How often should I check my sugar if I have type 2 diabetes?
How often you check your sugar with type 2 diabetes depends on your treatment. On insulin or medicines that can cause lows, daily checks or more are standard. On metformin alone with stable numbers, many doctors are happy with a few structured checks a week plus the HbA1c every three to six months.
Structured beats random: pairs of readings, before and two hours after the same meal, teach you which foods spike you personally.
Ask your own doctor for a schedule matched to your medicines, and log the results where you can see the trend rather than loose numbers on scraps of paper.
Source: American Diabetes Association, Standards of Care in Diabetes
See a doctor promptly if
- Excessive thirst, frequent urination, blurred vision or unexplained weight loss. These suggest diabetes and need testing, not tracking
- Sweating, shakiness, palpitations or confusion a few hours after eating that resolves with food, especially if repeated
- A fasting glucose of 126 mg/dL (7.0 mmol/L) or more, or an HbA1c of 6.5 percent (48 mmol/mol) or more on repeat testing
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Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS · How we review
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