Hi, I'm a Newbie and hope someone can help.
Although I don't have diabetes, there is a strong family history and I want to take steps to avoid the disease if I can.
I want to follow a LCHF eating plan and come off meds for high blood pressure, cholesterol, and also a blood thinner. I have come off statins because of the side affects experienced.
My G P says my cholesterol is, " Very High", but I won't go back on the statins.
He has given me a low fat high carb diet sheet which I refuse to follow, having done a lot of research.
How can I find a supportive GP? I know there are many who are happy to support and monitor their patients following a LCHF diet.
I really would appreciate any advice that anyone can offer. I feel stuck at the moment, and don't want to upset my GP, or go it alone.
hello Teresa - I would normally suggest you ask your friends and neighbours about their GP, then have a look at the various reviews on local Surgeries too see where there are some decent GPs. When I say GPs, I mean generally so, as we need GPs far more than just for diabetes; and currently you're still fortunate enough not the have it.
May I ask what your Cholesterol is, to be defined as "very high"? Cholesterol is tricky, pesky thing, in that the meaningful bits are a bit like the parts of a recipe. They might make cholesterol, but they're all different. Each of those parts is measured on a numerical scale, the the Total Cholesterol is pretty much what it says on the tin - just about what the numbers add up to.
Of course that total number could be useful, but to really it's those smaller parts that make the difference, and in my world, significantly influence any decision making I do. I, personally, would never make a decision, potentially meaningful to my health, based on the total. Some GPs focus on the Total, as unfortunately, the NICE Guidelines also focus on it.
Regarding your proposal to start lower carbing; it is very laudable that you would like the full support and endorsement of your GP, but for the time being (and things are changing), it seems less likely, purely based on a probability assessment.
My one concern with my whole rambling response is that I have no idea why you are taking blood thinners. There are so many reasons for that - many of which are no concern, but not all. However.......
On my own diagnosis, I began testing my bloods, myself, at home, so that I could begin to understand what was happening in my own body, on a day-to-day basis. For me, the numbers were compelling. If I ate a high carb diet, my numbers weren't goo. When I trimmed back on the carbs, my numbers trimmed back too. Oh, and my blood pressure sprang back from elevated to good!
Curiously, when I next had my bloods done, there was no wider discussion around diet, except to keep doing as I was doing, as clearly it had worked. The sting in the tail was the "offer" of statin, which has happened a few times in the last 3 years. Personally, I couldn't find any studies showing compelling evidence for women, of a certain age, benefiting from taking statins. So many of these studies are completed on males, or groups with a smaller percentage of female participants, so I always passed and went about some serious learning.
At that point I hadn't ramped up my fat consumption, as I was pretty happy just to get very trim. However, one important thing I will share you (after a million, verbose words), is that whilst my Total Cholesterol remained an inconveniently large number, all my component parts suddenly got mush better. But, I
had to stop losing weight before I fell between the paving slabs. Not wishing to increase my carbs again (as my blood numbers were so good), I could only do two things - increase my protein, then increase my fat content in my diet.
Guess what happened? My Total Cholesterol stayed pretty much the same, but the parts got better. I know I'm sounding like a broken record.
Over my personal "journey", I ended up consulting with a new (to me) GP, as my "old" Doc retired,............. without asking me! When I started getting to grips with the theory of my Cholesterol, I started sharing my reading lists, and the YouTube presentations I had watched. Fair play to her. She listened, and clearly did a bit more reading herself. I am no longer impressed that I should be taking medication for Cholesterol.
Aside from scientific data, which isn't everyone's cup of tea, the lynch pin of my viewing was this guy here:
It could be possible to either open your GP's mind or increase your own learning to be better armed yourself. Taking or declining medication shouldn't just be on a whim (and I'm not suggesting your concerns are on a whim), but empowering yourself is important. Surely, it would be good not to change GPs? The grass isn't always greener.
Good luck with it all. Let the learning begin!