What If I Have Trouble Getting To My Blood Sugar Goals
There may be times when you have trouble reaching your blood sugar goals. This does not mean that you have failed. It means that you and your health care team should see if changes are needed. Call your health care team if your blood sugar is often too high or too low. Taking action will help you be healthy today and in the future.
How To Use A Glucometer
Oftentimes, unless you have met with a certified diabetes educator, your healthcare provider may have given you a prescription for a glucometer without explicitly telling you how to use it. And while most instruction manuals are user-friendly, this task can seem daunting if you are new to testing or not that technologically savvy. Follow these guidelines for safe and easy testing.
What Are The Benefits
Tracking your blood sugar test results daily in a log will enable you to spot any major changes. By also tracking your food, diabetes medications, supplements and exercise you will see how they impact your blood glucose levels. For example, you can track which carbohydrates spike your blood sugar so you can avoid eating that food in the future.
You want to eat a healthy diet that includes plenty of high-quality protein , healthy fats and unprocessed carbs such as fresh veggies and fruit. Since carbs have a direct impact on your blood sugar levels, you want to eat those carbs that rank low on the Glycemic Load scale.
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How Do I Monitor My Blood Sugar At Home
There are many easy-to-use blood sugar meters available. You can buy them at most drug stores and medical supply stores. When choosing a meter, you should think about features you want, like test time, sample size, and memory, and whether the meter can test somewhere other than your fingertips. Be sure you read the directions on how to use the meter before using it.
How Often Should I Test My Blood Sugar
You may also want to discuss how often you should test with your doctor because it can vary depending on your treatment, how well your blood sugar is controlled and your resources. In general, four or more tests a day are recommended to maintain good blood sugar control. You should measure your fasting blood sugar before meals and/or your blood sugar at bedtime and two hours after meals, as needed. Your ultimate goal is to reach a normal blood sugar level that below 5.6 on the A1c or below 99 on the fasting glucose test) in a safe manner.
You can review your daily log to see how how food, activity and stress affect your blood sugar. You want to see if there is a pattern of having too high or low levels for several days in a row at about the same time. If that happens, you may want to change your prediabetes or type 2 diabetes care plan and consult your health care provider.
When any changes occur in diet, exercise, medications, illness, or travel, you should test more often. The ADA has these free log tools: Diabetes 24/7, a printable blood glucose log and a smaller version available for purchase.
Equipment and Costs
You can buy a glucose meter and strips to test your blood sugar levels at home. Read this helpful article with lots of tips for buying a home glucose monitoring kit. Participants in this diabetes forum discuss brands they like and use and how to get a good deal.
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Why Test Blood Sugar Levels
If you take certain medication, like insulin or sulphonylureas, checking your blood sugars is a vital part of living with diabetes. It can help you work out when you need to take more medication, when you need to eat something or for when you want to get up and move around more.
Routine checks can help you know when you might be starting to go too low or too high . Its a way of getting to know your body and how it works. It can help you and your healthcare team spot patterns too. Do you write your results down? You might find that helpful.
But importantly, it will help you stay healthy and prevent serious diabetes complications now and in the future. By complications, we mean serious problems in places like your feet and your eyes. This happens because too much sugar in the blood damages your blood vessels, making it harder for blood to flow around your body. This can lead to very serious problems like sight loss and needing an amputation.
The higher your blood sugar levels are and the longer theyre high for, the more at risk you are.
How To Test Your Blood Sugar
To check your blood sugar level, gather your blood glucose meter, a test strip and your lancing device. See how to prepare the meter and test strip, lance your finger and get a reading using the Accu-Chek® Guide Me system by watching the video or following the steps here:
The steps are similar for many meters, and generally look like this:
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How Often Should I Test My Blood Sugar Level
Your family doctor will recommend how often you should test. Testing times are based on the kind of medicine you take and on how well your blood sugar levels are controlled. Youll probably need to check your blood sugar more often at first. Youll also check it more often when you feel sick or stressed, when you change your medicine, or if youre pregnant.
How To Monitor Your Blood Glucose Levels
Watch this film from Diabetes UK or read the instructions below.
Tip
There is less sensation in the sides of your fingers than the tips or the underneath. Try to prick the side of your finger, near the tip.
To monitor your glucose, you will be given a blood glucose monitor. This is designed for you to measure your own blood glucose levels at home, or wherever you happen to be, by checking a drop of your blood. You produce the blood by using a finger pricker.
