What should I do with my blood glucose test results?

blood glucose test results

It is a good idea to create a logbook of your results, along with a record of how you were feeling and the activities you were doing before taking each test. This information could include if you were feeling stressed, had just eaten or had been exercising. To help you organize and categorize your results, some monitors have a facility that gives you the opportunity to “flag” whether the test was performed before or after a meal. You may also be able to add a comment noting if you had taken part in a particular activity or feeling a certain way before taking the test.

Your blood glucose monitor may have a memory for storing these test results that can show the average of your readings over one week, two weeks or 30 days. This will give you a good picture of how your blood glucose levels have been during this time. You may be able to transfer the stored information to a computer to view in charts or graphs to analyze and print. The results recorded in your logbook and monitor’s memory will help you to see how different foods and activities affect your blood glucose level. Next time you go for a walk, out for a meal or to a party, you will find this information really useful. Your diabetes healthcare team will also find the results from your self-testing helpful when tailoring your individual treatment needs.

Self-testing can help you find out what you as an individual can and cannot do. It is a good idea to experiment with food, exercise and medication, provided this is done in conjunction with regular blood glucose testing and under the guidance of your diabetes healthcare team. This will enable you to make informed choices about the types of food you eat, portion sizes and appropriate levels of physical activity for you. You will run the risk of having temporarily high or low blood glucose while finding out what works for you. You should follow instructions from a healthcare professional.