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Not impressed with reduction in hbac :(

N

nsh2111

Well-Known Member
Messages
321
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
So I had an hbac of 50 in march. Decided to go LCHF in April. Have been good except few cheat days and a beefest.

In October ,recent hbac is only 47. Pleased with the drop but was expecting a bit more. All my finger pricks put me below 8 except when I know I had consumed carbs. Even then max I have seen is 11 once.

What else could be done to lower. My insulin antibodies came normal as per GP so he doesn't think I am late type 1 .
 
I understand your disappointment, but being positive about it, it is a reduction in the right direction, so well done.

You say all your finger pricks put you below 8 except when you have consumed carbs. What are your normal before meal levels, and what sort of rises do you see by the 2 hour mark? Is it as much as 2mmol/l normally? Perhaps you need to be looking at all your figures and do some analysing.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
I understand your disappointment, but being positive about it, it is a reduction in the right direction, so well done.

You say all your finger pricks put you below 8 except when you have consumed carbs. What are your normal before meal levels, and what sort of rises do you see by the 2 hour mark? Is it as much as 2mmol/l normally? Perhaps you need to be looking at all your figures and do some analysing.
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My post meal rise are mostly 1 to 1.5

I am barely above 6.8 most evenings and 1 HR after dinner I would be anywhere between 7.5 to 8.

Morning I am always 6.8 to 7.4, which is another mystery .

I am regular to gym , weight about 63 so no visible fat.

I will look at the data. My average of all reading over last 7 months put me at 42 hbac so not sure what am I missing.i take almost 10 readings a day .
 
I always get a discrepency between home prick tests and HbA1c. Usually in the mark of 5 or more HbA1c units.
Very frustrating, but as regular as clockwork. And that is using a home meter often considered to read a bit high (they do vary).

If you have a read around factors that influence HbA1c readings, you will find out a few interesting factoids, such as that different people have different lifespans for their red blood cells, and that different forms of anaemia will affect the result.

I certainly don't have anaemia, but it is quite possible (and impossible to test) that I have longer living red blood cells, cos, you know, I have to win the lottery at some point, don't I? Even if it is just in the super-enduring rbc stakes ;)

So now I take all my HbA1c scores with a pinch of salt, and consider them a ballpark figure.
My prick test readings are a better gauge, and what is more, they give me far more info on how to manage bg on a daily basis.
 
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Brunneria said:
If you have a read around factors that influence HbA1c readings, you will find out a few interesting factoids, such as that different people have different lifespans for their red blood cells, and that different forms of anaemia will affect the result.
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This.
I'd believe blood sugar readings over hba1c, so if you're happy with your readings (they sound excellent) I would be happy with your control. You could try asking for a fructosamine test, but I doubt your doctor would do it unless you're pregnant :). (which seems a little unlikely for a male).
 
Same question from me as Bluetit - do you test at the 2-hr mark? It's possible levels might still be rising between 1 and 2 hours and you've just stated 1 hour readings.

I'd be surprised by those results too as I'm also diet only, no medication, type 2 but was tested for type 1, and my general results are around the same as yours, not usually going above 8 at 2-hr mark with food.

I blame my last 48 on my stupid morning fasting levels that sometimes reach near 10 and will keep on rising into the teens if I don't eat, and will also keep on rising if I have anything containing even a sniff of carbs for breakfast.
 
Smallbrit said:
Same question from me as Bluetit - do you test at the 2-hr mark? It's possible levels might still be rising between 1 and 2 hours and you've just stated 1 hour readings.

I'd be surprised by those results too as I'm also diet only, no medication, type 2 but was tested for type 1, and my general results are around the same as yours, not usually going above 8 at 2-hr mark with food.

I blame my last 48 on my stupid morning fasting levels that sometimes reach near 10 and will keep on rising into the teens if I don't eat, and will also keep on rising if I have anything containing even a sniff of carbs for breakfast.
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So my two HR rise are generally from 1 to 1.5 mmol. Except when I know I had eaten carbs and expect them to rise. Even then I don't think I have seen anything above 10 and that too was once or two C's. Generally I float between 7 - 8 and most days by evening I am in high 5s or low 6s.

I do have to take it with pinch of salt and I guess keep calm and lchf on.

I will try to get another hbac in Dec and see if any omproimprov
 
nsh2111 said:
So my two HR rise are generally from 1 to 1.5 mmol. Except when I know I had eaten carbs and expect them to rise. Even then I don't think I have seen anything above 10 and that too was once or two C's. Generally I float between 7 - 8 and most days by evening I am in high 5s or low 6s.

I do have to take it with pinch of salt and I guess keep calm and lchf on.

