Why Monitor Your Blood Sugar

If you’re living with diabetes, regular monitoring of your blood sugar levels is not just a routine – it’s an essential part of managing your health. 

At Banner Health, we are here to help. Find out how blood sugar monitoring helps you make informed decisions, figure out your treatment plan and pave the way for long-term well-being.

The importance of regular monitoring

Here is why keeping a close eye on your blood sugar levels is important for effective diabetes care:

1. Blood sugar control 

Knowing your numbers allows you to make decisions about your diet, medications and activities to keep your blood sugar within target ranges. Maintaining stable blood sugar levels helps prevent short-term and long-term complications. 

2. Medication adjustment

Diabetes is not a static condition, meaning it can change over time due to many factors, such as genetics, lifestyle and your environment. Monitoring helps determine when and how much medication or insulin you should take. It ensures that your treatment plan is right for you and helps control your blood sugar levels. 

3. Early detection of issues

Regularly checking your blood sugar helps identify patterns in your levels, such as morning highs or post-meal spikes. This information can help your health care provider adjust your treatment plan as needed.

4. Prevents hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia

Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) are common complications of diabetes. Monitoring can help you quickly detect lows and highs and take action, reducing the risk of immediate health emergencies.

5. Diet and lifestyle changes

Monitoring can tell you how diet, exercise and other lifestyle choices impact your blood sugar levels. This information helps you make adjustments for better blood sugar control.

6. Manage risk factors and complications

Diabetes is linked to other health issues like heart disease, kidney problems, nerve damage and vision problems. Checking regularly helps you find changes in your health as soon as possible so you can prevent or manage any extra problems.

7. Self-empowerment

Understanding your blood sugar readings  helps you feel in control and responsible for your health. 

8. Reach goals

By keeping an eye on your blood sugar, you can aim for a healthy range. This promotes long-term health and well-being.

9. Prevent emergencies

If you are on insulin or other medications, monitoring helps prevent emergencies like diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) or severe low blood sugar. 

10. Better life

Good monitoring and management keep your blood sugar steady, leading to a better life with more energy, a better mood and fewer diabetes-related issues.

How should I check my blood sugar?

You can do a blood sugar level check with a finger-prick blood test or a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). With some CGMs, you may need to do finger-stick tests as well. Find out more about different tools used to monitor your blood sugar. 

When should I test my blood sugar?

Your health care provider can tell you how often to check your blood sugar levels. The answer may depend on the type of diabetes you have and your treatment plan, but you may need to test at these times:

• After fasting: Before eating or drinking anything (usually eight hours after your last meal).
• Before meals: Before each meal to understand your baseline levels.
• After meals: About 1 to 2 hours after starting a meal to see how your body processes sugar.
• Bedtime: Before going to bed to ensure your level is stable overnight.
• When you are sick: During illnesses or if you experience unusual symptoms. 

Always follow your provider’s advice on when and how often to test based on your treatment plan. 

Next step: Ways to manage your diabetes

Keeping a close eye on your blood sugar through regular monitoring, healthy eating, physical activity and lifestyle changes can help you manage your diabetes and live a happy and healthy life. Find out ways to keep your health and diabetes on the right path.