I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes yesterday, and my doctor wants me to take two fasting readings on my home meter every day and bring them for follow up in a month. He said he will use these readings, as well as another round of lab checks to determine if I will need medication at this time, or if we can wait. The morning fasting is easy, but when during the day is considered fasting? Before I eat my evening meal, or before bed? In the meantime, I will be seeing the dietitian, and I am to work on some form of exercise. ( He suggested walking 30 minutes at least four days a week.)

With my patients, I recommend monitoring sugars before meals and bedtime. They don’t all have to be done on the same day. However, you should do them frequently enough to know what the trends are. This is what your doctor is looking for. Another level of control is the sugar measured two hours after meals, known as the two-hour postprandial sugar. This number always goes up, compared to the number before the meal. However, if it is high, it is another indication of the need to treat the diabetes. A good sugar before meals is less than120 mg/dl [6.7 mmol/L], and a good sugar two yours after a meal is less than 140 mg/dl [7.8 mmol/L]. These are approximations. Your physician may want you to have slightly different numbers and that is okay. Your overall progress is usually monitored with the hemoglobin A1c test performed every three months.

JTL