Newly Diagnosed T2

Hi @mhayleyc and welcome to the forum.
It's good that you are asking sensible questions and also good that The nurse has suggested cutting down on carbohydrates - at least that's how I interpret what you said, because carbs are almost impossible to cut out and an HbA1C of 52 is only just in the diabetic range - so you don't need to cut carbs out.

Ordinary Type 2 diabetics on the NHS are very rarely provided with BG test meters and test strips, unless on insulin or some other powerful drug (Metformin is quite mild in it's desired effect, but for some it's side effects on the gut are all to powerful. If this is the case with you, then you can ask to be put on the SR version).

A popular way of putting Type 2 Diabetes into remission (there is no such thing as a cure), is a Low Carb way of eating. Testing different foods and meals with a BG meter can be a valuable tool in doing this. The simple explanation is here:

Two of the most popular BG meters in the Uk Diabetes forums which have cheap(er) Test Strips (the main expense) are:
SD Gluco Navii
Spirit TEE2+
Both are available online.

A Low Carb way of eating often normalises all of the following Blood Glucose, weight and Blood Pressure. So there is usually no need to restrict calories or to do lots more exercise just for for weight loss

My HbA1C at diagnosis was slightly higher than yours and yet I wasn't given Metformin , but told I could try lifestyle changes for 3 months first, but warned that most patients failed. Once I found this forum I my meals changed out of recognition (Low Carb instead of Low Fat) and I was able to keep my Blood Glucose (at 2hrs after first bite) to 8.0 mmol or below. So remission soon followed.