Welcome to the Board.

Welcome.
It has been very helpful for me to be on this board. It's a bit slow moving, so be patient. The oldies but goodies have given me tons of advice and lots of support.
I found counting carbs (30-45 for meals and 15-18 for snacks) to work best for me whereas my mom found portion control only works for her. I found out white flour, rice, white potatoes (and popcorn) make my numbers shoot up....stay up....and they make me feel ill.....so I avoid them altogether. You do what works best for you.....it's trial and error.
I also found that exercise is important in keeping the numbers under control in conjunction with counting carbs.
I took control right away after my October diagnosis of type 2 and have it under control 4 months in.....lost around 60 or 70 pounds, my numbers are great, and my blood pressure is great now.

I wish you the best and hope to see you around the boards :)

welcome to our world, yes it is a bit slow but us regulars will be here. MsBlank gave you the right info.

Do know you are not text book, in other words just because the doctors say this or that and you will be fine does not mean you will. We all react differently and you will need to take control of your self, for if you don't all the meds in the world will not help you. There is no such thing as a 'diabetic diet', it is a healthy diet - no fried, etc. and of course daily/regular exercise. (and no miracle cure so watch all the "take this or that" and you will control your numbers or reverse your diabetes. You don't get rid of it, you control it. It won't go away

ask all the questions you have, ask again if you don't understand (and your A1C is not that bad, 7.4 many have so much higher, I once had in the 18 and you don't want to ever deal with that.) Take it steady, don't go all gung ho and try to lower too low since that isn't good for you either.

And when you feel frustrated, depressed, etc, come see us and better yet find the nearest mirror and tell that person looking back "I can do this, I will do this, for myself and family.

Welcome. You definitely have hit the jackpot in having found this site. Experienced and caring folks are all over this board. Feel free to ask questions. That's where your support really begins!! Also, read prior posts. Take care.

I was diagnosed in November of 2013 so have been dealing with this only for 4 months, but I agree with what everyone here has said so far. I cannot tell you how different the advice has been to me from friends, relatives, books, dr. etc. Mzizgayle is abolutely right about the need for each of us to take control of our own lives and learn what works for us as individuals. I really liked a book called "Blood Sugar 101, What They Don't Tell you about Diabetes" by Jenny Ruhl. I still refer to it often as it explains what diabetes is, and answers a lot of the questions we all have. I started with an A1C of 11.3 and went down to 6.3 in three months without any meds, but I did a drastic change in my diet and upped my exercise. It is easy to feel totally discouraged on some days, but I try to take one day at a time and realize that unlike weight loss, this is not a goal that I am rushing toward but rather a day-to-day thing I have to deal with for the rest of my life. I have found people here to be very supportive and hope you will too.

My experience has been similar to Laura's. After a year of eating way to much ice cream, my A1C # shot up to 6.9. Until then, I did not know what an A1C # was or what it represented. All I knew was that it was consistent with the diagnosis of diabetes (which runs in my family).

I stopped eating ice cream, went on a low sugar/low carb diet and in 3 months my A1C # went down to 6.5. A year later (now) it is at 6.1 which is indicative a pre-diabetic. So - I got mine under control w/o meds - just by changing my diet and doing more exercise. I feel a lot better too.

Hi everyone, i was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in January 2014. I am on Metaforim once a day so far. I have no family history of it as far as i know. I have taken my classes, i have to make up one and finish my follow up class. I was the only new person there the rest of the folks had taken it three other times. I was stunned when the doctor told me, i was thinking that maybe she had gotten my test mixed up with another person. I am still in a state of overwhelmed. I need to accept this and move on but everything i eat doesn't seem to lower my BS,and i never eat three meals a day plus snacks, so i am finding it difficult on that issue.

Pattie,

I was not told how many meals/snacks I was to eat each day. I was told to write down what I am eating every day. I'm suppose to test 3 times a day, before breakfast, before and after any meal, and at bed time. Example: before and after breakfast and at bedtime, before breakfast and before and after lunch. Now I test more than that because I am learning what affects me or why I may feel off. I've been told to count carbs and to keep them to no more than 40 per meal, 20 per snack. My breakfast today was McDonald's at 125 carb grams, lg mocha frappe. I was bad but it didn't affect my numbers much and I did get out to walk today for a bit.

I am on Janumet XR 50mg/500mg, Farxiga and Bydurean. The Bydurean I'm told helps to protect the beta cells. The Farxiga causes me to eliminate the sugar from my system. My numbers were not really that bad, highest was under 180. Lately they have been between 85-125.

I am also losing weight which has helped. I want off the meds so I'm doing what is needed to make that happen.

Having diabetes has not upset me, I can live with diabetes. It is not a death sentence, it doesn't have to be one.

No it is not a death sentence and glad you realize this, it will help you with the right frame of mind when dealing with diabetes.

Basically 3 meals a day and then a snack of about 15 carbs between breakfast, lunch and maybe a snack of protein at night. You were told to test/monitor same I do, always morning and night and than just rotate the other. Sometimes I do more depending on my activity or day.

I have a question ,, My sugar levels at bed time are in the 90's , when I wake up in the morning it is 130 to 150 ,, why does that happen and how can I prevent it from happening ,, it scares Me

I noticed my night readings were low but my mornings were high. I'm told the pancreas dumps out insulin during the night. Still trying to understand it all myself. Anyway, I mentioned that my night numbers were low but mornings were high and was told it was what I ate the night before for dinner. I had too many carbs for dinner the night before. I also take one of my diabetes medication, Janumet XR at night.

I keep hearing about having a protein snack before bed. Might try that.

I was having low numbers in the morning finally then had to reduce the dose of the Janumet because I was having severe diarrhea with it. That has stopped but now I need to get the morning numbers down again.

Welcome to the board!!. This board has been great for me. I'm sure it will be for you as well.

Yeah the liver kicks our more insulin at night or early morning called the dawn effect. At any rate I agree try adjusting your carb intake at dinner and check your sugar before bedtime, this is what I do and this will tell you if youI need a snack or not. Everyone is different. Sometimes when I check mine its 95 and I take Humalog a quick acting insulin so I won't take any insulin but eat the snack because I don't want it too fall during the night. Its a lot of trial and error. Try writing down how many carbis and snacks you're eath throughout the day for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, etc. Hope this helps. You can do it!!!

basically your body is having a party and didn't invite you LOL..the dawn effect hits a lot of us and in the beginning it is harder to control, once you get it into control, then that could come down also. I am almost 18 years into this and I still have a day or two of high numbers in the morning, now I am not as concerned. if you constantly stay high, mention to the doctor and sometimes a snack at night of protein can help such as greek yogurt or even some peanut butter