Mange diabetes at home by monitoring blood sugar levels with diagnostic tools knowing what foods to eat, taking medications and understanding when to seek medical attention when symptoms occur. It’s a good to have regular, reliable diabetic supplies as a vital part of your home-care routine, which is why you need to have the right items as recommended by your doctor.

Blood Sugar Monitors

Doctors train you on how to use a blood sugar monitor ahead of using it at home. That way, you help with your own treatment regimen using this high-tech tool. Medical professionals can show you how to draw a small amount of blood, insert the strip into the device and interpret the results. Patients also understand when to take blood sugar tests to ensure they receive the proper readings as they learn to maintain the correct blood sugar levels so they can take control of their own health. Digital monitors display results on a screen within seconds while recording the time and date of the reading for quick data recording and interpretation. Blood sugar monitors can store several hundred readings within the device's memory for easy recall or if your doctor needs to analyze particular readouts.

Replacement Batteries

Blood sugar monitors need batteries to work, so be sure to keep plenty of batteries on hand. It's time to refresh the batteries when the device doesn't activate when you expect it to ahead of taking a reading. Some models use one AA battery while others use one or two smaller AAA cells for convenience. Similar to other home-based digital monitoring tools, such as blood pressure supplies , monitors or heart rate monitors, a consistent power supply is critical to the operation of your blood sugar monitor.

Diabetes Test Strips

Diabetes supplies include disposable items that work with your blood sugar monitor. Diabetes test strips are specially treated pieces of paper that fit into the monitor, and high-quality test strips are important for getting an accurate reading. One end of the strip collects a small sample of blood that you draw from a finger. The test strip then goes into your monitor where the device reads someone's blood sugar level before showing results on the small screen that's easy to read and interpret. Replenish test strips as needed, and containers of strips come in counts of 50 or more for convenience and cost effectiveness.

Control Solution

Control solution helps patients test the accuracy and reliability of test strips. The solution has a known amount of glucose, and it should create an exact reading on the monitor screen. An aberrant reading on the monitor indicates there is something wrong with the test strips or the monitor itself.

Diabetic Organizer

A diabetic organizer gathers all of your vital items together in one place for easy access. The organizer is useful for people who need to take diabetic supplies with them to work, on vacation or during extended errands away from home. Comprehensive kits have a re-freezable pouch that stays cold for around four hours, a zipper pouch for holding insulin needles, places for insulin bottles and a sharps disposal container. Other pouches hold blood sugar monitors, test strips and lancets.