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The Best Glucose Monitor on the Market? It's You.
By: Effie Steele, Rite Aid Pharmacist and Diabetes Care Specialist at Store 4452 in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Priti Patel, Pharm.D. Student at Wayne State University.
Self monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is one of the most important steps you can take to prevent the long term complications of diabetes. People with diabetes should test several times a day to correctly adjust their meal plan, medication doses and exercise routines. Initially, people with type 1 diabetes should test before meals and at bedtime, and those with type 2 diabetes should also test several times throughout the day. Rotate the times you test so you have a better understanding of your levels throughout the day. Self-monitoring helps you closely track your diabetes to recognize your difficulties. For example, with intense monitoring, you may find that your results are consistently high after lunchtime. Your health care team can then help you make trial and error adjustments to your diabetes management to assist you in meeting your goals. This may mean decreasing the amount of carbohydrates consumed during your lunch, adding a 30 minute walk to your daily routine after lunch, or poss ibly increasing your insulin or oral medication prior to lunch. Once your blood glucose readings are closer to or at goal throughout the day, the number of tests needed per day will generally decrease to one or two.
Self-monitoring can help you understand the degree of control you have over your diabetes and its severity. Frequent self-monitoring also empowers you to learn what to do when your test results are too high or too low. Through "pattern management" you can learn how different foods, doses of insulin or medications, and exercise effect your individual blood glucose levels. Your physician, diabetes educator, and Rite Aid Pharmacist can help you make sense of your readings and make changes to meet your goals. Self monitoring is also very important during times of illness or stress when your blood glucose levels are more sensitive to change.
Daily blood glucose goals for good control are less than 110 mg/dL in the morning and before meals and less than 140 mg/dL one to two hours after meals. Self monitoring of blood glucose allows you to closely track your diabetes so you can take immediate action when necessary. It is important for you to know your individual goals, so you know when you need to take action.
If you find it difficult and painful to prick yourself several times a day, ask a Rite Aid Pharmacist or Diabetes Care Specialist about alternate site testing and for a review of your monitoring technique. It's important to remember that you are the most important member of your health care team!
