Diabetic Testing Blog
A blog to echange experiences, ideas, and questions regarding diabetic testing and being diabetic.
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It’s possible to test for a sign of possible diabetes, which is something called Ketones. You get ketones in your *** when your body starts breaking down fat for energy instead of carbs in your food. The *** test sends a warning alarm but you’ll need a blood test eventually for a diagnosis.
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They also test for glucose in your urine. But, a blood test is needed for confirmation.
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You can find out if you’re making ketones, which is sympotomatic of diabetes. (it’s also symptomatic of anorexia, bullemia or a really bad flu, but you already know if you have any of those.) Your body makes ketones when it thinks it’s starving. It breaks down your organs for fuel. The outproduct of this is ketones and you can measure them in blood or urine. Glucose can be measured thru urine too, although it’s more accurate w/ blood.
Ketone strips are non-prescription. The reading should be negative. If you’re diabetic, they’ll be thru the roof. Run… dont walk, to an emergency room.
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You can test for sugar in the urine but it is NOT a good reflection of the amount of sugar in your blood. Testing for sugar in the urine relies on your kidneys. You have to KNOW that your kidneys are perfect. And as you age, your kidney function will deteriorate. Also, diabetics tend to have decreased kidney function (that’s why if you also have hypertension, we love to put you on an ace-inhibitor because they protect your kidneys a little and manage your BP). Also, you can’t “feel” that your kidneys are deteriorating.
Really, the best thing for you to manage your diabetes is to use a blood glucose reading. I know the finger ****** hurt, I’ve tried it on myself. I HIGHLY recommend to all of my reluctant patients to try alternate site testing. Pretty much all current glucose monitors allow for alternate site testing. Read your manual to see if you can do it. My favorite is to do it on the forearm. Some allow for on the hand, thighs, or abdomen. And I swear, it does not hurt nearly as much (I tried it). You do not have as many nerve endings in your forearm as in your fingertips. And you don’t do fine manipulations with your forearm as you do your fingertips.
Now, if you do this, here are some things you need to know:
Alternate site testing is NOT as accurate as fingers. So, if you do alternate site testing, commit to the same site (only forearm or only thigh). When it comes to tracking blood sugar, we are interested in the relationships such as is your blood sugar high in the am or pm. Low or high before or after food? These relationships help us to determine appropriate dosing for you (especially for insulin).
Also, you need to use a different cap on the lancet device. When you use the lancet device on your fingers, it is usually colored and opaque. When you do alternate site testing, you have to use a clear cap. Because when you ***** your forearm (or other site), you must apply pressure with the lancet device onto your forearm for at least 10 seconds. The cap is clear so that you can see if you have a big enough blood dot. The alternate sites don’t bleed as well. With finger tip testing, you ***** and then immediately remove the lancet. The finger tips have lots of fine capillaries so they bleed really well. All blood glucose monitors need a certain amount of blood to get a reading and each monitor is different.
Also, don’t choose a really hairy area. It’s harder to get the blood.
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Yes, I recently took my 11 year old daughter to the doctor to get a diabetic screening. The doctor ordered a urine test only. He explained that it was the normal procedure for screening kids and if anything was abnormal, then they’d do the blood testing.
Buy FYI, when I’ve had my glucose levels checked they always do a fasting glucose test which involves drinking a glucose solution and drawing blood from the arm(not a finger prick).
Maybe there are different rules for kids and adults- I’m not sure.