As someone who has type 2 diabetes, tracking my blood glucose levels is very important.

The problem is … tracking your glucose levels on a daily basis isn’t really enough … at least it’s not enough for me.

Everyone who has diabetes should be getting their A1C tested on a periodic basis.  The A1C value represents a 3 month running average of your blood glucose levels. People with well controlled diabetes have an A1C level under 7%.  Non-diabetic levels are below 6%.  The American Diabetes Association has a good writeup on A1C.

Getting your A1C tested usually means going to your doctors office and having it tested.  Sometimes this can be done with a simple finger stick blood test but, often, it requires a full blown blood draw (nobody likes those).

A few months ago a co-worker clued me in to the fact that Bayer had home A1C testing kits … so I picked one up to see how well it worked.  It cost around $35 for 2 tests.

Continue reading →