Type 1: What are your HbA1c test results?

Roppa

Roppa

Member
13
My latest Hba1c result was 36 (Tuesday 6 June), I was told at the clinic it should be higher. The doctor said aim for 48 or 50 something, I have read that too low a number can cause retinopathy. It seems most people on here aim to get their Hba1c in the 30's. I'm not sure which is best.
 
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PaulAshby

PaulAshby

Well-Known Member
139
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Roppa said:
I use the libre 2 and it's useless for detecting hypos, most of the time it's too late or the alarms never go off. I've had it saying my blood sugar was below 4 lots of times when it's actually been 5 or more. I end up using more strips to test properly because of it. It's nearly always out by 1 to 4mml.
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I've been on Libre 2 for just under a year and am very happy with the results, the finger pricking results will never match exactly with the monitor that has always signaled when hi or low, I do the odd finger prick but glad I'm not having to stick my fingers every day, sorry it's not working for you.
 
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Prancy

Well-Known Member
286
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
PaulAshby said:
I've been on Libre 2 for just under a year and am very happy with the results, the finger pricking results will never match exactly with the monitor that has always signaled when hi or low, I do the odd finger prick but glad I'm not having to stick my fingers every day, sorry it's not working for you.
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I have Medtronic Guardian CGM and its numbers pretty closely predicted what my recent A1C would be. As a T1, for years my numbers were in 6-7 range, but for some reason I got high numbers over the last year. My pump was acting crazy! Now, it’s settled down. Anyway, I switched back to my former Endo and made other efforts which really paid off. Within 3 months I went from an A1C of 9.1 to 8! I still have a ways to go, but am confident I can return to lower numbers. It can be frustrating when your efforts aren’t reflected in the numbers.
 
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Smiler99

Well-Known Member
160
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Needles
Roppa said:
I use the libre 2 and it's useless for detecting hypos, most of the time it's too late or the alarms never go off. I've had it saying my blood sugar was below 4 lots of times when it's actually been 5 or more. I end up using more strips to test properly because of it. It's nearly always out by 1 to 4mml.
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I had the same thing on libre it made me use 50 test stripe in a weekend and was even close
 
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Mathewted

Well-Known Member
51
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Roppa said:
My latest Hba1c result was 36 (Tuesday 6 June), I was told at the clinic it should be higher. The doctor said aim for 48 or 50 something, I have read that too low a number can cause retinopathy. It seems most people on here aim to get their Hba1c in the 30's. I'm not sure which is best.
Click to expand...
You're doing really well, Poppa. I think a fast drop of HbA1c may be associated with certain damage but once at a low level my understanding is that they worry that it'll mean loads of dangerous hypoglycemic episodes; I bear in mind that the NHS tells us that,
'the closer [HbA1c] is to normal (less than 42mmol/mol) the lower is the risk of all long term complications of diabetes.' [NDA 2020-21].
They can't have it both ways. Keep calm & carry on.
 
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Mathewted

Well-Known Member
51
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
RobertJ said:
Today was my first day on a pump, so the clinic made me have a blood test to get my HbA1c at the start of pump therapy. It's 48 – the lowest it's been in my life and the first time it's been below 50.
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Not strictly an HbA1c comment but...
What pump did you plump for? I'm going for funding ATM and am favouring Omnipod5 + Dexcom.
On HbA1c are you looking to get to a non-diabetic 42 or less?
 
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Mathewted

Well-Known Member
51
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Roppa said:
My latest Hba1c result was 36 (Tuesday 6 June), I was told at the clinic it should be higher. The doctor said aim for 48 or 50 something, I have read that too low a number can cause retinopathy. It seems most people on here aim to get their Hba1c in the 30's. I'm not sure which is best.
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36 mmol/mol is fab-u-luss!

My feeling is that if I can be safely - no more hypos than usual - in the non-diabetic range of 42 and under then I'm onto a winner long term. I think HCPs are concerned for patients in case they're at risk of hypoglycemic episodes.
 
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Mathewted

Well-Known Member
51
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
LongtermIDD said:
Gee, and I thought my Hbaic readings were low. My latest was 38 and my 10 yr average is 35.

Such low blood sugars come with hypo complications, but I feel that the odd even serious hypo is preferable to the long term complications associated with Hbaic's regularly in excess of say 55.

I had hoped that Libre and Libre2 would have helped with hypo control, but sadly not. The device is near to useless and very inaccurate when bs levels dip below 4.0. I was told that Libre is still a work in progress. If that's the case it should still be on trial.
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I feel you're on the money regarding keeping HbA1c on the lower side - I've managed 35mmol/mol recently and l for 30 years - still had loads of hypos because of huge swings in the past.
 
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