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Diabetes Knowledge

How Often Should I Test My Blood Sugar?

1/20/2022 by mySugr

How Often Should I Test My Blood Sugar?

Testing your blood sugar at home is an essential part of managing diabetes. Monitoring your blood levels throughout the day can help you improve diabetes management. And with today’s blood glucose meters, it’s easy and quick to measure your blood sugar.

The big question is this: how often should I test my blood sugar? At what times should you be testing? Here’s a closer look at the answer to those questions, as well as some tips on what you can do with your results.

When Should You Test Your Blood Sugar?

It’s important to talk to your diabetes care team about how often you need to test your blood sugar. The frequency of which you need to test generally depends on the type of diabetes and your specific treatment plan.

Type 1 Diabetes

For individuals who have type 1 diabetes, doctors often recommend testing between four and 10 times per day. Some of the times you may need to test include[i]:

  • Before you exercise
  • After exercise
  • Before having a snack or meal
  • Before going to bed
  • During the night (at times)
  • More often if you’re taking a new medicine
  • More often if your daily routine changes
  • More often if you get sick
  • More often if you’re dealing with regular low blood sugars

Type 2 Diabetes

If you manage your type 2 diabetes with lifestyle changes or noninsulin medicines, you may only need to test your blood sugar daily. However, if you take insulin to manage your type 2 diabetes, your care team may recommend that you test multiple times per day.[ii] Testing is generally recommended at bedtime and before meals when taking multiple daily injections of insulin.

What to Do with Your Results

Whether you’re testing once a day or multiple times a day, you may wonder what to do with those results. The first thing you should do is make sure you’re recording your numbers each time you test. Looking at these numbers can provide you with a lot of information.

Here are a few things you can learn from your testing results[iii]:

  • Blood sugar levels before eating a meal can give you the information needed to modify your insulin dose or modify your meal.
  • Testing 1-2 hours after you eat a meal can help you see how what you’re eating affects your blood sugar values.
  • Testing first thing in the morning (your fasting blood sugar) may give information to your care team on whether you need to adjust your insulin doses.

Together, you and your diabetes team can use your regular blood sugar testing results to come up with the best diabetes management plan for you. The results allow your physician to tailor your treatment plan to help you avoid lows and highs. Testing regularly and reviewing those results with your team can help you reach your blood sugar targets.

Additional Times to Test

Outside of the normal times you test your blood sugar, additional times you may want to test include[iv]:

  • When you experience the symptoms of low blood sugar, such as sweating, dizziness, confusion, chills, or shaking.
  • When you have symptoms of high blood sugar, such as blurry vision, excessive thirst, frequent urination, and sleepiness.
  • You’re taking a new type of medicine.
  • You suddenly changed your activity level or exercise routine.
  • You’re dealing with more stress than usual.
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Sources

[i] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/blood-sugar/art-20046628

[ii] https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/how-often-should-i-blood-test.html

[iii] https://familydoctor.org/monitoring-your-blood-sugar-level/

[iv] https://familydoctor.org/monitoring-your-blood-sugar-level/

https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/managing-diabetes/know-blood-sugar-numbers

https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/managing/managing-blood-sugar/bloodglucosemonitoring.html

https://clinical.diabetesjournals.org/content/20/1/48

The mySugr website does not provide medical or legal advice. mySugr blog articles are not scientific articles, but intended for informational purposes only.
Medical or nutritional information on the mySugr website is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult a physician or health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

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