Hey all. I just got off the phone with my doctor and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
I’m honestly kinda scared.. I have a big fear of needles, and the thought of poking my finger regularly is really messing with my head. I feel low-key anxious and sad, and I keep wondering if I’m overreacting o
I highly recommend Cronometer! It’s a free food tracking app, and I did track all of my food for the first month or so to be able to show my doctor. Now though, I only need to use it occasionally to look up the amount of carbs, fat, and protein in foods. You can input whatever serving size and it will give you all the nutrition info! Super helpful for things like fruits/veggies that don’t come with nutrition labels. I’ve spent many hours just looking up different foods and comparing ratios of carbs:fat:protein (<— you’ll learn a lot about food but this is the most important thing to consider when deciding what to eat). Once you do this for a while, you’ll be able put together diabetic friendly meals in your head with no app/calculations required :)
And the finger pricking, you cant even
I’m assuming your doctor mentioned is your PCP? If so, ask them for a referral to an endocrinologist asap. I’ve read a few stories on here of PCPs trying to manage a patients diabetes and they just don’t always get you what you need right away. An endocrinologist will get you set up with a solid plan of action and call in all the prescriptions you’ll need in your first meeting.
I use an app called Lose It. It tracks your food and water intake, and provides you with nutritional value. You can add food easily. It even lets you scan barcodes on food packages. It also tracks fasting periods, weight, exercise, blood pressure, blood sugar, sleep, walking, and more. I think its better then MyFitnessPal.
I prefer LoseIt too! You can input your own recipes if you eat things on repeat.
This is normal.
One thing about the lancet, you basically only see the steel when you're swapping it out. It's just pressing plastic against your skin, and pushing a button. It can sting a little for a moment, but you're not using a needle on yourself.
This is one of those things where your mind can make it a lot scarier than the reality. Just arm it, press it against the side of your finger, and press the button. It's no more aggressive than the spring loaded toys we had as kids.
I was logging pretty much everything at the beginning. I still log my glucose, and make notes if something seems worth making a note about. I just use a spreadsheet for that, though. Nothing fancy.
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It's normal to feel stressed: I went through it myself a year ago, and I've read a lot about it on this site. Keep a food diary until your dietitian tells you to stop.
Listen to them and adjust your meal plans.
Cut out pasta, rice, potatoes, candy, chocolate, and sugary drinks: that's the foundation. Once you've got that down, you can use a glucose monitor to fine-tune your diet.
And listen to your doctors and caregivers: everything will be alright. Stay strong.
I’m type 1 so I might have a different viewpoint, but I’m surprised to see chocolate on the cut-out list. Dark chocolate is my go-to treat.
Also to OP, it’s good to be aware of these high carb foods and limit them, but cutting them out completely seems drastic to me. I don’t think it’s bad advice, I think that would get your A1C down the quickest, but I would find it really hard to completely lose some of my favorite foods during a stressful time like this. I think a better way to approach high carb foods is to pay attention to a serving size for these foods (actually weighing them if possible) and allow them to be a small base for meals that you add protein and fat to. You can eat whatever you want, just not as much of it as you want :/ or as frequently :/ Which is a trial on its own, b
I'm type 2, and I agree with you, u/tinglejinx, especially on the chocolate / dark chocolate. I do have to add that I do NOT eat what I would call "candy that is covered in chocolate" but I will eat straight chocolate that is chocolate ONLY, not covering a sugary treat. I do take my glucose readings every morning before eating. Chocolate doesn't seem to affect my glucose, or if it does, I'm not seeing that it does, or not enough to make me give up chocolate, but I also don't eat it every day...
Someone else on the subreddit (I want to say was around a year ago) suggested that, as a Type II, if you were under control, you could eat a piece of chocolate once every two or three hours without the carbs being enough to seriously mess things up.
I've never really been willing to test that beyond swiping the occasional potato chip.
My introduction to Type I dietary options came years before I was diagnosed. A waitress was recounting how a dude had pulled out a fast acting pen, shot himself in the stomach, and then ordered desert. When she asked him if he should be eating that, his response was, "what do you think the insulin was for?"
I don’t do insulin, but chocolate is more than good enough for me. Lol
Yessss like I haven’t eaten typical candy bars since getting diagnosed. They actually don’t taste good anymore which is great haha. I don’t have to try to control myself around candy, I just don’t want it anymore now that whole foods taste so much better. Solid dark chocolate bars or alternative brands like unreal keep some of the unnecessary added sugars out and taste way better
Yesss. I don’t keep anything like that on hand, but maybe once a month or every two to three months, I do get a piece of pure dark chocolate and enjoy it, but I’m type 2. I don’t enjoy it nearly as much as I used to, but it’s sort of a little “thank you” to myself for clean eating. I think in all of 2025, I had 2 or 3 pieces of dark chocolate.
