HB1Ac has increased from 45 to 46 in two months.

Saur

Well-Known Member
Messages
160
Hi all,
I had problems with lifting shopping etc and went to see the doctor. She advised it may be best to get a blood text done. My last test was end of August. I got my blood test today and it has increased.
I have been following a low carb diet and I don’t understand why the A1ac has increased. I had a flu jab last week and had a cold for two weeks. I was taking lose Lozenges and cough mixtures. Could the cold medication make my reading higher. Would a flu jab make a difference. If I had the test in two months instead of waiting three months would this make a difference.
I would grateful for your advise.
 

Saur

Well-Known Member
Messages
160
Hi all,
I had problems with lifting shopping etc and went to see the doctor. She advised it may be best to get a blood text done. My last test was end of August. I got my blood test today and it has increased.
I have been following a low carb diet and I don’t understand why the A1ac has increased. I had a flu jab last week and had a cold for two weeks. I was taking lose Lozenges and cough mixtures. Could the cold medication make my reading higher. Would a flu jab make a difference. If I had the test in two months instead of waiting three months would this make a difference.
I would grateful for your advise.
I am also using the app mySugr for the last two months and my estimated 1AC is showing as 5.4.
 

Redshank

Well-Known Member
Messages
132
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
An Hb1Ac score of 45 and 46 are basically the same score. No test is that precise - all will have some margin of error.
Even if they were precise they could represent 45.4 and 45.5 (rounded up to 46)
 

Mr_Pot

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,573
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
HbA1c is not accurate enough to be able to say that a change from 45to 46 is up, down or stayed the same.
I had a flu jab last week and had a cold for two weeks. I was taking lose Lozenges and cough mixtures. Could the cold medication make my reading higher. Would a flu jab make a difference.
All of these things could possibly make a slight difference, who knows? Just keep to the low carb diet and note the change over a longer period.
 
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JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,937
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi all,
I had problems with lifting shopping etc and went to see the doctor. She advised it may be best to get a blood text done. My last test was end of August. I got my blood test today and it has increased.
I have been following a low carb diet and I don’t understand why the A1ac has increased. I had a flu jab last week and had a cold for two weeks. I was taking lose Lozenges and cough mixtures. Could the cold medication make my reading higher. Would a flu jab make a difference. If I had the test in two months instead of waiting three months would this make a difference.
I would grateful for your advise.
Its a bit of crystal ball gazing, but the HbA1c is pretty much the same (as others stated, it gets rounded up or down), and knowing what a cold, a flu shot, and cold medication do to my bloodsugars.... I tentatively think the low carb eating kept you from getting higher numbers than you got. So keep at it, you're doing well.
 
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UsmanMo96

Well-Known Member
Messages
938
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I test my blood sugars and it gives a average from 7 days to 90 days. So I like the estimate I get on my meter and I'm not sure how better the hba1c test estimate is but all in all if you're feeling good thats what matters.
 

Saur

Well-Known Member
Messages
160
Thankyou everyone for your replies. I am still really disappointed with the result. I have tried so hard with low carbing.
 

DJC3

Master
Messages
10,347
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Thankyou everyone for your replies. I am still really disappointed with the result. I have tried so hard with low carbing.

Hi Saur I agree with the others that the difference is minimal. I wonder if your lozenges and cough mixtures contained sugar though? If you were taking these for a couple of weeks they could have offset the good work you’ve been doing with low carb.
 

Resurgam

Expert
Messages
9,849
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I eat low carb but cannot seem to drop down from the very top edge of normal.
I think this might be due to being undiagnosed for so long, and encouraged to eat carbohydrates - they are soooo healthy after all.
My body might have been reset to work with higher blood glucose levels - fasting actually increases my blood glucose up to a point where I go deathly pale, cold and feel faint, but my glucose level is still over 6, usually over 6.5mmol/l.
 

Saur

Well-Known Member
Messages
160
Hi Saur I agree with the others that the difference is minimal. I wonder if your lozenges and cough mixtures contained sugar though? If you were taking these for a couple of weeks they could have offset the good work you’ve been doing with low carb.
Hello DJC3, I really had a very sore throat and a very bad cough. I have gone through two bottles of cough mixture. You may be right as I am not sure about the sugar. I am also on antibiotics now and have stopped the cough medicine. I am also getting a finger prick test from the Diabetes prevention Team in two weeks, .not sure if the reading will go down.
 

Saur

Well-Known Member
Messages
160
I eat low carb but cannot seem to drop down from the very top edge of normal.
I think this might be due to being undiagnosed for so long, and encouraged to eat carbohydrates - they are soooo healthy after all.
My body might have been reset to work with higher blood glucose levels - fasting actually increases my blood glucose up to a point where I go deathly pale, cold and feel faint, but my glucose level is still over 6, usually over 6.5mmol/l.
I’ll go and see the doctor again at the end of the month. My blood hasbeen tested at two months. I don’t know if it will make a difference at the end of three months. Good luck if you can get yours to drop down in the near future.
 

DJC3

Master
Messages
10,347
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello DJC3, I really had a very sore throat and a very bad cough. I have gone through two bottles of cough mixture. You may be right as I am not sure about the sugar. I am also on antibiotics now and have stopped the cough medicine. I am also getting a finger prick test from the Diabetes prevention Team in two weeks, .not sure if the reading will go down.

