Type 2 Diabetes - Advantages of Monitoring Your Blood Sugar

If you've been recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, monitoring your blood sugar before and after meals can seem like a chore. But monitoring these levels is an important step to getting your diabetes under control - and even reversing it. It can also help you learn how food, exercise, stress, and other variables affect your body.

Your doctor will give you instructions on checking your blood sugar and let you know what your particular target range should be. For example, before a meal you might aim for 70 to 130 mg/dL (3.9 to 7 mmol/L), and after a meal you may aim for less than 180 mg/dL (10mmol/L).

To check your blood sugar, you'll use a lancing device to stick your finger and produce a small drop of blood for testing. Some lancing devices also allow you to test your hand, forearm, or thigh, which may be less sensitive. You'll then put a drop of blood on the test strip and insert the strip into your glucose meter as indicated. After inserting the test strip into your meter, your results will show up on the screen.

It's a good idea to keep some type of log where you can track your results. You can...

• print off an online blood sugar log,
• use a small notebook,
• keep track of your blood sugar online, or on your smartphone.

This way, you can see what causes your blood sugar to go up or down, and notice any trends of changes in values. If you're having a hard time controlling your test results, your log can be helpful for the doctor to make changes to your Type 2 diabetes lifestyle plan.

As you know the food you eat, especially carbohydrates, makes a difference to your test results. Exercise, stress, and even the time of day can also effect your results. Keeping a log will help you figure out how each of these effects your body so you can make adjustments as needed. For example, you can figure out...

• how to adjust the amount of carbohydrates you eat on days when you spend more time exercising.

Or you may notice from your log certain events cause you to feel more stress and your blood sugar spikes. Then you can figure out...

• how to better deal with the stressful event and keep your results steady.

Overall, testing is the best tool you have for monitoring your Type 2 diabetes. In time, you can learn how to best control your intake of carbohydrates and you may not need to check your blood sugar as often.

Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. By making simple changes to your daily routine, its possible to protect your heart, kidneys, eyes and limbs from the damage often caused by high blood sugar, and eliminate many of the complications you may already experience.