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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Diabetes / October 2005Doctor Bernstein's books
Is it worth buying a copy of one of Dr Bernstein's books and - if so - which one? Yolande > Is it worth buying a copy of one of Dr Bernstein's books and - if so - > which one? I found his Diabetes Solution book interesting, and well worh re-reading. His low-carb approach is too extreme for me, but his in-depth knowledge of diabetes is worth plumbing. I also own Gretchen Becker's Type 2 Diabetes; The First Year and the Eades' Protein Power - for their insights on metabolism. Nicky.  SignatureA1c 10.5/5.6/<6 T2 DX 05/2004 1g Metformin, 100ug Thyroxine 95/74/72Kg >> Is it worth buying a copy of one of Dr Bernstein's books and - if so - >> which one? > >I found his Diabetes Solution book interesting, and well worh re-reading. >His low-carb approach is too extreme for me, but his in-depth knowledge of >diabetes is worth plumbing. I'll heartily second that, with the amendment that his low carb approach suits me down to the ground. SignatureMogget 26 weeks > 26 weeks Hey, Mogget - long time no see - how's it going? Nicky. SignatureA1c 10.5/5.6/<6 T2 DX 05/2004 1g Metformin, 100ug Thyroxine 95/74/72Kg >> 26 weeks > >Hey, Mogget - long time no see - how's it going? Hey Nicky. Yeah I haven't had much to say lately. I'm kinda fair to middling :-) I had a dose of pneumonia a few weeks back, about six weeks I think, which was just awful. I'm still recovering from that. Really I could do with spending a season convalescing but that just isn't going to happen. I'm still so wiped out that I can't do much & poor Mr Mogget is having to do most of the night shifts looking after my little two and a half year old whirlwind, but I'm still knackered just looking after her during the day. Diabetes-wise it's pretty awful. Blood sugar control has gone tits up. I was trying so hard to keep it diet-controlled this time, but I can't, with the expected result that the hospital put me on insulin. Unfortunately it has exactly the same effect as it did last time - it makes my blood sugars go UP. So I'm not shooting any more, blood sugars are bad (though less bad than they were when I was shooting) and I'm dreading the next visit to the hospital - my refusal to shoot just makes me look like I'm non-compliant, when in fact I'm managing things as best I can. I did go completely off the rails while I had the pneumonia. I was so desperate for relief from the pain of the coughing that I would eat a whole tub of ice cream at a go to try cool my throat. Blood sugars be buggered; at the time I was more in danger of ripping my own lungs out. So my next A1c is bound to be bad. I had a growth scan @ 21 weeks and all looked good there. Don't know whether it's a boy or girl, but whatever it is it has long legs! Otherwise all measurements are quite normal. I'll have another @ 30 weeks, and I'm dreading that. If the growth scans show that the baby is growing big, I'll be under even more pressure to do it Their Way. So all things considered I'm feeling pretty glum. Oh yeah, and the routine blood tests they keep doing when you're pregnant, they always come back showing an underactive thyroid, which they always dismiss out of hand "oh that's normal for pregnancy". Well it may be normal, but feeling this ill isn't, but apparently that doesn't count. Why do they bother testing, if they don't care what the results are? How about you? SignatureMogget > So all things considered I'm feeling pretty glum. Oh yeah, and the > routine blood tests they keep doing when you're pregnant, they always come > back showing an underactive thyroid, which they always dismiss out of hand > "oh that's normal for pregnancy". Well it may be normal, but feeling this > ill isn't, but apparently that doesn't count. Why do they bother testing, > if they don't care what the results are? You are going through the mill at the moment. I would suggest that you are doing the right thing by rejoining in this group - I'm a new member but in the month since I joined they have helped to pull me out of a deep depression over my diabetes with their advice and humour. Yolande >>> 26 weeks >> >>Hey, Mogget - long time no see - how's it going? > > Hey Nicky. Yeah I haven't had much to say lately. I'm kinda fair to > middling :-) Good grief, woman - you sound in serious need of a cuddle! What a rotten time! Can you look forward to a better 3rd trimester, or did your daughter give you a hard time then? You want to come and live in Harwich for the rest of the pregnancy. I had one FBG at 12, which meant nothing to me at the time, and no further tests at all; they were cheering me on when my scans showed a big baby, they wanted to beat their vaginal delivery record of 13+lbs with us! I was very releived when she was "only" 10lbs 4oz... the point of which is, sprog has its own metabolic system by now that can cope somewhat with challenges. You just keep on keeping on as best you can. Don't let the bu&^*&^s keep ignoring that underactive thyroid, though. They might not want to pour thyroxine down the sprog's throat, but keep insisting on tests after the birth, and for some time afterwards. You need to be very sure that you're OK once the hormone swings have settled back down, I have a clear memory of how, um, exciting it can be with a 2.5yo and a newborn... In the meantime - {{{{{{{{{{Mogget}}}}}}}}} !!! Nicky. SignatureA1c 10.5/5.6/<6 T2 DX 05/2004 1g Metformin, 100ug Thyroxine 95/74/72Kg > I'll heartily second that, with the amendment that his low carb approach > suits me down to the ground. Thanks Mogget. (Is that 26 weeks to the end of the world - or what?). I;ve been doing a modified Atkins approach - more green veg and less fat - and have come down from 13.4 to 12.2 with absolutely no effort - can't believe it. There's a new Atkins cookbook called "Dr Atkins Quick & Easy New Diet" and the savoury recipes are really quite good. Can't speak for the desserts and breads because I am not keen on either. Yolande >> I'll heartily second that, with the amendment that his low carb approach >> suits me down to the ground. > >Thanks Mogget. (Is that 26 weeks to the end of the world - or what?). Heh. Bloody feels like it. Though it would be 14 weeks in that case, because it referred to being 26 weeks pregnant. > I;ve >been doing a modified Atkins approach - more green veg and less fat - and >have come down from 13.4 to 12.2 with absolutely no effort - can't believe >it. Clue me in - are you talking weight