Don’t waste bullets. When will blood sugar testing be reliable? For many people with diabetes, measuring blood sugar is something they have to do despite having a bad experience. This is easy to understand: after all, you have to spend your own money, and you also have to overcome the psychological barrier and pain of pricking your finger.
According to one person in the circle: "This is against human nature!" However, the president often finds that even if they finally force themselves to test their blood sugar a few times symbolically, many people with diabetes are blindly testing it. Blood glucose testing without purpose is a waste of bullets! So today let’s talk about when is it reliable to measure blood sugar? Everyone on earth knows that if a sniper wants to eliminate the enemy on the battlefield, he must first aim at the target before he can hit the enemy.
In fact, a blood glucose meter is equivalent to a scope for people with diabetes. To put it bluntly, the purpose of measuring blood sugar is to know valuable results, such as: Is the medicine I take effective? Does it need to be adjusted? I had a high meal. Is it too much? In this case, let’s take a look at the value of measuring blood sugar at different monitoring points. Fasting blood sugar is measured starting from the day before, sleeping all night, not eating for more than 8-12 hours, and getting up in the morning without eating. The blood sugar measured is fasting blood sugar. This blood glucose monitoring point requires testing as soon as you get up in the morning, usually no later than 8 a.m. If you exercise again after getting up, even if you haven't eaten, the measured blood sugar reference value will be greatly reduced due to the body's stress response.
So the value of measuring fasting blood sugar is:
1. We can understand whether the basic function of the pancreatic islets is good or not. To put it bluntly - whether the condition is mild or severe.
2. We can use the blood sugar at this point to judge whether the dose of medication the night before was appropriate.
3. Also, the blood sugar at this point is the starting point of blood sugar changes throughout the day, just like the opening price of the stock market, which is closely related to the level of blood sugar after a meal.
Because our Chinese diabetics usually have high fasting blood sugar, there are usually three situations when fasting blood sugar increases:
1. Insufficient dosage of medicine. If the blood sugar before going to bed is higher than the fasting blood sugar or not much different from the fasting blood sugar, then it is very likely that the oral medicine or insulin taken at night is insufficient or you have eaten too much. Then adjust the dosage of the medication or try to eat less foods that can easily raise blood sugar.
2. Dawn phenomenon: After midnight for normal people, the secretion of growth hormone and cortisol, hormones that raise blood sugar, increases in the body. For some people with diabetes, this will cause an increase in fasting blood sugar. The judgment method is also very simple. Measure blood sugar at 12:00 pm and 7:00 am. If the blood sugar at 7 am is more than 1mmol/L higher than the blood sugar at 12:00 at night, it is the dawn phenomenon. In this case, it is necessary to increase the dosage of the drug before dinner, or to inject intermediate-acting insulin once before going to bed.
3. The Somogyi effect is actually a phenomenon in which the body secretes various hormones that raise blood sugar due to hypoglycemia, so blood sugar increases instead. Just check the blood sugar around 3-4 o'clock in the morning. If the blood sugar is less than 3.9mmol/L, it can be judged that it is a Sumuji effect. At this time, the dosage of medicine before dinner should be reduced. On the surface, fasting blood sugar is high, but the Sumujie effect and the dawn phenomenon are exactly the opposite. You have a feeling, this is the correct way to open the blood glucose meter! The two-hour post-meal blood sugar (three meals) is measured from the first bite of the meal, and the blood sugar value is measured by taking blood on time 2 hours later. Many people with diabetes here will misunderstand that the blood sugar value is measured two hours after eating.
The value of checking blood sugar at this monitoring point is:
1. We can understand the ability of the pancreas to secrete additional insulin when stimulated by food after eating.
2. It can be used to judge whether eating and hypoglycemic drugs are appropriate, which cannot be judged by fasting blood sugar.
3. It can be used for early diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, because the fasting blood sugar of many early-stage patients is normal, but it will be higher than the normal standard after meals.
4. It can be used to prevent complications, because high blood sugar after meals is an important factor leading to complications. Pre-meal blood sugar (before lunch, before dinner) is usually 10-30 minutes before a meal. If you need to take medication before a meal, it must be completed before taking the medication. This is also a common misunderstanding. Many people with diabetes often only think of testing their blood sugar before eating.
The value of this monitoring point lies in:
1. Can reflect the persistence of insulin secretion
2. We can adjust the amount of food to eat and the amount of medication before meals based on the blood sugar at this point.
3. To prevent hypoglycemia, people with diabetes who are prone to hypoglycemia should measure their blood sugar before meals. Bedtime blood sugar test 10-30 minutes before going to bed.
The value of measuring blood sugar at this point is:
1. It can be used to measure whether high blood sugar after dinner is well controlled.
2. If it is lower than 6, you need to consider adding a meal to prevent nighttime hypoglycemia. Early morning blood sugar test at around 3am.
The value of measuring blood sugar at this point is:
1. It can help us identify the causes of fasting hyperglycemia. The identification of the Sumujie effect and the dawn phenomenon we mentioned before requires measuring blood sugar at this point.
2. Prevent hypoglycemia during sleep. Many mothers of type 1 sugar babies dare not go to bed until their blood sugar is measured at this point. This is really pitiful for parents in the world. Random blood glucose is measured at any time other than the monitoring time points listed above.
Note, it’s not “test whatever you want, test it happily”, it’s random blood sugar. Random blood sugar testing is mainly used to rule out the risk of hypoglycemia and obvious hyperglycemia when you feel unwell. It can also help us understand the impact of our body on blood sugar under special circumstances, such as drinking alcohol, being too tired, getting sick, surgery, mood changes, menstruation, etc., and can better grasp the fluctuations of blood sugar. The random blood sugar of healthy people does not exceed 11.1mmol/L.
Finally, here is a picture to summarize: What I will tell you today is still basic knowledge. I would like to know more about how to analyze and control blood sugar based on blood sugar values.
