The dietitian from under a rock

[Carwy]

Okay so having the betes is not all fun. I go to the dietitian today and right up front I tell I have had Hodgkin’s which is in remission. I have acid reflux that only acts up when I have carbonated drinks. I do not drink or smoke and I have hemochromatosis. I went into this with an open mind and was willing to hear what she had to say.

I average about 1500 calories and 120 carbohydrates a day. She starts out by telling me to cut out coffee with creamer, cut down on drinking soda, cut down on drinking alcohol and to try and stop smoking. From this moment on I know this was going to be a very bad experience and I was just going to shake my head and say yes.

So now it starts getting worse. She wants me to eat 1800 calories a day and 185 carbohydrates at the low end and on the high end 2000 calories and 240 carbohydrates a day.

Oh wait for it. Its going to get even worse.
She goes into what I should eat for breakfast and what is on the okay lists. (Now let’s not forget I told her I have hemochromatosis).
Heck some of the things on my can eat list are things I though were just plain bad any way. Heck donuts are on the okay list as long as I just eat one. Milk is a no no along with pork, cheese and lunch meat. Oh wait on the okay list is Margarine and regular Mayonnaise. Beans, peas and lentils are bad. Angel food cake is good.
She tells me I should be eating cereal and oat meal that is fortified with Iron. I tell her I can not do that I have hemochromatosis. Her reply “oh yea. Well you need to eat it anyway.”:rolleyes: I was like oh man how much longer do I have to be in this room with her.
We then talk about other foods I should eat. She tells me to eat spinach (high in iron). Then she tells me to drink oj and eat oranges. I was like they are not good for me because of my hemochromatosis. Vitamin C makes my body absorb iron too well. She was like well you need to eat them. :rolleyes: Then we go back to the drinking soda, alcohol and smoking. Again I tell her I do none of this stuff. She tells me to quit or cut down on them. :rolleyes: When she let me out of that office I left at a full run.
Oh and I told her about my family history of the betes and she said it may play a part in me having it.
I sure am glad I have real people who are facing this and living with it everyday to help me get this stuff under control.
So I will be picking Dewey’s brain and a lot of others on here.
As I post this I’m drinking my coffee with creamer.:eviltongu

[Penny]

She sounds like the first dietician I went to over 40 years ago. She would not listen to anything I told her. If I explained that I could not eat something because of allergies, she also told me to eat them anyway. Over the years, I have been told to eat lots of carbs, not eat anything white, eat lots of fruit, eat no fruit,drink lots of water, limit my water, no doctor or diet person ever agreed with another. I have only started getting some control since reading this forum. Carwy like we tell everyone....figure out what works for you.

[xMenace]

As I post this I’m drinking my coffee with creamer.:eviltongu

And I'm sipping my Chardonnay! :cheers:

[Dewey]

All I got to say is that this dietitian is LUCKY I wasn't there, or she would have ran out of the room, crying! It irritates me to no end when a dietitian, doctor, endo, or whatever else (you know, the people WE employ to help Us with our care) do not listen to our comments, questions or concerns. It's like, "Why bother!?"

After listening to Carwy tell me all this stuff (when he got home), I asked him why he didn't do like Chris Tucker in Rush Hour and ask "Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth!?" I'm so cruel. :-

[grace girl]

Reminds me of the one I went to...the one who told me that I need to eat twice as much as I normally do, stop avoiding sweets because, Hey, you can bolus for it!....and make sure I don't gain any weight.
....and then she told me I could never wear sandals again for the rest of my life....
It wasn't too long after that that I found this forum, which saved me from utter insanity. You've got everyone here, so you'll be just fine!

[Jan B]

Carwy,

This sounds like a joke! It's just plain scary. Oh, and Carwy -- you need to quit drinking, smoking, and start eating more iron fortified foods. No matter that you have too much iron, you need more. And here is some iron fortified Chantix to help you quit smoking. Good grief.

[Carwy]

Thanks everyone for your kind replys.
I have just one question.
Can I pick the medical conditions I want to keep and return the rest??

[gettingby]

Thanks everyone for your kind replys.
I have just one question.
Can I pick the medical conditions I want to keep and return the rest??
If I had my way, you could. ;) Ya know I love ya !!!!!!!

[Carwy]

If I had my way, you could. ;) Ya know I love ya !!!!!!!

And I would keep the cancer, hemochromatosis and acid reflux.

[Dewey]

Oh, and Carwy -- you need to quit drinking, smoking, and start eating more iron fortified foods. No matter that you have too much iron, you need more. And here is some iron fortified Chantix to help you quit smoking. Good grief.
ROFLMAO! That was awesome, Jan! :rofl:

[Kim_in_TN]

I would have HAD to say something to her. I have a difficult time keeping my mouth shut when I come across a "professional" who is so inept!!! It sounds like she memorized the information from her final exam and has never read anything since then! What happened to continuing education and keeping up with the latest medical research? Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Oh and ((((((((((HUGS))))))))) to you! ;)

[steamfan261]

My last visit to my family practitioner was the last straw for me. She contradicted everything my endo had told me, suggested that the symptoms I wanted to discuss were all in my head, and suggested that my poor management of my bg and A1C were entirely my fault because I had been told "how to do it right".

