Indeed. My cousin developed Type I diabetes in his early 30s.
Best wishes for you.
I was diagnosed with Type II at age 40, eight years ago, with an A1C at that point of 8.2. I needed to make some serious dietary changes (let’s start with the 6 to 8 cans of Pepsi I was drinking a day), which I did.
With the diet changes, oral medicines, and exercise, I was able to bring my A1C down to just under 6.0 within about 18 months. Then, three years ago, I started running, and my A1C is now around 5.2, which has allowed my endocrinologist to reduce my medicine regime by 50%.
I absolutely do. One of the issues with which I was suffering when I was first diagnosed was neuropathy – continual pain in my feet. That’s gone now. I also was thirsty all the time (which meant I was drinking all the time, and subsequently going to the bathroom all the time), which is also now a non-issue. My energy level feels better, and my mental state is better – I have a chronic disease, but I know that I’ve taken steps to reduce the odds of complications from it later on in life.
I was diagnosed at 25. Nearly a year later, I’m down 40+ pounds and my A1C is 5.1% with just diet and exercise, no meds.
First off: don’t panic. You’re not going to drop dead from it in a year. You have time to make slow changes and figure it out.
I don’t know what your activity level is right now. If you are sedentary like I was, you don’t need to turn into a gym rat. I do 30-45 minutes of cardio 3x a week and see results.
For food: the biggest thing is limiting carbs. Pasta is a big weakness of mine, so I just don’t have it, it’s too tempting. I sub in spaghetti squash and shirataki noodles if I must. I’ve slowly started integrating rice into my diet a couple times a week, but the bulk of my suppers are low carb.
If you’re a candy person, try to move to the ‘fruit is nature’s candy’ mindset. I eat more fruit than I ever did before, but with the other changes in my diet, it’s okay.
The biggest impediment to flavour country will be sugar. Try thinking of dressing without sugar - so vinaigrettes instead of ranch, and, um…I don’t know much about East Asian cooking, but there’s gotta be a sub for teriyaki in there. I found a no sugar added barbecue sauce that tastes delicious. But spices are pretty much all good.
Beans and lentils will be a staple since you’re a vegetarian. One important thing to remember about carbs: you can subtract the fiber from the total carb count. Beans and lentils are high in carbs, but also super high in fiber.
Not I. My A1C has dropped from 10. something to 6. something, and I still generally feel like crap. I pee much less often, and concurrently drink much less, but the promises I heard of feeling great and having tons more energy never materialized for me. I’m still always tired and listless.
Not trying to get you down; just offering my experience.
Thank you. I was concerned about that. A large part of my diet is rice and pasta and potatoes. We eat a lot of cheese too. I loathe whole wheat pasta and brown rice. I simply cannot eat the later. I also am a big fan of sugar in my coffee. Splenda and other substitutes taste like aspirin to me.
One sugar substitute taste very different from another, and tastes differ from person to person. There are about twenty different kinds (not brands, kinds)
Mary Tyler Moore did, and some people develop a type that has been dubbed “Type 1 1/2” because it’s partially controllable with oral agents (Type 1 is not) and is not related to obesity. These people do need insulin.
In part, that’s because they’re looking for it. People can have T2DM for decades without knowing it, and that’s why it’s so dangerous - it can really sneak up on people.
Gestational diabetes, for which women are now routinely screened at the 5th or 6th month, is also quite common. Those women “back then” who had huge babies (>9 pounds) quite likely had it.
Cheese is okay. I don’t know how much you weigh and if weight loss is a goal of controlling your diabetes, but cheese isn’t a direct problem with diabetes, it comes into play if it makes you overweight which puts you at a higher risk to get it.
Those starchy carbs are hard. Some people talk about mashed cauliflower as a mashed potato sub, but I didn’t find it good. You can also get a kitchen tool that can ‘rice’ cauliflower and other veggies.
Look into Dreamfields pasta. Apparently they formulate it in such a way that most of the carbs aren’t digested or something, I’m not really sure since I cut out pasta.
Most diabetes nutritionists preach moderation, not total removal of carbs. If every supper you have includes a potato/rice/pasta, try cutting it down to 5 nights a week with those. A reduced portion size will also help.
I’m not a vegetarian (far from it), but I do love my starches. It’s difficult sometimes; I really want to binge on French fries, but I know I need to restrain myself.
As I noted in my earlier post, I used to drink a ton of regular soda; I had tried diet sodas on occasion, and always felt that they tasted lousy. I went cold-turkey off of regular soda (as well as orange juice, which also broke my heart) the day I was diagnosed, and switched to diet soda (and artificial sweeteners on the occasions when I have coffee). It took some time, but I did adapt to the taste.
I’m reading your thread title in the voice of Wilford Brimley. Just thought you should know.
