I hate to do it with a burning passion. I kno all the doctors say its good it keeps you in check blah blah blah. Whats one thing you guys do to keep checking ur sugars with busy schedules with school, work and sports? PLEASE HELP!
I too dislike it greatly.
You really just gotta do as Nike says "Just Do It."
Really though, it takes like 45 seconds or less. If you put your mind to it, you can find time and do it. Also, if you don't already, try arm testing. Way less painful and your arms and fingers don't get sore. The only way to fly IMHO.
Good luck.
Hi Kristie, Yep checking does kinda bite. There are certainly better things any one can think to do with their time. I know it may seem like what difference does it make if I test Once a day or 10 times a day. From many ppls point of view it is just a painful reminder of the disease.
The reason you and all diabetics need to test OFTEN is because with this disease the words 'Knowlege is Power' have never rang truer. Knowing what your blood glucose is throughout the day is vital to keeping diabetes under control and avoiding complications, avoiding highs, and those really painful lows. I use to test just 2 times a day for quite a long time figuring it doesn't matter. I got a real rude wake up call when they found protein in my urine. Luckily follow up tests showed it was an anomaly, but that got me thinking what could be worse than kidney failure complication? Trust me NOT MUCH.
Now I test about 12 times a day and it's so routine it's like brushing my teeth and just to show I'm not kidding I'm gonna test right now for you. 180 ACK! gonna take some shots to fix that.
The short answer is you do it to save your life.
Take care.
Its not the fact its painful its just a pain in the butt. Thanks for the help guys!
hey, i dont really like checking my blood sugar either but today i checked mine 24 times. as it turns out i went low about 5 times. i check during class and whenever i dont feel right. i also am going on the pump prob next week and i wanna make sure my doctors know i am serious about my health.
Deckard,
Thanks for your post. My 17 yo T1, daughter is averaging 1-3 BG tests/day. I used this thread to try and open some dialogue on her feelings and motivations. Your reply sparked a conversation about "what's your favorite organ" I was able to tell her about the important functions of the kidney and why I would want to keep my own healthy. She seemed to acknowledge that checking her sugar throughout the day was not about pleasing her family but was more about caring for her own body. Light bulb moment. Maybe it will help her check her BS more often.
Blessings
great story, ms. hopefully things will go well for her.
I just don't think of it until I actually have to do it. So I have the alarm set on my pump, before I had my pump I used my phone, so that the alarm would go off 2 hours after every meal. Taking your mind off of it helps. When you don't have to remember when you ate and when you have to check it and keep looking at the clock, it gets better!
I check on the fly, since I am at school right now, my meter is right on the desk in my room. If I feel the need to test I will and move on. When I am out and about, I keep my meter in my Nike Bag and when I need to I pull it out of my man purse and test at a traffic light if necessary. It can be odd, but now I think I am just making up for the many, many years when I did not even test.
Posts like this really help me, I don't test often enough. For those of you who reformed, did you slowly add tests (3 per day, now 5 per day), or did you suck it up until it became a habit?
Once I started pumping I really sucked it up and made it a habit. Pre-pump it was like once a day, but I decided to man up, I mean it only takes 10 seconds to test. Especially if you reuse the lancent. 5 seconds to put the strip in the meter and lance self, and 5 for the results. We should be able to spare the time. I mean I remember when my first meter took a minute to test, and sitting there anxiously awaiting the beep with number. Heck when I got a thirty second meter I was excited, didn't really use it, but still that is an extra 30 seconds of my life.
When you are transitioning into using a pump, and if it's like me where I had to go to see my endo. and diabetes educators every week for about 4 weeks, you get in the habit. You don't want to disappoint them and you don't want to be bothered with the "why didn't you test more".
When I had to increase my testing I just decide to go by hours. Maybe you could try every x amount of hours I will check my sugar and then go from there until you are where you want to be, or have a set schedule. One thing that really helps motivate me though is changing my lancet as often as possible. Ha Ha. I never changed it but when I started changing all the time I didn't dread my tests as much and it hurts less.
My biggest issue with testing is sometimes it's like I have no blood in me at all. I'll poke and what was enough pressure to draw blood 2 hrs ago isn't enough this time so I will do it again, usually with more pressure and overkill so I get a nice painful poke with way more blood than is needed. Indeed sharp lancets and needles are much less painful than dull ones.
[quote user="Deckard"]
My biggest issue with testing is sometimes it's like I have no blood in me at all. I'll poke and what was enough pressure to draw blood 2 hrs ago isn't enough this time so I will do it again, usually with more pressure and overkill so I get a nice painful poke with way more blood than is needed. Indeed sharp lancets and needles or much less painful than dull ones.
[/quote]
But most of us are too lazy to change the lancet every time! My father and I are the worst!
I haven't filled a prescription for lancets in over ten years.
Where/How do you test using your arm???
I have tried my thigh once but that didnt work to well...
I use my poor mutilated fingers.
brian, i don't remember when i last filled a lancet prescription either! usually i can squeeze a finger without poking it and still get some blood. i used my arm once to do a bloodtest and i didn't like it much so i stick with my fingers now.
Wow... I can sometimes pull off a finger squeeze, but that is usually only if I have used the finger earlier in the day. I really need to switch to my other hand though. My right hand is all to spotty right now. But oh well.