What Are Blood Sugar Levels Anyway?

Type 1 diabetes is a condition where the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to allow sufficient glucose to enter the cells. As a result much of your blood-glucose will be unused and the blood sugar levels will rise. People with type 2 diabetes have plenty of insulin in their body but their bodies resist the uptake of it in a normal healthy way.
As a person with diabetes, type 1 or type 2, your main goal is to control your blood sugars by restoring them as near as possible to normal levels. They should be monitored with a glucometer as often as directed by your health care provider, according to your diabetes plan and whether you have reached your goals or not.
How often should you self monitor?

• if you are having insulin you need to test before each meal and at bedtime
• if you have type 2 diabetes and are taking oral medications, or just diet and exercise ... you should test at least twice a day: before breakfast and dinner. That is if your blood sugars are in the area of 75 to 125 mg/dl (4 to 7 mmol/l). Four times a day is better, before breakfast and two hours after, before lunch and dinner
• testing can also be useful at other times of the day, eg. if you eat something not normally part of you food plan, before exercising, or even before driving.

What about blood sugar levels?

• non-diabetics have brief variations in their blood sugars but usually maintain a level between 80 to 100 mg/dl (4 to 5 mmol/l)
• although the levels of a diabetic bounce around during the daytime they usually follow a certain trend
• situations like illness or infection can increase your blood-glucose
• having some up-and-down swings is normal but your levels remaining high, day after day, will lead to a higher possibility of complications
• levels need to be individual, eg. an 80 year old does not need goals that aim for intensive control. Tight control is designed to prevent complications down the road.

The American Diabetes Association recommends these levels:

• fasting or before meals: 90 to 130 mg/dl (5 to 7.2 mmol/l)
• one to two hours after a meal: below 180 mg/dl (10 mmol/l)
• at bedtime: 100 to 140 mg/dl (5.6 to 7.8 mmol/l)

Watch out for:

• the Dawn Phenomenon: you may wake in the morning to find your blood sugar level is higher than when you went to bed the previous night. Hormones released in your body at approximately 5 to 9AM interfere with insulin's efforts to remove glucose from your blood
• hypoglycemia: if your level falls below 70 mg/dl (3.9 mmol/l) you need to eat something that will raise your blood sugars quickly. Normally you need to take 15 grams of glucose to raise your levels, eg. 4 glucose tablets (4 gram each), 4 oz. (1/2 cup) of any fruit juice or regular (not diet) soft drink. If your level is still low after fifteen minutes, repeat the treatment. Hypoglycemia may be a sign your medications are too strong or that you body is recovering it's insulin sensitivity.

Monitoring your blood sugar levels is essential to controlling diabetes. When your diet, medications, exercise routine and health changes, it is important to test more often than usual.