You will see that there is now an extra note of caution at the beginning of each new post. Please take the time to read it.

Yes, I spotted that!

It’s always best to check with a medical professional if in any doubt. Even if people here are giving accurate advice, as generally seems to be the case, they won’t have carried out an examination, or know all our history.

Yes, it was in response to my concerns about a number of posts giving pretty bad advice but they say they cannot police it or they would have to read every post and sanction it. Also, they are a tech team and do not have any medical training. I just thought people should be careful both about medical type advise and / or what they listen to. Not all advice is good advice and even the good stuff may not suit everyone. I would suggest everyone fills in the profile page with brief details particularly about any medical problems. It doesn’t have to be indepth just a couple of lines. Even a note saying e.g. no medical problems, want to lose weight, problems with T2 or whatever, it is so helpful. When I answer someone’s question that is the first thing I look at.

I was having trouble putting anything in my profile, but I’ve just managed it.

I have to be honest and say I feel a bit ambivalent about this notice appearing. On the one hand I understand we’re none of us medically qualified (I’m not) or, if we are, we are not on here as medically qualified staff. We shouldn’t be diagnosing anything. But, I have health-related symptoms and concerns i.e. Type II diabetes. I have been to my GP and practice team and they have pretty consistently given me wrong advice about how to manage my diabetes to get my bgls and insulin down.

When I first posted on here I got some great advice to give the BSD a go before I took the prescribed Metformin. That was one of the best pieces of advice I’ve been given by anyone, medically qualified or not. This is not a criticism more an observation. I guess I think its just a tricky balance…

sunshine-girl – yes, that’s a good suggestion about completing the profile – I’ll do that.

I’m an adult capable of making my own decisions, including whether or not to fill in my profile.
Up until now the mods have respected our personal freedoms and capacity to make choices. I’m sorry they felt forced to add that warning; I believe we are all intelligent people capable of differentiating between professional advice and peer group support.
I won’t comment any further.
Maggie

It’s probably a legal thing – so people can’t sue if they follow advice given on here.

I agree Marie123 and it think i was one of the people who told you not to start the meds. This is a case in point you had been recently diagnosed and had not started the meds, the advice given was based on a diabetics experience of diabetes and the medications we take. It will have also included that you tell you doctor you wanted 3 months to try to use dietary control, which is perfectly sound. If you had said you had been on Metformin for say 2 years you would have got different advice i.e. watch your numbers, reduce slowly, speak to your doctor.

I do hope this doesn’t discourage people from giving advice, just to be thoughtful about what we say. When I first started here more than 2 years ago most of the contributors were diabetics or pre-diabetic. We seemed to be very careful not to tell people, for example, to stop taking meds and to always speak to their doctors. When we were asked a specific question we would only give the benefit of our own experiences of being diabetics ourselves, so explain what happens when you are on this diet i.e. blood sugar coming down, recognising the symptoms of hypoglycaemia and to take care and so on but not give actual medical advice. Now there is such a diverse range of people following the plan in one form or another and that is great but to be aware that what is good advice for one person might not suit another. I would never answer a question for someone with depression or polycystic ovaries or eczema – I leave that to those who have experience of these things. I guess it is just being aware that there are some very serious medical problems being dealt with here.

It is such a fine balance. This is now predominantly a diet site and that should be the advice talked about. However, there will still be diabetics coming on wanting specific information and we still need to be able to do that for each other. I guess the responsibility still lies with the site administration and the disclaimer was really no more than that, relinquishing responsibility. I asked if there was someone who could intervene on the medical side of things but they say not.

I can see it would be very difficult to monitor it. They’d either have people reading posts 24 hours a day, which would be very expensive, especially as they’d need to be medical experts, or to hold back every post until it had been checked, which wouldn’t be very user friendly, and would still be quite expensive as the checking would take some time and again would need to be done by a medical professional.

