• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

How many times a day?

A

angustia

Well-Known Member
Messages
177
Location
Canada
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Test strips are quite expensive, and I don't think they can be re-used.
While still new at this, I'm doing my test at least 6 times a day, but maybe later on - when it's safe to say my bg is under control, I'm thinking of cutting back.

How many times do you take your bg test in a day?

How about you folks that are on remission? How many times?

What are the best times to do it?
 
Last edited:
Hello @angustia Your right they cannot be re-used, sadly..

Best times to test are upon waking, before meal times and 2 hours afterwards, however if you're looking to cut this down then perhaps think about - upon waking, before lunch, before supper and before bed ?
 
Shortest answer I can give is whenever you want to know.

It’s a very personal thing, and will definitely evolve over time. I started out at anything up to ten times per day. Nowadays I just stick to waking and before my main meal. Probably three days per week and I don’t test at all on the other days. I do this just to keep my toe in and remind myself never to become complacent.
 
These days I only test when something's different from usual. I've been on diclofenac this past week, and that makes my bloodglucose drop, so combining that with an Alice Cooper concert.... I was 4,7 before the show (and about 2 hours after dinner), and 7,8 after the show. That was just because I did a lot of dancing/jumping during the show, that rise was all my liver...! I ended up eating some nuts so my liver'd knock it off. Haven't seen numbers like that since someone served me my husband's coke by mistake. But if everything's as it should be, I don't test. Just when I eat something I am not sure about, or when I am sick, or like now, on medication and going nuts at a concert. The rest of the time, I already know what my bloods do in response to certain foods... You'll test a lot in the beginning, but it'll taper off as you learn you don't get a blip on eggs, but you do on something else, but not so much you can't eat it etc.... I used a 1000 euro's worth of strips that first year, and my preferred finger was rather calloused, but it doesn't show anything but last nigth's pricks now. It won't stay like this. It's an investment, but it's one that is worth it. (Plus, your strips are most likely cheaper than mine. I use Bayer Contour TS, so I'm getting plucked here.)
 
I think the best time to test is when you will get information you can actually use. Since the diabetes guidelines in the U.S. give figures for fasting, at one hour after eating and at 2 hours after, I used that schedule at first, but also added in before a meal per my doctors numbers.

But, I didn’t keep testing the same meal over and over, just a few times to know if it was OK, or not. I set an alarm and kept to the actual schedule. So, not 2.25 hours later, or 2.5, but 2. Consistency and several repeats will tell you how to “eat to your meter” going forward.

These days, I get a Freestyle Libre sensor every few months and wear that for 2 weeks. I never test outside of that unless I feel poorly and can’t identify why.
 

I still test around 6 times a day despite being in remission. Some days more if I’m having one of my blips when I see unexpected rises and want to keep an eye on it for peace of mind. When I’m out or on holiday I test less. I feel better if i test as I don’t like surprises! It’s a personal thing
 
Last edited:
Strips are not reusable.

I test six times a day, when I first wake up, then after breakfast, then before and after lunch and dinner.

I am under excellent control with my T2, and I still test as stated above
 
I hardly test at all these days.
The main thing was to get my levels below 8 after eating, I decided, so I cut out the foods which caused spikes and gradually whittled down my menu. I did not need to test after breakfast once I saw under 8 all the time, so I was only testing after dinner when I had something I was not sure about.
 
That’s for all that helpful information.I'm newly diagnosed, Hba 1c 49, so borderline, but I only weigh about 43kg, healthy eater and run, we are thinking it’s hereditary. I’m testing about 6 times a day, to get to know what foods are ok and what spikes, also doing the low carb diet, but don’t want to lose weight. Last night after a low carb recipe dinner and not strayed at all throughout the day, when I tested I was 8.1??? , I have been about 5.6, 6.2, one morning 7,4. I’m struggling to understand why it was so high last night, and also other times when I’ve been so careful.
 
These days I test FBG then mid afternoon then after evening meal.. eating less often makes it cheaper both to test and food bills.
 

Hi Cotterill,
Welcome to the forum. In the posts above in this thread you will see lots of links in red - these ae all useful information, both about the forum and about understanding Diabetes and diet etc.

What was your reading immediately before dinner? If it was below 6.1 then you may have had a BG spike. If it was higher than 6.1 before dinner then perhaps it was just generally raised on that day.

There are several possible causes for a BG test reading to be very different from what you are used to seeing:
1. Traces of some food on your testing finger.
2. An anomalous batch of test strips (the required accuracy of test strips allows for quite a relatively large deviation from the 'actual' reading when measured by withdrawal of blood and Lab Analysis.
3. There are many things that can raise Blood Glucose. I list the main ones except for Dawn Phenomenon, since in your case it was after dinner:
A). Illness
B). Exercise/lack of exercise
C), Stress, Pain, Excitement ( see what JoKaslbeek says in her post above about her BG when attending a rock concert).
D). Lack of Sleep - probably not applicable to a dinner time measure.
E). Medication - this includes Statins.
 

Hi angustia,
Some days I only measure before breakfast and at bed time. Those are days when I am eating meals for I have tested before and after many times - so I know what the effect is normally.

I test more if something is out of the ordinary. Lack of sleep, stress, illness, bad weather preventing my daily walk, eating unusual meals or if I've just had an unusual BG reading.

I incorporate some IF into my LCHF lifestyle, so the before Breakfast BG reading determines whether I will actually eat any breakfast or turn it into an IF day.
 
I tended to test fasting glucose, then before and 2 hours after meals, when I was learning to manage my glucose levels..

Now I tend to test when I want specific information (e.g. to check effects of medications - or rarely extra tests at various intervals after eating) so frequency will vary, but I'll also sometimes still do the above basic routine if I'm ill or stressed to see how I'm coping ( and sometimes just test from habit.)

But the point of testing is definitely to gain information/insight, so frequency will depend on what you are testing for.

Robbity
 
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.…