Hi Hope,
Thanks for that! I feel reassured. I think this might be somewhat of a long story too - hope that is OK.

I have had some gallstone attacks and they are not pleasant (but to tell the truth, the WORST attacks only happened during the time my doctor put me on HRT.) Everytime I had a horrendous attack (I did not know at that time what it was) it would affect my pancreas. I used to report back to her about it, and she never offered any explanation, advice or treatment, nor did she take me off the HRT. (I only came off it because I never found a HRT pill that would suit me; they all gave me big problems.)

Meanwhile, I developed high blood pressure, so high that I was having palpitations. Then she put me on a diuretic pill. Well, I did not find out until too late, much too late that this pill is known to deplete all the potassium and magnesium from your body, thus causing high blood pressure and, guess what, diabetes. The doctor is supposed to tell you to take potassium supplements. She did not. My blood pressure continued to rise, so I was urged to keep taking the tablets.

(My BP did not come down again until I stopped taking those pills - my own decision. I just refused to take any more and within a month my BP was back to something like normal.)

Anyway, during that time I had classic diabetes symptoms for years, constant tiredness, going to the loo etc, but not once did she check my blood sugar or change the medication. Finally when I got critical and the symptoms were too bad to ignore and I was about ready to kill somebody for the sake of a juice drink (really obsessive!! Craving) I did some research for myself on the Internet and lo and behold I discovered the facts.

I did a stick test that very day and my blood levels were off the scale. So I went to the surgery. My doctor was on holiday for three weeks so I had to see a young new doctor. They don't like you to know much about your condition so the fact I was telling them to check for diabetes did not go down well, and ever since they have put "self-diagnosed" on my records and refer to me as somebody who must be under suspicion. Because I found out some things they didn't know.

In the meanwhile that doctor removed me from her list and I was placed on the list of a new doctor. He changed my BP tablets and was more sympathetic to my symptoms. But I was now into the whole diabetic treadmill with constant tests, clinics and so forth. Although the levels rapidly came down as soon as I stopped taking those pills, and have stayed near normal ever since, I'm still on their lists. This is perhaps a good thing in fact as at least I can monitor what is going on, and I get free eyes tests once a year for glaucoma etc.

The more I read about low-carb, the more I think the advice I've been given is wrong. They are well-meaning but depend too much on Government guidelines which we all know are "low-fat/high-carb". They seem to worship the Chinese and Asian diets as if they contain some kind of dietary magic that will cure Western ills. It's going to be interesting telling my current doctor about Atkins! (IF I do. I might just wait until I have lost weight and my blood sugar comes down, and then tell him!)

Tricia