I agree Squidge. The entire process could quickly become unwieldy, and change the spirit of sharing our experiences
and building friendships. Perhaps the legal concerns are centered around the fact that many newcomers specifically
ask for advice, and some of that is medical?
When I came aboard a year ago, and became a daily and sometimes “mad” poster, I read back through a year of
previous posts because I was so enthusiastic about the site. I don’t recognize any particular changes in the composition
of the group, other than the community has grown in numbers. Californiagirl recently sited some research that suggested
that insulin resistance can be taking place 10-15 years before it reflects itself in pre-diabetic or T2 readings on a blood
test. That supports my belief that the road to insulin resistance (and weight gain) and eventually T2 is all part of a
continuum anyway, and why this support group is equally valid for all that have one or both of these problems.
Wishing everyone a good day! Sun shining in my backyard! xxx

Allie

Maggie I have to diapsagree with you …… “ I believe we are all intelligent people differentiating between medical advice and peer group support”. I wish that were true but after being part of these forums for in excess of two years believe me not all people can differentiate. I can see no harm in this warning especially for those people who take on board everything they read as ‘gospel’. In saying that I’m not sure the warning it will make much difference. Thank you sunshine-girl for bringing this problem to the attention of the moderators.

Well V, it was not what I expected them to do. I did ask for some medical advice to be poised to jump in if any of us said the wrong thing. I particularly remember someone telling a diabetic that it was okay to exercise before breakfast on an empty stomach and what to do if they felt ill which was to just work through it and the fat burning would kick in and they would work their way through it. My response, was yes, and when you come round and find yourself in hospital you will know you have had a hypoglycaemic incident. The person giving the advice came back and said ‘I didn’t know they were diabetic’. Which is where the profiles come in. If you dont have any medical problems then feel free not to fill it in. If you have problems it is a safeguard. And, if you are answering a question check on the persons profile first before giving dangerous, life threatening advice. Do you think that some people dont know that diabetes is a killer.

Alliecat, writing about something you have read is not giving medical advice. The point is when someone asks a specific question, like my example above, and someone ploughs in with something totally wrong for that person. I am disappointed that they cannot provide us with someone like a diabetic nurse or someone on staff with medical knowledge who can say, hang on a minute, that’s not quite right. However, the difficulty is that none of us would be here because most of us get told utter rubbish by our doctors so hey, I give up.

I think the biggest problem with these sites is, as you have said s-g, it’s now a ‘diet’ site and no longer a Blood Sugar Diet site. Whilst everyone who wants/needs to lose weight and improve their health can benefit from this WOE, advice is often given without knowledge of specific medical problems. I guess this is an ongoing problem with many forums. Maybe rather than asking the moderators to step in it would be better to suggest that no ‘advice’ is given unless it comes from ‘medical knowledge’ not just ‘reading’. I think if people do fill in a profile and others read them before giving ‘advice’ if would help improve the forums generally.

Hi again, my friends! I think something we have learned today is that neither MMosley or any of his team of professionals
have any role in monitoring this site. I’m not in the least bothered by the new cautionary advice at the top of each page,
and I plan to continue presenting my experience as antecdotal, and specific to me…I respect all opinion here, and I
take in all additional data with an open mind and an open heart. People use these forums in all manner of ways, i.e.,
some arrive to ask questions and then disappear…others of us have reached our goals and have gone far beyond
them, and remain active to share the miracle of this WOL. I believe we recognize the difference, and the generosity
of spirit that prevails here. Previous posters who are no longer with us have shone us the way, and I’m deeply
grateful to them for showing us how it is done 🙂

