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Living with Diabetes 101 is written by registered nurses and diabetes educators.

Why Test Your Blood Sugar?

March 31, 2015
 

So, your healthcare provider has asked you to check your blood glucose levels. Why are you being asked to perform this painful task?

For now, it's the only way to know exactly what's going on with your blood sugar and it's the best way for you and your provider to find out if your diabetes regimen is working.

 Here are some ways you can use your meter to see for yourself what's going on:

Check before a meal and two hours afterwards to see what happens. If your blood sugar goes up more than 60 points, then something's off.

We expect your blood sugar to go up after you eat. That's okay, but it's how much it goes up that matters. Usually blood sugar will rise 30 to 60 points two hours after the first bite of a meal. If it goes up more than 60 points then the detective work begins: Not enough medicine? Too many carbs? Not enough activity?

Sometimes just a quick experiment with your most common meals will give you a wealth of information that could answer those questions. That healthy cereal you thought was lowering your cholesterol might be making your blood sugar go crazy! Testing is the only way to know.

On the other hand, if your blood glucose is in the target range before you eat, and it goes up less than 60 points after a meal, then you know that your regimen is working! This can be a great reassurance that things are staying on track without having to wait for that lab test three months down the road.

Here are the recommended ranges by the American Diabetes Association:
* Before a meal: 80-130 mg/dl
* Two hours after a meal: no higher than 180mg/dl.

 There are always exceptions, so talk to your provider about what might be the right range for you. For more information on blood glucose testing: http://www.joslin.org/info/monitoring_your_blood_glucose.html

 

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