To monitor your glucose, you will be given a blood glucose monitor. This is designed for you to measure your own blood glucose levels at home, or wherever you happen to be, by checking a drop of your blood. You produce the blood by using a finger pricker.
There are many different brands of meter on the market, but they all work in similar ways:
Step 1 Wash your hands.
Step 2 Set up a finger pricker with a clean needle.
Step 3 Insert one end of a test strip into the meter.
Step 4 Use the finger pricker to prick the side of your finger.
Step 5 When a spot of blood appears where you pricked you finger, place it onto the end of the testing strip that is sticking out of the meter to transfer the blood.
Step 6 After a few seconds, the meter will display your blood glucose level.
Step 7 Clean the blood off your finger.
Step 8 Record the results in your blood glucose diary or diabetes journal, or you may have a phone app that you use.
Step 9 Throw away the test strip.
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Easy Ways To Check Blood Sugar Without A Meter
Diabetes is a complicated state of the body. Furthermore, it triggers more diseases. Thus, it is of utmost importance to keep a close watch on the blood sugar level readings. Here, we are presenting ways to monitor your blood sugar without a meter.
Self-Monitoring: A Great Way To Check Blood Sugar At Home?
Keeping a watch on your diabetes numbers is essential. We can easily determine, How to check blood sugar at home? by just observing the symptoms of the disease.
If you feel thirsty more often
Conventionally, when we feel thirsty, we used to drink a glass or two glasses of water. Conversely, if you are diabetic then no wonder if you down with a pitcher of water at one go.
This is how people used to check sugar levels at home without machines. Furthermore, this method cannot tell you the numbers of your sugar level yet it will leave you with doubt to consult a doctor.
You frequently start using restrooms
Why a person urges more often for peeing? The reason behind this is that at the point when the sugar level is high in your blood, your kidneys cant haul the sugar out any longer.
Your body attempts to weaken that sugar by pulling in more water from your tissues, leaving you feeling got dried out. This causes you to feel the desire to drink more water, bringing about you are peeing all the more regularly.
Encountering such a condition can tell you if your blood sugar is high without a meter.
Sudden Weight-loss: check your blood sugar without needles
Urine Sugar test
How Do I Check My Blood Sugar
You use a blood glucose meter to check your blood sugar. This device uses a small drop of blood from your finger to measure your blood sugar level. You can get the meter and supplies in a drug store or by mail.
Read the directions that come with your meter to learn how to check your blood sugar. Your health care team also can show you how to use your meter. Write the date, time, and result of the test in your blood sugar record. Take your blood sugar record and meter to each visit and talk about your results with your health care team.
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How Much Does An A1c Test Kit Cost
The A1CNow SelfCheck I used in the video is $53.83 on Amazon for 4 tests. I chose this kit as it was the cheapest solution, but similar home A1C kits can be found on Amazon ranging from $60-$100 for 4 tests.
You can also find home A1C kits in most pharmacies such as CVS and at Walmart.
A1C kits that require you to collect a blood sample at home and send it to a lab is also available. One FDA-cleared kit that Ive tried is the Home Access Health home A1C test which was $40 .
These tests require a significantly larger blood collection and you can end up waiting up to 4 weeks for your test results, depending on how fast the mail gets to the lab and back to you.
Monitoring Your Blood Sugar Level
Last Updated February 2021 | This article was created by familydoctor.org editorial staff and reviewed by Robert “Chuck” Rich, Jr., MD, FAAFP
If you have diabetes, its important to monitor your blood sugar at different times of the day and throughout the year. There are 3 tools that can help you do this and, therefore, manage your diabetes: A blood test done every three months, blood tests taken every day, and a system that constantly monitors your blood glucose.
The 3-month blood test is called an A1C test. This test reflects your blood sugar control over the past 2-3 months. Testing your A1C level every 3 months is the best way for you and your doctor to understand how well your blood sugar levels are controlled. Your doctor will likely be the one who orders an A1C test. However, you can also purchase over-the-counter A1C testing kits that you can use at home. Your A1C goal will be determined by your doctor. However, the goal is generally less than 7% or 8%, depending on your age.
The daily blood test is done with a blood glucose monitor . This is also called a home blood sugar meter, a glucometer, or a glucose meter. This type of testing is often referred to as self-monitoring of blood glucose. Your doctor may prescribe a BGM, especially if your blood sugar fluctuates. They will show you how to use it.