Allie

Verano, feel free to disagree. The example s-g gave was of someone offering thoughtless advice on a diabetic exercising fasted which she quickly corrected. No harm done.
She faulted me for saying that 2 – 3 litres of water should be drunk a day; she said that was a potentially lethal amount. I couldn’t immediately source the advice so apologized for offering bad advice; when I sourced the correct advice by MM and posted it she didn’t have the courtesy to acknowledge it.
On another occasion when I recommended the standard Himalayan salt she said specifically not to use it. Another was an issue about dermal absorption which she denied was possible; on three occasions within a matter of days she told me I was wrong I didn’t argue with her, I thought it best to ignore her and carry on helping people as I was trying to do.
So why am I here trying to help people? Well, I’ve got metabolic syndrome but not diabetes. I’d say I’m ill. not just on a diet.
My father had diabetes and died as a consequence of an infection after his leg was amputated which was pretty grim. My mother never got over it.
My husband died two years ago of sepsis following osteomyelitis after two toes were amputated. I’ll leave you to imagine how terrible that was for our daughters and me. I won’t say more.
I think my credentials for being a member of this community are as valid as anyone’s.
I resent her saying that people without diabetes are ‘just on a diet ‘.
I’m not going to behave like her and throw a wobbly. I’ll finish the weekly challenge and then see how I feel. I know she’s been around for a long time so obviously there’s loyalty and I respect that, but conflict isn’t good for the community and I want what’s best for everyone long term.
I think that having taken the position that everyone should complete their profile she should do the same and let everyone know what her record of success has been on the BSD.
Sorry if this is awkward reading but I’ve been put in an impossible situation.
Maggie

Maggie, do you mind if I speak to you from my heart, like a kindred spirit? You have burst onto these forums with
so much experience and knowledge to share. It’s utterly remarkable to me that you haven’t been with us for a lot
longer than 10 weeks. I would be seriously crestfallen if you felt that you needed to rethink your participation here.
Like all families, we are sometimes a bit dysfunctional, but we all mean well. I completely understand your feelings
about the perception that you’ve been singled out. I’ve been on the receiving end of some very aggressive and
negative personal posts ( 6 since Dec., but who’s counting? 🙂 ) In each and every case, they were proffered by either
newbies or lurkers who didn’t understand that we are a family here, and this sort of behavior was unacceptable to
the community. Perhaps we all have felt this way at one time or another…I’m just asking you to try and leave this
incident behind you? The written word alone always has drawbacks. You have a strong, clear voice that is a great
asset to the community, and I would hate not being able to hear it 🙂 I’m sure that friends here understand that
none of my remarks are personal in nature, and that we all express ourselves differently. Have a good evening
Maggie, and take a afresh look at your feelings in the morning, please?

Allie

I must admit that I haven’t noticed a change in the composition of the group either. There have always been members who are losing weight because they recognise that they are well on the way to developing diabetes. I have learnt so much from these posters. An awful lot actually, and it has been so helpful following their weight loss journey and I am sure that I wouldn’t be free from insulin and meds now if they were not on the site.

I think the blood sugar diet is all about conquering insulin resistance and losing enough weight to enable our liver and pancreas to work effectively. It is actually a diet – even though we all have to adopt it for the rest of our lives or the diabetes will again rear its ugly head and the weight will go back on.

So it is wonderful that I can learn from members who have diabetes and take meds and insulin, but I can also learn from members who have diabetes and don’t take meds and also from members who don’t have diabetes yet but have gained weight following a diet that puts them at risk of developing diabetes.

I think that what I love most about the site is that people give freely of their time. I just love the integrity, honesty and kindness of posters on this site and hopefully – long may it continue.

Maggie – I agree with absolutely everything you have said. I tried to post something similar but gave up because it was no-where as good as your post and I just tied myself up in knots. You are a great asset to this community and I always read your posts with great interest and what you say in your posts has been really helpful to me in my endeavour to kick this insulin resistance into touch.

Maggie. No. No and No. Please my post was in no way a criticism of you. I just wanted to point out that after seeing so many posts over so many years that not everybody is able to ‘differentiate ‘ . Some people do take what is written here as ‘gospel’ and it is just for that reason peope have to be careful in what they post when they aren’t aware of a persons medical state. That is not aimed at you personally just a general statement.

Having been a victim of sepsis myself, spending four months in hospital and a further eighteen months having further surgery and recovering I’m still left with a life changing mobility issue so I can only sympathise with you. I was lucky. I cannot imagine how your and your children’s lives have changed. It is a terrible disease.

