Testing Blood Sugars
Being on an insulin pump will mean you'll have to really
keep a close eye on your blood sugars. The insulin pump uses a fast
acting insulin which acts quickly, and stops acting within 2-3
hours. If you're not careful, your sugars will rise quickly and
cause you a lot of headaches such as DKE or ketoacidosis. Or if they
drop too low, you can have an insulin reaction.
Depending on your doctor, they may have a Target Range to
keep your sugar levels at. You usually don't want your sugars going
over 160, because that's when your kidneys start spilling sugar, and you
don't want to go under 70 because that's when hypoglycemia sets in.
Most people are comfortable with testing their sugars at
least 6 times a day, others test upwards of 8-10 times a day. The
most common times to test your blood sugars are:
-
Shortly after you wake up
-
Just before going to bed
-
Before you eat
-
At least 2 hours after eating
-
Sometimes in the early morning hours to see if your
late basal rate is set correctly.
-
At least every 2 hours when you are feeling ill or stressed.
If you haven't upgraded your blood glucose meter in quite
a while, it may be a great idea to buy yourself a new blood glucose
meter. Today's meters use less blood, some even use alternate
testing sites like your arm, they give results in faster time and they are
more accurate.
I personally use the LifeScan
OneTouch Ultra. It gives me results in 5 seconds and uses very
little blood. I can test using my arm too. So my fingers are
usually not as tender.