Taking Care of Your Diabetes Every Day
In this article
- Eat Healthy Food
- Action Steps...
- Get Regular Exercise
- Action Steps...
- Take Your Diabetes Medicine Every Day
- Test Your Blood Sugar Every Day
- Other Tests for Your Diabetes
Other Tests for Your Diabetes continued...
You can buy strips for testing urine ketones at a drug store. Also, some blood glucose meters can detect ketones with specializes strips. Your doctor or diabetes educator will show you how to use testing monitors correctly.
The Hemoglobin A1c Test
Another test for blood sugar, the hemoglobin A1c test, shows what your average blood sugar was for the past 3 months. It shows how much sugar is sticking to your red blood cells. The doctor does this test to see what level your blood sugar is most of the time.
See your doctor for a hemoglobin A1c test every three months. To do the test, the doctor or nurse takes a sample of your blood. The blood is tested in a laboratory. The laboratory sends the results to your doctor.
If most of the blood sugar tests you do yourself show that your blood sugar is around 150, the hemoglobin A1c test should be almost near optimal levels. If most of your tests show high levels of blood sugar, then the hemoglobin Alc test is usually high. Ask your doctor what your hemoglobin A1c test showed.
Keep Daily Records
Write down the results of your blood tests every day in a record book. You can use a small notebook or ask your doctor for a blood testing record book. You may also want to write down what you eat, how you feel, and how much you have exercised.
By keeping daily records of your blood and urine tests, you can tell how well you are taking care of your diabetes. Show your book to your doctor. The doctor can use your records to see if you need to make changes in your insulin shots or diabetes pills, or in your eating plan. Ask your doctor or nurse if you don't know what your test results mean.
Things to write down every day in your notebook are:
- if you had very low blood sugar
- if you ate more or less food than you usually do
- if you felt sick or very tired
- what kind of exercise you did and for how long