Diabetes Education and Confusion AGAIN

[Forgetful55]

Hi all

Today I attended the second in three of the Diabetes Education Sessions for newly diagnosed type twos and have come away confused again... the dietician asked if anyone knew what the optimal blood sugars were for us and I said below 8.5 ? She said optimal was 4 -8 which sounded fine.. but then later when she was going on about Carbs and low fat (blah blah blah ) for two whole hours.. I did say that I had been testing my blood sugar and that too many carbs spiked my blood sugar .. and this is the bit I am totally confused about as it does not sound right to me.. she said everyones blood sugar will spike two hours after a meal (yes I knew this) and they didn't worry till it was over 12!!!!

At that point I really did think that the whole two hours was a complete waste of time and that I would have felt a whole lot better doing an Aqua Class than sitting in that stuffy room listening to all the patronising waffle they were coming out with.

All the Diabetic Nurse did was glance at the urine test sheet say that's fine (though to be fair she did glance at my blood sugars and say that's fine too) and then give us all forms for a blood test in two weeks for cholesterel and Hba1c). So no doubt next time I go (final one thank goodness) it will be statins time ( which I don't want to take). My blood sugar was higher than usual tonight after one of the meals that does not usually spike me.. would stress cause it to go up?

Sorry for the rant folks!

 

[Ljc]

Yes stress will raise BGs.
You rant away, I would have had the screaming ab dabs and probably have flounced out, leaving them with a few choice words. But that's me lol,
Do what you know works for you.
As for the rest nod and smile, nod and smile.

As nice as we are here , you have joined a band of rebels we Test and advocate all T2s to do so , we follow a range of dietary regimes inc Keto and another that my iPad refuses to spell lol (paleo) when they want us to eat carbs and say horrid things will happen if we don't.
Then we sit there sweetly nodding and smiling, and when we improve they think it's all down to them hee hee.

 

[Copepod]

You're right about exercise being important. Enjoy your next Aqua Fit class 🙂

 

[Forgetful55]

Thanks .. yes cant wait till my Aqua Class tomorrow.. hopefully blood sugars be normal after that!! And I think I always have been a bit of a Rebel so I am in the right place! Good job we can get support here from folk who understand.

 

[Ljc]

Thanks .. yes cant wait till my Aqua Class tomorrow.. hopefully blood sugars be normal after that!! And I think I always have been a bit of a Rebel so I am in the right place! Good job we can get support here from folk who understand.

It is
I feel sorry for the people receiving poor advice who don't come to forums like this one.

 

[Amberzak]

Just wondering, maybe she's trying to give a realistic goal for those that can't go low carbs.

I know, for me, when I met a diabetic nurse who said that for me being in range is between 5 and 9, and up to 12 two hours after eating it took the pressure off me and I find my sugars have been far better with far less hypos.

Just wondering

 

[Dollypolly]

Most of the classes are geared to either 1 or 2 as my one of class was for 2s only.
My GP said 10 or over and they worry but I caught her out on that one and said how would I know when you won't give me a machine.
I was told carbs are brain fuel and your brain won't work otherwise and the dietician didn't like me saying no it's any food that is brain fuel it doesn't care where it's coming from. I refuse to smile and nod and let them take credit saying the HBA1c test is the only one to do when it's a host of other things into the bargain.
Also not everyone spikes after a meal I know I don't depending on what I've eaten sometimes it comes down again depending on what I've done and eaten. We are after all different.
Have fun at the aqua swim now that sounds fun.

 

[Forgetful55]

Hello folks thanks for all your replies... I enjoyed my aqua class and two hours after breakfast my Blood sugar was 6.5 by lunch time I was seriously hungry as did not eat anything after Aqua but did have a coffee and after a pub lunch of lasagne and salad NO garlic bread and a half shandy made more with lager than lemonade my blood sugar was 8.6.. so I appear to be back to normal after the spike yesterday. Think I was a bit stressed yesterday as it was all rush rush.. took granddaughter to dentist first thing.. did the Diabetic class then did school run straight after and had two granddaughters to tea.. one of them wants to be a scientist so they spent an hour making slime .. what fun! (Love it really).

I see what you mean Amberzak about needing more carbs if you are on insulin or meds that can make you have hypos but I don't understand why they are telling folk who are trying to control it by diet and exercise to eat such a high portion of carbs .. they seem to do one size fits all even though it was aimed at Newly Diagnosed Type twos. I don't even think I am as low carb as I could be.. but I do know I could not eat 8 portions a day of bread and potatoes etc.

I have had more support on here than I feel I am getting at these classes as I found a lot of the healthy eating advice very basic and patronising.. we had to put pieces of plastic food on an "Eatwell" plate in the right groups for instance.. and the low fat message was overdone a lot ( well if flies don't touch margarine I wont be I am a butter girl) and I am sticking to my normal fat natural yogurts not the low fat ones they were recommending with the chemicals sweetners and whatever in.

