My nurse appointment

[Sally W]

You should not have to put up with people in the medical profession trying to make you feel stupid, when it is them that are wrong. It is criminal that they get away with this. How many lives are they damaging? It's not right!!

It did make me feel stupid when I was there. She said she follows NHS guidelines: I’ve just read them and they say a wide variety of foods including fruit veg and starchy foods together with low fat,sugar and salt. Even if true it still doesn’t account for fact that we’re all different and how can we possibly know which foods affect us individually. Sadly, the previous nurse was just as bad and I don’t think other surgeries would be any different

 

[Ralph-YK]

Recently I did have my practice nurse telling me I need to manage/minimise carbs, and was saying some are a little behind the times. And a couple of others I've met support managing carbs and the idea of diabetics managing their condition.
There is some variation out there.

 

[Mark Parrott]

My DSN also told me to lower my carb intake & she advised me to test though she couldn't prescribe me strips.

 

[Bubbsie]

It did make me feel stupid when I was there. She said she follows NHS guidelines: I’ve just read them and they say a wide variety of foods including fruit veg and starchy foods together with low fat,sugar and salt. Even if true it still doesn’t account for fact that we’re all different and how can we possibly know which foods affect us individually. Sadly, the previous nurse was just as bad and I don’t think other surgeries would be any different

Low fat foods are often carb loaded...fat gives a lot of products their flavour...reduce the fat...reduce the flavour...so they add starchy flavourings...have a look at the number of carbs in a low fat product the next time you are shopping...compare that with a full fat version...I have no doubt the full fat (good fat) will be lower in carbs...certain fruit are carb bombs...the same with some vegetables...we need to be selective about which we choose...I have heard so many complaints about DSN's...practice nurses...all the same complaints...the DSN at our practice (who I no longer see) told me I was obsessive for testing my BGs...I had to point out my GP thought my control was excellent & that was as a result of testing...no one should feel compelled to test their BG's...or made to feel it's is mandatory...but for those of us who do...who find it helpful & productive... we should not be discouraged with misinformation...or as Trump might say FAKE NEWS.

 

[Sally W]

Low fat foods are often carb loaded...fat gives a lot of products their flavour...reduce the fat...reduce the flavour...so they add starchy flavourings...have a look at the number of carbs in a low fat product the next time you are shopping...compare that with a full fat version...I have no doubt the full fat (good fat) will be lower in carbs...certain fruit are carb bombs...the same with some vegetables...we need to be selective about which we choose...I have heard so many complaints about DSN's...practice nurses...all the same complaints...the DSN at our practice (who I no longer see) told me I was obsessive for testing my BGs...I had to point out my GP thought my control was excellent & that was as a result of testing...no one should feel compelled to test their BG's...or made to feel it's is mandatory...but for those of us who do...who find it helpful & productive... we should not be discouraged with misinformation...or as Trump might say FAKE NEWS.

Absolutely right

 

[Martin9]

The problem about diabetic nurses is that they don't know what it's like to be diabetic (mostly), they don't realise why you can be in the good low BG one day, and above next day, and it's only really by self examination you can look at what you did wrong after a high BG ..most diabetic nurses see clients on a 3 month basis..they're overwhelmed ..I understand that, but a bit more initial care might help get more people off their books and off meds too...
Just a thought..!

 

[CathyB]

Disappointing but not surprising! All I have learned has been from here, the first and most important lesson being that we are all different therefore testing is key. Thanks to regular testing I have come from bg of 22 to an average of between 5 - 6, I have a much better idea of what works for me and am now enjoying my food again and losing weight 😉 I go to my appointments with the nurse simply to get my weight and feet checked along with my bp, I don’t ask for advice about my diet, I simply share my bg numbers so she can see I’m managing well. My DESMOND experience was my cut off point, they don’t have a clue I don’t test every day but do if I try something new or if I don’t feel too good, I have found that if I drop below 5 then I feel quite dizzy ad fuzzy headed. It’s also my incentive to keep going, no way will I let my bg creep back to double figures, checking my bloods is my way of keeping it all under control.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Stick with what you are doing @Sally W - you have a good, logical approach, and are doing great.

