Type 2 When should I be testing?

[Jayb72]

I’ve been diagnosed with type 2 for a while now but I’ve never been sure if I’ve been testing at the right times. I generally test once a day when I take the rest of my medication at 8pm. Is this sufficient? And would the result be from what I’ve eaten that day or from several days ago? Admittedly, I did have a bit of a bad weekend but have been good today yet reading was 10.2. I need to get better at managing my diabetes.

 

[Jaylee]

Hi,

As a rule of thumb. On waking prior & 2 hours after meals & before bed.. But I am insulin dependent (so that's not counting anything wayward.) But these days I do wear a sensor too.

 

[Lamont D]

The most important part of testing, is around your meals. So prior to eating and two hours after. If you are two mmols higher than your pre meal reading, then something in that meal is spiking you too high.
At some point you may need to know your fasting levels and when and how high you spike but that can be done some time in the future when you are used to testing.

10mmols at fasting is relatively high, but this could be skewed by dawn phenomenon.
So a true fasting test is done before your first meal not when you get up.

Unless you are on insulin or meds that intentionality lower glucose levels, that can skew readings..

 

[Jayb72]

So if I’ve understood correctly, a test before and after a meal will show you results of that meal and not the result of foods eaten a couple of days ago?

 

[ziggy_w]

So if I’ve understood correctly, a test before and after a meal will show you results of that meal and not the result of foods eaten a couple of days ago?

Hi @Jayb72 and welcome to the forum.

To be exact the rise in your blood sugar levels from right before the meal to 2 hours after the meal will show you how well your metabolism deals with the food you've just eaten. Your overall blood sugars levels will be reflective of your blood sugar management (including diet and possibly medication) in general.

However, there still is a link between both. By keeping our post-meal rises in check, many of us T2s on this forum have been able to reduce our overall levels within a relatively short time (some days to a few weeks) and get to normal or almost normal levels in the intermediate term (few weeks to a few months).

 

[bulkbiker]

So if I’ve understood correctly, a test before and after a meal will show you results of that meal and not the result of foods eaten a couple of days ago?

Correct.

 

[Resurgam]

Well - yes and no - a test after eating will reflect the impact of that meal, but if you have been overdoing the carbs you'll have filled up the places able to store carbs, so you might well see a higher reading than it might have been. If you eat so you are not pushing your luck, then - from what I saw, glucose levels drift downwards as you recover storage space.
When I got down to no more then 8mmol/l after eating I stuck with those meals, and saw a gentle drift down to under 7 or even lower if I had been active that day.

 

[MarkHaZ123]

So if I’ve understood correctly, a test before and after a meal will show you results of that meal and not the result of foods eaten a couple of days ago?

You test before meals to see how it is before hand then a couple of hours after to see if your bloods react well to that food

I test about 8+ times a day but have the freestyle libre.
I test middle of the night, when I get up, middle of morning, before dinner, middle of afternoon, before tea and then before bed.

If I exercise/drink I test even more