Hey there! I have been a diabetic for almost 6 years and I will admit that I check my blood sugar wayyyyy less than I used to. I mostly check it at night because I went through a three month period where I have 3-4 lows every night.
Anyway, it got me wondering how many times a day people with diabetes chack their blood sugar everyday....
Can't wait to hear from you! :)
sometime 10-15 times a day and sometimes less than that
I use a CGM, which gives me results every 5 minutes. When I'm wearing the CGM, I probably test 4 - 8 times a day. When I'm not wearing it, it's more in the 15 - 20 range. It is possible that I am slightly obsessive about it.
"Veteran Diabetics" -- love it.
10-12 times per day as an active teenager.
6-8 times per day when I was younger.
i average around 3x/day
I am on the cgm now, but before that it was 20-25 times a day. That worked for me!
I am T1 and have been for 6 years. I test on average about 8 times per day and just started a DexCom 7 plus CGM. I seem to be testing more with the CGMS but that is probably temporary while I get a feel for its accuracy.
I've had it for almost 10 years and throughout, I have tested about 4 times a day -- before breakfast, before lunch, before dinner and before bed. I will occassionally check more often if I've eaten something where I had to guess on the carbs or if I don't feel right. I don't think my finger could take 20-25 checks a day!!!!
I've been wearing a CGM for over three years (early adopter) - when I've got one on I test about 4 times a day, when its not on I test about 7 - 9 times per day...sometimes more. What I find is that I've really learned how to get the CGM quickly into the groove (I wear Dexcom Seven Plus) and once its there I can really ease back on finger sticks.
I am on a cgm but before it was like 8-10 times now its like 5-6
my endo's advised me to test a min. of 4times a day. i usually hit that mark, or go over..but some days i fall short when i have "bad days".
I've only been a diabetic for 6 months and I test about 8 to 10 times a day. My husband, who has been a type1 diabetic for 18 years, tests much less frequently, maybe 3 to 4 times a day.
I've been a diabetic for almost 43 years (anniversary in Sept). I test on average about 8 times a day - depends on what I'm doing. Would love a CGMS - the Dexcom 7 is what caught my attention at the International Diabetes Federation "candy meet" back in October here in Montreal. Very sleek looking, compared to the MM CGMS I had tried out. When it comes to the rest of the world (other then USA) - I'd love to give that a go - so my BG's are more level!! :)
Anna from Montreal, Canada - The Roller Coaster Ride of Diabetes - Whoo! Whoo!
5 years going on 6 this november i used to test at least 10 times a day but now im down to anout 4 my endo is constently telling me that i need to check more often but im getting a CGM so im not too worried about it
For me it depends on the day. Minimum of three times a day. Some days I can hit as many as 12 - 15. When I was younger it was really hard to test, but the past few years I am really making an effort to be better at it. My poor fingers though.... But it is better to have more tests than less. Oh and I do have a CGM as well. I just like to verify things sometimes.
bpq
!!!!
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
I've been T1 for 34 years. Testing between 6 and 8 times a day works pretty well for me (well, it's the most I can live with anyway). I have a pump, but not a CGM.
....WOW. You guys test a LOT. I'm a starving college student-slash-full time temp worker (which means next to no insurance >.< ), so I like to make my perscriptions last. >.> I test on average three times a day; sometimes if I go a day eating a lot of low-carb foods, or eating a lot of stuff that I already know the carb content by heart (stuff I eat all the time), I won't test at all except before bed. And I've been diabetic for 2 years...that doesn't qualify me as a veteran though does it? XD; I'm just surprised to see people testing as many as 20 times a day when my endo reccommended 6...wow. XD;;;
[quote user="Kelsey Smith"]
....WOW. You guys test a LOT. I'm a starving college student-slash-full time temp worker (which means next to no insurance >.< ), so I like to make my perscriptions last. >.> I test on average three times a day; sometimes if I go a day eating a lot of low-carb foods, or eating a lot of stuff that I already know the carb content by heart (stuff I eat all the time), I won't test at all except before bed. And I've been diabetic for 2 years...that doesn't qualify me as a veteran though does it? XD; I'm just surprised to see people testing as many as 20 times a day when my endo reccommended 6...wow. XD;;;
[/quote]I'm really surprised to see how much people test, also. My endo recommends 4-6 times a day and I usually do about 6, sometimes as many as 8. When I was pregnant, I was testing an average of about 10-12 times a day - and I thought that was a lot! I'm curious to hear from the people that test that often, do you see a vast improvement in your control and A1C's when you're testing that frequently?
I've got a friend whose had diabetes 34 years (since age 12) and she is on multiple injections (MDI) using 3 types of insulin to maintain an A1C of .... 4.7% (I've never gone below 5.7%). She injects (with needle - not pen needle - ouch) about every 1/2 hour to maintain "perfect " BG's. Now for me, that's way too much - but for her - she's had some complications over the years with not taking care of BG's - and this is the route she took. For myself, I couldn't do this.
When I was in my 20's (I'm turning 49 tomorrow - pat on the back to moi <lol>) I didn't give much notice to my BG testing / insulin coverage like I have done over the last 6 years. So, obviously .. FOR ME ... remember we're all different in how we maintain our diabetes - my hit/miss with BG testing, insulin coverage worked for me. I think where you know something is wrong with your D is when you start to not heal properly, get infections, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Did my not testing that frequently effect my internal organs? So far no, touch wood (darn my furniture is from IKEA - no wood <lol>), but maybe with time, since I've been diabetic so long it might. I just don't look at the evil side of diabetes ... << most of the time >>. I've been a sclump lately because of not getting my BG's below 8 / 144 (I'm on an Animas 2020) but it happens to all of us sometimes - stress, whatever. Anyway, after having a talk with my Mum the other day where she still can't believe I want to sail across the ocean because "what will you do for insulin, etc." - I told her diabetes doesn't stop me from accomplishing anything - it's just the $$$ bit that does. Please leave me wads of money when you kick the bucket (only kidding, I hope my Mum spends it all before then - and enjoys life to the fullest).
BTW, I live in Canada, so here our blood meter strips are pretty well covered, it depends on the province (aka State) - some have better coverage then others. Where I live in QC, we're pretty socialistic - like France - so we've pretty well covered - even if you are not making big bucks.