Embarrassing Illnesses

You can monitor your own blood glucose levels using a simple finger prick test or a urine test.

Finger prick testing

What you'll need to be independent:

• Blood testing strips
• Blood glucose meter
• Finger pricking device
• Lancets
• Blood glucose monitoring diary
• Sharps box for disposal of sharps

These are available from your GP or hospital. 

Instructions:

1. Before doing a finger prick test, make sure you have all your equipment in a clean dry place.
2. Wash your hands and rinse well with warm water (dirty hands can contaminate a blood sample and give an inaccurate result).
3. Choose your finger and massage it to improve blood circulation.
4. Pricking the fleshy part of your finger can hurt. Instead prick the side of the finger away from the thumb. Squeeze your finger gently to obtain a drop of blood.
5. Apply the drop of blood to the testing strip. The meter will automatically read the result. Note the result in your diary. 

Urine glucose testing

What you will need to be independent:

• Urine test strip
• Blood glucose monitoring diary

These are available from your GP or hospital. 

It's best to test your urine for glucose in the morning before your breakfast. Empty your bladder when you get up, then test a sample passed 30 minutes later. Tests done at this time should be negative. You can also test two to three hours after a meal, when your blood glucose will have been at its highest. 

Instructions:

1.      Hold a test strip under a stream of urine for a few seconds.

2.      Compare the colour change on the strip, after a set amount of time, with the chart on the strip container. This shows the percentage of glucose in the urine, where 0% is the ideal.

Urine testing gives a less accurate picture of your blood glucose than blood testing, but your doctor may still feel that it's suitable for you. It's less accurate because there's usually no glucose in your urine unless the glucose levels has risen to 10mmol/l or above, which is considered quite high. It doesn't give you an indication of what your blood glucose level is at the time you test, because the urine you are testing may have been produced several hours before you test. Urine tests also can't tell you if your blood glucose is too low, which is important for people on insulin or certain tablets.

Some people get glucose in their urine at lower levels. They're said to have a 'low renal threshold' for glucose. Older people may develop a high renal threshold, when glucose does not appear in the urine until the level in the blood is much higher than 10mmol/l. High or low renal thresholds will cause confusion if you're monitoring your diabetes with urine tests.