They are truly terrifying people. Guess, then test. Then feel smug in your predictive powers. Or shamed.
Here’s another way to get a good answer to the question “How often to Test?”
Each test should be made for a specific reason and you should know what that reason is.
I.E.
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Test at 1 hour because you want to see how high your blood sugar is spiking in response to a known quantity of carbs or a new food you hope to include in your diet.
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Test at 2 hours because you want to be sure you aren’t staying high for a long time after eating a known quantity of carbs or specific food.
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Test at 3 hours after injecting Novolog to see if you need a correction. Test at 3 hours after Novolin ® to make sure you aren’t going to go low since it works over 5 hours.
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Test on waking to see how fasting control is working or to decide how much insulin you need for breakfast.
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Test any time you feel odd to make sure you aren’t very high or heading low.
In any case, your test should be connected with some kind of action. If you are using diet alone, you test in situations where you will use the result to decide if a food is good for your blood sugar or not If you are using insulin you test to make sure you are using the right dose.
The scary thing about all the studies that showed that supposedly “testing doesn’t help type 2s” is that they didn’t tell them WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE TEST RESULT! If you don’t tell someone that if you’re high on a dietary regimen, it means you are eating too many carbs for your body to handle, testing isn’t going to help. But I’ve seen a lot of type 2s get dramatic improvements with blood sugar when they connected the idea that testing, and seeing a high meant it was time to lower the carb input to where it was in range.
Always told to test. Upon waking up, before breakfast, before lunch, any snacks and dinner. At midnight and 2am. Before and after exercise. If exercising more than one hour, test during. Then added to that, test 2 and a half to three hours after eating and correct, if high. That’s 8 to 12 times a day. Sometimes more. She’s ten. Adults are most likely more stable? And not to correct high BG more than every three hours, now can take care of a high BG two and a half hours after eating.
Caleb,
I’d really encourage you to change your practice. An A1C only shows you your average, it doesn’t tell you how much time your spending in the damage zone (> 150 or > 180, depending on what you read) or how much time you’re dangerously low. No one can know their body well enough to distinguish between a BG of 140 (doing good), 180 (should improve) or 220 (damage in process). While you might physically recognize 65 (too low) or 240 (too high and I gotta pee now) there are many levels in between you want to avoid.
When I only tested once a day, I thought I was doing pretty good (my A1C made the Doctors happy). But once I started testing 7 times a day I discovered my control wasn’t so good after all and I was spending way more time in the danger zone than I wanted too. You’re only given one set of eyes and kidneys, do all that you can to keep them healthy.
Ken
I test a TON ; )
At the absolute minimum I test when I wake up, before every meal, before bed, and ALWAYS before driving my car.
And then I test a million times in between depending on how I feel or what’s going on…so far today, and its 9pm here, I’ve tested 10 times and I’m not done yet.
I think the amount of daily tests really depends on the person…if your control is great then maybe just a few times a day is enough BUT I do think testing before driving is always necessary, no matter how good ones control.
Hello! I test before breakfast, 2 hours after breakfast, before lunch, 2 hours after lunch, before supper, 2 hours after supper and before bed. I occasionally test in the middle of the night if I happen to be up so I guess I guess that I average about 7 tests a day, sometimes more if I need to adjust my insulin…
When I was first diagnosed, I tested 10-12 times a day: Fasting, before meals, 1 hour after meals, 2 hours after meals, bedtime and between 2-3 a.m. After several months of getting to know how my body reacts to specific foods (carbs!), I now test less often. Always FBS, always bedtime and more likely after meals than before, since I am focused on never letting my blood glucose exceed 140 (I’m type 2). The highest reading I’ve had in 3-4 months has been 117, so I’m pretty comfortable with my current testing. Each of us if different, though!
Sarah
i test for sure before every meal, bedtime, before i exercise just to make sure I am not going to risk bottoming myself out while on ellipitcal trainer and after exercise and then whenever I just don’t feel right. I might test up to 12 times a day.
Testing “around meals” has helped me learn what foods spike my BG- I normally test right after I wake up, then 2hrs after breakfast. If I’m having my typical low-carb lunch, i’ll skip testing because I already know it won’t affect my BG. If I’m going out for lunch for business, etc, I’ll check before anf after . Then I always test before dinner and then 2 hours after. With all these numbers stored in my meter, my endo can see an averge picture of how I’m doing between AC1 tests.
I test very frequently throughout the day. When I wake, before each meal or every 60 minutes whichever comes first, 2 hours after eating, before and after exercise, after sex, before bed and overnight if I happen to wake up. I of course test more during menses. Sure my fingers are sore, but I just don’t understand people testing 4 times a day, it archaic. What is the point in guessing when you have a meter that will tell you what you need to know. Post prandial highs are not good for you, why risk it?
I test:
- Very first thing in the morning.
- Around 9:30 am.
- Again at around 11:30.
- Before lunch at 12:30.
- After lunch at about 2 pm.
- Again around 5 pm.
- Before hitting the gym at 7 pm.
- Sometimes during my workout.
- At night around 8:30 pm.
- Again at about midnight.
That’s the average. It doesn’t include any random tests before driving, or when I feel a bit dodgy, or when I’m low in the middle of the night, or when I’m high and am checking to make sure the correction is working, or …
Man, this is an expensive enterprise.