Gestational diabetes: Checking your blood sugar
How to test your blood sugar
Here is a simple way to monitor your blood sugar at home.
Get organized
Before you start testing your blood sugar:
- Talk with your doctor about how often and when you should test. Record this information on the blood sugar testing times form
(What is a PDF document?).
- Link testing your blood sugar with other daily activities, such as preparing breakfast. This will help you establish the habit of self-testing.
- Use the list of supplies to gather the things you need to test your blood sugar. Keep your supplies together so that you can do a test quickly if you need to.
- Check your equipment before doing each test.
- Check the expiration date on your testing strips. If you use test strips after the expiration date, you may not get accurate results.
- Make sure the code numbers on the testing strips bottle match the numbers on your meter. If the numbers do not match, follow the directions that come with your meter for changing the code numbers.
- Check the accuracy of your meter's results. Use the sugar control solution made by your meter's manufacturer. Follow the directions that came with your meter for using the control solution.
- Take care of your equipment. Put a copy of the care of blood sugar supplies with your bag or kit to remind you.
Do the test
The more often you test your blood sugar
, the more you will know about how well your treatment is working.
Follow these steps when you test your blood sugar:
- Wash your hands with warm soapy water, and dry them well with a clean towel.
- Put a clean needle (lancet) in the lancet device. The lancet device is a pen-sized holder for the lancet. It holds and positions the lancet and controls how deeply the lancet goes into your skin.
- Get a test strip from your bottle of testing strips. Put the lid back on the bottle immediately to prevent moisture from affecting your other strips.
- Get your blood sugar meter ready. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for your specific meter.
- Use the lancet device to stick the side of your fingertip with the lancet.
- Put a drop of blood on the correct spot of the test strip, covering the test area well.
- Using a clean cotton ball, apply pressure to the place where you stuck your finger to stop the bleeding.
- Wait for the results. Some meters take only a few seconds to give you the results.
Record the results
Recording your blood sugar results is very important. Your doctor will use this record to see how well your treatment is working and to know if anything needs to be changed, or if insulin needs to be started. Be sure to take your record with you on each visit to your doctor or diabetes educator.
To record your results, you can:
- Get printed blood sugar logs from companies that make diabetic medications and supplies.
- Make a blood sugar log in a notebook. You can record other information in the log or notebook, such as insulin doses, your exercise, and what you have eaten.
- Use your blood sugar meter, if possible. Some blood sugar meters can store blood sugar results and some can calculate your average blood sugar for a period of time, such as over a few weeks or a month.
Preventing sore fingers
Your fingertips may get sore from testing your blood sugar so often. Here are some tips to help prevent sore fingers:
- Do not prick the tip of your finger. It is more painful and harder to get enough blood to do the test accurately. Also, do not prick your toes, because your feet can become infected.
- Don't squeeze your fingertip. If you have trouble getting a drop of blood large enough to cover the test area of the strip, hang your hand down below your waist and count to 5, or place your finger in warm water for a minute or so.
- Use a different finger each time. Establish a pattern for which finger you stick so that you will not use some fingers more than others. Avoid for a few days any fingers that are sore.
- Use a different device. Some new blood sugar meters use lancet devices that can get a blood sample from sites other than the fingers, such as the forearm. If you are having trouble with sore fingers, you may want to get one of these new meters.
Test Your Knowledge
To test your blood sugar, you need to put a drop of blood on the test strip used with your home blood sugar meter.
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| Author: | Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS | Last Updated: December 4, 2007 |
| Medical Review: | Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine Lois Jovanovic, MD - Endocrinology | |
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