here, or A1c, or something else? Whatever, congrats, and keep it up :-) > There's a new Atkins cookbook called "Dr Atkins Quick & Easy New Diet" >and the savoury recipes are really quite good. Can't speak for the desserts >and breads because I am not keen on either. Ta. I might look out for that. I am getting soooooo bored with my normal fare that it's not funny. SignatureMogget > Heh. Bloody feels like it. Though it would be 14 weeks in that case, > because it referred to being 26 weeks pregnant. Congrats. Long time since I was pregnant but I remember that it was the last week that was the longest. (My eldest is now 49). >> I;ve >>been doing a modified Atkins approach - more green veg and less fat - and >>have come down from 13.4 to 12.2 with absolutely no effort - can't believe >>it. > > Clue me in - are you talking weight here, or A1c, or something else? Thankfully I was talking weight in stones - if it had been the other I would be climbing up the wall. > Whatever, congrats, and keep it up :-) > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Ta. I might look out for that. I am getting soooooo bored with my normal > fare that it's not funny. Got mine from Amazon. It's not gourmet fare but it tastes good and is not too American orientated. Yolande > Is it worth buying a copy of one of Dr Bernstein's books and - if so - Bernstein's "solutions" book is a good read but you have to beware of which edition you are getting in England ( tend to be off loading older versions over here ). T2s are more impressed by his ideas than T1s it seems, mainly because Bernstein hammers home to T2s that their main concern is handling carbs. His own regime is eccentric but has worked for him ( hasn't eaten any fruit for 40 years ). It's a case of adapting his philosophy for yourself. His descriptions of the medical side of things ( on issues like gastroparesis etc ) is also clear and readable. But Bernstein has also changed his mind on important T2 topics - first edition dead against medication of any kind for t2s, later editions metformin is the best thing since sliced bread and now I understand that he is recommending other meds as well. Overall a T2 should read the "solutions" book as long as you can put what he has to say into perspective. > But Bernstein has also changed his mind on important T2 topics - first > edition dead against medication of any kind for t2s, later editions > metformin is the best thing since sliced bread Peter, Bernstein did NOT change his mind on the subject of drugs for T2! At the time his first book was published the only oral drugs available in the U.S. were all sulfonylureas, which Bernstein, quite rightly, warned might hasten beta cell burnout. By the time the second book came out, metformin and the glitazones had been approved in the U.S. market and been in use long enough that he was able to observe them in his work with patients. He recommends both. And his advice on how to use them is spot on. His book treats the reader as an intelligent person who can be trusted to want to know the details, unlike most diabetes books that oversimplify everything to the point of idiocy. He explains how things work and what he suggests you do, but with the information he gives you, you can work out your own program. I know that a lot of Type 1s don't like his insulin dosing ideas, and am not able to comment on that, being a type 2, but his advice to Type 2s has always been decades ahead of what we were hearing everywhere else and it works. I credit him with saving my health. (I picked up his first edition, quite literally, the day I was diagnosed.) The other thing I love about his book, is that every time I reread it, looking for information about some new facet of my diabetes, I find what I'm looking for. There's just so much IN this book. --Jenny http://www.geocities.com/lottadata4u/ Type 2 Diabetes info http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean/ Low Carb info >> But Bernstein has also changed his mind on important T2 topics - first >> edition dead against medication of any kind for t2s, later editions [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Bernstein did NOT change his mind on the subject of drugs for T2! Jenny we are in agreement in general on Bernstein - an excellent book in general. But here is some of your post on the matter on 17 July 2004 ... "There is a significant difference between the first edition of Bernstein and the second edition. In the first he was very anti any drug but insulin. In the new edition he encourages people with Type 2 to use the drugs that combat insulin resistance, particularly Avandia/Actos and Metformin. I put his ideas into practice 6 years ago when I was first diagnosed and found them extremely helpful.......However, I am not able to stay at the low carb levels he recommends for more than a couple months because I end up drained and exhausted." And also in the latest edition he champions ALA and EPO which you tried and found wanting. I just warned ant newbie picking up Bernstein to be sure of which edition they are reading becasue his ideas on meds for T2s are fluid and changing. If you go to a public library you are more likely to find an old edition that is anti-T2 medication. > Jenny we are in agreement in general on Bernstein - an excellent book in > general. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > the new edition he encourages people with Type 2 to use the drugs that > combat insulin resistance, particularly Avandia/Actos and Metformin. But Peter, this is conceptually the same as what I just posted. There were no drugs available in the US that combated insulin resistance at the time the first book came out. So yes, he was against any drug but insulin. Now that those drugs are available, he recommends them. In fact, if I recall correctly (I don't have a copy of the first edition) he mentioned in the first edition that metformin was going to be approved soon in the U.S. and if it were, because of it's long track record in Europe, it looked like it could be a very good drug for people with diabetes. So he is consistent. But I agree, if both books are circulating, you don't want the older one. It is not that his ideas have changed--he still believes sulfonylurea drugs are poison for diabetics. It is just that there are new drugs available which seem more helpful. --Jenny http://www.geocities.com/lottadata4u/ Type 2 Diabetes info http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean/ Low Carb info |
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