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how often do you test your bg

H

hismom

Well-Known Member
Messages
114
Hi,
I just thought I would ask how often you all test your bg. My son tests his every 2 hours which although gives him excellent control can be restrictive. He is trying for a college place now and could do with being able to test less frequently while at college. So what do you all do?
 
I test on waking, again before breakfast if I don't eat straight away, 2-3 hours after breakfast and again before lunch, then mid afternoon then again before dinner and again before bed, plus before exercise etc. If I am driving and it's not at a usual time (ie: after I leave work etc) then I will also test again.. How many is that?! 8-10 times per day on average! I test loads due to my pump but also due to wanting the best control I can get. I would imagine that going away to college would mean that your son would need to test more to cope with the take aways and the beer?! :mrgreen:

If he was in a lecture or class for 3 hours and tested before and had eaten and counted carbs etc and has good warning signals then I don't see why he would have to test during the class?
 
I test when I wake up. I have the same breakfast every day, so don't test again until lunch. If I go to the gym at lunch time I sometimes test again after the gym, but if not, the next test is usually at 5pm, just before I drive home. I then don't test again until bed time.

So an average day is 4 or 5. Any extra exercise (say evening sport) then I test again. Also, if I feel symptoms of hypo or hyper, I test to check, but those times are fairly rare.

Sam.
 
hi,
sorry I didnt make it clear my son is 14 and it is only day release but at the moment he is home schooled so always has help with his control. must admit I am lucky as he doesnt like alcohol at all (unlike most of his friends). I know it sounds mad as it is only 1 day a week but he was only diagnosed in october and is still up and down with the honeymoon period.
 
I'm sure he will find his way and find a 'system' which works for him. For me, I can't bolus without testing as I wouldn't know how much to deliver but that is the kind of control I prefer to have. As I carb count, my daily dosage can change depending on what I am eating so unless I eat the same every day, I find it easier to test lots but understand why others don't :D
 
to be honest he doesnt want to change his testing regime but of course he may not get the time or may forget. I suppose really for 1 day it wont really make much difference.
 
hismom said:
to be honest he doesnt want to change his testing regime but of course he may not get the time or may forget. I suppose really for 1 day it wont really make much difference.
Click to expand...

and it's good experience for the future when he may face less predictable situations at work, for example :D
 
wake up ...test 2 hours later test lunchtime test before drive home test and after tea and before bed test ...maybe one or two ore depending on exercise....

average is about 5 times a day according to meter...hb1ac 5.7 and meter 30 day average 5.7 ...

cheers
Curleous
 
The dafne couse suggests you should only test when you need to use the result to make a decision about food or insulin. I test before I eat anything with carbs in so that I know how much insulin to take. I test before bed to see if I need to eat anything. Also before exercise or if I'm about to do an exam, basically any situation where a hypo is a bit more likely or a bit more inconvenient.
I test if I feel ill or a bit odd, as it's the easiest thing to confirm or rule out as a cause of feeling bad.
Hmm, alcohol. I don't like the taste of any alcohol really, and I never have done, but I still managed to be very drunk almost constantly from the age of 19 - 21! Oops... Your son will still need to be educated about diabetes and alcohol even if he has no intention if drinking at the moment. It'll be different when he's around other kids more and gets to the age when that's just what they do.
 
hi,
we have always been very open with alcohol and even let him try it. The nearest he has got to liking any is baileys ice-cream lol. He may change but I can say that he has an old head on young shoulders. Peer pressure is quite worrying as you can never be sure where that will end. The course he has applied for had an audition day recently where he found out that he will be the only boy. I am sure he will enjoy that.
 
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