Being someone who was originally diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (with potential kidney failure) back in 2007, then Type 2 Diabetes shortly after that — before eventually being told I was Pre-Diabetic — I've become very familiar with Blood Sugar Levels (a measurement of how much glucose is in the blood) and the sometimes very frustrating task of keeping track and regulating them.

I just recently decided to try to get back on track after squandering my time (and stopping medications), plummeting my health into some murky depths. I'm starting out with a long-acting insulin and seeing where my levels are at before proceeding with more medications. It's been a while, but I believe levels should be roughly 80-100 mg/dl when fasting and under 140 mg/dl two hours after a meal for muggles. Diabetics, while having those levels would be ideal, have a slightly higher curve (under 120 mg/dl fasting, 160 mg/dl two hours after eating).

Be mindful I may be working with some outdated data and am not claiming to be a Diabetes Educator, so take that with a grain of salt and consult your primary doctor, because what I've found is that each individual's treatments and goals may vary.

I'm only on one night of insulin, but I've been trying to keep tabs on my levels before and after meals. Unfortunately, with insurance changes I had to get a new glucose meter. Convenient after I just got my original prepped for battle... Since I had two meters, I thought "Why not test my blood sugar levels on both?", because... why not?!

But the results left me a bit puzzled.

The discrepancies aren't extreme, but concerning nonetheless. The meter on the right is the older model (about 3 years), so it's possible it's malfunctioning (more likely than the newer). I think it'd be great to have a third tester to experiment with, but costly since I'd have to buy it out of pocket.

I did just test my blood thrice over, just an hour ago, and it does seem that while the newer FreeStyle model only changes a few numbers, the Accu-Chek jumped by a lot. Despite liking the Accu-Chek numbers more, it's likely the faulty meter.

Either way, the numbers are bad! So I'll continue testing (and possibly sharing) my blood sugar levels over the coming weeks/months. I'll also continue experimenting with both meters and maybe even a third, if able. It's going to be a long road ahead...

Do you or someone you know have diabetes? If so, which type? What kind of medication(s) do you/they need to take? How often are blood sugar levels checked? Do you (or they) maintain the recommended blood glucose levels set by your doctor? Have you/they ever had numbers jump around so much on consecutive blood tests on your/their meter(s)?