Recommendations about self-monitoring blood sugars come from the list of Choosing Wisely recommendations from Family Medicine and Endocrinology and Metabolism:

1. "Don’t advise non-insulin requiring diabetics to routinely self-monitor blood sugars between office visits. While self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) for patients with diabetes is recommended by certain groups to help monitor glycemic control, for most adults with type II diabetes who are not using insulin, many studies have shown that routine SMBG does little to control blood sugar over time."
   
   
2. "Don’t recommend routine or multiple daily self-glucose monitoring in adults with stable type 2 diabetes on agents that do not cause hypoglycemia. Once target control is achieved and the results of self-monitoring become quite predictable, there is little gained in most individuals from repeatedly confirming this state. There are many exceptions, such as acute illness, when new medications are added, when weight fluctuates significantly, when A1c targets drift off course and in individuals who need monitoring to maintain targets. Self-monitoring is beneficial as long as one is learning and adjusting therapy based on the result of the monitoring."

Also: A 2010 review published in the CMAJ found frequent self-monitoring (≥ 7 times per week) is unlikely to represent efficient use of finite health care resources, although periodic testing (e.g., 1 or 2 times per week) may be cost-effective, and an article by the Therapeutics Initiative echoes the same sentiment.

Save yourself some time in the office, and save the health care system (and your patients) some money by rethinking whether or not self-monitoring is appropriate!