I will try to get another hbac in Dec and see if any omproimprov
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Maybe try cutting carbs a bit more? Are you recording what you eat? I found that a great motivator.. try to limit carbs as much as possible having a competition with myself..
 
bulkbiker said:
Maybe try cutting carbs a bit more? Are you recording what you eat? I found that a great motivator.. try to limit carbs as much as possible having a competition with myself..
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I barely eat any carb now. :)

I want to have a life style which can be sustained for rest of life and with my circumstances, zero it almost no carb is just not practical. I am generally under 30 gram. May be need to look at protein as o I do take fair amount.
 
Your thread has me wondering now. I test very much the same except first thing when I can be in the 4's but have never really tested when not having food.

When my next lot of strips arrive (running too low to do it yet) I'm going to do an hourly(ish) check and see what happens.

Actually plot out the day.
 
nsh2111 said:
I barely eat any carb now. :)

I want to have a life style which can be sustained for rest of life and with my circumstances, zero it almost no carb is just not practical. I am generally under 30 gram. May be need to look at protein as o I do take fair amount.
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Thought of trying some fasting?
 
bulkbiker said:
Thought of trying some fasting?
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Yes I have now resorted to not eating breakfast most days except a coffee with cream and some nuts till lunch time. I could do 24 he fast and that has brought it down to low 5s but when I eat it goes back up to 6 or 7. I had been ok with my rise and general control until this test knocked some of my morale :)
 
nsh2111 said:
Yes I have now resorted to not eating breakfast most days except a coffee with cream and some nuts till lunch time. I could do 24 he fast and that has brought it down to low 5s but when I eat it goes back up to 6 or 7. I had been ok with my rise and general control until this test knocked some of my morale :)
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I would investigate exactly what I'm was eating and make sure there aren't a few extra carbs creeping in. Am I right in thinking you are vegetarian?
 
bulkbiker said:
I would investigate exactly what I'm was eating and make sure there aren't a few extra carbs creeping in. Am I right in thinking you are vegetarian?
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No , I eat meat except beaf. Have been eating lot of mackerel and salmon for dinner. I do have two coffee with double cream daily . Eat coconut oil. Car s come from salads or almond, coconut flour.
 
nsh2111 said:
So my two HR rise are generally from 1 to 1.5 mmol. Except when I know I had eaten carbs and expect them to rise. Even then I don't think I have seen anything above 10 and that too was once or two C's. Generally I float between 7 - 8 and most days by evening I am in high 5s or low 6s.

I do have to take it with pinch of salt and I guess keep calm and lchf on.

I will try to get another hbac in Dec and see if any omproimprov
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If you generally float between 7 and 8 then your 24 hour average over 2 to 3 months may well give you an HbA1c of 47.

I float between 4 and 7 the majority of the time. The only times I am above 7 are an hour after eating, and then never above 8, and that is for a very brief time. My current Libre is saying my average over the last 4 days, 24/7, is 5.6. This has been the case for a few years. However, my HbA1c last time was 43, which is ridiculous according to my finger pricks and the Libre when I wear one. I mentioned this to my GP. She believed me and arranged (through the biochemist at the lab) for me to have a second blood draw and for this single blood draw to be sent to both the normal lab and another lab that has different testing methods. The results came back as follows - normal lab was 44. Different lab was 40. Although this was a better result, it is still several points higher than my other data told me to expect. Like @Brunneria and several others on this forum, I can only assume my red blood cells aree long livers. Also my Haematocrit levels are right at the top of the range (last terst they were just above it) and it is known that high haematocrit levels can cause elevated HbA1c"s
 
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nsh2111 said:
I barely eat any carb now. :)

I want to have a life style which can be sustained for rest of life and with my circumstances, zero it almost no carb is just not practical. I am generally under 30 gram. May be need to look at protein as o I do take fair amount.
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If you eat very low carb that puts you in ketosis, I have found that for me, Its almost impossible to have a BG rise, despite the amount of protein I eat.
Chasing low insulin levels (by making sure I stay in Ketosis) has also been instrumental in resolving my Dawn Phenomenon.
Its really made things simple and easy by emphasising my insulin levels which I keep low by staying in Ketosis.
I am type2 and control the condition with lifestyle choices of diet and exercise alone.
 
Tr
nsh2111 said:
What else could be done to lower
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Try lowering your carb intake further, not cheating and not drinking beer. You can't expect a decent HBA1c while doing those things, plus an average reading of 8 will mean that you are much higher on occasion and probably missing spikes, as borne out by your slight reduction in HBA1c.
 
nsh2111 said:
. I am generally under 30 gram. May be need to look at protein as o I do take fair amount.
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Have you worked out what your macros should be, taking into account the exercise you do? Maybe over eating protein. If you use protein shakes after gym, that can be a factor too.
Sometimmes it's better to go back to the beginning and start again, but please know that the occasional cheat or extra carbs now and then are probably what is keeping your HBA1c this high.
 
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