Hi @A DiabetesTeam Member,
Good morning from South Jersey. I personally do 15-20 carbs per day, 5-8 carbs per meal, when I am maximizing my carb loading while eating to my meter. 5-8 carbs per day is what I did for the 1st 3.5 months after diagnosis. My A1C dropped from 13.5 to 4.9 in 3.5 months.

If you want to read some useful information from the right perspective and guidelines, go to the Diabetes UK site. Their information is pretty good and tells you what you need to do to take control of your diabetes journey.

If you read the articles here on this site, they can help you understand more about your diabetes journey.

Another good site for your education is Diabetes from WebMD.

All that being said. Welcome aboard and into our family. Love you. Praying for you. Want only the best for you. That's what family does. How can we help and support you. I wish for you more good days than bad and have many exceptional days too.

Take it slow. Baby steps. Start with one and keep doing it daily. When you are ready do another and keep doing it every day. Soon you are on your way.

1) Cut out all added sugars in food and drink.

2) Cut back carbs, especially cut white carbs.
White flour products.
White potatoes.
White rice.
White pasta.

3) Cut all carbs to a serving per meal. Did you know that a serving of carbs, is 15 carbs. 15 net carbs is:
I slice bread.
1/3 cup potatoes.
1/3 cup pasta.
1/3 cup rice.
1/2 cup beans.

A serving of broccoli is 3 net carbs.
A serving of cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, bok choi, Chinese cabbage and other cruciferous vegetables is in the 2-3 net carb range per serving.
A serving of greens is 1 net carb.
2 eggs is 1 net carb.
Half an avocado is 1 net carb.
7-10 almonds or the equivalent in other nuts is 1-2 net carbs.
6 blueberries, or 4 raspberries, or 2 blackberries is in the 1-2 net carb range.

4) Portion control. I plate all my food on a 7 inch plate before eating.

Does this primer help you.

5) Most type 2 diabetics can handle 100-130 net carbs spread equitable throughout 3-5 meals and 1-2 snacks daily.
Some can only tolerate 80 daily.
Some only 50 daily.
Some only 30 daily.
And then there is me at 15-20 daily. 5-8 net carbs per meal.

I eat to my meter, my blood glucose numbers spreadsheet, and my food journal. They tell me what foods I can eat somewhat freely, what foods I must limit, and what foods I must almost totally avoid.

A good morning fasting blood glucose number is below 7.0(126).
A good 2 hour number is below 7 8(139). This will prevent further vascular damage and progression of diabetic complications and comorbidities.

Another number to note is the hypo range, approaching or below 3.9(70). A severe hypo can cause disorientation, coma,and death. I avoid hypos at all costs.

Good luck. Baby steps.
Never give up, never surrender, never ever.
You got this.
Have a wonderful day.

Mentioned Users

A Diabete...

@A DiabetesTeam Member When you are newly diagnosed you tend to be impatient - that's normal. We want to "fix this" or at least get control as soon as possible, that's human nature.

But with Diabetes, which is a metabolic disorder, it doesn't work like that.

It took years to mess up your metabolism enough to develop diabetes, it is going to take some time (and experimentation on both behalf of you and your Doctor) to figure out how to get it working properly or at least as well as it can in a compromised condition.

Your fasting numbers are the result of sugar being produced, stored and released by your own body. It is a very complex process that involves the Pancreas, Liver and a basket full of hormones. It can take a year or more to get them all sorted out and working more like they should.

Metformin is part of the equation. It has "one job" - it tries to regulate how much sugar the Liver releases but not how much it stores and does nothing to deal with the hormones that "tell it" when to release sugar.

So simply one piece of the puzzle in normalizing your morning numbers.

Some of the other factors that effect your morning numbers - eating better, eating lower carb, losing weight if you need to (getting your BMI below 25 if it is above will do more to control your blood sugar than any medication you can take). Getting more active with "dedicated" exercise at least 20 minutes a day (even for people that work on their feet all day - as Type 2's we need "extra/above and beyond" because whatever we were doing wasn't enough or we would not have developed diabetes) - that will cause the muscles to burn more sugar and help to regulate those hormones that keep asking for "more sugar".

Patience and work on the part of both You and Your Doc - you both have your part to do.

If you max out on metformin (4 tabs a day) and despite your best efforts to do what you can - if that is still not enough then the next step (at least to deal with high morning numbers) would be to introduce a night time insulin - that is generally motivation enough to do what you can first - but that is always an option.

However, the Doc will try different techniques over the next YEAR or TWO before they would ever consider that as an option.

Think of a Diabetes Diagnosis the same as Eating an Elephant - you are going to have to cut both up into very small pieces and digest it very slowly.

Try to relax, learn slowly what you need to do. Make one small change at a time and eventually you will get there. This is a Lifelong Endeavour now, not something you are going to get a grip on immediately.

Mentioned Users

A Diabete...

Hi. # 1 do not beat up on yourself! #2 make gradual changes. # 3 exercise is so vital. If you have not been start small
If you do too much you’ll be sore and not want to continue or worse injure yourself. #4 sometimes its hard to put your needs first but you need to be your first priority!

Graham understands the biology so he really can make it understandable . Read his posts a couple of times!