# A newbie with a testing question?



## chezpez (Apr 28, 2009)

Hi there! I'm a newbie and never done this before, but have been told by my diabetic nurse at hospital it could help me 
Let me introduce myself - i'm 35 yrs old and was diagnosed 3 yrs ago with type 1 on novorapid and lantus and it was the biggest shock ever too cope with.. come to accept it now ( well u have to ) but trying to get levels under better control at present hba1c is 7.7 % and thats thru a lot of testing.. my question is for starters and believe me i have many more.. how many times do ppl test and when?? i hope i have done this thread thing correct?


----------



## Northerner (Apr 28, 2009)

Hi chezpez, and welcome! Yes, you've done the posting correctly!

I test between 4-8 times a day - before meals, before and after exercise (running, in my case), sometimes test if I feel I may be going hypo, and often test a couple of hours after eating to check how the food has affected me. 

Hope this helps!


----------



## sofaraway (Apr 28, 2009)

Hi there welcome 

I test pretty much the same as Northerner, at least 4 which will be before each meal and before bed. Then before driving, before and after exercise, any time I feel hypo. 2 hours after meals if something new, or wasn't sure of the carb count.


----------



## chezpez (Apr 28, 2009)

*Testing*

THANKS FOR YOUR RESPONSE, REALLY APPRCIATE IT.. I TEST ABOUT 7 TIMES A DAY, AND MY G.P THOUGHT I WAS BEING TOO MEDICAL AND SHOULD ONLY TEST 2XDAILY!! BEEN  HAVING PROBLEMS GETTING TEST STRIPS ON PRESCRIPTION.. ANYWAY MY NURSE IS GOING TO WRITE HIM A LETTER TO GIVE ME THEM AS I'M THINKING OF PREGNANCY.. AND I KNOW I HAVE TO BE UNDER 7% .. I FEEL LIKE I'M BACK TO THE BEGINNING AGAIN WHEN I WAS DIAGNOSED WRITING EVERY LITTLE THING DOWN I EAT, AND CARB RATIO WHICH I STILL HAVE NOT CRACKED.. AND ACTIVITY.. I JUST HOPE I CAN GET MY LEVEL DOWN!! FINGERS CROSSED ITS ALL VERY COMPLICATED!!!


----------



## sofaraway (Apr 28, 2009)

I hope that your letter from your DSN helps, I don't think x2 daily is really enough for anyone on a basal bolus system. 

Does your hospital have a pre-conception clinic that you could attend?


----------



## Northerner (Apr 28, 2009)

sofaraway said:


> I hope that your letter from your DSN helps, I don't think x2 daily is really enough for anyone on a basal bolus system.
> 
> Does your hospital have a pre-conception clinic that you could attend?



I agree with nikki, twice a day is not enough - perhaps he doesn't know much about type 1's (or people on insulin). How can you know what to inject if you don't know what your levels are before you eat? 7 a day is fine, except for the sore fingers!


----------



## chezpez (Apr 28, 2009)

Thanks for the posts, i agree with u both i dont think he does know about type 1's, coz about a yr ago he wanted to put me on metformin as well as insulin - gave me the prescription and i thought this is not right spoke to the hospital nurses and were very suprise, and told me not to go on them.. so i didnt .. yes the hospital does have a pre-conception clinic and i have info on pregnancy which is certainly overwhelming, but this is my first day trying to figure out my carb ratio, to improve things, so far all bsl have been 10 b4 meals so that aint good.. hopefully by next wk might got the gist of it.
Many thanx Chez xx


----------



## Steff (Apr 28, 2009)

hi chezpez and welcome x


----------



## chezpez (Apr 28, 2009)

Hi Steff .. thank you!


----------



## insulinaddict09 (Apr 28, 2009)

chezpez said:


> Hi there! I'm a newbie and never done this before, but have been told by my diabetic nurse at hospital it could help me
> Let me introduce myself - i'm 35 yrs old and was diagnosed 3 yrs ago with type 1 on novorapid and lantus and it was the biggest shock ever too cope with.. come to accept it now ( well u have to ) but trying to get levels under better control at present hba1c is 7.7 % and thats thru a lot of testing.. my question is for starters and believe me i have many more.. how many times do ppl test and when?? i hope i have done this thread thing correct?




Hi i'm type 1 aswell and i test at least 4 times daily, before meals and then before bed... if i feel abit hypo or just not quite right i always test to be on the safe side. I'm low carbing at the moment so because of the change in diet i'm testing alot more than usual, sometimes about 8 times a day.


----------



## aymes (Apr 28, 2009)

chezpez said:


> Hi there! I'm a newbie and never done this before, but have been told by my diabetic nurse at hospital it could help me
> Let me introduce myself - i'm 35 yrs old and was diagnosed 3 yrs ago with type 1 on novorapid and lantus and it was the biggest shock ever too cope with.. come to accept it now ( well u have to ) but trying to get levels under better control at present hba1c is 7.7 % and thats thru a lot of testing.. my question is for starters and believe me i have many more.. how many times do ppl test and when?? i hope i have done this thread thing correct?



I test probably around an average of 6 times a day, that includes before meals, before bed, the occasional one after meal to see what's happening, before and after exercise and if I feel hypo/unwell. 7 doesn't seem too high to meal and certainly 2 a day seems far too few for someone on a basal bolus regime like you. I was at one point (pre dafne days when I was really out of any control of my diabetes) testing about 15 times a day and that was far too much as I wasn't doing anything with the readings. But so long as you are using the results in some way, to adjust a dose or spot a pattern for example, then I don't see a problem with 7 a day.


