How to monitor your blood sugar at home

When to measure, depending on your situation

How often you test depends on your type of diabetes and your treatment; your doctor sets the schedule. The most telling moments are generally:

• Fasting in the morning, before breakfast.
• Before meals, to see your starting point.
• 1.5 to 2 hours after a meal, to gauge the impact of what you ate.
• At bedtime, and whenever you feel unwell or notice an unusual symptom.

The right technique for a reliable number

A skewed reading leads to wrong conclusions. A few simple precautions are enough:

• Wash and dry your hands (sugar on the skin distorts the result).
• Prick the side of your fingertip, less sensitive, rotating fingers.
• Check that the strips are not expired and are properly stored.
• Record the number WITH its context: fasting, after a meal, after exercise.

Reading the numbers without panicking

Blood sugar is expressed in mg/dL (or mmol/L). Targets are personal: they depend on your age, your treatment and your doctor. As a rough guide, a fasting level of around 70–130 mg/dL is often the aim, but only your doctor sets YOUR targets.

A single high or low reading is not corrected on your own by changing your treatment. A hypo (sweating, shaking, dizziness) is treated with fast sugar right away; repeated very high values should be reported to your doctor.

Show a trend, not scattered numbers

A well-kept glucose log (date, time, context) lets your doctor see trends and adjust as needed. Recorded by hand, it quickly becomes patchy.

Parato records your readings with their context, computes the averages and generates a clear summary to show at your appointment — with interpretation and treatment remaining your doctor's call.