Diabetic carb counting course
Discussion
My partner has recently been told he's type 2. He's been invited on a course which is half a day for six weeks. My mum is also type 2 for about 5 years and has also just been asked about one of these courses.
I think they are the latest thing for doctors/nurses to organise to make more money for the surgery/practice. He will not be attending his course and has told them the same.
Waste of time and money to my eyes for many people. If you're well controlled and not having iissues then what are they going to tell you that is new after such a long time living with diabetes.
The details of what this course were going to teach him were given to him in a book which took him half asn hour to read and understand. Totally pointless!
I think they are the latest thing for doctors/nurses to organise to make more money for the surgery/practice. He will not be attending his course and has told them the same.
Waste of time and money to my eyes for many people. If you're well controlled and not having iissues then what are they going to tell you that is new after such a long time living with diabetes.
The details of what this course were going to teach him were given to him in a book which took him half asn hour to read and understand. Totally pointless!
By contrast, I was asked to go on the course a couple of years ago and found it extremely helpful.
I was diagnosed T1 at 21yo in 2007, and started out on a fixed insulin regime (one injection in morning, one before bed). After finally being persuaded to go on a basal-bolus regime after a couple of years on a very restricted diet and exercise routine, I was given the very basic of instruction when it came to dosing and carb counting and then spent about a year muddling through it before being offered the course as a matter of routine. Tbh, I wasn't doing badly at all, but I did feel I never got the proper introduction to carb counting that allowed me to do it properly.
Although the theory is straightforward, the course really helped me hone the carb counting, insulin to carb ratio/sensitivity and different times of the day, glycaemic loading of foods, modifying dosage according to your fasting bg levels, correction dosages, managing levels during illness and tackling potential DKA, adjusting for exercise etc. Also had a very useful section on hypos. It was quite an eye-opener listening to how different people in the group managed their hypos. Actually, one of the most depressing things about the course was there were a couple of people that flat refused to give carb counting a proper go, and simply couldn't get their head round the whole 'look up grams of carbohydrate per 100g on the label and translating that to my portion' thing.
By the end of it (I think it was over 3 half-day sessions a week, so less full-on than the one you've been offered), I was confident I was set for life and was pleased I took up the offer.
I think it'd be entirely different for yourself, as you've been at it a lot longer than me!!!
I was diagnosed T1 at 21yo in 2007, and started out on a fixed insulin regime (one injection in morning, one before bed). After finally being persuaded to go on a basal-bolus regime after a couple of years on a very restricted diet and exercise routine, I was given the very basic of instruction when it came to dosing and carb counting and then spent about a year muddling through it before being offered the course as a matter of routine. Tbh, I wasn't doing badly at all, but I did feel I never got the proper introduction to carb counting that allowed me to do it properly.
Although the theory is straightforward, the course really helped me hone the carb counting, insulin to carb ratio/sensitivity and different times of the day, glycaemic loading of foods, modifying dosage according to your fasting bg levels, correction dosages, managing levels during illness and tackling potential DKA, adjusting for exercise etc. Also had a very useful section on hypos. It was quite an eye-opener listening to how different people in the group managed their hypos. Actually, one of the most depressing things about the course was there were a couple of people that flat refused to give carb counting a proper go, and simply couldn't get their head round the whole 'look up grams of carbohydrate per 100g on the label and translating that to my portion' thing.
By the end of it (I think it was over 3 half-day sessions a week, so less full-on than the one you've been offered), I was confident I was set for life and was pleased I took up the offer.
I think it'd be entirely different for yourself, as you've been at it a lot longer than me!!!
Edited by Arun_D on Tuesday 2nd July 22:58
Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff