How many times do you test?

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Permalink Reply by Daena on October 16, 2007 at 7:52am

I am a compulsive tester. And I have no regrets about going through hundreds of test strips every month!

I test up to 10 times a day, but 4 times at minimum.
-I usually take my fasting, 2 hours after breakfast, before dinner and 2 hours after dinner at minimum. But I also like to check it before lunch, before and after exercise, and sometimes before bedtime. I also check it whenever I think it may be high or low (never shows up on the meter) or whenever circumstances need me to, like when I delay a meal or stuff like that.
I'm pretty happy with the amount of testing I do because I'm already defying my endo's instructions to keep testing to 4 times a day.
I always test more often after I eat something I know isn't very good for me, and after I forget to eat medication. My forgetting to eat my Metformin has happened three times in the last two months. Not ideal, but it gives me a great excuse to poke my fingers.

I also should mention that because I panic easily, I also test whenever I'm stressed out. It's evident that my BG can shoot up to 7.5 because I'm stressed.

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Permalink Reply by kathleen thornton on October 16, 2007 at 7:56am

I test about 6 times aday. Once in the morning, after breakfast, before lunch, after lunch, before supper, after supper. I can't say I would ever wish to do more. My fingers are raw now from the 6 times a day. My dr suggested after meals only and in the morning. So I do it a couple more then expected to do.

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Permalink Reply by Amanda on October 16, 2007 at 8:26am

I test a lot as well. I test when you are usually supposed to. before and after each meal and at bedtime. Than anytime I feel like i am slightly not right i ALWAYS test. If i am low and I eat i test after i eat. if i am high and take insulin i typically will test about a half hour later and than again and hour later. and so on depending on how it comes down. Bedtime is the worst for me because i had a very scary incident where i went low in middle of night and was by myself and unconscious in the morning. My doc recommends 6 times a day but I probably average around 10, some days less, some more. i take it one day at a time.

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Permalink Reply by Allison Blass on October 16, 2007 at 9:00am

I keep editing your survey, but honestly I don't think it fits me very well.

First of all, how many times a day and when I test vary a lot. It varies depending on how motivated I am to take care of myself. When I'm in a slump and not caring, I probably test 4 times a day - it'll be sometime in the morning (either when I wake up or when I get to work!), at a lunch, sometime around dinner (though sometimes I won't eat for an hour or so after I tested) and usually before I go to bed, though sometimes I'm too tired to figure out where I put my meter.

When I'm not in a slump, it's more like six or seven: When I wake up/whenever I decide to eat breakfast (aka the weekend), lunch, sometime mid-afternoon (usually at the halfway mark between lunch and dinner), before dinner, bedtime, before exercise and after exercise. Oh, and if I feel high/low/it's been awhile since I last tested and I'm about to drive somewhere.

So, it changes. Ideally I would like to always be motivated and not in a slump, but that doesn't always happen. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Caro on October 16, 2007 at 11:34am

1. I test between 6 and 15 times a day, plus the 288 CGM readings I get.

When I test depends very much on what I'm doing and on the CGM. The days when I test fewer times are days when I have nothing much important going on and the CGM data is being very reliable. When I'm at work I test every 90mins or so as a matter of course since I'm a dentist with poor hypo warnings and my patients' safety depends upon it. I also test when the CGM prompts me to - which is most (I admit not all!) high and low alerts or rapidly changing trends. I posted on my blog a while after I started using CGM last year that a good way of summing up one of its major roles was to think of CGM as a device to alert you to test your blood sugar at times you otherwise wouldn't. (In addition to high and low prevention and adjustment of insulin doses based on whether a number is stable, going up or going down) Tests after hypos are ones often omit, because I have the benefit of seeing an upward trend on CGM to confirm.

2. I don't really wish I could do anything differently, but I know I'm very, very lucky. Test strips are frequently "rationed" by GPs and Primary Care Trusts (local unit of the National Health Service) to keep costs down. My own GP is happy to let me have exactly what I ask for based on the job that I do, my lack of hypo symptoms, other health conditions ad most importantly the fact that he understands I use the strips in a useful, meaningful and responsible way and don't take their provision by the NHS for granted. I guess would have to stay within reason too!

Like said, I'm very, very lucky.

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Permalink Reply by Terry Keelan on October 16, 2007 at 11:40am

I test 6-8 time a day.

First thing in the morning and before breakfast, lunch and dinner, then lastly at bed time. That's five (5).

Generally two hours after breakfast and lunch - that's two (2) more.

I test before exercising and if I feel I'm going low or I'm worrried about a high. But it averages to 6-8 a day.

I'm fortunate to have insurance and nobody rationing my strips, although it does tick me off to waste them. When I first started using the CGM my testing frequency actually went way UP because I was compulsively trying to get the CGM and the meter to match. This was a fruitless exercise and one CDE told me I was just 'confusing' the CGM receiver by making it readjust constantly and recalculate its place in the world. I've since learned to relax and taught myself that the CGM is not the number, it's only showing the direction - or trend.

Terry

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Permalink Reply by Jan on October 16, 2007 at 11:58am

My niece has been Type 1 for two years. We have always tested 10 times a day, minimum, and more if she is going low or exercising. Exercise necessitates taking BS before and after. If she is playing in yard or running around exercising in general, we have to test every hour and a half of exercise (I always make sure BS is 180 before exercise). We test before each meal, two hours after each meal, before bedtime. In addition, we test at midnight, and 2am. If we must give a correction at night, we have to test after that. There is no way to determine what your blood sugar is without testing as we are not clairvoyant. So for any endo, CDE who recommends otherwise, I just write them off as following an old-fashioned, outdated mode of practice. Only a continuous monitor will give a real time picture of BS. Six frozen points of time regarding BS in a 24 hour period for a wildly fluctuating Type 1? That's ridiculous! The six times a day may be more useful for all the Type 2s, who are often instructed to test three times a day. Again, ridiculous! I doubt that even a Type 2 could control BS on three tests per day, unless they are in the initial stages and it has not progressed.

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Permalink Reply by Kathy on October 16, 2007 at 3:24pm

If I'm not doing anythng unusual or eating anything unusual, then it's 7 times per day - before and after breakfast, before and after lunch, before dinner, before bed, and 2 a.m.
I have good insurance that I'm extremely thankful for, so I don't have a problem with getting as many strips as I need. I suppose, ideally, it would be a good idea to do a post-prandial dinner test, but, I never have and probably never will.

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Permalink Reply by Emily Whiting on October 16, 2007 at 6:01pm

1. How many times do you test per day? It depends. I sometimes I only test once a day. But other time I test every hr. It just really depends
1a. When do you test (before/after meals/exercise, etc) before each meal(or those day i only test once when ever i feel like it) when i wake up (I cant even smell food until I have been up for a couple of hrs.) and before i go to bed.
2. How many times to you WISH you could test per day.NEVER!
2a. When do you not test now because you don't want to waste a strip, but you wish you COULD test? When I am on a long drive. But then I have to pull over and get everything ready and out and I am really lazy.

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Permalink Reply by Autumn on October 16, 2007 at 11:18pm

I average 7 times a day. Always before meals. Always 2 hours after breakfast and sometimes 2 hrs after lunch. Definately before exercising.
Most of the time when I feel a bit off. (high or low-wise) And lately I've been testing more before I go to bed. If I'm going to skip a test, I'll skip my bedtime one.
If I'm low, I'll grab something to eat and then check again in 15 min to see if I'm coming up.
If I'm high, I bolus and then test again in 1/2 hr. If I don't see improvement, then I check out my infusion set and retest.
I think the most I've ever tested in a single day is 20 times. I was constantly low that day and I couldn't get on top of it.

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Permalink Reply by Shawna Staats on October 17, 2007 at 7:26am

I test 10 times or more..... Fasting, before I eat breakfast, two hours after breakfast, before lunch, two hours after lunch, at 5pm, before supper, a hour after supper going to exercise, after i exercise, twice before bedtime.....
I wished I didn't have to check BG as often as I do because my fingers are looking like pin cushion.. I have tried my forearm but I doesn't work that good..... Oh Well!!! Life must go on...... :} :} You gotta do what you have to keep your diabetes under control!!!! :} :} :}

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Permalink Reply by Bernard on October 17, 2007 at 10:21am

I only test with a meter about 3-4 times a day. With my Dexcom I can look at it most of the time. And I probably do that about 12-14 times per day.

Before the Dexcom I tested an average of 8 times every day. Some days I only managed 3 tests and days when things were wacky or I was exercising I might test 12 or more times. For some exercise (like racketball) I'd test before, every 15 minutes during and probably twice after playing.

I'd also test before driving about 90% of the time. I wouldn't bother right after breakfast unless I'd been low when I woke up.

Thanks for starting the discussion. By the way, I've got Type 1. I'll bet folks with Type 2 test a good deal less.

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