Hi Sarah, Welcome . It's perfectly normal to feel numb/ shocked etc. At least now you know why you were feeling so rubbish. The great thing about Diabetes is that it is a condition that can be managed well
🙂.
What we eat and exersize also losing weight if you need to plays a huge part in controlling diabetes, you may or may not need to take medication.
Once you have lowered your BGs ( blood glucose) levels you will start to feel better in yourself
What we eat (diet) strange as it may sound is not so much about cutting out sugar. It's actually carbohydrates that our bodies can't handle too well, sugar is just another carb.
Try to cut down on potatoes , bread, pasta and rice , fruit juice is full of sugar as are grapes a lot of us need to be careful about fruit, many people tolerate berries better.
Just to give you ideas on some of the good stuff can we eat
If your a meat eater , meat is absolutely fine as are high meat content sausages and burgers.
Cheese, eggs , some types of nuts aren't high carbs , butter, cream, veg that grows above ground.
And yes the occasional treat is fine , life would be dead boring without them.
Take pen and paper with you tomorrow to take some notes.
One question that is important for you to ask is, to have a glucose meter so you can see how meals affect your BGs so you can make informed changes. Sadly it's more than likely that you will be told it's not necessary as the Hb1ac test is all that's needed or some very strange things like , it would only upset you.
If this is the case and you can afford to self fund the testing strips required then th SD Codefree is the cheapest one to self fund that we know of.
The test strips are around £7 for 50 where other high street brands are between £15 - 25
They are available from Amazon or directly from Home Health
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/
We use the mmol/L measurement in the Uk . Don't forget to claim vat exemption.
Their is lots of reading over on the pinned section of the Newbies introduce yourself forum
https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes.10406/
I given you a lot to think about for the time being. You'll have lots of questions so don't be afraid to ask , we are a friendly bunch and I hope you will soon feel comfy here.
