Worried....

[remrafs]

I've just read through the 'Closing Threads' thread and now I'm worried. I'm Type 1 and only test 4 times a day - before meals and before bed (unless I feel unwell, then I'll test to see if I'm starting to be hypo). Should I be testing more often? Over the past 3 months, 75% of my readings have been between 5 and 8, only about 4% over 8 and the rest below 5.
I don't really carb count - just do a rough guess, if it's a lot of carbs I take a bit more and if not much I take a bit less. I had a half hour session with a dietician to learn about carb counting and after keeping a food diary for 4 days she gave me a ratio of 1:10g -1 unit but I'm finding it quite difficult to know how many carbs there are in things and what I should and shouldn't be eating.

Suzanne

 

[margie]

Suzanne - please don't worry that you are not testing enough.

Your BMs are all really good and I suspect that you have a good HbA1c. At the moment (though possibly by luck) you appear to be matching your Carb intake to your insulin.

The purpose of testing is as follows

It allows you to :

check your values are in range and take whatever action is needed to correct
work out the effects of food on your BMs
work out how exercise affects you.
Also if driving for a long period you are meant to check before starting and every couple of hours to check you are at safe levels.

At the moment your regime seems to be working for you, where extra tests would be useful is if you want to vary what you are going to eat by quite a bit and it will allowyou to work out how to modify your insulin.

Take a look at this site it will explain the basics and give you info on carbs in various foods. For packaged foods the info should be on the packaging.

http://www.bdec-e-learning.com/

Speak to your team if you are still worried.

 

[rachelha]

Do not stress your readings are fantastic. I test far more than you but my control is nowhere near as good. We are all different, what you are doing is working for you, so I would not mess with it.

 

[rossi_mac]

Hi if your numbers are good then I would say then you're doing fine.

I test before meals (3) before bed generally (1) and sometimes mid morning (1) if I've been munching or doing something different and likewise mid afternoon (1), so it can be 4 times or 6, it is only more if I am very active, or concerned for what my levels are.

I suppose I do carb count but it's more of a guess too, I found I read some packets and weighed some stuff to start off and then I can work out roughly how many carbs is on my plate, whether it's right is another matter!

So don't worry but it might be a good thing to try and nail carb counting a bit more, as should I!

Take care

Rossi 🙂

 

[sofaraway]

If you are getting good results which it looks like you are and you and your team are happy with it then you don't have to test anymore than you currently are.

What you need to think about is what you are going to do with each result, what information it is going to give you. There is no point testing if you aren't going to learn anything or take any action on the result.

I test 4-6 times a day, it might be more if I feel hypo, which isn't too often. Or if I am exercising, I also test every time I drive. I have reduced the amount of times that I test because I found there were times that I would test always be in range and never gave insulin at that time so cut that test out. I am fortunate that I do have fairly stable blood sugars.

talk to your DSN they will know your individual circumstances and be able to give you more advice. If you are looking to improve your carb counting then doing some after meal testing might be worthwhile.

 

[Caroline Wilson]

Your numbers are good. You are testing in a way that is comfortable to you, so unless you have a reason to change, or you are ill, carry on the way you are.