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Type 2 2 hour readings comparable with HbA1c of 39

Dougie22

Dougie22

Well-Known Member
Messages
319
Location
Scotland
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
I know there is no true definitive answer to this question but I was hoping that there was enough experience in the forum to give an indication. I am looking to get back down to an HbA1c level as near to 39 as possible by fully adopting the low carb approach. Obviously, I can't get my doctor to repeat the tests over and over, especially as I don't know how long it will take me to get there ( could be months or years). My morning fasting tests are unreliable due to the dawn effect and the fact that I rise at different times, distorting my results. I therefore depend on two and three hour tests in the evening after dinner which give me consistent results. My question is this....
What two hour level do I need to consistently achieve to have a reasonable chance of achieving an HbA1c of 39?
I don't read all posts so if there's already a thread dealing with this, could someone point me to it please.
Thanks.
 
Dougie22 said:
I know there is no true definitive answer to this question but I was hoping that there was enough experience in the forum to give an indication. I am looking to get back down to an HbA1c level as near to 39 as possible by fully adopting the low carb approach. Obviously, I can't get my doctor to repeat the tests over and over, especially as I don't know how long it will take me to get there ( could be months or years). My morning fasting tests are unreliable due to the dawn effect and the fact that I rise at different times, distorting my results. I therefore depend on two and three hour tests in the evening after dinner which give me consistent results. My question is this....
What two hour level do I need to consistently achieve to have a reasonable chance of achieving an HbA1c of 39?
I don't read all posts so if there's already a thread dealing with this, could someone point me to it please.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

That's a bit like asking how many numbers make 42. There is a tool on the site to translate HbA1c scores to average blood level, but that gives no indication of the 2 hour postprandial reading. I'm sure you know you ask an impossible question.

You could invest in some home HbA1c kits or even the Libre which provides 24/7 readings for 14 days per sensor, and after a few days estimates HbA1c.
 
I agree with AndBreathe. Unfortunately, HbA1c does not correlate precisely with average blood glucose levels, although it seems to work for some people. Your HbA1c levels depends on both your blood glucose levels and how quickly your blood cells die and get replaced. So for the same blood glucose levels, your HbA1c will be higher the longer your blood cells live and lower the shorter your blood glucose lives, since longer lived blood cells have more time to become glycated.

Your best to lower your HbA1c is to reduce carbs, but I think it would be impossible to come up with a 2 hour post meal target to get a specific HbA1c result.

However, if you want to read the following paper, you might get some ideas, although I don't think this adresses your specific question:

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/37/4/1048.full.pdf
 
As you've already been told, one set of post meal averages won't bear much relation to your HbA1c results. You glucose levels fluctuate all the time, so at best you might get a possible estimate from an average of all your tests since your last HbA1c, but even these are just spot checks not an overall assessment of the total picture.

Our main diabetes.co.uk site has got a converter for this,
but at best it can only be a guestimate. My levels are fairly stable on a strict LCHF diet, and my overall average test results over 3 months give me a slightly lower figure than my actual HbA1c test results have been.

Robbity
 
Actually correlates quite well with the other converter I looked at though as has been noted there are just too many variables for it to be taken as anything other than a best guess.
 
NoCrbs4Me said:
I agree with AndBreathe. Unfortunately, HbA1c does not correlate precisely with average blood glucose levels, although it seems to work for some people. Your HbA1c levels depends on both your blood glucose levels and how quickly your blood cells die and get replaced. So for the same blood glucose levels, your HbA1c will be higher the longer your blood cells live and lower the shorter your blood glucose lives, since longer lived blood cells have more time to become glycated.

Your best to lower your HbA1c is to reduce carbs, but I think it would be impossible to come up with a 2 hour post meal target to get a specific HbA1c result.

However, if you want to read the following paper, you might get some ideas, although I don't think this adresses your specific question:

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/37/4/1048.full.pdf
Click to expand...

Thanks for this. Interesting paper . I've had a read but will need to look through it again when I've got a bit more time. At least it mentions post prandial readings but with references to ranges of HbA1c.
 
Many thanks to all of you for your replies and pointers to converters etc. It seems to me that this condition (T2) gives the illusion of being controllable but, in fact, it's like driving a car or flying a plane without instruments. Taking everything into account, I'm going to give myself a target of achieving a regular two hour figure around 7.0 before retesting my HbA1c at the surgery. Although I can't get access to an average figure, I can just take the view that my testing needs to be at the bottom of the range. I don't know if this will be achievable for me and I'm already finding it difficult to low carb consistently. Time will tell, as usual.

upload_2016-3-22_16-53-49.png
 
JohnEGreen said:
Most blood glucose monitors will give you averaged readings
Click to expand...
Yes..as will mine, but...it's an average of spot readings taken, in my case at two hours and three hours after eating...so artificially biased (due to the three hour reading being, hopefully, always lower) ....and not in any way representative of my average BG levels over a 24 hour period. There's also a degree of error involved, as anyone who has taken three or four sequential readings can testify.
All in all, I continue to test post prandial as the best indication I can get of what is going on but I consider the results to be indicative rather than accurate in the true sense.
 
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