Daily Testing Type 2 Diabetes
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends testing three or more times a day for people with type 1 diabetes and people with type 2 diabetes who are insulin dependent. Your doctor will set your blood glucose target based on how long you have had diabetes, your age and life expectancy, and whether you have any co-morbid conditions such as high blood pressure and cholesterol levels and whether you have heart disease and/or damage to your blood vessels.
If you have type 2 diabetes and are prescribed insulin, your diabetes educator will help you plan a testing routine. Keeping a logbook is a good way to track of testing results over time. When to test is something the patient and care team work out together, depending on a person’s age, activity level, general health, and other factors. Some common testing situations include:
- Before each meal
- 1 or 2 hours after a meal
- Before a snack
- In the middle of the night
- During and after physical activity
- When you're sick or under stress
- If you think your blood sugar may be high, low, or dropping.
- Before exercising, to determine whether you should eat something first
A1C Testing
An A1C is a blood test that provides information about a person’s average blood sugar levels over the prior three months. Results are reported as a percentage: A normal A1C level is below 5.7 percent. Anything above that number is an indication that blood sugar has been elevated over time.
Ketone Testing
Ketone is a chemical the body produces when it starts using fat for energy instead of glucose because there isn’t enough insulin in the blood. This is more likely to occur in type 1 diabetes than in type 2. Ketone is toxic and upsets the chemical balance of the blood. Combined with high blood glucose, ketone in the blood is a sign of poorly managed diabetes. Talk to your Doctor at once if your urine results show moderate or large amounts of ketone.
Signs of an Elevated Keytone Level
- Blood glucose of more than 300 mg/dl
- Nausea, vomiting and/or abdominal pain
- Feeling tired all the time
- Thirst and dry mouth
- Flushed skin
- Breathing difficulties
- A strange, fruity breath odor
- Feeling confused or "in a fog"
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