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Type 1: What are your HbA1c test results?

Greymalkin said:
Is there a private health group (favoured by contributors here) that will check my HBA1C every three months, rather than letting me wait for the NHS annual check?
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Have you talked to your endo or diabetes nurse to let them know you'd like to have your hba1c checked more often than once a year?
As far as I know, the NHS guidelines say every 3 months unless there's a reason not to. (I'm not in the UK but our guidelines are very similar. I only do once a year by choice, but this took a bit of work convincing my endo who'd prefer every three months or at least twice a year.)

Do you use a CGM? For me, the predicted hba1c isn't very accurate, but I find it a wonderful tool to see where I can adjust things.

As for having your hba1c checked privately, there are home tests available which you send to a lab.
I have no experience with these but I'll tag @AndBreathe for you, who has used them.
There must be a couple of threads on home tests as well but I can't find them. AndBreathe hasn't been around a lot lately, maybe @Rachox knows about them?
 
Thanks for the tag @Antje77 , hi @Greymalkin , I have used a company called Thriva, just once for an HbA1c, but do plan to use them again. The results were really quick and their Dr writes a little paragraph about what they think of your results.
 
Antje77 said:
As far as I know, the NHS guidelines say every 3 months unless there's a reason not to.
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for type1 3-6 months if change in treatment can be more frequent.
nhs website said:
care plan
Reviews 2 to 4 times a year of your HbA1c level, which is your average blood glucose level for the last 2 to 3 months
Appointments and tests
an HbA1c test every 3 to 6 months
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above quote source from https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/type-1-diabetes/treatment/

nice guidelines also are every 3-6 months for adults with type1 diabetes
nice guidelines said:
1.6.1
Measure HbA1c levels every 3 to 6 months in adults with type 1 diabetes. [2015]

1.6.2
Consider measuring HbA1c levels more often in adults with type 1 diabetes if their blood glucose control is suspected to be changing rapidly; for example, if their HbA1c level has risen unexpectedly above a previously sustained target. [2015]
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source for above quote = https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng17/chapter/recommendations

twice yearly should be minimal according to nhs page, nice guidelines and indeed the notes recieved from sars request in the past for type1 no clue why sars gives a bunch of stuff out unncessary ... cost them a fortune to pay for postage (email would imo be better... much less cost to them)
 
Thank you, all, for your replies and suggestions. I suspect that aside from uninterrupted supplies of insulin, test strips and (for the last two years) Libre sensors, my NHS care has been a bit superficial. I'm certain it was never, ever suggested to me that my HbA1c could or should be taken more often than annually.

I suppose that being active, diet-conscious and happily finger-pricking very regularly, I may have seemed to be largely self-sufficient in the eyes of the diabetes nurse I see every 12 months, especially compared with the many patients whose results aren't so good. Actually, when I look back at earlier results over ten years, my history is mixed at best, but that makes me keener than ever to keep things as near to perfect as I can make them.

I had heard of CGM-estimated HbA1c readings not aligning closely with the real thing when it is taken, but after my real reading of 5.4% last year, I was content to see my Libre steadily showing around 5.5%. Unfortunately that seems to have been optimistic this year. I'm not downhearted - just determined to do better.

Many thanks for Thriva suggestion, and the Amazon option...if I can't simply arrange three-monthly tests with my local health centre (Southampton seems extraordinarily over-stretched healthwise) I will do it myself.

Thanks again, to you all. Great forum. :)
 
Greymalkin said:
I suspect that aside from uninterrupted supplies of insulin, test strips and (for the last two years) Libre sensors, my NHS care has been a bit superficial.
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Greymalkin said:
but after my real reading of 5.4% last year, I was content to see my Libre steadily showing around 5.5%.
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If whoever provides your care still uses % instead of mmol/mol, they do seem to be a bit slow to adapt to current guidelines.
In the UK, mmol/mol has been used since 2009, first alongside the 'new' units but hardly anyone uses % anymore.
 
I’m in US and for my health insurance to cover my insulin pump supplies they require doctor visit, including notes and a1c every 3 months. My endocrinologist is booked up a year in advance so it’s a struggle. I get the blood work done at my primary doctor’s office when I can.

My latest a1c was last week and was 6.9. My doctor is satisfied with that, but I’d like closer to 6.0. I know I can do better.
 
Antje77 said:
If whoever provides your care still uses % instead of mmol/mol, they do seem to be a bit slow to adapt to current guidelines.
In the UK, mmol/mol has been used since 2009, first alongside the 'new' units but hardly anyone uses % anymore.
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I must set the record straight - my NHS record definitely shows my HbA1c in mmol/mol, not percentage. I tend to think in percentage because that's what the Libre displays. Perhaps the Libre can convert to show mmols? I haven't delved into the settings.

