Hating your meter!?

We all know monitoring blood glucose is pretty quick, easy and usually painless, it's invaluable when living with diabetes and can drastically improve control when done regularly.

However I'm sure I'm not the only one who has at some point had a less than friendly relationship with their blood glucose meter.

As helpful as they are, getting a lot of bad readings from your meter can definitely make you start to feel negative about yourself and about testing. No one likes to be reminded they're doing badly, and often the number on the screen can put you down, making you feel like you've done something wrong, or you're not good enough.

Imagine how frustrating it would be if you were extremely overweight and your doctor’s major recommendation was that you look at yourself in a full-length mirror three times a day. How annoying! This wouldn’t help you to lose any weight! In the same way some diabetics may think "Why bother checking! It's always high anyway", I for one know I've had days when this exact thought has run through my mind.

During this year I also found that a reason I didn't want to check was because in doing so I was reminded I had diabetes, it's sometimes not the nicest to have to be reminded 3 times a day that you're different from the majority of people, and that you could have to do this for the rest of your life? Some people find that if they can avoid monitoring they don't have to think about their diabetes at all, sometimes for days at a time.

If you are feeling constantly pushed around by your meter, it may seem reasonable to stop monitoring. You might not like to check before meals, for example, because a high blood glucose reading makes you feel that you cannot eat as much as you really want. Or you might not like to check before exercising because a low blood glucose reading means that you have to eat something before you exercise. A low blood glucose reading before driving means that you should not drive until you bring your blood glucose level up.

Sometimes finding the time or right place for monitoring can be a pain, I worked out in Florida over the summer as a lifeguard at Walt Disney World, I found it very difficult to find the appropriate time to monitor my blood, and most of the time I ended up just sorting it out once I'd left and gone home.

Sometimes checking can be painful! And no one likes their fingers being covered in tiny little holes!

Don't be discouraged!

​ If you're feeling any of these things, or have been avoiding checking because your meter makes you feel bad it's time to have a serious talk with your meter! Yes it's just a little machine, but it definitely doesn't have to be the enemy. It's time to try and change the way you interpret your blood glucose monitor readings.

There are no 'good' or 'bad' readings, and you can't fail. The reading on the screen in just a number, it's a piece of information and an oppertunity to take action. Think of the petrol gauge in your car. When it nears empty, do you avoid looking at it? Do you yell at yourself for being so stupid as to allow it to get this low? Probably not.

The gauge is simply giving you information that allows you to make the best decision, and this is how you should try and see your meter.

Something that helped me? I stopped referring to the process as blood glucose 'testing', instead I try to use words like 'monitoring' and 'checking. I try to remember that the readings are just numbers, they can't be good or bad, simply high or low.

Try to always respond to your blood glucose readings, instead of being frustrated or angry at a high reading, instead think, 'What can I do about this right now?', by focusing on the problem solving you can be more empowered in your diabetes care.

It's always important to be reasonable, to avoid becoming discouraged by a high or low reading, try to create an acceptable range of values that are acceptable to you, you don't have to get things perfect straight away.

Try to make an action plan for yourself when you see a high or low reading, by knowing how you can combat these readings you will feel much more confident and not discouraged by a reading.

If you have a busy schedule and often find you don't have time for monitoring, try to anchor a specific time or routine activity to blood glucose monitoring, for instance when you brush your teeth in the morning, when you have your coffee, or morning snack?

If you find checking your blood glucose is causing you a lot of pain or bruising, it is likely your lancet is too think, or is going too deep, most newer lancets can be set to a shallower setting, or you can speak to your diabetes team about finding a more suitable lancet.

Monitoring blood glucose is so important in successfully managing diabetes, it's time to make up with you meter and instead use it as a tool to help you feel more confident in your blood glucose control.