You have been given a blood sugar monitor and now you want to know what it will do for you. Self monitoring of blood sugar levels helps you as a diabetic to understand the effects of food, exercise, illness, stress and medications on your blood sugar levels. Those blood sugar results that you get can then be used to make informed choices and take correct action related to your food intake, exercise levels and medications. For instance, if you test your blood sugar and it is higher than your target range, you can then investigate by asking yourself these questions:
Was my carbohydrate intake higher at my last meal?
Was my activity level was less than normal?
Did I forget to take my medication?
Am I under a lot of stress?
Do I have an infection?
If your blood sugar level is low, you then ask yourself questions regarding your activity level, whether you ate or whether you took more medication than you were supposed to. You also immediately act on the result to get your blood sugar level to within your target range.
By monitoring your blood sugar on a daily basis and acting on the results, you will notice over time that your A1C blood test levels will improve. Then you will know that you are on the right track in managing your diabetes. Use the tool that has been given to you. Use your blood sugar monitor.
