Diabetic Reviews - Good or Bad?

Today began with a 6am goodbye from my husband as he headed off to work. Im feeling very tired as i had a night of severe nausea and stomach pains, a result of my diabetic medication being increased last week. The review was as bad as i expected but my new diabetic nurse is FAB! and very supportive. Unfortunately i am now experiencing some unpleasant side effects of my medication Urgh!

I have to say i didn't get up at 6am after my good morning kiss but proceeded to switch on the tv and catch up with my current fav programme GBBO (The Great British Bake Off). Having watched them baking all their yummy stuff, my eye was caught by the mini chocolate rolls and that was it my morning sorted! I decided to make the mini chocolate rolls and my excuse is that i will take them to my daughters tomorrow for her an the boys (Dion and Jaylen and Shelenes partner Charlie).

Who am i kidding............ Charlie doesn't like chocolate and Dion isn't even a year old yet.............really???

Yes, OK, i will probably have a couple (or 5) LOL :)

Anyway, i walked to Sainsburys to get the ingredients HA.

This afternoon i sat down to re-listen to the Jeremy Vine podcast on Radio 2 from Friday. I was particularly interested in his interview with Dr Phil Whittaker regarding Type 2 Diabetes and i wanted to make reference and comment on my blog about it. It was an interesting discussion about whether or not the NHS should be so quick to prescribe drugs for a newly diagnosed T2 Diabetic or would a "prescription for exercise" be more appropriate.

My interest in this discussion wasn't just because i am a T2 Diabetic, but also because of my experience a couple of years ago with a previous diabetic nurse.

Back then i had been reading online about a new way of healthy eating. I like to do some research about better ways of handling my diabetes, and i came across some chat on the Diabetes UK website about something called LCHF. What the hell is that? It seemed that lots of people were reporting on it in a good way. I found that LCHF was Low Carb High Fat. I bought a few books on the subject and did a bit more research and decided it was something i could easily do.

I started swimming 3 times a week, Fitstep classes twice a week and a Zumba class and embrassed the LCHF diet. I started to take my BS readings 8 times a day. I know, sounds crazy, but to be able to control my blood sugar levels i needed to know what effect the food i was eating was having on my BS. This went on for about a year and i lost quite a bit of weight and started to feel great. (I stopped taking my afternoon naps!!)

My diabetic review was approaching and i was feeling on top of the world. I had an appointment for my bloods to be taken with the nurse with a follow up appointment with my GP the following week. My nurse appointment went badly :( She asked me what my diet was like and i told her enthusiastically about the LCHF i was doing and that i had been testing my BS a lot to keep a check on my levels. Well, that was it and she went off on one. She told me, and i quote " you are a drain on the NHS" "what exactly is all this testing actually telling you?" I gave her an example that i had found that some fruits, especially bananas spiked my BS levels so therefore i had stopped eating bananas. She told me that i couldn't do that, i couldn't just stop eating bananas. She actually shouted that at me!

The final straw came when i asked if i wasnt able to control my BS by testing anymore and therefore my BS levels increasing, her reply was "thats ok we'll just increase your medication"...... WOW........if that isn't a drain on the NHS coffers then i dont know what is. As you can imagine the appointment ended very quickly after that.

The following week i attended my Doctors appointment. Well, i walked in and my GP said that my BS results were fantastic and that i had managed to get myself boarderline Diabetic. Fantastic! My hard work had paid off.

The discussion (or argument as i like to call it) with the Diabetic nurse left me feeling not so good and hit my confidence a bit. Unfortunately, since then and combined with some other stuff that argument gradually chipped away at me and i am now 2 stone heavier and on more medication now than i was when i started to get a grip on my Diabetes.

Going back to the Jeremy Vine interview, i can say i totally agree that diet and exercise can help and maybe reverse T2D. I am proof that it works, i done it, i went from 4 tablets a day to 1! and i think if i had continued i wouldnt be a Diabetic today.

Dr Whittaker wrote an article in New Statesmen regarding T2D and i thought it would be a good read. However, i was halfway through it and got distracted buy a New Look advert for bags that was on the side of the screen. I need a new bag to carry all my meds in now LOL

So, Diabetic Reviews? ive had good and bad ones. I think you need to be brave and hopefully will have a Diabetic Team that supports and helps you through your Diabetic journey. I have to say my new Diabetic nurse is ACE and im hoping its not too late for me to try and get control again.................

Now, where are those mini chocolate rolls.....Mmmmm

bye for now x