#NHBPM – How ridiculous!

Blood glucose monitoring. It is for everyone who has a diabetes diagnosis – type 1, type 2, gestational – and every type in between.

I found it absolutely ridiculous, as a newly diagnosed type 2, that my primary care physician was more than willing to write out a prescription for metformin and send me off to a dietitian, yet would not write out a prescription for test strips.

How was I supposed to learn good dietary choices without monitoring blood glucose? What dietitians teach may work for some people with diabetes, but may not work for everyone – trial and error is such an important part of the initial period after diagnosis to see what you should eat more regularly and what you should limit – particularly true of people with type 2 diabetes relying on diet and exercise (and maybe metformin).

Since a hypothyroidism diagnosis came just a couple months before the type 2 diagnosis, I asked whether seeing an endocrinologist would be prudent and the primary care provider grudgingly agreed.

After showing the endo a month’s worth of blood glucose numbers, he recommended continuing with diet and exercise without metformin (at that point in time). I had already learned that oatmeal was no good on my numbers, and surprisingly could eat a small portion of mashed potatoes if I balanced them out with meat and green veggies.

These days, I only test once or twice a day, just enough to notice both positive and negative trends. I know that my friends with type 1 as well as those type 2s on insulin need to test much more often to stay on even keeled blood glucose. The thing is, we both need access to test strips because it is absolutely ridiculous to rely solely on A1C testing every few months. That does not paint the whole picture of the person with diabetes.

Blood glucose monitoring – it’s what’s for diabetes.

This post was written as part of  NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days.