As one of the “five carriages” in the treatment of diabetes, the importance of blood sugar monitoring is self-evident. Regular monitoring of blood sugar can understand whether the blood sugar control of diabetic patients is ideal, whether hypoglycemia occurs during treatment, whether diet/exercise and drug therapy are effective, and provide basis for adjusting diet or drug use.
However, the premise of all this is that the blood sugar monitoring results are accurate and reliable.
Unfortunately, many diabetic patients often make some mistakes when testing their blood sugar, resulting in inaccurate blood sugar monitoring results.
Today, Dr. Clove will analyze with you the common 10 wrong behaviors of blood sugar monitoring.
Error 1: Suspend hypoglycemic drugs before examination
Diabetes patients should not stop taking drugs whether they go to the hospital to check fasting blood glucose or postprandial blood glucose. When checking fasting blood glucose, hypoglycemic drugs (including insulin) on the first night should be used as usual. When checking blood sugar 2 hours after meals, drugs (including insulin) should also be used as usual.
Because, the purpose of the examination is to understand the blood sugar control of patients under drug therapy.
Unauthorized withdrawal of drugs cannot accurately reflect the real disease condition, causing difficulties for doctors to judge, and even causing blood sugar fluctuation and aggravation of the disease condition.
Error 2: Deliberately eat less the day before the inspection,
In order to obtain a satisfactory blood sugar test result, some diabetics consciously eat less before the test. The fasting blood sugar result measured in this way may be [ideal], but it does not represent the real blood sugar level under normal conditions.
Therefore, patients must eat as usual before examination, and tell doctors whether they have taken strenuous exercise, whether they smoke, whether they drink irritant drinks (such as coffee), etc. to help doctors analyze the examination results.
Error 3: After taking insulin at home, go to the hospital for blood tests.
Some patients finish insulin at home first, Then come to the hospital to draw blood, this is actually very dangerous. Because on the way to the hospital and in the hospital waiting in line to draw blood this period of time, often queue up a lot of people, there is no way to control the length of the waiting time. If you can’t finish drawing blood within half an hour, it is likely to delay the meal time, which is easy to cause hypoglycemia due to meal delay.
Therefore, when diabetic patients go to the hospital to check their blood sugar, they should carry an insulin pen with them. After the hospital draws blood, they should immediately inject insulin and then eat in time.
Error 4: Test [Fasting Blood Glucose] Drawing Blood Too Late
Fasting blood glucose can reflect the secretion level of the patient’s basic insulin and whether the food intake and dosage the night before are appropriate.
Strictly speaking, only the blood sugar measured after fasting for 8-12 hours overnight and before 8 o’clock the next morning is considered [fasting blood sugar].
The [super fasting] state of more than 12 hours and the blood sugar before lunch and dinner cannot be called [fasting blood sugar]. The result may not represent fasting state due to too long fasting time and hormone changes in the body.
Error 5: Blood glucose monitoring only checks fasting blood glucose
Many diabetics do not pay enough attention to postprandial blood sugar. But 2 hours after meal blood sugar is very important:
At the beginning of diabetes, postprandial blood sugar usually rises first, and then fasting blood sugar rises. Detection of postprandial blood sugar is helpful for early detection of diabetes.
Compared with fasting blood glucose, postprandial blood glucose elevation is more closely related to diabetic macrovascular complications and has more serious harm. Strict control of postprandial hyperglycemia is helpful to prevent and treat diabetic complications.
Error 6: Think [Blood Glucose 2 Hours After Meal] = [Blood Glucose 2 Hours After Meal]
The blood sugar 2 hours after meal can reflect the function of the patient’s islets and whether the dosage is appropriate when eating and taking the meal, so the accuracy of blood sugar 2 hours after meal is very important.
Under normal circumstances, the blood sugar rises to the highest level within 0.5 ~ 1 hour after the meal, and the blood sugar should basically fall back to the fasting level before the meal 2 hours after the meal. [Blood sugar 2 hours after the meal] refers to the blood sugar value measured from the first bite of the meal to the blood collection 2 hours after the meal, but many patients think that the timing starts only after the meal is over, requiring special attention.
Error 7: [Fasting Blood Glucose] Forgot to Measure Early Morning Blood Glucose
There are generally two causes of fasting hyperglycemia:
- The amount of hypoglycemic drugs (or insulin) used the night before is insufficient. The amount of hypoglycemic drugs is too large, and the body secretes glycemic hormones after hypoglycemia at night, resulting in hyperglycemia.
For these two cases, doctors’ treatment is completely different. The former case requires an increase in the amount of hypoglycemic drugs, while the latter case requires a decrease in the amount of hypoglycemic drugs.
Therefore, for patients with high fasting blood sugar, it is necessary to measure the early morning blood sugar at night (generally the blood sugar at 3: 00 a.m.) in order to distinguish which cause fasting blood sugar and help doctors adjust drugs.
Error 8: Blood Glucose Monitoring Once and for All
Some patients are afraid of spending money and try to save trouble. They often measure blood sugar only once at long intervals and only fasting blood sugar, which is very undesirable.
Blood sugar monitoring should be regular, and the specific frequency depends on the specific situation of patients:
- For patients with severe illness and large blood sugar fluctuation, In order to fully grasp the disease condition, It often takes two days a week, The blood glucose profiles were measured at 8 time points throughout the day, Including fasting (or before three meals), after three meals, before going to bed and 3: 00 a.m. Blood sugar. If the lifestyle changes (such as business trips, attending banquets, etc.) or physical conditions (insomnia, colds, angina pectoris, pregnancy, etc.) also need to increase the frequency of blood sugar self-monitoring. If the condition is stable, choose one day a week to test fasting and postprandial blood sugar.
Error 9: Replace [Blood Glucose Monitoring] with [Self-perception]
Indeed, changes in blood sugar levels can cause corresponding clinical symptoms.
However, due to individual differences, everyone’s sensitivity to blood sugar changes is different, and the blood sugar level is sometimes not completely consistent with self-perception. Therefore, the severity of conscious symptoms cannot accurately reflect the true level of blood sugar in patients.
Although some patients (especially the elderly) have high blood sugar, their symptoms are not obvious. If this hyperglycemia state has not been found and effectively controlled, the risk of complications will be greatly increased.
Error 10: No regular monitoring [glycosylated hemoglobin]
[Random Blood Glucose] reflects the immediate blood glucose level at the time of blood collection, However, [glycosylated hemoglobin] can reflect the average blood sugar level in the last three months, and the significance of the two is different. The former is greatly affected by some accidental factors (such as diet, sleep, cold and fever, etc.), while the latter is not affected by accidental factors, which can more accurately and objectively reflect the overall blood sugar control level in the last 2-3 months.
Therefore, patients need to go to the hospital regularly to monitor [glycosylated hemoglobin] to understand the blood sugar control in the recent period of time. For patients with type 1 diabetes, it is monitored every 3 ~ 4 months, and for patients with type 2 diabetes, it is monitored 1 ~ 2 times a year.