Factors such as diet, exercise, alcohol use, and illness can affect your blood sugar. This makes using insulin more complicated. It is important to think about how changes in diet, exercise, alcohol use, and illness may affect the amount of insulin needed to control your blood sugar.
Insulin lowers blood sugar levels. If something increases your blood sugar, you may need more insulin. It is important to talk to your doctor and pharmacist about changes in your diet, exercise, and alcohol use, and any illnesses that you experience. When people feel sick, they often do not eat very much. This means you may not need as much insulin. If you eat more, you may need more insulin. If you exercise more, you may need less insulin. If you drink more alcohol, this may cause your blood sugar to lower.
Your doctor and pharmacist will discuss steps you need to follow to maintain good blood sugar levels. Your doctor and pharmacist will also discuss how often you will need to check your blood sugar. Be sure to ask for guidance on how to keep good blood sugar levels and ask how often and when you should check your blood sugar.