----------



## chezpez (Apr 28, 2009)

thanks for that insulinaddict, i certainly not feeling as "medical" as the g.p said i was on testing an average 7 times a day.. i only test that much coz i'm pretty active and drive long distances. Surely if u dont test how do u know whats going on? and then u can try and get it back in order.. i really hope my HB' level has come down from 7.7%


----------



## insulinaddict09 (Apr 28, 2009)

chezpez said:


> thanks for that insulinaddict, i certainly not feeling as "medical" as the g.p said i was on testing an average 7 times a day.. i only test that much coz i'm pretty active and drive long distances. Surely if u dont test how do u know whats going on? and then u can try and get it back in order.. i really hope my HB' level has come down from 7.7%



No problem... dont worry about being too medical, if im under the weather i test even more!! i like to know whats going on and dont want to have any nasty surprises. the warmer weather is causing me abit of a problem at the moment ... i get really hot when hypo so i check my sugars and sometimes i'm low or totally wrong and i'm high or just bloody hot!!!!


----------



## chezpez (Apr 28, 2009)

Its so nice to hear i'm not alone about testing and getting hypo feelings wrong.. been 3 yrs at this and felt alone - its just great to chat with ppl like me who are in the 'club'


----------



## Steff (Apr 28, 2009)

yup thats the beauty of this place we have all had/have the same feelings towards a wide range of probs to do with our diabetes Id be lost without it (forum)


----------



## insulinaddict09 (Apr 28, 2009)

chezpez said:


> Its so nice to hear i'm not alone about testing and getting hypo feelings wrong.. been 3 yrs at this and felt alone - its just great to chat with ppl like me who are in the 'club'



well you are not alone and we've all felt like that, everyone is really friendly and willing to chat... even if you just want to have a moan   me and my friend steff are always about night and day. if you want to know anything just ask  P.s have you read the thread about a diabetes support meet up? we are trying to arrange a day to meet up, dont know where yet though,


----------



## Steff (Apr 28, 2009)

aww ty addict you consider me a friend dont say im about night and day though will you they will think i have no life i swear its only cause i have today and yesterday off from tomorrow you will barely see me ha x

but yeah chez this place will always have somebody on here who is always happy to advise. help or listen if you just want to vent xxxx


----------



## insulinaddict09 (Apr 28, 2009)

steff09 said:


> aww ty addict you consider me a friend dont say im about night and day though will you they will think i have no life i swear its only cause i have today and yesterday off from tomorrow you will barely see me ha x
> 
> but yeah chez this place will always have somebody on here who is always happy to advise. help or listen if you just want to vent xxxx




oh ok soz steff, it's because ive got no life... i forget other people do


----------



## chezpez (Apr 28, 2009)

thanks Steff thats great support.. just another question if i wanna start a new subject do i start a new thread?


----------



## chezpez (Apr 28, 2009)

i will look that up.. i'm not around for the next few days like steff so will be stright back on at wkend x


----------



## aymes (Apr 28, 2009)

chezpez said:


> thanks Steff thats great support.. just another question if i wanna start a new subject do i start a new thread?



yep, just start one, proabably best to use the general message board or one of the others if that applies as you'll probably get more responses.


----------



## mikep1979 (Apr 29, 2009)

i test at least 4x daily. some days i can test up to 12 x depending on how my levels aredoing and how much exercise etc i am doing. im also on novorapid and lantus hich i have found is the best solution for me at the min


----------



## ali (May 4, 2009)

Hi im a type 1 diabetic have been for nine years. Testing is really down to your control what alot of people do is test twice a day and alternate it e.g. before breakfast and before dinner then the next day befor lunch and before bed then back to befor breakfast and befor dinner that way you build up a good picture of how your levels are doing. If you are well controlled for a long time it can be reduced to once a day alternated. You shouldn't really need to test more than 4 times a day unless you feel unwell. You will get used to it there are far worse things to have. you are also on the same insulin as me!


----------



## Northerner (May 4, 2009)

ali said:


> Hi im a type 1 diabetic have been for nine years. Testing is really down to your control what alot of people do is test twice a day and alternate it e.g. before breakfast and before dinner then the next day befor lunch and before bed then back to befor breakfast and befor dinner that way you build up a good picture of how your levels are doing. If you are well controlled for a long time it can be reduced to once a day alternated. You shouldn't really need to test more than 4 times a day unless you feel unwell. You will get used to it there are far worse things to have. you are also on the same insulin as me!



Not quite sure if I would agree with you there ali. I suppose if you are happy with your control and the HBA1c is looking good, then maybe you can get away with fewer tests, but I don't see how you can keep really tight control if you're not adjusting your insulin to reflect what your meter is telling you befor meals and bed. Likewise, if you drive you need to test frequently, for everyone's safety, and also before (maybe during) and after exercise. My actual overall insulin requirements don't change much day-to-day, but I do adjust by 10-30% so my control would be much poorer if I wasn't watching my meter.


----------



## ali (May 4, 2009)

i disagree with testing too frequently as it can desensitise the nerve endings in your fingers. As long as your control is good there is no need to over test


----------



## aymes (May 4, 2009)

Northerner said:


> Not quite sure if I would agree with you there ali. I suppose if you are happy with your control and the HBA1c is looking good, then maybe you can get away with fewer tests, but I don't see how you can keep really tight control if you're not adjusting your insulin to reflect what your meter is telling you befor meals and bed. Likewise, if you drive you need to test frequently, for everyone's safety, and also before (maybe during) and after exercise. My actual overall insulin requirements don't change much day-to-day, but I do adjust by 10-30% so my control would be much poorer if I wasn't watching my meter.



I agree, if you can 'get away' with good control with few tests then that's great but I know that I, and I think a lot of people, would struggle with good control if I didn't test as often as I do. As I think we've all discovered, nothing about diabetes is an exact science (if only!) so I need to respond to what my meter tells me when calculating doses or doing exercise etc.


----------

