Another noob with a problem

Welcome to the forum,Double. You are right ,you need to test to start on the road to controlling your blood sugar (Bg) levels. You can buy meters fairly cheaply from chemists,it's the test strips that cost a fortune!!My advice would be to buy a meter then keep a detailed record of the readings and what you eat .Then ,when you see the doctor/nurse you can show how determined you are to control your diabetes.With a bit of luck you will be able to get the test strips on prescription because you are showing willingness to actively control your diabetes.
If you test first thing in the morning as soon as you get up,then two hours after eating and do this before and after every meal then ,by the end of a week you should have a good idea of how certain foods affect you.I also suggest buying a Collins Gem carb counter book,they are about £5 and work out the carb values on the foods you like to eat.Initially aim at less than 100gm of carb a day and see how you get on with this.Read the forum,there are a lot of different ideas on diet on here,some more contentious than others! See what suits your lifestyle.

Welcome. My diagnosis wasn't a surprise either.

Those readings are waaaay too high. You need to do something now, before your next appointment.

When I realised I was about to be diagnosed I cut out all added sugar to anything and sweet treats. My focus has always been to have a better result for the next blood test, this measure alone reduced my fasting readings by almost 2 points for the next fasting tests done at the surgery - about 2 weeks after the first. This measure alone, making no other changes to my diet, gave me improving results for a month.

I did that while I looked around for a diet that looked like normal food and would enable me to eat socialy and sit down to the same meal as my 12-year-old.

After a month I thought I'd found the diet for me - low Glyceamic Index (GI) and started adopting the principles of that diet. There are loads of books about that approach and Anthony Worrall-Thompson the TV chef has writtened some books about low-GI. However, that wasn't enough for me and I eventually went low carb - by this I mean I don't eat bread, pasta, rice or potato (or sugar of any kind or banana etc), but still refer to the principles of low-GI and Glyceamic Load (how much glucose ends up in your bloodstream after you eat). My HbA1c was 7.8% on diagnosis, 3 months later it was down to 7% and I hope my next test at the end of this month will be closer to 6%. I am aiming for normal blood sugars. I don't take any medication at the moment.

Testing is only worth doing if you know how to use the results you get for it. Fortunatly, they are fairly easy to interpret and you get fairly immediate results if you test at the right times. I want to avoid spikes in my blood glucose readings as far as possible and my biggest spikes come 2 hour after I eat, so that is when I test. Interpreting the result means that you tweek what you eat to bring your readings down, closer to what you have set as your target.

You can get a free meter from some of the drug companies - they make the money on the strips :shock: i have an Accu-chek Aviva from Roche. I supplement the strips I get on prescription by buying additonal strips on eBay, which is much cheaper than the pharmacy. Sign up for the competitionm at the top, it isn't a real competition and you will get a meter from them eventually.

Also smoking will compound the problems related to diabetes, but you probably know that anyway, as you put that at the end of your post. You need to address that, but you also need to work out what your priorities are. Making too many changes at once will send your stress levels through the roof and probably won't be sustainable, so I'd say, you need to address one thing at a time, to start with at least. In any case, giving up smoking is more likely to be succesful if you make plan to do it and get the right kind of support before you actually stop - or o I have heard, I have never smoked, but have been around lots of people who have given up (or tried to).

Have a look around here, read, ask questions. The support is great. Good luck.

One good way to use a meter. is the "Eat to your Meter" technique.You find your Blood Glucose, before you eat and if it's above your chosen target, Say 6, You cut the carbohydrate from that meal. If it's well below your target, you can allow yourself more carbs. You can Google for more information on this technique.