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Testing Regularly?

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I do not have diabetes
I'm just wondering what people consider as regular testing? If you test regularly and feel strongly about it, we are writing a new section about testing frequency so please let us know your views...

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I'll start this worthy thread on behalf of my T1 son, if i may. Tests before breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. Then when at school (has now broke up for 9wks summer vacation omg!) Before PE and sometimes after when he remembers, plus after school. Whilst on school holidays we tend to just test before meals, obviously when doing energetic activity he'l test more often, plus when its hot (which it hasn't been since he broke up from school!). So on average 4-6 times daily, and injects 4 times a day.
Regards,
Suzi x
 
As a new type 2 I tested before every meal and two hours after that meal.That way I built up a picture of which foods affected my BG.Now ,two years along ,I do not test so frequently unless it is something new I am eating or if I feel unwell.However ,I do feel it is important to test at least once-twice a day otherwise you can become complacent and let your control slip.
I have also done 'spike' testing one hour after some meals to discover foods that are causing highs in my blood sugar levels. As I only get 50 strips a month I have to self fund any tests over twice a day!
 
I test at least once a day
If I didn't have to fund my own strips, I'd do it at least twice. My GP supples strips for twice a week. :evil:
 
I am a T2 and I get as many strips as I need from my GP so I can test when I wake, before meals, 1 and 2 hrs after meals and before bed.

When I first started testing that was the routine. Now, I test when I feel odd, or if I try different foods. I am very comfortable with regular testing. It is not at all stressful or painful. I now know exactly what is happening to me Bg levels throughout each day and can react accordingly.

Without the ability to test I would have been in deep trouble last night.

At about 10pm I awoke from a half hour power nap with a slight headache. I was talking on the phone when I started to shake uncontrollably, feel really sick and began to feel cold and clammy. I had had these feelings before and knew I was probably experiencing the beginnings of a hypo ? I managed to make my way to my meter and tested. Bg 3.6 mmol/l. Not ridiculously low, but much too low for me. I usually start to feel rough around 4.5 mmol/l. Lucozade, Coke and food soon bought me back to more normal levels within half an hour.

If I didn't have the ability to test I could have quite easily gone lower and not known anything about it. Consequences, well, I'll leave that to your imagination.

Ken
 
As a newbie T2 I am curently testing between 6-8 times a day - before breakfast, 1 hour after meals and 2 hours meals after meals.

I believe my meter is the single most important tool I have in helping to control and manage my bg levels. Testing regularly helps me stay in control and makes me feel far less dependent on my doctor - who like lots of other doctors I read about on this forum said that you should only test twice a week.

I am still in the process of working out my 'own personal diet' - cutting out things that 'spike' me and my numbers are usually around the 5's and 6's. How would I know this if I only tested twice a week. I know its expensive but I consider my health to be priceless!

As life moves on and I become more confident in understanding what affects my bg levels I may consider cutting back on the testing to say 4 times a day but at the moment I agree with whoever said 'Test, Test, Test' .

Rita
 
I am newly diagnosed and I am testing numerous times a day. I don't beleive I will be able to manage my blood sugar and bring it under my control any other way. I beleive it is also important to keep a diary of what you eat to be able to make sense of the results, especially in the beginning.

I test on waking and before bed. I also intend to test before meals, and hour after to catch any spike and 2 hours after eating. I say "intend", because it does not always work out like that at work because I may be in a meeting, eating on the run or be separated from my meter.

I also test after exercise if it does not coincide with one of the other tests. I have also done extra tests if my readings are unexpectedly high - for example, I think my menstrual cycle affects readings. I have not been physically ill since I started testing, but I would do additional tests at those times too.

This is usually around 8 times day.

I have no idea how many strips I will get from my GP. I told him how many tests I wanted to do and he told me that he could not fund that level of testing, however, he didn't tell me how many tests would be funded. I'm currently ordering strips every couple of weeks and will discuss this when he stops signng the prescriptions. I am funding the rest of the tests myself via sellers on eBay (I won't pay more than £10 a box there and have found a couple of reliable sellers), the one box I have bought in a pharmacy I got them to remve the VAT.

