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How often do I need to check my levels?

Gezzabelle

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,332
Location
West Midlands
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
Good morning everyone. I am wondering if anyone can tell me how often I need to check my sugar levels? My fingers are getting pretty sore and the test strips are expensive using them the way I am currently. I test when I get up and then before I eat something, followed by after 1 hour then after 2 hours. and after 3 hours if it hasn't come down enough. Is it necessary to test that many times?
 
The first thing to work out is why you are testing and what you are doing with the results?
Most commonly, testing is used to
- track how you are improving. This probable just needs one test a day at the same time.
- learn the BG response to food, drink, activities in order that you can make adjustments where necessary, For example, it is common to test just before eating and 2 hours later to determine whether your body can tolerate the carbs in the food you have eaten. If your BG rises more than 2mmol/l in that time, it suggests your body cannot tolerate that food so you need to consider alternatives. As you learn what your body can tolerate and your diet becomes more fixed, such regular testing can be reduced. Another thing you may want to track is the impact of exercise on your BG. Again, test before and then after. Many people find a brisk walk can reduce their BG and use this as a mechanism to manage their diabetes.

The reason for testing after 2 hours is because of the average speed f digestion and insulin response. There is little value testing after 1 hour or 3 hour (unless you are eating something with a lot of fat which delayed digestion). If you find your BG has not come down far enough in more than 2 hours, it suggests your body is not able to tolerate the carbs in it. Don't see that as a failure but as a lesson.
If you are testing and making no changes, it is probably a waste of time, money and fingers.

If you are interested in your response over a longer period of time, you may benefit from the free Libre trial available from their website. If you have a reasonably new phone with NFC and Bluetooth, you can use the Libre sensor over 2 weeks to test your reaction to different foods without the multiple finger pricks
 
Hi @Gezzabelle - there isn't really a straight answer to that question, it really depends on the amount of information you want to get. If you really want to know how your body reacts to various foods and meals, it's all happening very fast, and a CGM is really the only way of seeing the peaks and troughs for sure; any amount of blood tests are only snapshots in time.
For what it's worth, I test blood glucose by finger and ketones by breath every morning when I get up - only because I can just about guarantee that I do it regularly (I tend to forget any other routine) - and today I really want to know what's going on with my ketones, so I may test again later, so I do get the desire for information..

but - I guess I keep coming back to the long term trends being the important thing, and you don't need to gather much for that.
 
Is there a specific reason you’re testing at 1hr & 3hr? What do you do with the information that gives you?

When first diagnosed I tested fasting then right before I ate and 2 hours after first bite, looking for a rise of no more than 2, if it was slightly over 2 next time I would adjust my portion down or not have it at all, the 2 hour is the most important number as that tells you if your body coped with what you had,

I also dropped the fasting test after a while as I have strong dawn phenomenon and insomnia so I realised that there was nothing much I could do about that number - my body would do what my body wants to do

You say your fingers are sore- this shouldn’t really be happening either, is your lancet going to deep or are you using the pad of your finger rather than the side?
 
I retest after 3 hours if it hasn't come back down to where it was and thinking about that now, it is probably a silly thing to do as the 2 hour check tells me enough information to either eat that thing again or to avoid or adapt it portion wise. My fasting bloods are always low so I could really drop that off or check less often. My fingers are sore simply because I am testing too much, mostly out of blind panic right now. I am almost scared to eat anything at this point in time but I am getting much healthier food in and hopefully they will establish themselves as okay to eat without over testing to prove it every time I have them. I have just had a phone consult with my gp and he was trying to force me on to medication but I stood my ground and said I prefer to try and get my HbA1c back into normal levels with diet changes. He said okay see the diabetic nurse here. Bearing in mind she will tell me to eat pasta, bread and cereals etc all of which would send my levels through the roof ..I said I am a member of a very good Diabetic forum and their help and advice is streets ahead and more helpful and effective than any information the diabetic ''expert'' at the surgery would give me. He didn't argue about it so onwards and upwards from here and fingers crossed that I can actually do it
 
Looking at your signature it says you had a blood test this month and the result was 50? That’s only just into the diabetic range, I think you may be being too hard on yourself and panicking and stressing, which can also affect your BG, try to relax a bit and I agree maybe cut down on the testing, it can be counterproductive if it’s giving you anxiety, try just doing the important ones of before you eat & 2 hrs after and if you still want to maybe a fasting one (first thing) if you want to or perhaps just a couple of times a week.

With a Hba1c of 50 you probably don’t need to do much tweaking of your foods to bring it down again to at least pre diabetes levels.

I’m 14 years in and had a Hba1c of 99 when diagnosed! I’m still diet only (keto) controlled and my Hba1c is 49 and apart from the first couple after diagnosis has always been between 46 - 49, so you have every chance of bringing yours down

Stop stressing your doing everything right and will get there
 
I am nearly five years post-dx and I don't test very much these days. I will for new foods, but not for the things I've tested for already, usually multiple times. I know eg that pastry is not an option but beans and lentils will not raise BG as much as carb content would indicate.

Eating any carb will elevate most people's BG in the first hour - my favourite example is that a small latte will take me from around 5.0 to just short of 10 inside 40 minutes, just from the lactose (as shown by CGM). I'll be back to 5.0ish around the hour mark. The aim of being back to where you started, approximately, at the two hour point is to test your system's response to the carbs, not to see "how high you go". So the higher reading inside the first hour isn't an issue - it's perfectly normal.

It might help to have a look at what "normal" - ie non-diabetic - BG profiles look like. The linked paper shows some. BG variation, and sharp rises and falls, are perfectly usual.

Continuous Glucose Profiles in Healthy Subjects under Everyday Life Conditions and after Different Meals - PMC

This study investigated continuous glucose profiles in nondiabetic subjects. Continuous interstitial glucose measurement was performed under everyday life conditions (2 days) and after ingestion of four meals with standardized carbohydrate content ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 
When I was doing my clinical tests, to diagnose the issues I was having.
One of the logical steps is to do the testing around your meals. The pre meal and two hours.
Other non specific testing, fasting, one and three hours etc, can be done at a later time.
At this stage in your journey, food is the issue, cos that is what causes the spikes, which over time raises your BG and hba1c levels.
Along with the testing, is a food diary, which should include everything you eat, portion size, the results from the testing, so you know what the trend is, over time. And the carbs and sugars you need to either avoid or lower the portion size of them.
Best wishes.
You'll get it.
 
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