Keeping records

Personally I check before each meal and 2 hrs later. I also check on awakening and before I go to bed.type2 insulin.I just like to keep an eye on bg levels. But I'm sure others maybe only check once or twice. I suppose it's an individual thing

 

I check mine before meals, and again at 1 hour and 2 hours. If necessary I keep going until I am down again. Also fasting and bedtimes. I no longer test every meal. I record all my food on an excel spread sheet, and also my levels. I still do this even though I have been diagnosed since January 2014. I am diet only, no meds.

 

I do as @Bluetit1802 above.
I kept a very detailed record of testing 5 times a day and of what I ate for a couple of months last year and now find that extremely useful for reference. But I've never weighed what I eat. Many do.
Also I kept a detailed record of what I ate for a few weeks before I discovered the forum and went low carb, high fat. I thought I was doing the right thing eating "good" carbs. Exactly like so many newcomers to the forum who can't understand why they're not improving. Now I know!

 

I'm supposed to test on waking
Before breakfast and 2 hours later
Before mid morning and 2 hours later
Before lunch and 2 hours later
Before mid afternoon and 2 hours later
Before tea and 2 hours later
Before supper and 2 hours later.

That sounds obsessive and it would drive me mad!

I no longer test all the time because I've done all the experimentation, I have quite a similar routine most days and only if I felt a bit unwell or was trying something new. And I wasn't sure what was in the food or drink!

 

Your meter should keep a record of your bs numbers with time and dates.. What you should do is keep a record of the BS number before a meal .. along with what the meal was .. then the 2hrs after bs test reading .. that way you can see what foods are affecting your bs. I used to use a small note book for this .. as I have got my bs under control I no longer need to write everything down, just test by bs to see all is well

 

Before plus 1hr after each meal. One hr because I want to know the spike at its highest. I know how to correct, after 1 year of detailed records.

I'm a late onset Type 1 and I want to keep my BG very steady.

 

As far as I know any reading on your meter will be recorded in it's memory for a certain period but you may need to set this option up -so read your manual.

The number of times you test will depend on what you're testing for - e.g. you might test more frequently after meals if you need to find out how your body's reacting to various high carb foods.

I generally test on waking and before and after meals - my meter keeps a record on my readings and I also upload these monthly to the meter's software on my PC.

Robbity

 

When I first started testing it would be between 6-8 times per day as I was trying to figure out what affected my BS. I now generally just test my FBG and will only test after meals if I am trying a new food. Occasionally, like today Ive been battling low BS all afternoon so I have been testing a lot.

 

Back in 2008 when I was hospitalised for a week with severe food poisoning, my BG was checked every two hours, 24/7. I had such sore fingers at the end of the week, peppered with tiny bruises !

My GP told me that for T1s, testing makes sense because they (you) can adjust insulin to match carb intake. He said that the danger with T2s testing is that patients can get obsessed with numbers and frustrated and depressed because we aren't able to react to high BG like T1s unless on insulin. However, he does think that some testing is useful, for example, after introducing new foods, changing meds, feeling ill.

I tend to do spot checks, randomly at different times of the day over say a week or two, to build up a pattern. If there's a problem, I try different ways to overcome it. I don't religiously test every day, because my fingers would get too sore.

 

I used MyFitnessPal for keeping track of what I eat and I like to cycle for 1.5-2hrs 2 -3 times a week(as per MD's instructions). I test my BG when I wake up, 2hrs post meals and if I feel I'm going hypo as I'm on glyburide as well as metformin. I also test after a good stiff cycle.

 

If you don't test before a meal too as well as after, what is your post meal test telling you? You're not going to know by how much your food might be spiking you.

Robbity

 

My post meal check is almost always 3 or 4 hrs after my meal, which at that time, I'm ready to eat again. It's during and after exercise and if I'm feeling that I'm going hypo that I become very vigilant. But, that's just how I do it. My BG is very well controlled with the Glyburide.

 

@Bergkamp777 I test min of 8 times a day waking up, before n after meals n before bed. I'll also test before driving n when I arrive, ill test before working out n middle if needed n after. All of its recorded n I go though 250 to 300 strips a month.