How many times a day do you check your BG? As for me, I do check before meals and 2hrs after meals, and before bedtime. But, there are times when I have to check before/after working out or early morning (2-3a.m.). Overall, I checked 8-10 times a day depending on my situation. Just wondering…if I’m the only one that check this much a day. I was told several times, its too much but I know this procedure works for me so I’m not changing. My A1C is in better control, ranging around 5.8 - 6.0.
Minimum 12x a day…if I’m having an off day, it could be up to 18 or so…
I too work out daily and test after exercise, before meals, at bed, and anytime I think I may need to know, about 8-10 times a day.
I’d say somewhere 10-15 most days but I agree w/ Jeska too that if things are whacky I will test a lot more. A few years ago, I was working out pretty had 2x/ day and was up to around 17. I get sort of angry at the people selling their strips which, in turn, seems to make insurance companies assume that everyone is trading extra strips for crack or whatever they assume.
I check 18 times a day. I have gastropaesis so try to keep a really close eye because I can never tell which way my BS will go.
I try to keep myself to six times a day, though if things seem out of control, I do it more often. I just don’t want to get overly obsessed with it!
I test 8-10x most days, some days up to 12x or so if things are off. I only get 300 strips a month so can’t test more than that.
Curious, for those of you who test 15-20x a day, do you act on every test you do? That’s testing almost once an hour, and it would seem insulin (or food) would not have time to really fully take effect for each of those tests.
I don’t feel that testing often is an obsession. I think the more information you have, the better you can detect patterns and thus, gain better control. I test 5-7 times a day, and sometimes more, if things seem out of whack. I also keep a notebook of all those numbers plus the food I eat, my exercise times and even notes about how I’m feeling that day or if I have a pain or a cold or am overly stressed. Everyone has to do what’s right for them, of course. But those stinkin’ test strips sure are expensive !!
12x, 15x, 30x…whenever the spirit moves me.
On average, I say I check about 12 times a day, but this varies depending on how much I’m driving (I always test before I drive) and how much exercising I’m doing. My worst habit is that I sometimes forget to test when I wake up. But I do always test in the middle of the night (around 3am). If I’m having a ‘good’ day, I may test no more than 8 times. But on an off day, I can burn through test strips really fast.
I too had an endo once tell me that I was testing too much, and I didn’t see him again after that. I am sorry, but the one thing I know I can do to stay healthy is know what my BG is. I tried a CGM (Dexcom) but didn’t have good luck with that, so I just stick with finger pricking and that seems to work well for me. However, it does mean that I sometimes have to pay out-of-pocket for test strips if I run out before I can renew my prescription.
Routine is 8 (fasting, before and after each meal and bedtime), but if I’m low or high and correcting I’ll check more often.
Jen, I don’t necessarily act on every single test but the tests help me to decide whether I need to act. Because of the gastroparesis, I take an average of 3 shots per meal – that is half of my testing right there. It takes 20 minutes for insulin to kick in and if in an hour I am too much higher than what I was when I took the insulin, I know that I need to take more.
It depends on my readings. When my BG is high then of course I check more. I can check around 12-ish times that day, maybe more. On a good reading day I check about 6 to 8 times…When I feel a low or want to exercise I test more also…
I average 9 times per day according to my pump reports. Sometimes it’s as low as 6 and sometimes as high as 12-15. But no matter what I do, I almost always end up with the same average.
I feel fortunate that I have never had problems with insurance in getting a sufficient number of strips. I can’t imagine testing less than I do. I do sense some hypos, but other times I haven’t a clue. before driving home from work tonight, I felt fine. I always test before driving home and my BG was 58. Then I had the opposite problem this morning. I did the super bad deed and had a chocolate covered donut. It’s my most favorite treat, but I have never yet bolused successfully for it. I felt low, so though I should test. I checked and I was at 269. Oops. I really do feel the same when I’m high as when I’m low. So thank heavens for test strips.
8-10 times/day. Sometimes if I’m distracted and really busy with something, I’ll forget an after meal test, but I like to know how I’m doing instead of forgetting to test and then feeling headachy and ill for hours afterward because I missed a high (I can still feel lows, and I usually test for them to see how much I should treat).
Which reminds me. I need to refill my emergency sugar supply in my purse.
I test at least 6-7 times a day.
Thank you all for your quick response. I’m glad to know I don’t feel alone about how many times I test on a daily basis. Like said, there are several times (depending on my situation) where I check my BGs more than 10 times.
No, Jen, I’m with Kelly - they help me decide if I need to act. I can’t get a CGM - I don’t have enough lows - so I keep track of my trending the old school way :o)
8-10x per day Up to 12x if an “off” day.
Sounds like I need to be testing a whole lot more. The more you test, the easier it is to control your blood sugars. My biggest problem is simply forgetting to test.