Blood sugar checks may be reduced

Dear Dr. Roach: I am a 53-year-old female, and I weigh 190 pounds.

A year and a half ago, I had gastric sleeve surgery. I have lost 24 pounds.

I have been diabetic since about 2013.

At my last blood analysis, in August 2018, my A1C was 6.5, which I understand is still high.

In January 2018, my A1C was 6.6. When I had my surgery, these numbers were higher.

I do an average of 109 blood tests per week by finger prick. In your opinion, should I continue to do the daily blood pricks to my finger, or can I do them less often? — K.

With an A1C of 6.6 percent, your diabetes is under very good control. How often to do fingersticks depends a bit on how you are treated.

If you are taking insulin, more frequently is necessary, since the insulin can cause dramatic shifts in blood sugar.

If you are on oral medication or if your diabetes is controlled by diet and exercise, less frequent is probably OK. Providers taking care of people with diabetes want lots of information.

If it doesn’t bother you too much to get them daily, your provider will be happy with the information — the more we have, the better we can make adjustments in your regimen.

However, you may not need adjustments often, so as long as you aren’t seeing numbers that are over, say, 200, I would think a few times a week would be OK.

If your weight and A1C continue to decrease, you may need fingersticks even less frequently.

No matter how often you get the blood readings, I would recommend you get some readings fasting and some 1-2 hours after eating.

Some people with diabetes have excellent fasting glucose that goes sky-high after eating.