Went to see a 'proper' diabetic nurse

I went to a talk on thursday night put on by the Hertfordshire PCT.

One of the people running it is the main diabetic nurse for the trust.

She actually said a number of things that she knows most doctors disagree with.

After many years, the new thought on diet is lower carb.
People should be testing themselves, but, she did think only every week or so.
Hba1c should be done every six monhts (especailly if people are not being encouraged to test)

I was amazed as this lady should become one of the moderators on this board....

good evening, just not looking forward to this week where they are going to go through the various conditions you can pick up by being diabetic.

Catherine. Based on the timeframe of most people in the room (about 25 of them) looking to have been diagnosed within the last six months, the information is moving in the right direction. It was a general talk, so they did not talk about each individual case.

Even on this forum people do not give an exact amount of carbs per day, and with my own diet, I have 'lowered' carbs, and not cut them out completely.

I have lost weight, and lowered my hba1c (and daily readings) significantly.

I think education is the key. From what the nurse was saying, they have to invite 60 people to get an attendance of 20-25 people.

I was one of the only people in the room who regulally check my levels (3 times a day) and I dont agree with her advice of 1-2 times a week.

I also realsied how naive I was before I was diagnosed, in the respect of sugar content.

I used to drink lot's of oasis as I thought it was 'good' flavoured water. We used to use sauces for pasta which are highly sugared. If you look at a mcdonalds menu you will see that the milkshakes have 2-3 times as much sugar as a coke (never drank coke anyway.)

this is where I think education comes in, as by cutting these things out, and lowering some of the other content, I have drastically reduced the levels.

People will gasp, but I am still having a mcdonalds as a treat, as I dont eat ANY bread during the week, and use this as a treat. I went out for Sushi last night, with no adverse affect, so these things I will keep on eating in moderation.