Self testing

[Gill63]

Just starting self testing. Do I test before each meal and 2 hours later?

 

[Bluetit1802]

That is a good plan, but use it alongside some sort of food diary and record your levels next to that meal. This will show you if your meal was suitable or not, then watch for trends. I used to put all parts of the meal down including any sauces/gravies, and counted the grams in the carbs in that meal. You can also test immediately after getting up before any activities, and before bed. Once you start to get the hang of things, you could also test between starting your meal and the 2 hour mark - at an hour or 90 minutes, and after the 2 hour mark to make sure you are on your way down and not up.

 

[In Response]

Before considering when to test, I would ask "why am I testing"?
If you are wanting to record something in a book and track progress, you don't need to test very often - just regularly.
If you are wanting to learn the impact of something on your blood sugars to adjust your behaviour, then the generally advice is to test just before and two hours after,
This could be just before eating and 2 hours later to understand what impact the food you just ate had to decide whether to avoid it in the future. It could be testing before you do some exercise and when you have finished to see if there is any benefit in exercise on your blood sugars.

But, to me, there is little point in testing if you haven't considered why you are doing it.

 

[Gill63]

Before considering when to test, I would ask "why am I testing"?
If you are wanting to record something in a book and track progress, you don't need to test very often - just regularly.
If you are wanting to learn the impact of something on your blood sugars to adjust your behaviour, then the generally advice is to test just before and two hours after,
This could be just before eating and 2 hours later to understand what impact the food you just ate had to decide whether to avoid it in the future. It could be testing before you do some exercise and when you have finished to see if there is any benefit in exercise on your blood sugars.

But, to me, there is little point in testing if you haven't considered why you are doing it.

Thanks, I am wanting to see the impact of the food I am eating in order to understand the trends

 

[Gill63]

That is a good plan, but use it alongside some sort of food diary and record your levels next to that meal. This will show you if your meal was suitable or not, then watch for trends. I used to put all parts of the meal down including any sauces/gravies, and counted the grams in the carbs in that meal. You can also test immediately after getting up before any activities, and before bed. Once you start to get the hang of things, you could also test between starting your meal and the 2 hour mark - at an hour or 90 minutes, and after the 2 hour mark to make sure you are on your way down and not up.

Thank you, I plan to keep a food diary also.

 

[lessci]

i highly recommend (The free version) of Mysugr app on your phone, it helps you track the data (and if you leave the sound on gives you cute sound effects when you're in range)

 

[TriciaWs]

I started by testing first thing in the morning and before and after every meal, then as my blood sugars dropped I tested if I had included any new food or a different amount of any carb foods
Doing this showed I could eat a max of 30g per meal and that I needed to drop below 85g a day at first. Also that I can eat more raspberries than strawberries and that I can have a maximum of 1.5 slices of low carb bread in one meal.
We all vary in how we react to foods so you need to understand your reaction to carbs.

Apart from new foods I only test once a week now I'm in remission.