Can Hbac1 be wrong?

If it is correct you are literally just over the line. 48 is diabetic and 6.8 is 51.0 There are people on here who are thin and t2, I'm sure they'll be along soon.

If it turns out to be the case then looking at food again you may find somethings which are sneakily carby that you just haven't noticed. Although you do sound like you know your nutrition well! Here will be a great source of support as you work things out. It's the best place to be!

Firstly, if you do have diabetes it is not the end of the world, it is actually a potential new beginning. A 6.8 is relatively low, at one point I was over 16. That being said a potential diabetes diagnosis is a shock. You are the same age as me and despite your physical activity it is easy to develop Type 2 (I am assuming this at this point, but you should get the second test). There are many different body types that get diabetes, you might be a TOFI (thin on the outside fat on the inside). There is a concept called the PFT, personal fat threshold, which is individual to all. Some pack visceral fat around the organs which can cause diabetes, drugs such as some steroids or statins can also inflict this disease. Over time the insulin that your pancreas creates to drive blood glucose in muscles and cells, no longer can perform this function (like a dam breaking), your body produces more insulin, but "insulin resistance" has built up, like the story of the boy crying wolf, your body doesn't / can't listen to insulin signal, so glucose remains in the blood stream, which equals diabetes.

Unless you were actively looking to avoid diabetes, you may have eaten past your tolerance for carbs over your life so far, it is very easy, even with so called healthy foods (breads, rice, pasta, potatoes and derivatives), I had very little junk food, but ate the things in brackets and lots of fruit and fruit juice, along with oats. Have a read of the below:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.26870/

Once you have your second test, you will know where you stand. If you do have diabetes, changing your eating pattern is the easiest way to either reverse or put diabetes into remission. If you are an omnivore, then meat, fish, shell fish is zero carb, so can form the basis of your potential diet, low carb vegetables work well (cauliflower, broccoli, greens, asparagus, green beans, courgettes, tomatoes are good choices). Salads without the dressings are worth a look. Any fruit ending in berry works better than tropical versions. The workouts you do with food choices, will help with insulin sensitivity. Lots to take in but carbohydrate intolerance is almost par the course now, as the standard guidelines promote circa 60% in the diet, many of us are around 10% after the fact.

Well, as the others have said, it is possible to be a thin T2.

Jillyh said:

I don't eat gluten, carb only on exercise, don't eat processed foods, don't snack on biscuits, don't drink fizzy drinks and have no family history of diabetes.

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How about fruit and/or fruit juice?

Yes, there are a number of reasons why an hba1c test can be inaccurate, including conditions such as anaemia or just because your red blood cells take significantly more or less than 3 months to renew
https://www.goodrx.com/blog/could-your-hba1c-diabetes-test-be-wrong/

In these cases a fructosamine test could be a better bet. (Though your GP probably won't have heard of it).

But honestly, if your doctor thinks you have T2 then your best bet is probably to get a blood testing meter and see what your levels are actually doing, and how they respond to your food choices. Reducing the carb content of your meals will probably solve your issues.

One last (not so pretty but luckily fairly unlikely) thought. If you're already low carb and your levels are rising then it's possible that you're LADA/T1 rather than T2 (Have you lost any weight recently?). This can come from nowhere and isn't affected by any so called lifestyle choices (food/exercise) and though you can control it for a while by reducing carbs then you would eventually need insulin, as the nature of the disease is that your autoimmune system slowly kills your insulin producing cells. (Got any autoimmune family history?)

Anyway, hopefully you get a resolution soon and if you are unlucky enough to join the diabetic club there'll be lots of help and support for you on these forums.

Jillyh said:

Thanks all, you have given me lots to think about...I do have GF oats and oat milk, so can look at cutting these, I don't have fruit or juice apart from blueberries! Have lost a couple of pounds without trying, but, from October to end December I didn't train as I had pericarditis, but I more or less avoided carbs so as not to put on weight, am now back to almost full training so that could account for the weight loss. No auto immune conditions as far as I know. The reason for the blood test was I was feeling tired all the time, thought it was as a result of the pericarditis. I also have to use the loo during the night which I put down to age!
Hopefully I will get the results by Monday, but will be buying a test kit thing, even if it turns out I am not, it's a shock and a wake up call...just because I don't fit the pattern doesn't mean it won't happen to me!
Thanks again, really appreciate you taking the time to reply x

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If you would like to share can you give us some average meal examples just so we can be nosey!..

Jillyh said:

Hi, I had a batch of routine bloods taken, when I got the results I was told my Hbac1 was 6.8 and I was very likely type 2. I am not overweight, bmi is normal, waist 28 inches, I run 5k 3 time a week, bootcamp 3 times a week, walk the dog etc, I don't eat gluten, carb only on exercise, don't eat processed foods, don't snack on biscuits, don't drink fizzy drinks and have no family history of diabetes. My risk is low according to the NHS quiz...so, how have I ended up with a reading of 6.8? Can it be wrong? Could it be a blip and correct itself? I demanded a re-test and am waiting for the results, also had the fasting test.

If it turns out I am type 2, what can I do that I am not doing now?
Thanks

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You might want to put in more protein rather than carbs when you work out. Just an idea. Slim T2's do exist, but between the a-typical presentation and the weight loss, you might also want to ask for C-peptide and GAD tests. I don't think you're a late onset T1, but better safe than sorry.

If things don't make sense you could be a type 1. LADA/Type 1 is slow forming and easily misdiagnosed as type 2 at first. I was, even though I asked if I could be a type 1 because I had an uncle than died from it in the "old days". 40% of us type 1/LADA's are misdiagnosed as a type 2 because medications, weight loss, eating different can work at first. Commonly but not a given being skinny, low BMI and in shape with exercising and still having higher numbers is more a type 1 thing than a type 2 thing. Not a definite though.

You should ask for an antibody test which if positive means you are a type 1. Although some type 1's rarely don't test positive but still don't make insulin. Also ask for a C-Peptide test which tells how much insulin you make. Low or low normal is a sign of type 1, high or high normal is a sign of type 2.