Some monitors can test blood glucose and ketones. Ketone test strips are MUCH more expensive so look into that before you commit if you end up deciding you want to test both.

If you are just interested in blood sugar, I'd recommend the Relion brand that's sold at Wal Mart. The meters themselves are all pretty affordable, but the test strips vary wildly in cost. The Wal Mart Relion brand test strips are cheap and more than accurate enough for me. In fact I believe its just a well known brand (precision?) re-branded.

2. You need a meter, test strips, and lancets (to prick your finger). I hate doing this, in a big way. Personally, I use this multi-clix thing:

http://www.amazon.com/Roche-Diagnostics-075537661529-Accu-Chek-Multiclix/dp/B003UC8SE0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1429724668&sr=8-2&keywords=accucheck+multiclix

with these lancets:

http://www.amazon.com/Accu-Chek-Multiclix-Lancets-Count/dp/B00CJURYXU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429724668&sr=8-1&keywords=accucheck+multiclix

I am quite sure this is not the cheapest option, so I would not necessarily recommend these. But the idea of just taking a lancet and stabbing myself with it still freaks me out after 5 years, so I want *something* like this to do it more automatically.

3. There are two measurements, if you're in the US, the measurement is mg/dL. A normal fasting blood sugar would be 60-100. The other measurement you can take is 1-2 hours after a meal. As a diabetic I believe the ideal goal is to see this number not go above 140. As a keto dietier, in reality, I expect this number for me to never go above 115. If youre not in the US the measurement system is a bit different and yoiu're talking about numbers in the 4.0-7.0 range using a different scale. I only know that scale as it relates to the A1C I get at my doctors office every 3-6 months. Many doctors seem to say below 6.5 for a diabetic is ok, but I believe the standard should be much lower than that even for a diabetic.


4. If you're looking to learn as much as posible and collect data, then take your blood sugar when you first wake up (fasting, before any food/coffee/whatever). Also take it 1-2 hours after each meal. If you eat 3 meals a day that could mean testing 4 times a day and you're gonna get tired of sticking your fingers and test strips, even the cheaper ones, can start to add up in cost. So maybe do that at first to learn how your body normally acts, and then adjust once you figure out what you want to do.

5. TONS of things affect blood sugar, its unbelievable and as a diabetic its incredibly disheartening at times to realize how hard it can be to manage blood sugar. Its the reason I'm on keto. Without keto its just too damn hard. The biggest things though, are sleep, activity, and stress. Lack of sleep can cause your blood sugar to go up. Activity can cause a sharp rise in blood sugar (followed by a bit of a crash... well, probably not on low carb, but this was a constant issue for me pre-keto). Stress causes all kinds of things to happen with hormones, and one of the big ones can be blood sugar increases.

6. Nothing else i can think of!

I too use the relion brand from walmart, i used one for years when I had a cat that was diabetic and it was always really easy to use and affordable, always check the cost of strips before you buy a meter, some can be a lot more than others.

This thread helped me out quickly. I took my glucose and ketones in a fasted state this evening and they were 73mg/dl for the glusoce and 2.1mmol/L for the ketones. Then after I ate I checked my glucose and it was 97mg/dl 1 hour later and 84mg/dl 2 hours later. All those numbers look good to you guys who have experience with the blood testing?

adamthompson2006 wrote: »

This thread helped me out quickly. I took my glucose and ketones in a fasted state this evening and they were 73mg/dl for the glusoce and 2.1mmol/L for the ketones. Then after I ate I checked my glucose and it was 97mg/dl 1 hour later and 84mg/dl 2 hours later. All those numbers look good to you guys who have experience with the blood testing?

Those are awesome numbers!

@Twibbly One other thing to keep in mind is the dawn phenomenon. Everyone gets it, but metabolically sound people won't see great differences in blood glucose. However, if you have metabolic issues, this can increase your morning fasting number, especially if you test early in the morning.

See more http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/17561156.php

Everything everybody said is good. I can only add that if you pick the same area on the fleshy side of the last joint of the same finger, eventually it won't hurt as much as it deadens the area from all the punctures. I hate pricking my finger much worse than the insulin injections. BTW, they say to swab your finger with an alcohol wipe, ~ I have never done that in the 13+ years I have been a diabetic. I do wash my hands and rinse and dry very well though. The meter reads a particular electrical resistance, so if you have any foreign liquid, dirt it will affect the reading.

If you want to check if your liver is dumping sugar at night into your blood stream, (very common among diabetics), eat at 6:00 pm and don't eat or snack until the morning. Check your BG right before you go to sleep, then as soon as you wake up. It may go up (mine would go up 10 - 30 points pre-keto).

I so agree with @Radiii, that Keto has made life so much better, insulin and diabetic meds are a horrible way to control blood sugars.

I hope this helps,

Dan the Man from Michigan
It's Ketogenic or Bariatric! How I Found the Ketogenic Diet
Blog #10 Keto: Abbreviations, Acronyms & Terminology Used on the LCD & Keto Discussion Groups
Blog #13 DittoDan's Milestone's, First's And Good Changes Since Starting the Ketogenic Diet