• Guest, the forum is undergoing some upgrades and so the usual themes will be unavailable for a few days. In the meantime, you can use the forum like normal. We'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

am blood testing isb b it waste of time

henry2024 said:
is blood testing a waste of time
Click to expand...
It depends on what sort of testing you mean.
The annual set of tests can flag up problems.
Daily testing of blood glucose levels after eating can show that the amount of carbs in the diet is right or wrong - only really necessary at the start of diet controlled type 2.
Daily testing before and after meals is part of type 1's use of insulin.
 
Resurgam said:
Daily testing before and after meals is part of type 1's use of insulin.
Click to expand...
People with Type 1 are not necessarily advised to test AFTER meals. We test before meals to provide data for insulin dose.
Testing before and after seems more to be something down by people with type 2 to understand their tolerance to what they have eaten.
 
So how do correction doses work - or the need for one discovered?
 
Resurgam said:
So how do correction doses work - or the need for one discovered?
Click to expand...
Usually correction doses are included with doses for food.
Before CGM, finger pricks were only done before eating, when going to bed and if I felt "off". The latter could result in hypo treatment or correction dose.
However, any correction dose (whether from feeling "off" of from seeing a high on a CGM graph) needs to take into consideration active insulin on board - insulin that we inject does not work as fast as insulin produced by a healthy pancreas - injected insulin remains active for about (it varies depending upon the insulin and the person) 4 hours. Making corrections in this time is often referred to as stacking and not recommended when first diagnosed. It is "Advanced Type 1 management". This active insulin time is probably why we are not advised to test after eating.
In an ideal world with accurate carb counting, correct basal insulin (long acting) dose and no stress, correction doses are not needed.
 
henry2024 said:
is blood testing a waste of time
Click to expand...
There are many reasons for testing and recording BG levels for as T2.
The ones that you will get most information from are the pre meal and two hours after first bite.
This will give you, your intolerance to what is in that meal.
It provides a degree of how to avoid such foods.
Or as the case may be, what is ok to have.
It can also give you the insight of a trend towards good control. Or, if not.
It can help with meds to see if they are working either with or against you average BG levels at that stage of your journey.

There is also fasting BG levels. This can help with knowing how your BG levels are doing with your dietary control. Or if you are taking meds.

There is also finding your spike usually around the half hour to an an hour after food.
Again to monitor how the intolerance to that meal/food is having an effect.

There is again depending on what you are trying to find out, hourly testing after food or after meds. Three and four hours may give you info about how you are doing, recovering after a high, longer spike than usual.

There is again, a spot check, if you feel a sugar crash or feeling awful, if meds are going towards hypoglycaemia.

A CGM can do all this, if you know what you are looking for.
And I would always recommend a food diary to augment the readings, as to show your doctor, dsn, endo, to show the control the testing has given.

Testing is so important, if it used properly.
 
In Response said:
In an ideal world with accurate carb counting, correct basal insulin (long acting) dose and no stress, correction doses are not needed.
Click to expand...
Except there are 42 things that affect blood sugar, and also for some Type1's (myself included) my fasting basal amounts can be quite different from one day to the next. Vaccinations, illness (even before you feel unwell) etc, etc all require correction doses if you don't want a lot to time out of range.
 
henry2024 said:
is blood testing a waste of time
Click to expand...
Hi - and welcome. It's not a waste of time, in my opinion. You might want to skip the discussion and how and why people with Type 1 test - while interesting, it's not all that relevant to you as a T2 and where you are.

When I was newly diagnosed, I tested first thing in the morning, tested before any food, and tested two hours after eating. I sometimes did a test last thing at night. I soon dropped the early morning and night time tests as they weren't telling me anything useful. The tests around food did show very clearly which foods I could manage and which I couldn't.

Bear in mind that I was (and am) on a total daily intake of around 20g carb. The equivalent of one apple, or a slice of white bread. So I was already avoiding the high carb items like bread, pasta, cereals, potatoes, rice, fruit, sweets etc. Testing showed me what I could manage - the idea is that your body needs to be able to handle the glucose digested from the carb in your diet within two hours of eating. High levels of glucose for long periods can do physical damage to nerves and capillaries, so that should be avoided.

When testing you are looking to see whether your body can bring your glucose levels back to close to where you started within two hours. It will have gone higher in between - that's normal and happens to everyone. The point is how well and quickly you come back to the baseline. It is not about "how high you go".

My example of this is that a small latte will take me from 5.2 to 9.6 in about half an hour, just from the lactose (a carb) in the milk. My body will however clear all that extra glucose by the one hour point, and by two hours I am back at 5.2 or thereabouts again. So at the minute I'm safe to conclude that in blood glucose terms I can have a small latte.

You don't get any of that info without testing.
 
@henry2024 If you're willing to post if you're on insulin or other medication like Gliclazide that can cause hypo's, members will be able to answer you questions more accurately.
 
Hopeful34 said:
@henry2024 If you're willing to post if you're on insulin or other medication like Gliclazide that can cause hypo's, members will be able to answer you questions more accurately.
Click to expand...
OP's information is that he is a T2 on "pills" and he is asking about blood testing.
 
KennyA said:
OP's information is that he is a T2 on "pills" and he is asking about blood testing.
Click to expand...
It says 'other' in treatment in the OP profile on my screen at least, nothing about 'pills' (which still could include insulin or meds that can cause hypo's). I don't want to derail this thread, but don't want to give the OP wrong information.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…