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Current hba1c

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Nicklenocky

Well-Known Member
Messages
56
Hi all

Could someone please explain to me in an easy to understand manor exactly how the hba1c is worked out.

I do know or at least think I know by my current hba1c puzzles me slightly. Today I went to the lab and got my result back as 6. However my last hba1c was taken whilst traveling to uk by my gp on mon 13th of feb, the result came back as 6.4. In between my last hba1c and the one I did today I have had terrible blood sugars, quite high due to pregnancy, illness, traveling and managing time zones. I have been really worried to how the last 2 weeks would have effected my hba1c....apparently not by much since I am now 6. I find this a little to good to be true as my sugars are the worst I have seen them since pregnant.

So what I am basically trying to ask is can I relax and assume the last 2 weeks of terrible highs haven't impacted my overall average much or is this going to come back and bite me further down the line?

Your thoughts as always are much appreciated.
 
Hi Nicklenoky,

I'm a long way from being an expert but I suspect you shouldn't be too alarmed. My understanding is that the hba1c test is a long term test and unless you have long term high readings it shouldn't impact too much on your average. The test shows your average over an approximate 3 month period so some short term blips shouldn't have great consequences! Very sorry if you knew this already. I understand one of the reasons given for no longer wanting people to self test is that they feel you may become alarmed if you get some high readings! Difficult not to do, I agree, as my readings are all over the place often without the slightest indication of why. Anyway, hope things calm down a bit for you.

good luck

kevvy
 
Hi Nicklenocky - I'm a bit confused. You had an Hba1c on 13th feb which was 6.4 - why did you have another one today? That's barely a week. Were they both Hba1cs or was one a normal fasting glucose test? A reason for the lack of difference if they ARE both Hba1Cs is the time. The HbA1c measures the number of glucose platelets that have adhered to your cells. As they have a half-life of three months, they are supposed to give an average blood measurement over the last three months. In fact, the reading is very heavily weighted to the last month. Even so, it means that a bad set of figures don't have a massive effect as they are evened out over the period. It could be that although you had some bad readings going on to the averages recently , you had some equally bad or worse ones from about a month ago coming off! That way your Hba1c could go down.
Have I confused you more?
 
Hi grazer, yes I suppose it does seem confusing..

My situation is basically this....I work in the Middle East, but am from the UK, I travel back to the UK when I can specially for work. On the occasions I go back to the UK, I pop in to see my GP, he won't accept my word only regarding the hba1c and has me do it in his surgery for records only, so this was the 13th. Now I am back in the Middle East this week my appointment with the diabetic doctor is Tom, he also won't accept my word and I will have to prove my hba1c was done in the Middle East which is what I did today.

So yes it's been 8 days between the tests, sugars have been terrible, yet a better than expected current result.

I suppose I am just reluctant to believe I got a 6!
 
Understand. So a bad week could potentially have made the Hba1c worse, but didn't. So an even worse week must have occurred during the three month period (probably more recently) which more than cancelled it out.
 
I like the way you explained it grazer and I am now trying to pinpoint my most terrible week in the last 3 months!

Thanks for your reply Kevvy also!

I think I will just accept my 6 and celebrate with a diet coke!
 
Nicklenocky said:
So what I am basically trying to ask is can I relax and assume the last 2 weeks of terrible highs haven't impacted my overall average much or is this going to come back and bite me further down the line?
Click to expand...


Most type 1's would be more than happy with a Hba1c of 6, relax and enjoy the diet coke
 
HbA1c results can also vary by lab... I read somewhere by as much as 0.5% - 1.0% so it maybe that the difference is down to lab..

Either way 6% is a good result you should be pleased.
 
Hi All

thanks for your replies, dont get me wrong, I am not complaining, I am very happy with 6%, but since I am now pregnant my hba1c matters even more so was just a query rather than a complaint!
 
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