Basing decisions you make on information about how your specific diabetes reacts to different things has to be better than some supposed ‘one size fits all’ guesswork, surely?!

Just sorry you had to have such a negative appointment.

 

[Drummer]

The pinprick from a lancet should be invisible only seconds after doing the test - tearing the skin should not be part of the process.
If you test how fats affect you you will probably find that they don't.
You can't argue with actual testing - carbs will increase BG - how much and for how long is an individual thing.

 

[Sally W]

Stick with what you are doing @Sally W - you have a good, logical approach, and are doing great.

Basing decisions you make on information about how your specific diabetes reacts to different things has to be better than some supposed ‘one size fits all’ guesswork, surely?!

Just sorry you had to have such a negative appointment.

Thanks Mike! It’s reassuring to hear this after a day of questioning my approach by a health care professional. I will keep going

 

[Sally W]

Disappointing but not surprising! All I have learned has been from here, the first and most important lesson being that we are all different therefore testing is key. Thanks to regular testing I have come from bg of 22 to an average of between 5 - 6, I have a much better idea of what works for me and am now enjoying my food again and losing weight 😉 I go to my appointments with the nurse simply to get my weight and feet checked along with my bp, I don’t ask for advice about my diet, I simply share my bg numbers so she can see I’m managing well. My DESMOND experience was my cut off point, they don’t have a clue I don’t test every day but do if I try something new or if I don’t feel too good, I have found that if I drop below 5 then I feel quite dizzy ad fuzzy headed. It’s also my incentive to keep going, no way will I let my bg creep back to double figures, checking my bloods is my way of keeping it all under control.

Good to know. Makes you wonder how older folk with no internet access, who literally follow primary care advice end up...

 

[Robin]

Good to know. Makes you wonder how older folk with no internet access, who literally follow primary care advice end up...

With complications, probably.

 

[trophywench]

Well - the trouble with fats is, are we (any of us, generally) eating the right type of fat or the right amount thereof - and there's no fingerprick blood test is going to tell us that LOL

And please stop calling surgery nurses DSNs ! - they aren't - you have to work full time in an exclusively diabetes environment and do an extra degree, to gain that qualification. Actually surgery nurses now who are going to deal with diabetes, should get extra courses which they have to do as part of their annual CPD requirements - all professions have to gain X number of CPD (Continuous Professional Development) points per annum in order to continue using their professional qualifications. However that still doesn't make a surgery nurse a DSN.

Some properly trained DSNs do work in general practice surgeries however not in any one specific location permanently - and they do not deal with anything else at all while they and their patients are there. So I might have my toe tickling etc checks as part of a longer appointment with my GP surgery nurse when she also does my asthma check since that's annual too - but the DSNs I see are all at my hospital diabetes clinic. I was an in patient at a different hospital last October when I broke my knee and needed to see one of their DSNs as I had a bit of a diabetes prob whilst I was in and got equally good advice from her as I do from the ones at my usual place. No problem.

 

[DaveB]

The problem with GPs and DNs is their training for diabetes and the woefully bad advice from PHE. They are obliged to follow this bad advice and the training appears to be very narrow e.g. my GP who had just come off her Warwick diabetes training wasn't aware of T1 coming on in adulthood. I would suggest to everyone to provide feedback on the bad diet advice where they find it on a website. I did this on the NHS Choices one and saw similar feedback over the previous few months/years. I don't expect much change due to the food industry lobby but every little helps to embarrass them. Even DUK when I challenged their diet advice last year finally agreed it was changing and is now very different from a few years back.

 

[Mark Parrott]

The nurse at our surgery only deals with diabetes and nothing else. She is not there permanently, only a couple of days a week as she travels to other surgeries. She is known as the diabetic specialist nurse, so I'm assuming that she is.