Dissapointed with annual hba1c

eddie775 said:

Due to being diagnosed with COPD I have been changing my diet. My bmi is 38.5 Also done rehab in hospital gym and just done 12 weeks gym 3 sessions a week. Thought I was losing a bit of weight and with healthier diet my score would go down from the 46 it was last year. Gone up to 47. Gonna have to try harder for the next year. Was wondering if steroids can impact this blood test as I was on these a week before the blood test. Go doesn't want to see me for another year.

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Hi. Sorry to hear about the recent diagnosis and about your HbA1c being a wee bit higher. I'm sure you'll get it sorted soon enough...could be a hell of a lot worse. As for the steroids...I still take a small amount of the steroid which caused my diabetes in the first place as it is part of organ anti-rejection treatment I need...and it is does prevent me getting my level much lower than the current 41, so, yes, it probably has had a small impact on your result - but only if it has caused spikes high enough in that last week to push your average over the preceding three months up a bit. I would advise forgetting all about it till next year and sticking to your diet (avoiding steroids and statins where possible). Do you use a self-testing meter? It is easily the best guide to how your diet is working in relation to what you are eating..and arguably the best weapon in the struggle to keep the levels low. Good luck.

eddie775 said:

Due to being diagnosed with COPD I have been changing my diet. My bmi is 38.5 Also done rehab in hospital gym and just done 12 weeks gym 3 sessions a week. Thought I was losing a bit of weight and with healthier diet my score would go down from the 46 it was last year. Gone up to 47. Gonna have to try harder for the next year. Was wondering if steroids can impact this blood test as I was on these a week before the blood test. Go doesn't want to see me for another year.

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A little change from 46 to 47 isn't too bad, and if your GP doesn't want to see you again for year, he's obviously happy with your results! But come and join me anyway - I got down to non-diabetic levels for a short time and then bounced back up again and sometimes I feel I'm just going backwards which can be very frustrating especially when we're doing our best to manage our diabetes.

And yes, steroids can affect your glucose levels - I had one corticosteroid injection in my hand and it raised mine for several days, so a week's worth would be likely to have a greater impact. All sort of things - stress, pain, medication, illness, may all upset our glucose apple carts and since they're usually beyond our control there's very little we can actually do about them - except try not to worry which again could also make things worse...

Robbity

To be honest, there is s little difference between 46 and 47 that it could simply be down to the rounding up/down that the labs perform to produce a whole figure. The 46 may have been 46.4. The 47 could have been 46.6. There is also an allowable error rate in these tests, something like +-4%.

When you use your meter, do you keep records of your averages? Have these changed at all? Keeping records can be very useful.

I note you are also taking statins. Is this a recent addition, or have you been on them some time? I ask because statins raise blood glucose levels in many people. I am not convinced your steroids over the week before would have made a great difference in a 3 month average, but anything is possible.

Bluetit1802 said:

To be honest, there is s little difference between 46 and 47 that it could simply be down to the rounding up/down that the labs perform to produce a whole figure. The 46 may have been 46.4. The 47 could have been 47.0. There is also an allowable error rate in these tests, something like +-4%.

When you use your meter, do you keep records of your averages? Have these changed at all? Keeping records can be very useful.

I note you are also taking statins. Is this a recent addition, or have you been on them some time? I ask because statins raise blood glucose levels in many people. I am not convinced your steroids over the week before would have made a great difference in a 3 month average, but anything is possible.

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Just for info - the steroid I take, Prednisolone, has now been cut to 2.5mg and can still produce small spikes in my blood sugar. My diabetes was classed as Steroid Induced. My initial dose was 25mg daily. This produced spikes of more than 10mmols 2 hours after ingestion, dropping to about 6mmols after 4 or 5 hours (ie. pre-steroid reading of 6.0mmols; 2 hours post-steroid - 16mmols). It was only by demonstrating its impact through my own records that I persuaded my doctors (renal specialists) to gradually cut it to the current minimum. Imagine what a week of that kind of spiking does to your average (even over a 3 month period). It very much depends of the steroid, the dosage and the individual.