Monitoring Blood Sugar

It's all about blood sugar

Maintaining proper blood sugar levels in the target range helps you stay in good health.

Monitoring your blood sugar levels helps you prevent hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), which can cause a number of symptoms including headaches, anxiety, blurred vision, and seizures.

Monitoring your blood sugar also helps you to keep track of:

• When you take your insulin doses
• Which food you should eat, including getting the right mix of:
  •  Fresh and frozen fruits
  • Vegetables low in carbohydrates (such as carrots, asparagus, and leafy greens)
  • Whole grain breads, bran cereal, or rice
• When you should exercise, to keep your blood sugar from getting too high or too low, including:
  • The intensity of the workout
  • The length of time your heart rate is elevated
  • Any changes you’ve made to your insulin doses

There are several other benefits of monitoring your blood sugar, including a clearer picture of what you can do to make yourself feel better, and how illness can affect you, and how to manage and control stress so that it doesn’t raise or lower your blood sugar levels.

By monitoring your diabetes symptoms, you can see exactly what it means to have good blood sugar levels and what types of activities or foods can make it worse.

To keep a clear picture of how you respond physically to your diabetes care plan, we encourage you to keep a log (written in a notebook or on a computer) of your monitoring activities that you can then share with your doctor.

The American Diabetes Association provides a handy personal health record and printable blood sugar log that you can use to assist you with your ongoing treatment. These resources are free to Registered Users.

If you’re placed on blood sugar-lowering drugs by your doctor, your log is just another tool they can use to recommend changes to your diet and exercise plan.

Contact us

Call (412) DOCTORS (412) 362-8677 or request an appointment to learn more about AHN diabetes services.