Metformin

Welcome to the community, ! A new diagnosis can be pretty overwhelming, especially if you are entirely unfamiliar with type 2 diabetes. has given you some great advice to help you get started. I wish you didn't have to wait until Jan. 23 to see a diabetes educator, but there is a lot you can learn from the members and resources here to help you get started. Here is a wonderful article from one of our health leaders with some tips for people who are newly diagnosed: https://type2diabetes.com/living/newly-diagnosed-checklist. I thought you might find it helpful.
Did your doctor tell you how often to test? If not, you might want to call or message your doctor's office to find out. Some people test before and after meals. Some test only after meals. Others test all of those times and every morning and every night. Here is another article you might find helpful: https://type2diabetes.com/living-with-t2d/home-blood-glucose-monitoring. It offers some guidelines on proper methods of testing.
One thing you can do immediately is work on changing your diet. An easy way to get started is the plate method. The plate method encourages people to fill half their plate at each meal with nonstarchy vegetables. That includes veggies such as green salad, broccoli, cucumbers, green beans, etc. You want to avoid veggies like carrots, potatoes and corn because they are higher in carbs. A quarter of the plate should be filled with lean protein, and the final quarter can be a starch or carb, like rice, potatoes or pasta. If you experiment with spices, you'll find that lower-carb meals can be super tasty. I love Indian, Thai and Mexican foods. All three cultures have lots of dishes that are super tasty and either low in carbs or easy to make with fewer carbs.
I don't want to overwhelm you with too much information, so I'll stop there. Try not to stress about changing too much too fast. Make changes you can handle and keep them up until they really become habits. Then make more. Each sustainable change is a victory.
I hope this helps. We are here for you whenever you need support or a place to vent. Best wishes. - Lori (Team Member)

hi there, I have had Type 2 diabetes for 12 years, was discovered through some routine blood work, my glucose was 9 I was shocked and scared to get this diagnosis, I remember about a few weeks into changing diet and trying to quit smoking and lose weight and change diet, was so overwhelming I was in tears, plus hearing horror stories from others, that I didnt need at the time or anytime. Scared me even more, I wish I never told anyone about my diabetes then when your first diagnosed, it wasn’t helpful to scare the crap out of me. I would phone my mom and cry. My doctor at the time wasn’t very helpful with the emotional impact it had on me. He put me on antidepressants and anti anxiety meds. I was trying to tell him how I felt with this new diagnosis with tears. And he said take these they will make you feel better, they didn’t make me feel better I felt awful on them so groggy on the antidepressant, you see I was scared to be alone in case I got a low, it caused some great stress but not anxiety, I was newly diagnosed for Pete’s sakes. Anyways it’s a long story. I ended up in the hospital from what they call now diabetes distress, at the time back then I didn’t know there was such a thing, and nobody else in the medical field ever mentioned this. I was so overwhelmed and stressed from what others told me and pressure to do all the demands of diabetes, I sure didn’t need antidepressants and I am still on them to this day, they are very difficult to get off of, even with tapering down some can taper no problem others have a more difficult time, I tried with the first one I was on, and had no sleep this is what they do when tapering to some people not all. Ended back in the hospital they put me back on it, it was a disaster so I felt groggy again these are the side effects. I am on Effexor xr now for the pst six years and same problem and to be honest scared to taper again. They need to make smaller doses for tapering purposes, I take 75 mg of Effexor. I’ve been through the mill trying to get the right psychiatrist to get me of these medications safely. I have a new doctor which is another story in its self, because of the doctor shortage we have where I live, I’m just getting to know him, he seems nice. But I need more than nice I need someone who knows how to taper properly. I’m really scared because there’s withdrawals coming off these medications, I ve researched to the cows come home on these medications. And it seems to be a common thing that doctors are not really trained on how to get people off these medications. They have caused so many problems like insomnia, constipation, overall just feel not good. I didn’t need these pills I needed some understanding and a listening ear, around being diagnosed with a disease. I didn’t get that from anyone. So I want to educate people so they do not go through the run around I went through. It’s very normal to feel scared,overwhelmed, upset, ect. It’s a huge life change having diabetes, and through all the online support I found that I was not the only one feeling like this, when first diagnosed and through the journey of diabetes. It’s the only disease I know of that is so complex and demanding.
And I find there isn’t enough support out there for us with diabetes of any kind.
So when you change your diet, do it slowly, and for some excercise choose what you can do not what the doctors tell you to do if you can only walk for 15 minutes to start, then a few weeks later increase to 20 minutes and so on. Get someone to support you through the journey, someone could be a spouse your children, your friends. Or even the diabetes clinic which should be at the hospital. I found the person who taught the classes, was not very empathetic. And let me tell you it sure helps when there someone to talk to, when you get fed up with having this disease, there needs to be a person that tells you all that your feeling is NORMAL. No one said this in the classes except on the second class she said I know this can be overwhelming, ya it sure was and wish she would of elaborated more on being overwhelmed and what was a head for me.

So that’s a bit of my story
I check my sugars before eating and two hours after eating, this was in the beginning when first diagnosed, I would recommend to go to the American diabetes website, I live in Canada the numbers here are measured differently then in the US. What I mean by this ares is 5.6 and in the US they use double digits and triple digits there numbers look like this 40 or 102 I don’t understand there way what numbers are good or not so good. Just know Canadian measures. So go to AmericanDiabetes.com the website will give you lots of info, but read only what you want to know for now and that would be how to read your glucose numbers on your meters. That’s good you bought a meter They only come with a few test strips and a few lancets, you will probably have to get a perscription for more test strips and lancets those are the needles you prick your finger with. You should talk to your doctor about all this to he could show you and educate you on how to use the monitor. And he should have told you all this to. Didn’t he tell you about the diet? My doctor was very vague on the diet. I don’t get this that doctors don’t give you some information about the diet. It seems your on your own after diagnosis which is sooooo wrong. I’m glad your seeing a diabetes educator. For now just eat low carb and try your best to stay away form sugar, drink water, and if you drink pop switch to diet pop, for now. Use a sweetener in your coffee if you drink coffee or try without any sugar.

Hi there, just checking in to see how you have been making out on your metformin. Have you been in yet for your A1C? Wishing you the best, Lauren (Team member)