My Testing and Dosing Schedule
Since I started using mealtime insulin to control my type 2 diabetes, I have been testing my blood quite often. My testing schedule is as follows: I test when I get up in the morning, I test before each meal and again one hour and two hours after I eat, and then before I go to bed. I found that this schedule works well for me. My after meal schedule is somewhat variable depending upon what I ate. For instance if I eat a meal that takes longer to digest due to a high fat content, such as pizza, I may test at ninety minutes and three hours instead of my normal schedule.
The reason that I test this many times a day is because I am trying to keep tight control of my blood sugar.
I test in the morning to determine what my glucose level was over night. This helps me determine if my daily dose of Lantus is adequate for keeping my base, or basal glucose level in range. If my morning reading is out of range, 130 mg/dl or higher, I will give myself a few units of fast acting bolus insulin, a correction dose, to bring my glucose level down.
I test again before meals to once again check my base level to determine the dose of bolus insulin I will need. This is of course also determined by the meal I am about to eat.
The after meal testing helps me get a handle on what effect different foods and combination of foods have on my blood sugar. If a particular food spikes my blood sugar, I will either avoid it or adjust my bolus insulin dosage to compensate for the increase.
I check my glucose reading before bed again to see where my base line is. If the level is too high I will give myself a small correction dose. I am cautious about bedtime corrections as I do not want to have a hypoglycemic event while I am sleeping as this can be quite dangerous.
If I find that my base levels are beginning to average higher than I want, I will gradually increase the amount of basal insulin by about two units every other day until my glucose level is back where it belongs.
Affordable Testing Supplies
This brings us to the place where you may be saying, that is a lot of testing, and my insurance will only pay for two tests a day, and test strips are expensive! I understand and agree with you. I have used several different brands of glucose meters and strips. I used Bayer Ascensia Breeze 2 meter when I first started testing, which I liked because there is no need to mess with individual test strips, as the test strips come on a disk of ten that is inserted in the meter. This was a great meter when I had insurance that would pay for the strips. The strips were quite expensive at one time, but you can get them here for under a quarter a test. Bayer Breeze2 Blood Glucose, 100 Test Strips
For the past several months I have been using a meter made by .McKESSON called TRUEresult. This meter seems to be as accurate as the more expensive name brand meters. This is the same meter that Walgreens puts their name on. Walgreens sells this meter in a kit with 10 test strips and 10 lancets, a lancet device and a small case for $17 which is pretty cheap, but you can get the same kit here for $7.23 with free shipping and no tax. TRUEResult Blood Glucose Starter Kit
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