Whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, you should be measuring your blood sugar at home. I know…I know…it’s not the funnest thing in the world to prick your finger day-to-day. But knowing where your blood sugar is, will help you manage it long-term. Here are a few questions I often get from my patients.
If I have pre-diabetes, should I be checking at home?
That depends. If your HgbA1c (which is a measure of your average glucose over 2-3 months) is between 5.7%-6.2%, then I typically don’t have my patients measure their blood sugar at home. Developing an exercise routine and working towards weight loss can often help reverse these numbers before it reaches type 2 diabetes.
If HgbA1c is 6.3 or 6.4%, then I do have them consider measuring at home. These numbers are very close to becoming type 2 diabetes, which is diagnosed at 6.5% and above. The benefit to measuring blood sugar at this point, is that we can have more control over blood sugar and can see if anything may be triggering those higher numbers.
How often should I check?
I typically recommend my patients start out at 3 times a day in a sporadic pattern and then we work out way down to once a day. Depending on how well blood sugar is controlled, we may be able to go down to once every other day.
Here’s what I mean when I say check in a sporadic pattern. For example, on Monday, you would check first thing in the morning before breakfast. For your second check, this could be 2 hours after lunch and a third check right before bed. On Tuesday, you would check at different times than you did on Monday. This could look like 2 hours after breakfast, before lunch, and 2 hours after an afternoon snack. You would repeat this sporadic checking at different times each day. By checking at different times each day, you will have a better picture of how your blood sugar is running.
Need help setting up a routine to check blood sugars at home? Schedule a free 15-minute discovery call and we can talk about how I can best help you with that!
Checking my blood sugar causes a lot of pain in my fingers. Is there something else I can do?
If you use your fingers to type at work on a daily basis, it can painful with frequent checks. Don’t worry, this isn’t how it has to be! There are definitely a few things you can try out.
The first and easiest thing to check is what your lancet device is set to. Start out with the lowest number on the dial and try it out. You should only need a tiny drop of blood for your test strip (about the size of a pin head). If you don’t see blood right away, try “milking” your finger by lightly squeezing it from your bottom knuckle to the tip if your finger.
You’ll also want to make sure you are using a new lancet each time. A used needle not only increases the risk for infection, but it also can get dulled quickly resulting in a painful stick.
Where are you pricking yourself? Sticking it directly on top of the finger or on the pad of your finger is going to be more painful. Instead, try using the lancet device on the side-pad of your finger.
You can also use your lancet device on other areas of your body. These are known as alternate testing sites (AST) and include your upper forearm, thigh, palm, or abdomen. However, keep in mind, blood sugar reaches the fingertips quicker than any other AST. So you’ll have the most accurate reading from your fingers.
You can also try using a different lancet or monitoring devices. Genteel is a lancet device that is specifically meant to provide painless finger sticks. For a monitoring device, you might check if your insurance will cover a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) like the Freestyle Libre.
If you found this information helpful, let me know which tips worked for you in the comments! Also, be sure to check out some of my other posts:
How low should you go with carbohydrates?
Cinnamon and Diabetes
The Dawn Phenomenon