I said to her: "Listen carefully, cuz this is the ONLY chance you get: YOU"RE FIRED!!!" If I wanted to be ignored I could hire someone to do it a lot cheaper than you."

She was somewhat annoyed with me.

I was glad.

[George83]

What you need is a young dietician, with recent qualifications, that knows whats going on, is yours young?

[Lulika]

Dieticians? Nutritionists?....Bah, HUMBUG!! :D

[Gary_W]

I saw a nutritionist shortly after I was diagnosed 13 years back. I must say it was a fairly depressing experience and I haven't bothered since.

She was obsessed with spaghetti bolognaise as I recall and told me that I must start off by frying the mince (no oil at all, just dry fry it). Then tip off all of the juices and fat that run from the mince. Then boil it up again and tip off anything else that came out. Next, I must add the onions and just boil these up with the mince. Etc etc.

I asked advice about lentils, coconut milk, ginger, galangal etc. She had no clue and kept going back to the spaghetti. I have heard of spookily similar experiences from others.

I came to the conclusion that nutritionists who don't actually like food are a bit like teachers that don't actually like children; far more common than they should be and useful to no-one...

Gary

[mimianvy]

All these proffesionals are suppose to work with us, not hinder us from our goals.... good control. But many still fall so short from this. So sad for me to say this because I am in the medical profesion.

But I can also speak as a patient who was in the hospital. My x-physician ordered a 1200 ADA diet, it was the most carbiest tray of food I have ever seen. When I told my physician about it, he ordered a dietician consult. This ninconpoop (sp) came into my room and wanted to know what was wrong with the food that was sent. I informed her that it had too much carb and my GL would hit the roof if I ate it. She than rolled her eyes and asked what I wanted. So I said to her just give me a piece of meat and a bowl of salad and a side of steamed veggie, nothing fancy.

Will.... the next meal I got......... carb tray and a highlighted menu that said this is a ADA APPROVED 1200 cal diet!:eek:

Mimi

[CaptainMike]

The one I went to at diagnosis last year was just as bad; lots of little plastic food replicas, An 'ADA Approved Exchange diet' booklet, Loads and loads and loads of carbs. I asked her if she'd ever heard of Dr. Bernstein, just got a blank look in response. I ought to try one day of their 280 carb gm per day diet and see what my numbers are. I'm guessing I'd see 200's easy. I do just fine on 1/10 that amount, thanks.

[Carwy]

What you need is a young dietician, with recent qualifications, that knows whats going on, is yours young?

No she is not young I would say in her 50's.
Me I think she needs to check into the hearing clinic 1 hall way down. Maybe she needs a hearing aid? Either that or she just plan does not listen. Heck I follow her diet I will be back to doing phlebotomies once a week for my hemochromatosis. Maybe she was trying to finish off my pancreas?
She may be thinking that this way it would be easier to setup a insulin regime?

[duck]

Carwy, stop being so stubborn. You'd be better off listening to her advice and cut out the smoking, drinking and womanizing (which I see she failed to bring to your attention, so I will). And yes, get rid of the coffee and soda too.

[UpNorth]

I can't help laughing out loud at that dietitian :D She's not just from under a rock, she must have been born in a cave!

Gee, just eat what YOU feel is healthy. Cut down on the carbs and you should be just fine :)

[Carwy]

If we eat at home and I do not have a phlebotomy scheduled I eat salad with cottage cheese (1/2 cup), which is 150 calories and 10 carbohydrates. My coffee with creamer is 90 calories and 14 carbohydrates. Oh and Duck I think I will keep my soda. It helps me loose weight through nausea.

[dex123]

I think someone should find the handbook that they get their quick answers from, so when people get an inept doc they can finish their sentences for them! and save us from wasting time!

[lilituc]

I've been to three dieticians - all of them were really nice (thankfully) and relatively young but none of them helped.

The first one told me to eat "this kind of wheat bread" (holding up the bag) because it was lower in carbs than other brands. When I told her it's actually one of the highest carb and has a lot of high fructose corn syrup, she read the label, frowned, and said, "you're right." Then she gave me a meal plan that suggested things like this for breakfast: 1 bagel or 1/2 cup sugar frosted cereal (!) or 2 slices of bread, all with a serving of fruit. At the time I was not on insulin or anything else, and eating more than 30 g of carbs at one time sent my bg through the roof. The total recommended carbs to "treat my diabetes" was 135 g a day. I'd been eating less than 120 g a day for several years. She told me that wasn't healthy.

The second one gave me a 1250 calorie diet so that I could "lose weight." I was under orders from my PCP to try to gain weight because I was underweight at the time. No matter how many times I said this to her, she just didn't hear it. Total daily carbs on the meal plan: 200 g. It also had meat choices for every meal even though I'm a vegetarian. She told me that wasn't healthy.

The third one was required for my pump training. I brought in a log of what I eat, which I had anyway, and she hadn't heard of any of it ("What's a crumpet?"). She at least admitted she couldn't help me, but still gave me a "weight loss" diet plan. One could get a complex!

I've heard that there are helpful dieticians out there, but I don't know how to find them.