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What is a normal Blood Glucose Level?

It is harder to figure out than you think…

I’m headed to my doctor’s office on Tuesday, so in preparation for that I’m printing out reports from my Blood Glucose Meter.

I was looking at the reports and started to wonder about those “target ranges” and what exactly did they mean. I wanted to know:

“What is a normal blood glucose level?” (the answers I found are in this post)
..
“Given that there is a normal RANGE… is it OK for a person who is diabetic and on medication to be anywhere in that range?” (couldn’t find an answer from a trusted source so I’m gonna ask my doctor on Tuesday)

Getting a “good” “reliable” answer…

Depending on where you look, you get different answers. sigh And it MUST be correct because it’s on the Internet! Right? sigh

All kidding aside, some sites are better than others when it comes to reliable information. But even with sites you trust, there can be differences.

Take it from a retired Librarian with over 30 years of searching experience: check and double check when doing “research” on the web. Then check it again, just to be sure. Not all information resources are created equal.

The ones I’m sharing with you now are, in my professional opinion, on the “reliable” end of the spectrum.

Bayer (as in Bayer aspirin) the maker of my Blood Glucose Meter says:

The meter I use is the Bayer Contour Next. The default settings are:

70 – 180 mg/dL — Overall
70 – 130 mg/dL — Fasting
70 – 130 mg/dL — Before a meal
70 – 180 mg/dL — After a meal

I’ve been testing consistently for about 3 months now and my doctor wants to look at the data when I visit her on Tuesday — which is what prompted my questions and this post in the first place. 🙂

One of the questions I have for her is whether or not the default settings in the monitor are what she wants me to use as my “target” ranges OR does she want me to use something different.