Best Time of Year to Do the HbA1c Test?

[Listlad]

It seems to me that in the months immediately after Christmas are likely to be the worst times of the year to do this test. I did over indulge over that period but have been a lot more sensible since Christmas especially as the HbA1c Test is due in early February. As a prediabetic should I consider postponing the test?

 

[Diakat]

No. Postponing it to get a “better” number is just kidding yourself.

 

[Guzzler]

I had my blood draw last Tuesday. I had a splurge at Christmas, too. Am I bothered? No, not really, a one week splurge out of 52 (for me, at current levels) isn't going to make that much of a difference when compared to the how much I enjoyed the splurge and Christmas.

Funnily enough, one of the things a HCA said to me was "Everyone's HbA1c goes up after Christmas, even mine!" So I will continue to enjoy my high days and Holidays with the proviso that the period between New Year and Christmas is far more important than the period between Christmas and New Year.

 

[Prem51]

I was thinking of pushing my HbA1c tests back each year, until they were in March/April. As I usually go abroad in Jan/Feb and have low fbg readings, but as @Diakat says it wouldn't really give me a true picture.

 

[Listlad]

My thinking is that it might help avoid me being “reclassified”, should it have gone up solely because of a binge at Christmas.

I have learned a lot since Christmas too. So perhaps another reason to delay a month?

 

[Guzzler]

If you delay soley to skew your figures what then will you have learned about your Christmas splurge?

 

[Bluetit1802]

All you are doing if you manipulate the timings of your HbA1c is fooling yourself. If you have crossed the line from pre to full blown T2, you need to know. Being on the diabetes register has some advantages in that you are put on a specific care pathway and any meters and strips you buy will be VAT free. You will have more regular reviews and blood tests, feet checks and retinal eye screening, which are important.

I used the excesses of the Christmas period, which also included a holiday abroad and my birthday, as an excuse for my initial diagnosis. The blood draw was on the 2nd January (a routine MOT health check) I was very wrong as my next test, which was before I acquired a meter, gave much the same result.

 

[Listlad]

I don’t know if I have this right. If my HbA1c has gone up just because of Christmas and will be much lower in the coming months, especially now that I am going to move over to more of a lower carb higher fat type of diet, then the Christmas binge can be consigned to history. Or doesn’t it work like that?

 

[Bluetit1802]

My feeling is that by the time of your test in February, Christmas is already history. The HbA1c is heavily weighted towards the end of the 3 month period it covers.

 

[Guzzler]

I don’t know if I have this right. If my HbA1c has gone up just because of Christmas and will be much lower in the coming months, especially now that I am going to move over to more of a lower carb higher fat type of diet, then the Christmas binge can be consigned to history. Or doesn’t it work like that?

Just in my opinion that is like putting on blinkers. If your next A1c result is, to you, undesirable then it will be a lesson well learned and well remembered. If your delayed result is good and you leave it an extra month then to me all you have learned is how long it took your body to recover from the splurge but not how much that splurge actually affected you.

 

[Listlad]

My feeling is that by the time of your test in February, Christmas is already history. The HbA1c is heavily weighted towards the end of the 3 month period it covers.

I did read about that. It seems it is not completely representative over the 3 month time frame and skews towards the latter months / month.

 

[Guzzler]

May I ask if it is the change in classification you are worried about or the possible affects of the festivities?

 

[Listlad]

Just in my opinion that is like putting on blinkers. If your next A1c result is, to you, undesirable then it will be a lesson well learned and well remembered. If your delayed result is good and you leave it an extra month then to me all you have learned is how long it took your body to recover from the splurge but not how much that splurge actually affected you.

I take your point. In all fairness, I really did not know so much as I do now. I have learned a lot in just a short space of time since Christmas. So a lesson has been learned. With a bit of luck I will end up with an HB 41c reading that is in the acceptable range and then with a fresh approach to things, largely down to advice from this organisation and others I hope to then go forth this year with a new strategy, providing the (missing) gall bladder will let me.

For “binge” read Christmas pudding and the usual festive fare. Not alcohol. I used the word binge in jest. In the past I used to knock back heaps of mince pies but I only had 4 this year.

What I most fear is the lack of exercise as a factor but seemingly it does not play such an important part as diet.

 

[Listlad]

May I ask if it is the change in classification you are worried about or the possible affects of the festivities?

Both really.

 

[Guzzler]

Both really.

It is really early days for you but I think one of the most important lessons we can learn about our condition is to be honest with ourselves. Good luck, whichever way you choose to handle your upcoming test.

 

[Muneeb]

I went to Amsterdam before Christmas, ate cheesecakes etc and a lot more food than I usually would from the buffets. Also throughout the Christmas period and hba1c was lowest it had ever been. Obviously for me its more about insulin management as a type 1.

Although many years ago I used to fabricate a lot of my readings in my diary before my appointments as I didn't check enough, was only cheating my self as it was evident from the hba1c that my levels were not in range for the majority of the time. Then I realized its easier to actually manage it with a lifestyle change than it is to make it up. pulling the wool over the consultants eyes, does not help my health!

 

[Member496333]

Just get the test done. Diabetes doesn’t care why/when/how, but speaking from the perspective of someone who has experienced life changing complications, you very much should. Cheating the test is cheating yourself. No one is going to pin a medal on you for keeping below a certain number, and the progression of your metabolic dysfunction, perhaps into “full blown” diabetes, will continue with wilful disregard if you let it.

Sorry if my tone seems terse, but denial is not going to help you out here. A lot of people don’t appreciate it fully if they’ve never had complications, but diabetes can get very very nasty if left unchecked. As a “prediabetic” you need to be constantly vigilant, not avoiding the truth.

Best of luck

 

[Listlad]

Thanks guys and girls.

It might also be useful to know that the test date was and isn’t mandatory. In fact I contacted the surgery proactively to arrange the booking. If I had not done that then no doubt I would not have heard from my GP. So it isn’t as if I am hiding, for those who might have got that impression.

I have just this moment updated my HbA1c history below as I have just been given my detailed test results online. I have a feeling that I had other tests done but were left unrecorded as I distinctly remember having one done in January 2016 but had the all clear at that point.

If I realign my test date to the end of February would that be such a foolhardy act in my case?

 

[Listlad]

Just get the test done. Diabetes doesn’t care why/when/how, but speaking from the perspective of someone who has experienced life changing complications, you very much should. Cheating the test is cheating yourself. No one is going to pin a medal on you for keeping below a certain number, and the progression of your metabolic dysfunction, perhaps into “full blown” diabetes, will continue with wilful disregard if you let it.

Sorry if my tone seems terse, but denial is not going to help you out here. A lot of people don’t appreciate it fully if they’ve never had complications, but diabetes can get very very nasty if left unchecked. As a “prediabetic” you need to be constantly vigilant, not avoiding the truth.

Best of luck

Point taken Jim.

 

[bulkbiker]

Its a number pure and simple and probably not even 100% accurate but it will give you a good benchmark to see what Christmas did. If it's bad then you know not to have a similar Christmas again and if it's ok then you know that you can "get away" with being a bit more lax with your way of eating (not that I'd recommend that of course). It's simply a piece of data. If it's over 48 mmol/m then you will have slipped into T2 and will get slightly more care from your surgery (probably) if not then brilliant.