Friendly Reminders for a Successful Blood Glucose Monitoring at Home (Part Two)

In the previous blog, we at Warren Care Pharmacy discussed a few reminders that can help you monitor your or your loved ones’ blood glucose levels even while at home. Here is the rest of the list to aid you in managing your diabetes:

1. Keep track of your medical supplies. 
   It is very important that you always check the expiration dates of your testing strips and other supplies you need (e.g., lancets, alcohol swabs) prior to using them. Otherwise, you may not be able to get a reliable result from using an out-of-date product. Expired medical supplies and inaccurate results may interfere with your daily record of blood glucose numbers, and this may cause your healthcare providers to believe that something is wrong when there truly isn’t. Worse, your doctors may think that there is no problem with your health when there really is, and you may find yourselves in an emergency situation that could have been prevented if you only made use of up-to-date supplies.

2. Create a journal. 

   Create a health journal wherein you can record your or your family members’ blood glucose levels on a regular basis. This will serve as your reference and physical evidence should there be a problem. As a provider of premier pharmaceutical services in Michigan, we also recommend that aside from the numbers in your reading, you should also take note of the time of day that you are testing, the foods that you or your loved ones ate during the day, when was your last meal, and the activities that you performed since these factors may influence your blood sugar reading.

3. Watch out for infections. 

   One of the ways in which you can avoid infections is by not sharing your equipment with other people and by disposing of your used testing strips and other supplies. Your local pharmacy in Warren, Michigan also advises that you wait first until the bleeding has completely stopped before you decide to engage in other activities.