The importance of recording your blood glucose
Log books and data collection are a crucial part of supporting your diabetes managment. When you track down information it is easier to see your blood glucose patterns and know when you are on target or, conversely, why you are not in target range. For most people, trying to remember multiple blood glucose numbers and what was happening at the same time as the blood glucose check is difficult and often inaccurate. In addition to the blood glucose result, it is important to record your insulin dose, food and carbohydrate intake, and activity level. Ask you doctor for blood glucose monitoring and log book recommendations that are specific for you.
The type of diabetes treatment willl guide the frequency of glucose testing that will be meaningful for you and your provider to evaluate. If you are treated with diet alone, and your blood glucose is optimally managed, you only may need to check every few days. In contrast, if your blood sugar is not optimized and you are starting medications or taking insulin or pills that increase you insulin levels you should check multiple times a day. When taking insulin, you also need to record your insulin dose, and usually your food and carbohydrate intake and activity level. Ask you doctor for blood glucose monitoring, website, app and log book recommendations that would best suit you needs.
There are three ways people commonly fill out the log books. Each method is listed below.
Simple Method
The simple log tracks your blood glucose at various times on different days. This is suitable when your treatment doesn’t change or put you at risk of having a low blood glucose.
Comprehensive Method
A more comprehensive log includes the blood glucose levels at various times on different days, and includes notations about exercise, food (carbohydrates) and medication doses. Use this log when you want to understand how your blood glucose is responding to different foods, activities and medication.
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Intensive Insulin Therapy Logbook
The intensive insulin therapy log book captures the most important variables that affect the blood glucose, including:- Time of day
- Blood glucose level
- Amount of carbohydrate eaten
- Food diary
- Type and dose of medications or insulin
- Type and duration of exercise
- Any other unusual events such as medications or stresses
Download a printable version of an Intensive Log Book
All insulin pump manfacturers have cloud bases systems that capture this data. Tidepool is an information platform which may be used to upload most glucose monitoring devices and insulin delivery systems and may be helpful for you and your care team to interpret trends.