Monitoring Your Body's Responses to Treatment and Medication

Whatever regimen you are on, it is important to track your body's responses to your treatments and medications.

If you are taking insulin or diabetes pills to help control your diabetes, you may already be aware that checking your blood glucose is one way of helping you know if your medicine is effective. Your body reacts to medication based on:

• The time of day medicine is taken
• The type of medication (insulin, diabetes pills)
• How much you take (dose)
• Whether you are taking any other drugs (drug interactions)
• Whether you are fasting, or have eaten or exercised

Monitoring means information

One way to get immediate feedback on either when/how much impact of food is to monitor your blood glucose. How often you test will depend on:

• The schedule you've set with your healthcare team
• Your level of control
• Your medication (or therapy type)
• How much your blood glucose fluctuates during the day.
• Your understanding of the effects of food and exercise on your glucose.

Blood glucose monitoring is a good way to see the effects of your medication. Your results show trends that can help your healthcare team adjust your dosage or switch you to a medication that's more effective for you.

• Insulin: Insulin can have an immediate and dramatic impact on lowering blood glucose. Blood glucose testing before you inject will give you information about how much insulin and what kind to use.
• Diabetes Pills: While most pills don't lower blood glucose as rapidly as insulin, people who don't require insulin injections are still subject to significant fluctuations (related primarily to food) that require monitoring.

What are some ways you might use monitoring?

Be sure to discuss patterns with your healthcare team and explore opportunities for improving your blood glucose control. For example, if your blood glucose is highest after taking insulin after breakfast, consider testing before and after injecting until you and your doctor come up with doses/types that hit your target blood glucose. Once you've mastered your morning dose, focus on another time of day (or event) you may find challenging.