Please don’t feel that people without diabetes are deemed ‘less worthy’ to follow this wonderful way of eating because that is just not the case. I think that because this is the Blood Sugar Diet and originally aimed at people with diabetes , that sometimes those of us who do have T2, feel that diabetes is no longer the main focus of the forums.

I think it would be a great pity if you stop contributing to the threads here. You have added a great deal and the more opinions the better. I think we just have to be aware that offering advice sometimes needs to be tempered.

Your situation is not impossible we can all ‘live’ together and keep contributing to this excellent,friendly and informative site. I for one would be sad to see you leave us.

Fully agree with you Maggie on all counts…

Finding it very insulting to refer to those of us without a diabetes diagnosis as “just being on a diet”.

Maggie, may I add my thoughts, please? I am extremely new here, just coming up to six weeks, but in that time I have seen you give superb answers to people. The way you have handled questions and concerns on the weekly challenge, has been wonderful to read. Your posts have helped me personally in my journey, and I have been in awe of the way you respond to queries, and they way you reassure people and talk such sense and wisdom to see them through the difficult times.

You have a calm, and kind manner of expression, which is an invaluable asset to this forum. You add a great deal of value to this community and I hope you stay around. I would love to see you care for the weekly challenge again.

Elle

Ten thumbs up, Elle. I wish I could find that emoticon 🙂

Maggie – I hope you stay on here. I like your energy, drive, your finding things out and your anger at big pharma.

Verano – I disagree. I believe that we all have the intelligence to evaluate what we are being told.

Californiagirl posted not long ago how we’re all dealing with big issues on here – I couldn’t agree more – we all are, whatever brought us onto the Forum.

Maggie Please do stay. I really appreciate your view of the world and your advice – I can hardly believe that you have “only” been here for 10 weeks. Hopefully the air has cleared and we can all take a deep breath.

Although I have never named anyone, someone recognises themselves as the one giving out bad advice and has got rather upset about it. As for me not having a profile, all you have to do is click on my name to find it, it has been there since June 2016 and my record of success both as a diet and in improving my diabetic status is well documented over the last 2 years. To quote directly from my previous post here is what I said about drinking water this was posted by me on 11th July on the weekly thread for 10th to 17th July “Page 135 of The 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet says we should drink between 2 and 3 litres of non calorie liquids, water, tea or coffee without milk”. So it appears someone else is taking the credit for saying that. I am also being misquoted on the Himalayan salt subject as it was not even that person I gave the advice to, the salt is good but my warning was to watch out for fake dyed pink salt, so I am misquoted again. So no Verano, she was not having a go at you it is all aimed at me. I dont know why she has decided to troll me but hey ho c’est la vie. Anyway, V, do try to finish the course, it runs until the 5th Aug and is so well worth it or it is being run again in September.

S-g healthy disagreement is always good but sometimes things can get a bit heated. We all need to respect each other’s views and even if we don’t always agree, we can agree to disagree. These threads would be a lot poorer if some of the enthusiastic posters stopped posting. There is room for everyone here.
Yes, I will do my very best to finish the course as I definitely won’t be able to do it in September.

I’m sorry but this is bizarre.

Advising a stranger on the internet not to take medication prescribed to them by their doctor and in the same breath admonishing others for giving medical advice when it’s their place to do so?
I’ve no need to doubt your nursing background or experience on type 2 but surely you realise that there is no way check your qualifications either on an anonymous Internet forum.

Especially since apparently we can’t be trusted to choose which advise to pay attention to and need disclaimers to remind us that contact our doctors (who will most likely tell us to eat 5 meals a day and hand out an flyer from a pharma company) with any questions.

As a new person to all of this, I have learnt so much from this forum. I would hate to see anyone stop contributing. I think that in any group situation there will be disagreements (eg office politics!) but perhaps we could just move on from this without any casualties, and everyone can keep learning and progressing. That’s what I come to the forum for., and I hope it continues with all on board.