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When do you stop testing

  • Thread starter Thread starter AnnieC
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AnnieC

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If you are T2 and test your blood did you stop doing it every day at every meal once you knew what you could eat and do you just test if you eat something new.
 
Hi Annie

I stop testing for foods/combinations where I know the carb content / portion control / tolerances I can handle and that it has not spiked me 2 or 3 times after testing

Hope this helps
 
As a T2 I will never stop testing all the time I can afford the test strips, I always intend to test my fasting BS and certainly any time I introduce something "new" ! My nurse said in a few weeks she only wants me to test once or twice a week. I won't be taking her advice especially as (like just about everybody here) her initial "advice" was a diet sheet advocating carbs with every meal !
 
@cyclist's advice makes sense. I have a week off from time to time. Trouble is without testing I get sloppy. Because I feel very healthy I think relaxing the rules now and then won't matter because my meter won't record the spike! As a born backslider I fear this is the first step to testing ONLY when I know the reading will be good. I'm doomed!
 
After a while of eating less than 50g of carbs a day I stopped testing, except for occasionally my morning fasting level. I stopped seeing any spikes so it just felt like a waste of time to test, especially since my HbA1c was in the normal range. Of course, if you want to try some kind of new food that has carbs, it would make sense to test afterwards.
 
Sooze said:
As a T2 I will never stop testing all the time I can afford the test strips, I always intend to test my fasting BS and certainly any time I introduce something "new" ! My nurse said in a few weeks she only wants me to test once or twice a week. I won't be taking her advice especially as (like just about everybody here) her initial "advice" was a diet sheet advocating carbs with every meal !
Click to expand...
Good for you sooze ::))
 
I test fasting and before and after my main meal ... I stick to tried and tested foods any other times .. If I stop testing then I know I will start thinking I can eat more carbs !
 
I usually do a fasting test in the morning and last thing at night and if I'm trying something new. I've also, for some reason, got into the habit of testing when I get home from work in the early evenings - I'm normally in the 4s so perhaps that's the answer it reassures me that all is well re my BS!
 
I still test my fasting every day and before and after my main meal of the day, even if I've had that 100 times already. It's my habit and my personal passive policing.

I also still record every morsel I eat; although not being a snacker and only having two or three regular options for breakfast and lunch, this isn't as horrendous as it sounds. I'm not going to fudge my records, and I don't want to be documenting my downfall, so for now, I'll stick with it.
 
When I told the diabetic nurse I tested every day, she said not to bother as I was T2, but if I don't test how do I know I'm doing OK? I test each morning before breakfast and before evening meal. If I feel a bit under the weather I might test more often
 
I've reduced the amount of testing I do now I have a good handle on what I can and can't eat. I generally test first thing in the morning and last thing at night now along with 2 hours after one of my meals (I vary which one).

If I'm eating something new I'll test before that meal and then at 1, 2 and 3 hours so I know how it affects me but apart from that, my testing is more for reassurance that I'm still under control than anything else - I do have tight control now and very rarely see a reading over 6
 
I'm just back testing... and as mentioned above, you get lazy when you don't. I'm finding my 1 hr tends to be less than my 2 hr after evening meal if I've had a carb in it... last night went 5.5, 6.8, 8.3 on three small roast potatoes.... potatoes really do seem to spike me.... so no more. I eat the same thing for breakfast, yohurt, nuts and linseed, mostly olives, nuts, celery and cheese for lunch, meat and veg most nights... mostly under control.
Wondering about how useful the first one in the morning is...
Going back to before eating and 2 hours afterwards and will monitor to see how it goes...
 
hankjam said:
I'm just back testing... and as mentioned above, you get lazy when you don't. I'm finding my 1 hr tends to be less than my 2 hr after evening meal if I've had a carb in it... last night went 5.5, 6.8, 8.3 on three small roast potatoes.... potatoes really do seem to spike me.... so no more. I eat the same thing for breakfast, yohurt, nuts and linseed, mostly olives, nuts, celery and cheese for lunch, meat and veg most nights... mostly under control.
Wondering about how useful the first one in the morning is...
Going back to before eating and 2 hours afterwards and will monitor to see how it goes...
Click to expand...

For me, the fasting test is sort of the equivalent of the T1s basal testing, in that it shows what my body likes to regulate itself at under "business as usual" circumstances. For me that's a range of 3.5-4.5. If I saw that consistently going outside range, I would be asking myself if I was relaxing my controls or if my body was struggling to maintain my range for some reason. Such reasons could be stress, insomnia, infection, or conversely, it could be tired pancreas or increasing weight (as I believe I had quite marked insulin resistance).

That said, it's really just important you know why you are testing and know what you will do should things begin to drift.
 
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