A Type 1 Diabetic’s Guide to Monitoring Blood Sugar Levels.

Type 1 Diabetes revolves around blood sugar monitoring.

In T1D the pancreas no longer produces insulin – a hormone responsible for managing blood sugar levels.

Without insulin, sugar builds up in the bloodstream, and can cause high blood sugar.

This can make us feel tired, thirsty, irritable, and in severe, prolonged cases, can put us in hospital.

To treat this, diabetics inject insulin multiple times a day.

Why Blood Sugar Monitoring Matters

Without knowing our blood sugar level, insulin dosing would involve some wild guesses. Back in the day before glucose monitoring kits, diabetics had to rely on testing their urine!

Luckily, today we can just prick our fingers, or whack a sensor on, and have a solid idea of what to our diabetes is doing.

By monitoring blood sugar levels, we can get real-time knowledge of what our blood sugar is.

Blood sugar monitoring is key to making sensible adjustments to insulin doses, diet, and activity, to stay in our target range, and avoid those pesky highs and lows.

If you’re new to diabetes, blood glucose monitoring can be an unwelcome new activity, and can feel overwhelming.

Hopefully this guide on blood sugar monitoring can help you understand what is going on!

This blog covers:

Blood Sugar Monitoring Methods

There are a few ways to monitor blood sugar levels:

Traditional Blood Glucose Meters (Finger-Prick Testing)

How It Works:
- A small needle (lancet) pricks the finger, and a drop of blood is placed on a test strip inserted into a blood glucose meter.
Pros:
- Reliable
- Generally affordable
- Provides immediate readings of real time data
Cons:
- Requires multiple pricks throughout the day, which can be painful or inconvenient.
Examples
- There are a lot of different companies which provide glucometers. Often, people with diabetes are given a glucose meter provided by their health care provider without much say in the matter. Regardless, here are some examples:
  - Accu-Chek Guide
  - Contour Next One
  - GlucoRx Nexus
  - Bayer Contour Next EZ
  - Freestyle Precision Neo

Flash & Continuous Glucose Monitoring sensors are medical devices which have a filament that is inserted into the body and provides blood sugar readings. Read all about them here.

Flash Glucose Monitoring

How It Works: FGM requires scanning the sensor with a device or phone to get a reading.
Pros:
- Quick and easy.
- More flexibility and comfort than finger pricks.
- Trend analysis is useful for showing whether blood sugar is rising, falling, or staying the same. This helps to anticipate changes and avoid extreme highs and lows.
- The lifespan of a FGM is longer than a CGM (14 days vs 10 days).
- More affordable than CGM, and therefore more likely to be prescribed a FGM by your health care provider.
- Do not require calibration.
Cons:
- Only shows readings when scanned, so it won’t alert you to rapid change.
- No alarms or notifications.
- There may be a lag in reading.
Examples:
- Freestyle Libre 1 & 2

FGM is becoming less popular as the technology is advancing to Continuous Glucose Monitors.

Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs)

How It Works: A sensor worn on the body continuously tracks glucose levels in real-time and transmits the data to a device or app.
Pros:
- Provides frequent readings (every 5–15 minutes).
- Removes the need for constant finger pricking.
- Quick and easy.
- Trend analysis is useful for showing whether blood sugar is rising, falling, or staying the same. This helps to anticipate changes and avoid extreme highs and lows.
- Alerts and notifications are useful, especially to wake you up in the night to fix a blood sugar.
- Data sharing with friends, family, and healthcare providers can give you peace of mind.
Cons:
- CGM’s are more expensive and the cost adds up over time. (I was paying £160 a month for my CGM in the UK, but in Australia I’m able to access them for £16 a month!)
- Data can lag a few minutes behind blood levels.
- Technology can fail, and these failures can happen at inconvenient times, so you always need a back up glucometer.
- Inaccurate readings can cause incorrect doses of insulin or hypo treatment which could be life threatening.
- Skin irritation may occur due to the sensor’s adhesive.
Examples
- Dexcom G6 and G7
- Freestyle Libre 3

When and How Often To Test

Blood sugar monitoring is unique and specific to each individual with diabetes. Factors like activity level, personal goals, and lifestyle contribute to the frequency of blood sugar checks.

There is a general rule of thumb for when to check blood sugar levels:

Before meals (for a baseline and calculating insulin doses)
Two hours after meals (to see how food has affected your blood sugar)
Before and after exercise (to avoid drops in blood sugar and to make sure it’s safe to exercise)
Before bedtime (to help make sure levels are stable overnight)
When you’re feeling off (to attribute any symptoms like shaking, fatigue, or confusion to changes in blood sugar levels)

It’s very easy to get carried away with checking blood sugar levels. I know when I was first diagnosed, I was pretty much addicted to scanning my libre, from 50 to 100 times a day!

Thankfully I was referred to a diabetes psychologist to help me manage my fears and anxiety around diabetes pretty early on in my diagnosis. This also happened to be during my final year of university, which was pretty stressful in itself, with a fresh T1D diagnosis on top!!

If you feel like you are also obsessing over your levels, and constantly checking them, I recommend reaching out to your healthcare provider for a referral to a diabetes psychologist. They are there to help!

Target Ranges

“Target ranges” and “time in range” can feel like buzz words in the diabetes community.

Target ranges are also unique and specific to each diabetic individual, and is dependent on personal goals.

The most common target range is 4-10mmol/L or 70-180mg/dL.

The percentage of time spent within this range is known as the “time in range”. If you have a FGM or CGM, the relevant apps will often include reports which tell you your time in range.

Understanding Patterns and Adjusting

Spotting patterns over time is an important part of monitoring blood sugar levels.

Look for trends
- Are your blood sugars consistently high or low at certain times of the day?
- Use the data to adjust your insulin requirements, diet, sleep, or exercise accordingly.
Factor in external factors
- Changes in your daily routine can throw your management off balance.
- Keeping a note of how these changes affect you personally is key to helping your future self.
- For example, if you know that cardio makes your blood sugar levels drop, adjust your insulin or food intake accordingly.

Blood sugar monitoring can feel overwhelming, but I promise it will become second nature in no time! By understanding your blood sugar levels, spotting any patterns, and adjusting accordingly, you’re set to manage your diabetes like a pro!

Remember there are no “good” or “bad” readings – they are just readings. Don’t get caught up chasing “perfect” readings, because this can only increase your stress and anxiety – which isn’t ideal for your blood sugar either!

Focus on consistency and learning over time. Regardless of the technology you use, knowing your blood sugar data is a luxury for optimum diabetes management, and shouldn’t be taken for granted. I know I’m so thankful for my CGM every single day!

Let me know what blood sugar monitoring system you use?

Thank you for reading ❤

Love, Lydia x

I am not a medical professional, and this post is not medical advice. I am just sharing my own personal experience with type 1 diabetes. Reach out to a medical professional if you need additional help and advice.

LYD1A KERR