I couldn’t get away with four if my life depended on it… ha ha. It takes about ten just to stay as level as possible. If I were going to be testing at one and two hours after meals to figure out peaks and how certain foods are affecting me, etc., I would be at way more than that.
10-12 times a day. Do you mean you don’t test two hours after meals?
10 or more tests a day and even more if I am not well.
I got through 150 test strips a month now.lol
At least 10. Fasting, pre and post meals, bedtime, 2am (since new pump start), before during and after exercise, before and after surgery (I am a doc) and anytime I don’t feel good 
My doctor tells me 5 times is enough, but it isn’t. Insurance will pay for 200 strips/month and I buy the rest myself.
8-12.
The max my insurance will pay for is typically 3/day, so 100 without appeal. I have a prescription for 210/mo, and I get 200, b/c the insurance won’t cover any more. I pay for the rest out of pocket. OUCH!!!
18+ a day
I’m glad to know that I am not the only one that is exceeding the recommended amount of testing… I tend to feel like I’m being overzealous when, in fact, I’m simply doing what needs to be done to gain better control. The information I’ve acquired here has made a huge difference. On my first visit with my endo he asked me, “What do you want to do, open up your own clinic? Relax.” Well, in fact, in order to manage my own diabetes I have to be as knowledgeable, even more knowledgeable, than any of the professionals who have given me their advice and protocols so far. Since I have discovered that fat and protein impact my bg levels I have likened this to playing three dimensional chess… I’m experimenting now with dual wave, square, delaying eating for thirty minutes, different meals, etc. and without lots of testing, how can I possibly know what the results of my trials are? I even stopped contacting my pump educator because I realized that no one was going to be able to help me better than myself and you guys.
Crap! Based on responses here, I need to step it up
Well said, Carolyne! While it may seem obsessive or over-zealous to most of the medical community, micro-managing our diabetes to get the best numbers possible is what I truly believe will keep the complications to a minimum. I have moderate nonproliferative retinopathy with an A1C of 5.8 - my eye doctor says to get it to 5.0. There is NO WAY to do this without checking and correcting. Many docs believe that there is no benefit to getting the A1C under 6. I am not one of them! I think the lower the better as long as you are not suffering serious lows. So test, test, test. Dave, I will investigate the override option - thanks for the tip. My partners refill my test strips, so should be easy enough to file.
18+ it can be a bit more if i’m running a lot of errands or having a bad day
Carolyne,
Great attitude! You rock.
Three dimensional chess–so true.
One endo told me “not to worry” when I asked questions. Nice response.
as many as i need to! usually like 10+more
5-7 times daily.
My doctor also claims 5 times is enough. I actually find that if I follow the same patterns, it is. But if anything is not routine about my day (let’s face it most days are not routine in some way), then it is not.
I’m way below this discussion’s average as well
8-12. if I go for more than 2 or 3 hours without a test, I want to know what my blood is.
It’s difficult not to test above 4-6 times a day, because you become so curious after a while! It’s like being a scientist- with a ton of variables for each test.
I test about 12 times a day. If I’m not doing anything out of the ordinary, then I might be around 8, but most of the time it’s 12+ times. My doctor, who I’m very fortunate to have believes in micro-managing diabetes.
About 5 times if all’s good, more if not. Hint: I found strips for less than 50% of retail at Amazon.com. Accu-Chek Aviva
I got a quantity override on my last two prescription drug plans. So helpful.