Diabetes 2. Where do I start?

It's a bummer when first diagnosed, but easy and simple management hopefully will make things easy for you. Once you come to terms with having the disease and get into a routine, it does become easier to live with. 

The first of the three things is to listen to your doctor and not the "guidance" from sites such as this.

Secondly don't become paranoid about eating,but cut out the obvious problem foods and those that cause you spike problems - trial and error but you will identify them.

Finally, be prepared for possible side effects from whatever medication is prescribed and if the effects are troublesome, speak to your doctor and have them changed to alterntives that will probably be avaialble.

It isn't a death sentence that you have been given and you can live with the T2 without it impacting too heavily. One "benefit" is that you hopefully will be requred to have an annual inspection at the doc's that you possibly would never have had, so you can stay on top of this and any other health event that you may not be aware of.

Hope it goes well for you.

I have just had a review today and my metformin dose has been halved so you can recover from this but it doesn't seem to be a quick fix very often.  I have taken supplements of chromium, Vitamin B complex, cinnamon, turmeric and magnesium but don't overdo it.  I also follow a low GI (glycaemic index ) diet which is easy to find out about as now there are loads of books.  I have recently found the brilliant idea of making (really easy and the bought varieties are awful) cauliflower couscous which does not actually taste of cauli! And replaces rice, pasta and couscous.  You can even make pizza base from it.  Also just found coconut flour and it makes delicious sugar free, high fibre, low carb muffins.  Good luck.

Hi TitL7, I help my mother manage her typeII diabetes. 

Im very fortunate that I have a neighbor who was always telling me about counting carbs and glycemic indexes. So I had an idea what I was dealing with. I read a lot and found some helpful herbs and supplements as well.

My mother was initially insulin dependent after diabetic ketoacidosis, and was completely dependent on me for her meals so she couldn't cheat on her diet. Also, I was very motivated, as the meds and insulin are extremely expensive, and have their own side effects. Plus it was heartbreaking to know that I'd constantly have to poke her to both check and inject every time she eats and more.

Rather than spend a bunch of time counting carbs, I made it simple. I initially limited her to one slice of bread a day and one fruit, divided into two meals. So, maybe a half a piece of fruit with breakfast, and the other half with dinner, a piece of bread makes a nice open faced sandwich at lunch. Lots of green vegetables, eggs, meat, low fat yogurt and cheeses. I avoided starchy vegetables like potatoes, and even carrots, for the first three months. She was also glutenfree, as the gluten tends to cause a bunch of other problems if your immune system already is triggered. Also, she has no processed foods in her diet, other than the occasional cookie and frequent ice cream.

It took about three months on this extremely strict diet, that could be called a glutenfree, modified paleo diet. During that time, I transitioned her from the insulin to oral meds. And I tried some herbal supplements along with the oral meds. I used citrus bergamot with berberine initially, and had white kidney bean extract as a back up, as I was slowly introducing carbs back into her diet. 

My my mother is elderly and nearly was brought back to life after the diabetic ketoacidosis, so had to relearn everything, and has had an extremely difficult time in her elderly state. It's been nearly a year, and she has been able to enjoy limited treats 

Without a diabetic event. She doesn't tend to overeat, so limiting sweets has been easy. She loves ice cream, which is much better than cake or cookies, as is is more slowly digested. So she now has ice cream often. Though I still stay with unsweetened yogurt and add fresh fruit and honey for her sweet tooth. If she accidentally eats too many carbs all at once, like pancakes with honey and fruit for breakfast instead of eggs, I give her a capsule of white kidney bean extract to slow down the carb absorption, just in case.

Well, that's how I did it. Hope it helps!

Good luck- you can do it!