I finally went on the DESMOND course (Diabetes Education and Self Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed) and can recommend it for those who are struggling to understand how best to manage their diabetes. Some of the people there just needed encouragement to see there were simple things they could change in their diet or lifestyle that would help improve their condition.
I thought that it was useful to be able to compare all those numbers from your GP (blood pressure, blood glucose, weight, cholesterol (LDL & HDL) etc.) against the recommended norm and those of other real diabetics as a way of setting goals for things to improve. It also worked well that we had two group sessions to ask questions and discuss issues with an expert and each other.
Though the course is designed for those in their first year after diagnosis, there was one woman there who was diagnosed 3½ years previously but had done little about it apart from cutting out Coca-Cola and hadn't been advised about what else to do!
I'm now 10 months after diagnosis and though I'd read a fair amount about diabetes it was useful to have the medical side explained simply (such as what beta cells do) and I think the course was worth the effort.
My numbers have gradually improved over the year (mainly due to losing weight) and today I found out that my Metformin dose has been halved (to 500mg/day). The only key number that I'm worrying about is my low HDL (though my total cholesterol is very good), I'll just have to try eating more fish...