 

[Hazel]

In DSNs defence it is very difficult to teach everyone different things to suit one individual. Therefore they teach one thing only.

Only through time, self testing, will you find exactly what suits you. The first few months are scary, but if your overall readings are coming down you are on the right path.

I was told recently by my DSN my Hba1c of 5.5 was too low - yet my GP told me to get it down to 5%, go figure...........

 

[Forgetful55]

I think you are right testing is the only way to go.

 

[Dollypolly]

@Hazel we can ask for a one to one with a dietitian and not do the group one. So it would be geared to you only. I'm still waiting as I asked for it just to see what I would be told.

 

[Hazel]

@Dollypolly - I found the dietician as much help as a chocolate teapot.

I took the advice my late GP gave me. Research, research and research - teach yourself.

Nearly 20 years on most of what I k ow 2as self taught - but when I moved onto this site when I was moved on to insulin - is the carbs and cal book

This is my story, what suited me. Everyone must find their own way

 

[Amigo]

@Dollypolly - I found the dietician as much help as a chocolate teapot.

I took the advice my late GP gave me. Research, research and research - teach yourself.

Nearly 20 years on most of what I k ow 2as self taught - but when I moved onto this site when I was moved on to insulin - is the carbs and cal book

This is my story, what suited me. Everyone must find their own way

That was my experience too Hazel. The dietician was very nice but didn't tell me much more than a good greengrocer to be honest! I went away to find my own way too. The Dr. David Cavan book and this site have been my guiding lights.

 

[Hazel]

Thanks Amigo

 

[Greyhound Gal]

I also had the same useless experience with the dietician @Hazel. Also the same differing advice from DSN ( who said not to get below HbA1c of 53 and hospital consultant who said to get below 48). Needless to say I've gone with the consultant 🙄🙂

 

[Amberzak]

Dietician was also rubbish for me. Actually, that's not true. The diabetic dietician was good but for other reasons.

When I was diagnosed coeliac, I was referred to a coeliac dietician. She started giving me all these gluten free recepies that were all this exotic food id never eat. It was pointless.

Saw a diabetes dietician when I went on to the pump and she's coeliac. So we spent the whole time talking about what to eat, realistically. And what she does for a quick lunch etc.

 

[Ralph-YK]

she said everyones blood sugar will spike two hours after a meal (yes I knew this)

I spiked 1 hour after eating. Or not at all. A roast beef diner, with veg, roast potatoes and chip had no effect on my BG within two hours. (5.2 before, 1 hour after, 5.6; 2 hours after 5.8).

 

[Dollypolly]

@Dollypolly - I found the dietician as much help as a chocolate teapot.

I took the advice my late GP gave me. Research, research and research - teach yourself.

Nearly 20 years on most of what I k ow 2as self taught - but when I moved onto this site when I was moved on to insulin - is the carbs and cal book

This is my story, what suited me. Everyone must find their own way

That's what I Found too with the group one I attended it was all geared to the eat well plate and nothing in between sadly hence asking for a one to one but looks like that might be a bad idea if they still say eat this and not that ********.
I also agree that we need to find our own path as we are after all different too.

 

[Mariam Agha]

This is an easy explanation of why stress worsen diabetes:
Stress is defined as the body’s reaction to a change in the environment that requires a physical, mental or emotional response.The physiological reactions to stress begins with the perception of stress.The perception of stress results in an activation of the autonomic nervous system to react in emergency situations. Under a stressful situation, the human body responds by quickly mobilising its resources in order to get away from danger or face it.This instinctive physiological response to perceived threats is known as "fight or flight” (Cannon, 1932). The "fight or flight" is an incredible way of communication between the body cells in response to a perceived threat. This response is an instinctive and automatic reaction that prepares the body to "fight" or "flee" from perceived attack, harm or threat to our survival. The danger is perceived first by the eyes, which send signals to a part of the brain called “hypothalamus”, which in turn send a signal to the adrenal gland (in the kidney) in order to secret the stress hormones (called cortisol and epinephrine) that stimulate a rapid access to stored energy (fat and glucose) to help the body to react faster in an emergency. the cortisol facilitates a quick release of glucose from the liver into the bloodstream, and this helps to accelerate the heart rate, raise blood pressure and strengthen muscles… in order to fight or flee from danger.
When the danger is over, normal people regain their normal relaxed state quickly because the normal body have the ability to secrete more insulin to restore the excess of glucose in the bloodstream back into the liver. However, human body may not cope with this process cycle, especially when stress persists for a longer period of time (in the case of chronic stress). As a result, the excess of glucose build-up in the bloodstream, causing hyperglycemia, and thus, Type 2 diabetes.
I hope this can help understand how stress affects diabetes.