Hitting a target can be a test of skill. It can also be a test of knowledge. People with diabetes aim to keep their blood sugars in a target range, but sometimes they miss. This section will help you understand why that happens and how you can prevent it.
In this section, you will find:
General Problem Solving Solutions
Depending on your treatment, self management solutions can vary! These pages will provide you with treatment-specific self-management solutions:
If you are:
- Treated with lifestyle and/or blood sugar normalizing medications: (such as, Biguandies (metformin), Thiazolidinediones (pioglitazone, rosiglitazone), Incretin Therapy (sitglipin, exenatide) or Starch blockers (Acarbose)
- Treated with pills that release insulin from the pancreas: (Insulin Releasing Pills or Secretagogues, such as, Sulfonylureas, Meglitinide, Nateglinide)
- Treated with Sliding Scale Insulin Therapy
- Treated with Intensive Insulin Therapy
Knowledge Required for Problem Solving
- your blood glucose goals
- how to count carbohydrates
- your diabetes medications
Data Required for Problem Solving
- Blood glucose readings
- Carbohydrate counts
- Diabetes medication doses
- Your log entries (that track blood sugar levels, carbohydrate content of meals, medication/insulin doses, exercise, and other events that could affect your blood sugar)
Log Book Examples:
- View Log book for Type 2 Diabetes treated with lifestyle changes.
- View Log book for Type 2 Diabetes treated with pills.
- View Log book for Type 2 Diabetes treated with sliding scale insulin.
- View Log book for Type 2 Diabetes treated with intensive insulin.
Controlling your diabetes means maintaining the proper balance between insulin dose, food and activity, every day. Put simply, if you are out of balance, your blood sugars will be too.
However, if you keep good records you will be able to work with your physician to correct any problems.
Analysis of Data
- Divide the day into zones
- Look for blood glucose patterns. When are you on target? When are you either too high or too low?
- After you identify the problem, look for the cause
- Connect the dots. Do problems with high or low blood sugar crop up at the same time each day? After you eat? After you exercise? When you’re relaxed? After you take medication/insulin? When you’re stressed?
Minimize the variables to narrow down the cause(s)
- Make one change at a time
- Verify that what you’re changing fixes the problem
- Talk to your diabetes team – they can help you analyze your data