You can lead a horse to water but....

I hear you. I would be annoyed too! I feel upset enough that there are so many T2s out there who have not been told how to get their BG down... but when people ARE TOLD and then ignore the info... wow, I can't express my feelings without swearing.

My mother in law has T2 diabetes. She doesn't test, eats toast, bread and pastry, is pretty darn big and has a mobility scooter thing to get about. She would blow her top if anyone told her what to eat.

Now you understand how every HCP in the country feels.

You can only do so much with people and then you have to allow them to do it themselves , age is a major factor sometimes people will say it's to late now to change. You can only try and then let them decide.

I don't let it bother me now. I offer advice sometimes but there will always be those that will make excuses for their bad habits. How many people still smoke knowing it's slowly killing them ? Crazy.

I'm interested to know if you tested their blood sugar after their meal out!

I think there are a number of reasons why people ignore advice:


1) They don't fully understand (I remember once almost weeping with frustration explaining about a child with a serious peanut allergy "But all children eat peanut butter"' "It's not going to kill her, is it?" etc is what the carer kept saying and I just could not make her understand)

2) They understand completely but either don't want to follow advice (they'd rather continue doing what they enjoy) or are unable to follow it (lack enough willpower)

3) They kid themselves that they are following it ("It's only an occasional treat" when it's practically daily, etc) and can't look at themselves objectively.


All you can do,is make sure they understand and leave them to make their own choices.

carol43 said:

Had a visit today from BIL and lady friend. He is 72 and I don't know how old she is. They are both T2 and of course the subject to diabetes was discussed. Neither of them knew what their levels were although they both have meters and test strips given to them by their respective doctors. Hers were 13.1 and his 11.1. They then wanted to know what mine were 6.4. How do I get mine so low? so gave them the suggestions of LCHF. They were very interested. We then had lunch which I prepared, ham, cheeses, sausages and a small loaf of olive bread (my OH not diabetic) and a LC chocolate cake and double cream. She says she will only eat white bread. Gave BIL a WHOLE Lidi roll which he enjoyed and then had some olive loaf. This evening took them out for a meal, they gorged themselves on pie and chips and a big chocolate and ice cream desert. I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall. Stupid people and I paid good money for them to kill themselves and he ate one of my Lidl rolls.


Sorry for my rant.
Carol

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Stupid is, stupid does............................... shakes head,

#
I hope this makes you smile

If it's not in the fridge, freezer or cupboards it isn't readily available to use or snack on. That has to be the first step.

The excuse that it's for the kids, just shouldn't be an excuse. If they have one, or even two parents, with diabetes, their risk of having diabetes is higher. Stuffing them full of crisps, beans on toast and ready meals as many parents do, isn't going to give them a healthy start.

It's at this point, that celebrities come in useful. Telling kids that their parents are going gluten and dairy free like Sam Smith, Boy George, Adam Lambert and Novak Djokovic for example.

When my father was diagnosed with high cholesterol and high blood pressure, my brother and I weren't given an opt out on low fat food, despite freezer and microwave. We had to switch to Flora and skimmed milk too. My mother refused to cook alternatives until I went veggie.

My GP and other HCPs looked at my food diary and commented that I was eating too many ready meals. There was a look of disbelief that we were cooking things like pheasant, kohl rabi and globe artichokes from scratch. IMO that's really prejudiced.

Instead of a food diary, I have a journal listing all the food we buy. Because most of our food is delivered, I could always go online in their office and bring up our orders. Seeing what we buy, makes it easy to see what our food pyramid is like.

Before we went organic we shopped at Lidl a lot, and eating additive free food really doesn't have to be expensive.

I've been (type 2) on Metformin for almost 10 yrs, during that time I followed NHS dietry advice and grew slowly heavier. After major bowel surgery I could no longer tolerate Metformin so was given 40G Gliclazide per day to start off with. Meantime I found this website and read the low carb high fat info on various threads. I was shocked seemed like I'd been killing myself slowly eating the wrong way for the diabetes. To date I've been following lchf for 10 days and have dropped 9lbs in weight but, more importantly, lowered my BG levels to normal non-diabetic range most of the time. I am so sad that this information wasn't available to me 10yrs ago - this "horse" definitely wants to drink!

Just had a call from my DNS she wants to up my glicozide to 80g per day. When I read out my normal range BG levels for past 2 wks to her she suggested I take the extra tablet for 3 yes 3 months then have an Hba1c to check if the Glicozade can be reduced. I could have wept.

@13lizanne Yeah, It's the pill culture.... they are being given a pill, they don't have to diet or watch what they eat @carol43 they must have thought you were off your bloody rocker

I think that suggesting anyone changes their eating habits is going to fail 99% of the time.
And I think it is horrifying, tragic and incredibly frustrating.

