Frustrated & annoyed

[mish1953]

My doc phoned me with my blood test results this morning
At the end of sept I had Hba1c of 12.6% , a bs level of 19mmol/l,cholesterol 5.5- I was put on 2x500 metformin a day .
Now Hba1c = 8% , cholesterol 4.2
The 8% has annoyed me , according to the converter Hba1c of 8% equates to a bs level of 11.6 mmol/l...11point [word removed] 6 what the blazes !

I test my bs levels every day at the same time around 6pm when I get back from work , my average over November was 5.5 and the average this month is 5.3 , I did have some funky figures (13/12/11) a few times in Oct but the average for oct was 8.3 ...

Now my GP wants to up me to 4x500 metformin to lower my Hba1c .. this should be fun I havent gone over a bs figure of 5 mmol/l this week so doubling my dose could have an interesting effect .. I was 4.1 when I checked this evening .

I guess Im just pee'd off that I got an 8% , it just means Im going to try harder and aim for sub 6 for the next one in March .

Happy Daze
Hamish
Ipswich

 

[AMBrennan]

I test my bs levels every day at the same time around 6pm when I get back from work

If that is, presumably, before eating then you don't know really that your blood sugar is reasonable after eating, or at other times.
For example, when I first got my CGM, I noticed that eating pizza had the following effect: 5 mmol/l before eating, 6 mmol/l after 2 hours, and 12+ for six hours after that. (Now I need to inject 3u every 90min, for a total of 12u, or 12x my usual dinner dose)
I cannot comment on whether increasing Metformin is appropriate if the issue was mainly high postprandial blood glucose.

 

[Grazer]

Much as I hate this, I agree with AMBrennan. Your one a day reading gives you no idea of what your average is throughout the day, which is what drives HbA1c levels. Guidelines for testing on T2s vary from "don't" to "do it once a week" to no guidance at all.
All of this is useless.
I tested loads when I was first diagnosed, to work out what food affects me in what ways. That way I worked out a good diet for me, and now need to test only occasionally when I do something different, or to check things aren't progressing.
I tested before I ate, then 2 hours after to see what affect that meal had on me so I could adjust accordingly. I found that eating at different times changed things, exercising hard for just 10 minutes an hour after eating when my BGs were peaking brought them down quicker. I found that roasting old potatos rather than boiling them (and thus bringing out the starches) was much better, etc etc etc. I then constructed a mathematical model of my BGs, allowing for how long my peaks lasted, my levels in between meals, my overnight averages etc so I could work out a real 24 hour average. This predicted my HbA1c quite well - I predicted 5.6% and it was 5.9% (error in meter can cause that)
So, sorry for being long winded, but you probably need to test more initially and change the way you test.
Good luck!

 

[Daibell]

I agree with the others that you need to test 2 hours after a significant meal. You don't mention anything about diet? Are you following a sensible diet with controlled quatities of carbs when you have them and low GI wherever possible? Note that Metformin will only have a moderate effect on BS which is why your GP has added more. It's possible you may have to have further meds added, like I did, or with an ideal diet and exercise you may be able to stay with Met only.

 

[mish1953]

Thanks for the comments folks .

I am angry and frustrated because I was hoping to do better, however I have managed to drop my Hba1C by 4.6% in a under 3 months which is not unreasonable

I test once a day because that suits me and gives me a daily figure to work with , I have already been through the before and 2 hrs after process & have a pretty good awareness of what does & does not spike me . I am very consistent about what I eat , if I fancy a change of diet I will go back to testing before and after.

The bs test only shows you your bs levels when you take the test, a consistent daily check can be used to create an average figure over a period of time , it may not show all the highs and lows but over a while will produce a working average figure . My lowest has been 3.1 , my highest before I started carbing was 19.9 a pretty huge range . * More testing say for example once an hour, 24 hours a day for a month would give you a much more accurate average and would no doubt throw some interesting figures up - but realistically I cant justify going through a tub of 50 strips every couple of days and I doubt if anyone tests to those sort of levels . I do get my strips on prescription ( Im T2 ) but Im not going to take the mickey out of the NHS so I test daily .

Daibell I didnt mention my diet because I pretty much eat the same thing every day , not particularily exciting but I find it works for me. No pasta , no rice, max 2 slices of bread , lots of fish, chicken & veg . About 100gms of carb per day.

I stopped smoking on Sunday last week and am using nicotine replacement treatment , that seems to have altered my daily figures a little .
I'm expecting my figures to get a bit weird next weekend - Im going into hospital on the 23rd of an operation , hopefully getting out on xmas eve but I expect my bs levels to get a bit weird.

Happy Christmas
Hamish - Ipswich