I don't have an answer to your question ray, but am looking forward to hearing from others. I LOVE Thai food, but have been afraid to have some since diagnosed.

I've read this forum for over a year now but have never posted. I am classified as pre-diabetic (if there truly is such a category). Anyway, I'm here and have been learning.

I think I got the idea from this site, but there are asian noodles called Miracle Noodles that have little to no carbs. I ordered some but haven't gotten them yet. I'll let you know how they are. I hope I'm pleasantly surprised. :)

I also found that Birds Eye sells a very large bag of Thai frozen vegetables that comes with a flavor packet that can be added to the veggies. The carb count, even with the sauce, really doesn't seem to be bad at all and it has really a good Thai flavoring. I'm hoping the Miracle Noodles will be good with it.

Other than that, I too have deprived myself of these types of foods in restaurants because of not knowing anything about the carbs involved.

I think it's going to depend a lot on the ingredients of the dish. Cornstarch is a common thickener used in many dishes and cornstarch has carbs. Also, does the dish have any sugar in it? Dishes like Mongolian beef and orange chicken and beef have sugar in them. Are there many starchy vegetables in the dish? If the protein is fried it will most likely be fried in tempura batter or cornstarch batter or a flour batter, all of which are starches/carbs.
I don't know what if any affect MSG might have on blood sugar.
That said, I think a Thai or Chinese meal is fine in moderation. If you can make it at home it's even better because then you can control what goes into the dish.

As to going off the meds. I think it's really dependent on your level of control. I was diagnosed and placed on 2 meds, Metformin and Byetta. Just this week I was taken off the Metformin by my doctor because A) I am keeping a good control on my numbers, and B) I also have a kidney disease and Metformin can further compromise kidney's that don't function at 100%. I am watching my numbers closely over the weekend. If they start to go up again my doctor wants me to call him and he'll increase the Byetta.
Once you have Diabetes you will always have Diabetes. You can reach a point where you have great control and perhaps won't need meds, but you will always be a diabetic and will need to watch what you eat.
Hope this helps.

I eat chinese once in a while, I tend to stay away from the rice. Many of the chinese places use a rice that is heavy with carbs, I think called jasmine rice. I will take about 2 tablespoons if I am eating the shrimp and lobster sauce. They do tend to add more ingredients that have higher carb contents, etc, especially the fried items...Do stay with the veggie dishes, like brocoli and chicken, etc. when trying something you are not sure of, go ahead and make sure you stick with portion/small amounts and test 2 hours to see how you react. Just a matter of finding the right combination and substitution to safisfy your desire for chinese, thai and in the process you might discover different choices instead of your standards like I use to do - shrimp and lobster sause, sweet and sour chicken lol

Ray everyone is different and the only way that you can find out if you can eat something it to eat it a couple of times and do tests.

I know some diabetic friends who can't even look at a potato - yet I can eat some and I am fine....... I can also eat rice - have not eaten chinese food out in a long time so can't be sure about that.

But one thing might be to try the small serves and then test to see if your levels go up too much. If not then you can eat some and enjoy it. If they go up then maybe try something else on the menu or another chinese restaurant.

Phedrick the same would go for the thai food.
Trial and error. One or two high readings (if that does happen) should not be a big problem - and if you really enjoy it I would go try it.

to say we are never going to eat something ever again is unrealistic. I will eat chinese food, thai food, french fries, cake, ice cream...there is nothing that I will never eat again... what I am changing is how often, how much, and what I will do to counter it. I will test my blood 2 hours later like a good girl, see the effect and go work out if I need to...I will eat clean the following day to make sure my levels are good. I know myself to well, that if anything is a "never again" it won't be a lifetime change.