I have had a blood test which showed my Hba1c was 56 I think, my doctor is doing another test, but that is 3 weeks away. I bought a metre and yesterday had a glucose reading of 15 before eating, then after eating 2 hours later it was 8. I am so confused. Help! Sorry Hba1c 63 not 56
Hello Garrick, and welcome,
I'm sorry about your results, as they do seem quite diabetic, but not dramatically so. What exactly are you confused about? The difference between HbA1c and the numbers on your meter, or the difference between pre- and post-prandial? I'll cover both, hope it'll help.
Your HbA1c is measured in mmol/mol, and is an average of 3 months' worth of blood glucose, weighing more heavily on the most recent 2 weeks. If you're under 42 you're non-diabetic, between 42 and 48 you're pre-diabetic, anything over is considered diabetic. So with a 63 or a 56 you would've been considered diabetic either way, if the next results come back in the same ballpark.
Now, as for the results on your meter, those are a snapshot of current blood sugars, and are measured in a different unit: mmol/l. Fifteen is quite high, you don't want to be over 8,5, as that is where damage to organs and such happens. What your blood sugars do also depends on what you ate. Carbohydrates don't agree with us. Not just sugars, but starches too. Say, if you had a meal of eggs and bacon, your blood sugars could be perfectly fine. If you had spuds or rice, or a sandwich, they wouldn't be. So learn what foods agree which you and which don't, because it would help you figure out how to keep your blood sugars in a decent range. So you see, as you say you ate, but didn't mention what, no-one here can comment on the apparent drop in blood sugars. You either ate something that agreed with you, or one of the measurements didn't go well. (Faulty strips happen, or maybe there was something on your hands like lotion or food remnants? You wouldn't believe how many people think they're really high but just gave a piece of fruit to their kid and didn't wash their hands before testing for instance. And I've had low readings because of sunscreen.). If you think a measurement is off, wash your hands, and test again. See whether there's a big difference.
All in all, you did the right thing, getting a meter.
https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html should help you get started with a proper T2 diet if you choose that route. Of course, you can go for medication, or a combination of medication and diet, but it helps if you know the basics. Informed choices for the win, and all.
I can tell you, you're going to be fine. Honest.
Jo
