Hi, Sanguine.
I'm a bit late to the discussion, but your symptoms (or lack of) and your GP experience on diagnosis almost exactly mirrored mine, and I thought it might be useful to let you know how things have gone since.
We're all different, so it's not possible to predict how things will go for you (though you won't know if you don't try), but I did manage to get the measure of control that you're looking for by eating less overall and going moderately low carb (no bread, pasta, potatoes, rice etc.). I cut out all avoidable sugar, upped my intake of vegetables and drank quite a lot more water. I cut way down on the beer (aka 'liquid bread') but found I could increase my intake of dry red wine, without any problems. I didn't cut down on protein, fats or cheese, and introduced oily fish into my diet 2/3 times a week.
I used my BG meter to see how different foods were affecting me (IMHO you're working blind if you don't), which meant I then knew which to avoid (again, we all react differently), and kept a record of all my BG results on one of the web-based (free) programs. That meant I could see week-to-week how things were going.
It's hard to stick to it, and I've found family and social pressures are the hardest to resist ("Oh, go on, the odd slice or two (of Banoffee Pie) won't hurt" or "Surely you can have a couple of days off (the 'diet'), now and again?") but it's not as bad as I first thought it might be. It's also been a lot better since I changed my GP for one who actually cares.
Good luck and let us all know how you get on.