And of course just wanted to offer my support. I don’t have diabetes, but both of my aunts on my father’s side died from it (Types I and II, respectively.) It sounds like a very challenging illness to manage, but I understand there are a lot of behavioral changes you can make to improve your ability to cope with it. I think there are a lot of knowledgeable Dopers here who will be able to help you. Good luck!
lol
When I was diagnosed 9 years ago, my blood glucose was 8.1 mmol/l (equal to 146 mg/dl); I don’t know what the A1C was. I have been taking metformin since then and my blood glucose is steady between 5.5 and 6 mmol/l and A1C is similarly between 5.5% and 6%. The two measurements seem to track each other pretty closely. I have lost about 60 lb since then (BMI around 27) and do not test blood, nor does my doctor recommend it. Do I feel different? In a word, no. Do I eat different? Only no snacking; that’s how I lost the weight.
Had my first nutrition class today. I need to find some serious protein or I am going to have to just learn to deal with hunger. Had my recommended 6 carb choices for dinner and 1 hour later am f’ing hungry
You’ll get used to it.
I’m pregnant and assumed to have GD because my last baby was an 8 lb 10 oz monster and I had it during that pregnancy so, yay, no glucose test.
My problem is I’m not eating often enough so my liver dumps glucose and then I eat on top of it and my numbers get out of whack. I’m never terribly high (fasting 101 this morning when my range is under 95 and in perfect 2 hour post-prandial range about 95% of the time) but still enough that I’m also doing the whole “carb choices” thing.
Now I eat constantly all the time. I never, ever get 6 carbs at once though; my snacks are 1-2, breakfast is 2, and lunch and dinner are 3-4. Sometimes I get hungry between, say, a snack and lunch and I worry that if I eat it’ll throw my numbers off and then my doctor will freak out when I bring my meter in and whatever. Then I eat a couple spoonfuls of cottage cheese and I’m good. Just eat free foods between your allotted carbs, keep a really thorough food diary so you can compare your intake to your numbers and, like above posters said, soon enough you’ll have a really good handle on what you can tolerate and what you can’t.
My dad has Type II diabetes. He’s totally non-compliant, doesn’t even bother testing his BS anymore, because he didn’t give himself enough time to learn and adjust.
You’re going to be fine. 
P.S. I would DIE for 6 carbs. I’m just sitting here thinking about it like, “OMG, I could have a WHOLE sandwich, instead of just a half, and milk AT THE SAME TIME.” I would love six carbs!
Thank you. I am so confused about carrots. Are they low in sugar/carbs or not?
Laggard,
You don’t have to deal with hunger. You can delay hunger with 1% milk and
a few spoons of peanut butter. Milk sugar is called lactose. It does not spike in
your blood. Lactose burns slowly over several hours and thus delays hunger.
Out of all the posts, Kushiel’s profile most closely matches my own. The VA clinic
caught my high A1C in 1998. It was 6.8 and i was eating one candy bar and at
least one soda pop per day. My weight was 194. A loss of 20 pounds brought my
fasting glucose down to <100 and my A1C down to 5.4. I was in the diabetes
clinic only briefly because the VA doctor caught my bad blood stats in time.
From the “vegetables” section of the pamphlet I was given: “Each serving has about 5 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of protein, and 25 calories. One serving is 1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw. Three servings at one meal or snack equal 1 carbohydrate choice.”
Carrots are on that list. One serving for me is a “free food” because 0-5 grams is a “0 carb choice”; I’m not sure if it’s the same for you.
The rest of the list:
Artichokes
Asparagus
Beans (green, Italian, wax)
Beets
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Celery
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Greens
Kohlrabi
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Okra
Onions
Pea pods
Peppers
Radishes
Sauerkraut
Spinach
Tomatoes, tomato/vegetable juice
Turnips
Zucchini
Also, not that the suggestion is a bad one, keep in mind that, regardless of what kind of sugar it is, milk is a carb choice. 
It bums me out, seriously, because I love milk but often give it up in favor of solid food. Peanut butter is good (as in “free”), as is cheese, eggs, nuts. I’m a huge fan of cottage cheese right now because it rounds out a meal without counting against me.
Thanks, I wasn’t sure.
There are what I call quick carbs and then there are slow carbs. Most other people call them high and low glycemic index foods. High GI foods will send your blood sugar up quickly, and then it’ll crash quickly, while low GI foods will raise your blood sugar more slowly, and then your blood sugar will drop more slowly as well. Generally speaking, the more refined or processed a food is, the quicker it will get into and out of your blood stream. So, if you drink orange juice, your blood sugar will shoot up very quickly. That’s why OJ is frequently used to treat low blood sugar episodes. If you eat an orange, though, your blood sugar won’t shoot up as quickly. Fiber in the food also delays the absorption of the sugar, so it won’t spike and then drop so abruptly.
For your regular diet, you should try to get fiber in every meal, so that it will buffer the sugar/carbs, and try to eat stuff that’s as close to unprocessed as possible. Yes, you can have occasional treats, once you know how your body reacts, but it’s a series of trial and error. You have to learn how to choose your foods.
Example: for breakfast, you’ve been eating Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs. This probably isn’t your best choice. Try a whole grain cereal, hot or cold, without presweetening. Cheerios are good. I like them with a quarter cup of frozen blueberries, which keep indefinitely in the fridge freezer, and which will defrost practically as I pour on the milk. If you normally have white bread, toasted, for breakfast, then try whole wheat or rye, which has more fiber.