GD & the finger test - how to do it right????

[cherii]

Hi Ladies.

I just have one question for those of whom have GD. How were you told to test your BSL's??

We were told (in my group that day) that you wash your hands and dry and then ***** a finger and let the blood seep into the testing strip.

A test I did last night led me to do further research and as far as I am aware that is not really the correct procedure in order to get accurate BSL's.

Please help and tell me how you were taught to do your tests or just how you do them anyways!! THANKYOU!!!!

[Schmickers]

What you are describing is standard procedure for testing blood sugar. What different methods have you found out?

[cherii]

I read that you don't use soap and water before testing. You use warm water only. You don't use your thumb. You don't squeeze the blood from the actual area you have *****ed, you use lower finger parts or the palm of your hand. And you don't take the first blood that comes out you wipe that away and then take blood sample and last but not least that for a very accurate reading of BSL you gently massage the area you will test for 20 seconds to circulate the blood first. These suggestions/directions have come from sites that sell the Blood monitoring devices etc.

The reason I query is last night I tested after a dinner at a restaurant and one finger said 5.0 and I knew that was a baloney reading so I did the same finger on the other hand and it said 7.5 - that is such a huge difference between the two and this is what lead me to read how to do the testing as I didn't get a manual with the Optium tester I have.

[Schmickers]

Well, the soap and water thing is controversial, and always has been. The justification for it is, if you have eaten something sugary and then test, you may transfer some sugar from your skin into the blood, and this would artificially increase the blood sugar. I would say that as long as you rinse and dry your hands thoroughly after washing, you should still get accurate results.

And the rest of what you describe - gently massaging the finger to encourage bleeding, etc. - is all good practice for testing. It sounds as if you are doing it well.

[shellshell]

Cherii,

I wash my hands - sometimes with soap, sometimes without - in warm water, dry them, prepare the lancing device, etc. Then I ***** my finger (normally left pointer finger on the side near the nail) and massage the spot to get a good-sized drop of blood up, and then let the test strip soak it up. Sometimes I use another finger on my left hand, if my pointer is looking a little sorry due to over-use... to much cleaning and washing and *****ing... !!

That is really bizarre you got such a different reading from each hand. How much time had passed between tests? Did you happen to drink something (other than water or tea without milk or sugar) in between testing?? How much time after the start of dinner did you test? If you have taken your time over dinner, it could just be that the lower reading was before your post-meal peak, and the higher reading was your peak. That is one problem with post-meal testing... not everyone eats meals quickly... so you could be testing two hours after the start of the meal, but have eaten the last of your dinner an hour beforehand.

Michelle

[Inanna]

It is accurate that if you uhave eaten something, etc etc that would give a false reading without washing your hands. It is generally educated to diabetics
that they wash hands in soap and water ensuring that they are rinsed thouroughly and dried well prior to p r i c k i n g. Great disparity in tests done on separate hands in the same time frame would lead me to check out use by dates and also that your glucometer is correctly callobrated...

[cherii]

I ended up returning the hospitals glucose meter and buying my own. It's probably a good idea to keep one for myself so I can keep an eye on my levels after birth. I read in the box of blood strips that you wash in warm water...no where is it mentioned with soap as I have read that it can interfere with the reading.