I got the meter as a feebie from Roche when I rang their customer services and the meter comes with a lifetime warranty (batteries, test solutions and replacement) and software and hardware to transfer the data to my computer.
 
I have been a Type 2 for 7 years and until three years ago tested at least 3 times a day. For the past three years I have stopped testing, different results caused more worry. I see my diabetic nurse regularly and since stopping testing my HBA1C has dropped from 8 to 5.8!!!. More important is your blood pressure. It is essential that I keep my blood pressure under control.

If your are going to test, keep it to a maximum of twice a week. Stop wasting money that can be spent on other health needs. Diabetics (all our medications) take 25% of the country drug budget.
Consider the cost of the strip, companies love to dive away their meters. Most Practice Nurses have a cupboard stacked with free meters.
 
type 1 for 5yrs, i test before every meal, if its a new food i test after too and of course if im feeling odd ,so i test at least 4 times a day :D
 
I test regularly for short periods during each month - that is, i'll alot a day where i test four or six times to see how i'm going and then have a week/5 days where i test twice a day to keep an eye out. The rest of the time i wont test unless i feel unwell or am about to exercise and nowadays, i seem fairly OK about just knowing what to eat before exercise and will test on return from my bike ride instead.

The exceptions to this are when i'm unwell; this week i was whizzed off to Recuss in A&E with an anaphylaxis (i have severe food allergies) and the hefty dose of steroids i was on plays havoc with my b.g. levels.

I was given heaps of intraveneous steroids and then a 3 day course of 6 per day and i really noticed a jump in numbers when i tested.

To counteract that as best i could, i reduced the carb intake for this week so that even though i was higher than normal, i remained below 7 each time i tested, starting from the first day i was home from hospital. Mind you, i tested only after 2 hours from eating or on rising or before eating...i didnt bother with testing 1 hour after food. Enough is enough! LOL.

Incidently, i puzzle as to why steroids raise b.g. levels and would be interested if anyone can explain?

Anyway, i test fairly often, with a view to keep myself in check, literally, and i am not rationed to 50 strips a month but at the same time i dont take advantage of my GP's generosity (she isnt meant to prescribe more than 50 per month per Type 2 but makes an exception with me as i try hard to get a grip on this disease). Every now and then i buy myself a packet direct from Abbott's.

bunty
 
BobB said:
I have been a Type 2 for 7 years and until three years ago tested at least 3 times a day. For the past three years I have stopped testing, different results caused more worry. I see my diabetic nurse regularly and since stopping testing my HBA1C has dropped from 8 to 5.8!!!. More important is your blood pressure. It is essential that I keep my blood pressure under control.

If your are going to test, keep it to a maximum of twice a week. Stop wasting money that can be spent on other health needs. Diabetics (all our medications) take 25% of the country drug budget.
Consider the cost of the strip, companies love to dive away their meters. Most Practice Nurses have a cupboard stacked with free meters.
Click to expand...
So, BobB, just because you have got your sugars under control,you want to deny others that chance!! by that reflection, cancer sufferers cost this country a lot of money for medication and care, should we deny them the chance of life . Cos this is what it is all about, as a recently diagnosed T2 diabetic i want to live as a whole person, not with odd bits missing and unless i test i do not know what my body is telling me. i don't want to be eating the same foods day in and day out as that is the only way that you know what effect they are having and cannot eat different foods unless you TEST and find out what they have done to your body. I have enough problems with my diabetic nurse telling me test x 2 times a week and my blood sugars, although coming down,are nowhere near your level. would you work for the HEALTH INDUSTRY, by any chance ? as that is the type of comment they come out with. Stop worrying about whether there is a financial cost and instead worry about whether you are getting the care that you will need as a diabetic. I test about 7 times a day as i also drive and need to be aware of what my levels are so as to be safe, although i have never 'hypoed', i have been down to 3.4 and my stomach feels 'queer' so i know i am getting low, without testing I would not know would I ? :roll:
 
Hi bobB
I've been diagnosed 6 years and test once or twice a day. I fund my own strips ( on a pension) and keep control even tighter than you.
Last HbA1c 5.6%. I couldn't keep to that without testing. Even after all this time, I don't know exactly what every food will do
 
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