I think you are wise to have gone back to your doctor. I hope the antibiotics help - infection can put blood sugar levels up, and if you’ve had it a couple of weeks it may have impacted on your HbA1c. Have you had a look around the low carb threads to see what sort of things people are eating? I’m also wondering about the sort of food you are eating routinely.
 

Resurgam

Expert
Messages
9,849
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
My doctor did a test at 80 days from diagnosis, but the next one was at 6 months and then they pretty much lost interest and I had to almost beg for tests at yearly ish intervals.
I suppose it is being at a steady level and not in the diabetic range, but you might find that your GP will not sanction monthly testing.
 

Saur

Well-Known Member
Messages
160
I think you are wise to have gone back to your doctor. I hope the antibiotics help - infection can put blood sugar levels up, and if you’ve had it a couple of weeks it may have impacted on your HbA1c. Have you had a look around the low carb threads to see what sort of things people are eating? I’m also wondering about the sort of food you are eating routinely.
Yes I have checked what people are eating. I eat more carbs for my dinner as joining the family for dinner. Otherwise in the day plain yogurt with nuts for breakfast or Chia pudding. LunchChicken/fish/vegetables, avocado, eggs, Hilo bread I also have snack bars.
Lover of coke and take Diet Coke. Coffee with extra double cream. Dinner includes mostly curries vegetarian & meat.
 
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Saur

Well-Known Member
Messages
160
My doctor did a test at 80 days from diagnosis, but the next one was at 6 months and then they pretty much lost interest and I had to almost beg for tests at yearly ish intervals.
I suppose it is being at a steady level and not in the diabetic range, but you might find that your GP will not sanction monthly testing.
I am not asking for monthly testing. This testing was done by doctor due to pain in my hand.
 

elizasue

Member
Messages
13
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Snack bars are very high in sugar - I'm prediabetic and tested blood sugar after a snack bar and it was 8.9mmol/l - waay too high. Coffee with double cream puts it up for me too - annoying but true. Rice - of any sort is not for me either. I'm doing all this testing as my HBa1c had gone up after 2 months of low carbing when I had lost a further 7lbs in weight.

Trying to get a good result when bloods are re-checked in Jan 20

As others have said, the cough syrup/lozenges are full of sugar. I would stop having coke/diet coke also if you're keen on getting it down.
 

Robbity

Expert
Messages
6,683
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
When you think of the wide range of levels you could be seeing such a slight variation is nothing at all to be upset over. You should be well pleased!

Over the last (nearly) six years since I was diagnosed, apart from my first 2 diabetic HbA1c results, I've seen pre-diabetic levels between 40 and 43 with a couple slightly higher for a few non-dietary reasons, e.g. stress, pain, etc. I consider that's as stable as I'm likely to see. and have never been worried about any tiny wobbles - I'm not an perfectly controlled robot in laboratory conditions, but a human being in real life.

Robbity
 

Saur

Well-Known Member
Messages
160
Snack bars are very high in sugar - I'm prediabetic and tested blood sugar after a snack bar and it was 8.9mmol/l - waay too high. Coffee with double cream puts it up for me too - annoying but true. Rice - of any sort is not for me either. I'm doing all this testing as my HBa1c had gone up after 2 months of low carbing when I had lost a further 7lbs in weight.

Trying to get a good result when bloods are re-checked in Jan 20

As others have said, the cough syrup/lozenges are full of sugar. I would stop having coke/diet coke also if you're keen on getting it down.
Thankyou so much for your guidance. The snack bars I bought are low carb. I just checked in the forum. They did say however it may cause sugar spiked for some people. Any ideas what sweet things I can eat. I got a very sweet tooth. The cold has not helped at all. It’s a good lesson in a way, because I didn’t even think about the sugar in lozenges/ cough mixture. The funny is I have been testing and very few times my readings went up to 8 or 9 after meals.
 

Saur

Well-Known Member
Messages
160
When you think of the wide range of levels you could be seeing such a slight variation is nothing at all to be upset over. You should be well pleased!

Over the last (nearly) six years since I was diagnosed, apart from my first 2 diabetic HbA1c results, I've seen pre-diabetic levels between 40 and 43 with a couple slightly higher for a few non-dietary reasons, e.g. stress, pain, etc. I consider that's as stable as I'm likely to see. and have never been worried about any tiny wobbles - I'm not an perfectly controlled robot in laboratory conditions, but a human being in real life.

Robbity
Hello Robbity, I found out in February 2019 that I was a prediabtic and readings of 44. On my six monthly test, after four weddings and a month of holiday my result went to 45. I was asked to do another test in three months. I went to get a blood test for another condition and my HB1AC is now showing as 46. So all the months of low carbing hasn’t counted. I am attending the Diabetes Prevention programme, but this is shortly coming to an end. You are right we are humans in real life.
 

PNJB

Well-Known Member
Messages
136
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Saur, maybe you are over anxious about your (excellent) results, which the WHO regard as pre-diabetic. 48 is the point at which it considers diabetes to be out of control. Keep on with the controlled diet. My own HbA1c was 66 mm/m three months ago (out of control), and was down to 41mm/m (pre-diabetic)yesterday by dint of controlled diet, so keep up the good work.