On a separate theme, has anybody worked out how to download the Libre app three-month log of readings and notes, on to another device for permanent storage? I find the Libre 2 logbook function extremely slow to load and limited in its depth of memory - after a very long wait, it only shows the past week's records. In theory I can see it should be possible to download 90 days, and very quickly. It needn't be wireless, I'm happy cabling the phone to the laptop. Thanks!
 
Greymalkin said:
Perhaps the Libre can convert to show mmols?
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In the app, go to 'Settings' and you can change to mmol/mol, change your preferred range, and some more things.
Greymalkin said:
On a separate theme, has anybody worked out how to download the Libre app three-month log of readings and notes, on to another device for permanent storage?
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Go to https://www.libreview.com/ (I prefer a PC to use LibreView), create an account by following the given steps, and you'll find everything from the past three months already there!
Some useful extras too, in comparison with the app. :)
 
Thanks so much for responding, and so quickly! I shall get in to the Libre settings this afternoon.

I admit I'm daunted by over 8,000 words of LibreView terms and conditions. I tend to worry that somewhere in there, they slip in (for our unthinking consent) their right to share users' records of wayward blood glucose, with anyone that offers dollars. Even if the current administrators are blamelessly scrupulous, who knows how that right, assented to with one click, may be abused in future.

That might well be my unwarranted paranoia...I'll get round to reading the Ts&Cs eventually, and report back.

Thanks again! ;)
.
 
michellehayward said:
mine has only ever been below 10 whilst pregnant, usually 12-14, have been type 1 for 28 years and cant seem to get any control, no long term effects so cant be that bad!!!!!! :lol:
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I had prefect control while I was pregnant with my two daughters. I was terrified that high blood sugars would harm them. Both were born just over 6lbs, which is good for a type 1.
 
Greymalkin said:
Thanks so much for responding, and so quickly! I shall get in to the Libre settings this afternoon.

I admit I'm daunted by over 8,000 words of LibreView terms and conditions. I tend to worry that somewhere in there, they slip in (for our unthinking consent) their right to share users' records of wayward blood glucose, with anyone that offers dollars. Even if the current administrators are blamelessly scrupulous, who knows how that right, assented to with one click, may be abused in future.

That might well be my unwarranted paranoia...I'll get round to reading the Ts&Cs eventually, and report back.

Thanks again! ;)
.
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I hate that too! It feels like you are signing your life unknowingly away with all the terms and conditions listed on so many things.
 
the easiest way to remember this is
if you measure it every day with a frop of blood and a strip and a little meter it is Blood Glucose or sugar
if you ger a blood sample taken from your arm and then wait for a few days and get results from Dr's then that is the Hba1c
 
moonstone said:
Re: What are your H test results?

HbA1c is also measured in mmols but if yours was 7.1 you'd be dead as it's far too low for survival :) the blood sugar tests on our meters are measured in mmol/l and the HbA1c in mmol/mol. If you mean your HbA1c was 7.1% then you're bang on target. Check out the converters on this site. Mine was 9.3%, or 78 mmols/mol.
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Mine is 6.0mmol/l
 
38 big advantage honeymoon apparently expect when period comes to end prob will be much higher. 10 months ago diagnosed 162 dka, recently c-peptide according to consultant confirms type1. fairly low carbs at present not ultra low just sub 120g ish max per day. usually a little less than that. dsn's want me to increase carbs 200g+ daily :O
 
SharonS1970 said:
My last Hba1c from a blood test came through as 65 which is 8.1% but on my Libre2+ it’s 57 which is 7.1% so which figure is correct please? Has anyone else had this?
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have same issue however for some others they can have the oppossite issue :)

according to libre a1c = 29 reality is 38. however saying that if i went by glucose report on libreview website the same day based on 2 weeks: Glucose Management Indicator (GMI) 5.5% or 37 mmol/mol was lower 30days and lower again 90 days.

THe VENUS blood test is the most accurate done at the hospital lab, next up accuracy wise would be fingerprick hba1c test which accuracy is no where close as hospital labs, lastly cgm. Its a great indication though.

libre2+ for some can reads higher, for others reads lowers, if check mard (9.2% for adults). for your figure 65: difference 5.98 rounding to 6. between 59 and upto 71 would be considered acceptable. depending on the method used there is also error ratio's so the libre for you appears to be more or less accurate hopefully that helps to reassure.
 
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