Yes, you're probably right.
I was just responding because OP felt a sense of urgency while waiting for more clarity and some "good initial results."
Your advice is generally sound, but telling someone to cut out major food staples is not the right way to go about it. Grains, rice and potatoes can be a more than acceptable addition to a type 2 diet, it's portion size and what it's paired with that should be considered more than anything. Please avoid giving that particular type of advice and focus on referring people to a dietitian who will figure this out with them.
Like the others have said, stop, take a breath, and give yourself a minute to take in the information you've been given. We now have tools at our disposal to keep the finger pricks and shots to a minimum. I know it doesn't feel like it right now but it does get easier and it does get better. You should speak with your endo about a dexcom (it's a small round device that does poke you once but it stays in place for 10 days and constantly gives you blood sugar readings on your phone/DexCom receiver because not all phones and Dexcoms get along very well.) If you are having trouble with high sugars after you get used to controlling yourself with shots and if you need fast acting insulin regularly an omnipod. Heck, even ask about a pod the next time you go see the doc. An Omnipod is also a devi
I "inherited" T2 from my mother's side, found out in my 20s and also had a huge fear of needles
When I first started insulin injections I had to buy a spring loaded device that would insert the needle with a button push and even that was hard to do
Fast forward to today and I use Humulin pens 3x a day, can easily give myself a shot in seconds
It's just something you have to get used to and accept as part of your new normal routine
That's perfectly normal. Here are a couple of videos from In Chrysalis. She's a Type 2, and her channel focuses on type 2 living.
Type 2D Day is about the fear she felt when first diagnosed, and how she embraced her diagnosis -
https://youtu.be/r1SjkkB_e4w?si=sODlKPBnq-bHVsUH
Continuous glucose monitors -
no começo e sempre ruim mesmo , sou tipo 2 ja vai fazer um ano, a parte de me furar com agulha e tranquilo o que causa ansiedade e o resultado do medidor , tem dias que esta otimo outros dias esta ruim ai fico me perguntando o que fiz de errado para a glicemia ficar descontrolada, a questao da alimentação no começo mudei mas acabei relaxando com o tempo agora estou voltando a dieta novamente
I was diagnosed just a couple of months ago and I completely understand. It's overwhelming at first, but soon you'll figure out that it can be managed.
Don't worry about pricking your finger. It won't hurt. Your fear of needles will rapidly transform into irritation at “why can't I get enough blood to get a reading”
I go to the grocery store and I swear 90 percent of the stuff in there should just have a skull and crossbones warning label on it so I just eat the 10 percent that is okay.
I was so unhealthy before that I thought spinach only came in a can and you popped it open and ate it like the cartoons . They sent me a bag and I was like what the hell is this big bag of leaves, now I put it on everything.
I reacted the exact same way. I had zero signs/symptoms so it was a complete shock. What you are feeling is def normal.
I also hated needles but many (if not all) have adjustable needles. I can’t even feel the lowest setting and it still draws blood.
There is alternatives such as CGMs. I personally didn’t like it and since it sounds like we share the same kind of first initial reaction, I feel the CGM might make you more anxious as it did me. The easy access to my numbers made me constantly on the app. which caused me to be so anxious all the time, specially seeing the ups and downs.
Turns out my insurance doesn’t cover it which was a blessing in disguise. I had to self teach myself what foods my body could handle and I’ve had great success with a keto style diet. I’m never above 130
I had a panic attack before my first insulin shot and I dreaded pricking my finger at first. But I’ve gotten used to it and it’s only a pain when I need to check it at like 3am lol. But you got this my friend! I believe in you.
Breathe, mate. Speak with your Dr. I was diagnosed April. I'm not required to take or monitor as any measurements, so no pricking for me. I have 3 monthly A1C, whuch have returned 5.4, 5.5 and 5.4. I was quite anxious and went really hard on reducing rice, noodles, potatoes and bread for 2 months. Everyone is different. I got support from a Diabetes Association, Diabetes Dietitian, Optometrist and was offered other services like: Podiatrist, Physiotherapist and Exercise Physiologist. It took me 2 months to calm down a bit. Others will give you stories of being poorly treated by Medical and other professionals, and given no or poor support. 😭
Great. More power to you. So you don't take any medicine now? 5.4 and 5.5 are absolutely normal.
I take 1 Metformin.
I had a huge needle phobia. ChatGPT helped me with that, talking me through these things and explaining them. It helped a lot. I still have a needle phobia but it's very manageable now.