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When To Talk With A Pro
Testing your blood sugar is crucial to diabetes management. Using a meter or continuous glucose monitoring can provide accurate results. But you might seek a pain-free method to check blood sugar.
Talk with your doctor or a certified diabetes educator. You might be a candidate for a glucose monitoring device that involves fewer finger pricks or no finger pricks.
Additionally, making a few adjustments in the way you collect your blood sample might reduce the level of pain and discomfort.
How To Do A Finger
Your healthcare team will show you how to do it the first time, but these are the key steps:
- Wash your hands with soap and warm water. Dont use wet wipes as the glycerine in them can affect the test result. Make sure your hands are warm so its easier to get blood and wont hurt as much.
- Take a test strip and slot it into the meter to turn it on. Some meters will have tests strips built in.
- Remove the cap from your finger prick device and put in a new lancet. Then put the cap back on and set the device by pulling or clicking the plunger.
- Choose which finger to prick but avoid your thumb or index finger . And dont prick the middle, or too close to a nail. Place the device against the side of your finger and press the plunger. Use a different finger each time and a different area.
- Take your meter with the test strip and hold it against the drop of blood. Itll tell you if the test strip is filled, usually by beeping.
- Before you look at your reading, check your finger. Use a tissue to stop bleeding, then use it to take out the lancet and throw it away in your sharps bin.
- You can use the same tissue to take out the test strip and throw that away too. Taking out the strip will usually turn the meter off.
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Normal Blood Sugar Ranges
Its recommended that fasting blood sugar levels be between 80 mg/dL to 130 mg/dL as often as possible for people with diabetes. Postprandial blood sugar, which is taken two hours after a meal, should be less than 180 mg/dL. Understanding these levels can be important when interpreting your own readings. However, its very important to note that you shouldnt compare your levels to others and every single person has a different diabetes journey.
Why You Should Check Your Blood Sugar
Testing blood glucose can help you manage diabetes by showing you:
- How well your diabetes treatment plan is working
- How exercise and food affect your blood sugar levels
- How things like stress and illness affect your levels
- How well your diabetes medication is working
- When your blood sugar levels are too high or too low
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How To Reduce The Pain Of Blood Sugar Checks
Nobody gets excited about pricking their fingertip. In fact, studies have shown that it’s one of the main reasons people refrain from regularly checking their blood glucose.6,7 So how can you make this less of a hurdle in your self-care?
Select a less-painful lancing device
Naturally, one factor that can contribute to the pain is your lancing device. That’s why we’ve worked hard to ensure that Accu-Chek lancing devices keep discomfort to a minimum. For example, our lancing devices feature:
- Technology that minimizes side-to-side motion, so there’s less skin tearing
- 11 customizable depth settings to help match your skin type
- Precisely manufactured, beveled, thin-gauge lancets to ensure smoother entry
You can reduce pain by using a fresh lancet for every test. Today’s lancets are so tiny that just a single use can bend or dull the tips. This can make them hurt more as you reuse them.
5 tips for reducing fingertip pain
You can make testing more comfortable and help ensure that you get a good sample on the first try by following these 5 easy steps.
Easy Ways To Lower Blood Sugar Levels Naturally
High blood sugar, also known as hyperglycemia, is associated with diabetes and prediabetes. Prediabetes is when your blood sugar is high, but not high enough to be classified as diabetes.
Your body usually manages your blood sugar levels by producing insulin, a hormone that allows your cells to use the circulating sugar in your blood. As such, insulin is the most important regulator of blood sugar levels .
However, multiple factors can impair blood sugar management and lead to hyperglycemia.
Internal causes for high blood sugar include when your liver produces too much glucose, your body makes too little insulin, or your body cant effectively use insulin. The latter is known as insulin resistance (
2 ).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 13% of U.S. adults live with diabetes and that another 34.5% have prediabetes. This means that close to 50% of all U.S. adults have diabetes or prediabetes .
Blood sugar management is especially important for people with diabetes, as chronically high blood sugar levels can lead to limb and life threatening complications (
Increased insulin sensitivity means your cells can more effectively use the available sugar in your bloodstream.
Exercise also helps your muscles use blood sugar for energy and muscle contraction .
Whats more, researchers recommend doing so-called exercise snacks to lower blood sugar and prevent the damage that sitting all day can do .
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