People have to want to change, and find their own motivation.

I also think that making these changes becomes progressively harder as we age.
My father, who has been interested in nutrition, diet, exercise and lifestyle all of his 83 years has now become type 2 (after a lifetime of good nutrition). But I have been amazed to see how he just doesn't grasp it. Every food decision he makes is based on the 'just one won't hurt'. But he is making these decisions several times a day, every day. And I can clearly see that while 1 won't hurt, 30 a week is certainly damaging him.

It has shocked me to see how his ability to adapt and take on new information is disappearing fast.
And then I wonder how much of that disappearance is the result of high blood glucose induced brain fog.

It is very dispiriting.

@Brunneria its incredibly sad and heartbreaking when we have to watch loved ones dwindle away to a former shadow of themselves. I fear that help for the aged, understanding and compassion from society is also going to dwindle along with the budgets to support them through the later years.
I can't help but be reminded of this comparison to achieve safety and reassurance that our loved ones are well looked after.

13lizanne said:

Just had a call from my DNS she wants to up my glicozide to 80g per day. When I read out my normal range BG levels for past 2 wks to her she suggested I take the extra tablet for 3 yes 3 months then have an Hba1c to check if the Glicozade can be reduced. I could have wept.

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I refuse to see the nurses anymore, they bully, they don't know as much as they think they do. If they actually know that carbs become glucose, asked why they suggest giving that to people who can't handle glucose, they usually have no answer at all. I point blank told my GP that I wouldn't see the nurses anymore.

See my comment #4, and somehow this has turned in a HCP knocking thread?

SunnyExpat said:

See my comment #4, and somehow this has turned in a HCP knocking thread?

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To be fair, when I read your post #4 I thought to myself, not every HCP in the country feels this way, because some of them are contributing to the problem by giving inappropriate advice like eat plenty of carbs at every meal. Still, I liked your post anyway because I agree that those HCPs who are competent and well informed about diabetes, no doubt feel the same frustration we feel when people ignore advice and continue to eat in a way that harms them.

azure said:

I'm interested to know if you tested their blood sugar after their meal out!

I think there are a number of reasons why people ignore advice:


1) They don't fully understand (I remember once almost weeping with frustration explaining about a child with a serious peanut allergy "But all children eat peanut butter"' "It's not going to kill her, is it?" etc is what the carer kept saying and I just could not make her understand)

2) They understand completely but either don't want to follow advice (they'd rather continue doing what they enjoy) or are unable to follow it (lack enough willpower)

3) They kid themselves that they are following it ("It's only an occasional treat" when it's practically daily, etc) and can't look at themselves objectively.


All you can do,is make sure they understand and leave them to make their own choices.

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This is so true Azure, what a good summary!

Often people don;t fully understand, and they don't realise they don;t understand. I'll give an example.

For many years I suffered from bad nasal congestion all the time. I used decongestant nasal sprays every day, despite warnings on the bottle and given out by pharmacy staff and doctors that they should only be used for 3 days at a time to prevent rebound congestion. I literally did not understand the message.

Also, I was desperate for relief and importantly, no doctor ever suggested there might be a reason for the congestion and referred me to an ENT specialist for assessment. Until I was in my late 30s when a GP referred me. The ENT doc sent me for a CT scan which showed a structural blockage, which was then surgically corrected. When I woke up from the surgery I could breathe properly for the first time! In addition to the structural problem that I was born with, I also had very enlarged turbinates, which means the decongestant sprays had made my congestion worse. This extra tissue was removed but the ENT said if I was to go back to daily use of the sprays, they turbinates would enlarge again and need surgery. So I now follow the advice and only used them for a day here and there.

This example shows that even with being given a message dozens of times over many years, if the person does not understand, and does not realise they don't understand, then they won't change.

It also shows that if you have an ongoing symptom, you should press for specialist referral, which is why I so often say this in threads. By putting up with congestion for several decades, and using the wrong treatment, I did damage to my body. Luckily it could be surgically corrected. Severe diabetes complications can't. So people need to be helped to understand, I think.

13lizanne said:

Just had a call from my DNS she wants to up my glicozide to 80g per day. When I read out my normal range BG levels for past 2 wks to her she suggested I take the extra tablet for 3 yes 3 months then have an Hba1c to check if the Glicozade can be reduced. I could have wept.

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I recently came across the following info about Gliclazide and related drugs and I must say it has put me off using them, if it came to that. I don't think I will ever need more than Metformin but if I did, I would rather consider insulin than any of the sulfonylureas. But that's just me. It's a decision for each person to make for themselves, in consultation with their HCP of course.
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/25311847.php