Using glucose monitor without being diabetic

[Kitkat189]

Thinking of getting a glucose monitor but I know diabetics don’t appreciate it when non diabetic people buy the monitor patches as they sometimes sell out, leaving diabetics without… can someone please advise if this is the case?

I don’t have diabetes and all my recent blood work has been totally fine - BUT type 2 diabetes runs in my family, and I wonder if I should use one of those glucose monitor apps/devices to keep an eye on my blood sugar, as a preventative measure? Would this make sense? If I’m anything like my family it won’t happen to me for another decade or so but there might not be much warning if it does as no one has had weight gain or any other symptoms before it was diagnosed.

Spot checking your blood glucose isn't going to prevent anything.

Be aware of symptoms to recognise any early indicators. Be aware of your lifestyle and make any healthy changes. Depending on your age/BMI/current health speak to your GP about a hba1c blood test.

I'm in a similar position.

I now pay for an HBa1c blood test privately once a year (quite cheap on monitor
my health website).

Over Christmas I though my blood sugar may be high due to symptoms (blurred vision, excessive thirst, frequent urination and pancreatic pain that was quite severe). I have one of my parent's old unused testing kits and they gave me a few of their strips - it was actually a perfect blood sugar so not Diabetes.

To avoid actual diabetics running out of vital medical equipment, I'd usually just buy some sticks to wee on OTC and check the old fashioned way. Between that and the blood test I'm well covered.

And I'll add that I'm not doing any of that to PREVENT Diabetes as that's not how it works. I'm doing it so that I don't drop dead of a heart attack due to sky high blood sugar as happened to one of my parents (they were resuscitated and are still here, Thank God.)

My main focus is on my lifestyle. I was heading for pre-diabetes 3 years ago according to my HBa1c. My GP said I was about 6 weeks away from prediabetes. I started low carbing and my September 2023 HBa1c is drastically lower and nowhere near even prediabetes.

Would you check it after eating something sweet to make sure you blood sugar levels return to normal or first thing in the morning?

my family is a bit unusual when it comes to diabetes as they’ve all been very slim, my mother never had a sweet tooth whatsoever and preferred dark rye bread to white, ate a low carb diet naturally and by preference, rarely drank, and so on, and yet ended up having out of control diabetes. So I feel powerless to prevent this from happening to me - the typical life style related risk factors were absent for my mum and it still happened. Seems like early medical intervention is the only way to go?

Im 48, time to have an annual blood test?

Diabetics who need to check blood sugar levels ofter suffer with neuropathy caused by finger prick testing. If you aren't Diabetic don't check your levels. Type 2 diabetes is generally measured by the hb1c blood test which is done as clinically needed for the patient. Mt dad is type 2 and has never had a glucose monitor to use.

I have the old fashion finger prick monitors off Ebay. I wasn't aware they was in short supply? I only use one pot a year. I pick a random week and test at odd times over the week and log it in my sugar app. My hb1ac is 41 ish constantly.

Husband is type 1….no supply issues at all.