Let's Get Physical - Blood Sugar Uncertainty!

Today is the seventh and last day of Diabetes Blog Week. There is a new topic everyday, today’s topic is “Let’s Get Physical.”

Yesterday I attended TCOYD with a group of friends. And it involved lots of walking, my pedometer counted nearly 10,000 steps and I walked up a quite a few stairs as well. And I felt really good that the exercise helped me have good blood sugars all day. And exercise can have a beneficial effect for up to 48 hours and so after exercise I try to keep an eye on my blood sugars not only during exercise but in the day afterward. I will make some adjustments by slightly reducing my basal and even at times reducing my mealtime boluses. Exercise is one of those things that require me to depend on my meter more critically and as many of us know all to well we can only have so much faith in our meters.

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Brian, your example of a 70 followed by a 100 and then a 97 is exactly why any payer’s strip limitation harms patients. They don’t realize that a 70 and a 100 live in two very different treatment universes. Relying on a bad number is worse than not checking at all. It can exacerbate an existing problem and if it’s a real hypo that you’re treating as a hyper, you can put yourself in a real danger.

Every responsible advice source about living safely with diabetes tells us to check out blood glucose before driving. If you check, get a 100 and it’s really 70 then that could be trouble. When I think of the small-minded bean counters that limit our access to strips, their folly seems so obvious to me. Unfortunately, most people would rather check BG less and this policy reinforces a bad inclination.

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