation into a successful turnaround, we will be here to cheer you on and celebrate with you.
 
Thank you even after just a few short hours I feel a lot more confident about the future. All the support is very positive and helpful
 
Although I have lost three stones I am still dumpy - I put on SO much weight on a 'healthy' diet - so when I went to see a nurse for a review recently I did snigger internally when she repeated the blood pressure test after tightening up the cuff considerably. I think that it is assumed I am going to have a high blood pressure, but after decades of low carbing whenever I could get away with it, and all the time since diagnosis, I always seem to perplex the HCPs who expect what they have been told to expect.
 
Hi and welcome!

You’ve already been given the www.dietdoctor.com link - well worth visiting. The site is excellent. and the recipes are great.

And try www.bloodsugar101.com if you want the sciency background

Also, you may well find that the more blood glucose control you get, and the more weight you lose, the better your blood pressure will get. It has been known...
 
Yes I think I fixed my DN nurse the first time we met, I’m quite sure she expected by BP to be something she tell me off about and had the wind taken out of her sails when this wasn’t the case
 
similar time scale for me ... not lost so much weight ,,,, my daughter said to me last night,,youve got 1996s dads face back!
cant get a better compliment than that!!!!!!
 
Diawara said:
similar time scale for me ... not lost so much weight ,,,, my daughter said to me last night,,youve got 1996s dads face back!
cant get a better compliment than that!!!!!!
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I agree what a wonderful thing to hear, I bet you are still smiling over that x
 
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