Hi Stewlyboy and sorry to have to meet you in here!
My finger prick level was 19 when I was first diagnosed some 9 years ago- went to see doc for thrush and she made me wee on a strip and told me I was diabetic in a very matter of fact way and actually was very rude about me and my lifestyle- not a good way to handle someone in shock😡
Anyway, she put me on 3x 500 Metformin right away and referred me to my saviour, their in house specialist nurse who gave me much more sympathy and helpful advice.
She advised me to do the obvious thing and watch my food intake -I have always been overweight and am a comfort food eater so my diabetes probably stems from that. I expect you will get more advice of the dos and don'ts once they sort out your diagnosis. In the meantime, please don't panic. I felt very down and shocked by the diagnosis although part of me was relieved to finally know why I felt so grotty a lot of the time.
I cut out all sweets, pastries, cakes etc - so basically anything with sugar in which is the normal reaction but learned to refine my diet as time went on. They and you will be keen to bring the sugar levels down of course as these can result in damage to your body over time, but you will be helped to achieve this by your team and hopefully the Metformin and some sensible eating will do this quite quickly. Then you will learn how to maintain the levels and generally improve your health with lifestyle changes and medication if needed, in the long term.
My advice for now would be to keep to a sensible balanced diet - the type which all of us should follow for a healthy lifestyle whether diabetic or not! Switch to wholemeal breads, cereals etc for a start if you can, cut out or reduce anything obviously sugary or fried and less obvious fatty and sugary things like biscuits and cakes, eat plenty of fresh vegetables if possible and have some fruit but not too much as they also contain sugar, albeit a better type than sweets! I do not drink anyway, so no booze was not a problem and I made sure I chose sugar free drinks - not fruit juices like orange as they are packed with sugar unfortunately.
I found that simple and sensible changes like this and keeping an eye on the sugar and fat content of any packages food, together with the Metformin, brought my sugars down quite quickly aver the few weeks after my diagnosis and then worked with my team to find a regime which suited me.
Good luck with the meds and the diagnosis and keep the questions coming!
