How to Use your Diabetic Supply Kit

If you’re a new diabetic or one who never checked your sugars before, you’ll need to know all about your diabetic supply kit and how to use it.  Diabetic supply kits come in different varieties but all basically work the same.  You can buy one without a subscription at your local pharmacy or your doctor can prescribe such a kit and it may be paid for by your insurance company.

Who should use a diabetic supply kit?  Any person who is pre-diabetic should check their blood sugars periodically to check to see if they are slipping into diabetes.  They should probably aim to check the blood sugar once a month and try checking it both fasting and a couple of hours after a meal.  If the sugars show fasting sugars above 120 or non-fasting sugars above 200, the doctor should be notified.

Diabetics on medications should use their diabetic supply kit and check a fasting blood sugar every morning and should check it after supper.  This assures that the medications and diet are working the way they should and that no changes need to be made.

Diabetics on insulin are dependent on their diabetic supply kit.  Often, the result determines how much long and short acting insulin is necessary.  This kind of diabetic should use their diabetic supply kit up to six or more times per day.  The way this works is as follows.  The diabetic checks a fasting blood sugar and uses parameters to determine how much of the different types of insulin to take.  The blood sugar is repeated after a meal and short acting insulin is used to bring the blood sugar down to acceptable levels.  Sometimes no new insulin is required.  This is repeated with every meal and the blood sugar is kept stable throughout the day.

At night, the diabetic uses the diabetic supply kit to decide how much moderately acting insulin should be used during the night.  As in the other situations, there are parameters a diabetic uses to determine how much insulin to use prior to going to bed.  When using the diabetic supply kit and following close parameters, the complications of diabetes are much reduced.

Using a diabetic supply kit is actually easy.  There are kits where one pricks the arm and kits that prick the finger.  Either way, you use a lancet—a sharp device that pokes the skin and brings up a droplet of blood.  The droplet of blood is then sucked into a meter strip that has been inserted into a blood sugar machine or “glucometer”.  After a few seconds, the glucometer records the blood sugar value.  Most glucometers have a memory section so you don’t have to record your blood sugars.  The meter does that for you.

Diabetic supply kits definitely save lives and reduce the complications of diabetes.  When used religiously, the diabetic can keep very strict control over their blood sugars and can take the amount of diabetic medication or insulin necessary to maintain good control.  In addition, the kit can tell a diabetic if he or she is suffering from low blood sugar or hypoglycemia.  Low blood sugar can be very dangerous and, if discovered quickly, some things can be done to bring up the blood sugar to safe levels.