Before starting out on a search for a glucose testing meter it's important to understand why you need to test.
Your blood sugar is meant to operate within a very narrow range between 4.0 and 6.8 mmol/l (72-122 mg/dl).
When your blood sugar is higher than 6.8, it makes your immune system function as if it were drunk. This is especially true if you test above 10. In this "drunken" state they cannot do their job of maintaining and healing your body's cells. This is causes you to be more susceptible to diseases and infections and can eventually lead to premature death.
If excess sugar remains in your system, tiny crystals of sugar attach themselves to you blood cells and cause cell damage when in contact with other body tissue. This results in the erosion of all body systems including eyes, kidneys, heart, feet and nervous system.
...If your blood sugar goes low due to injections of insulin or excessive activity such as exercise or labour, you can lose consciousness from starving your cells of their vital sugar supplies.
In any case, it's clear that proper levels of blood sugar need to be maintained.
This is where testing as often as possible comes into play.
You need to test at least 3 times and preferably 5 times or more per day.
Without adequate testing, you're flying blind and you have no way of being sure that whatever medications you're on are having the desired effect or not.
Not only that, your physician will not be able to accurately adjust your treatment or medication.
At a minimum, you should get a good glucose testing meter and keep a testing log.
A better way is to get a software program that not only logs your sugars but also produces charts and graphs that you can share with your health care providers.
