One positive thing about having diabetes in the year 2000
is that we have a lot of drugs we can use to help you get your blood sugars
back to normal. This is extremely good news for you, because if you keep
your blood sugar levels close to normal, you can prevent all of the terrible
complications of diabetes. You should demand that your doctor help you
get your blood sugar levels to normal—don’t let him or her tell you you’re
doing fine when your blood sugars are still high.
Keep in mind that drugs are not magic. If you are taking
a drug for diabetes control, it is still essential that you follow a good
diet and get daily exercise. These two elements of diabetes control are
the pillar on which all other diabetes treatment rests.
Keeping
the Blood Sugars Close to Normal
I tell my patients that their blood sugar in the morning
should be between 80 to 120 mg/dL before they eat, 80 percent of the time.
In other words, since there will always be some daily variation in everyone’s
blood sugar, 80 percent of the times that you’re checking your sugar, let’s
say, during a week, your sugar should be in the 80 to 120 range. A normal
blood sugar is actually between 60 to 105 mg/dL in the morning before you
eat. So aiming for 80 to 120 is close to the normal range. Many of my patients
are shocked when I tell them this. They are used to having blood sugars
of 150 to 200 mg/dL or even higher when they wake up in the morning. That
is too high.
After meals, your blood sugar should not go higher than
about 150 mg/dL. You should check it about two hours after meals.
