• Guest, the forum is undergoing some upgrades and so the usual themes will be unavailable for a few days. In the meantime, you can use the forum like normal. We'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

false hypo?

mistee71

Well-Known Member
Hi, last week i had my first 3 month blood test the Hba1c thing and it was 9. As a result of that my DN put my meds up to 1000mg x2 glucophage sr and 80mg x4 gliclazide a day. I have struggled to bring my sugar levels down. They seemed to hover around 12/15 no matter what i eat. A couple of days ago mid afternoon i felt the start of a hypo come on. Severe shaking and slightly spaced out feeling. I done a test and it said 4.9. That seems high for a hypo. Could it be that its because my sugars have always been high so my sensativaty to a hypo is also higher?
Also.... I dont no really how to explain this properly so i hope someone out there might speak gibberish too. Right here goes.... The Hba1c test. Mine is 9 which is high i think. How much to high? With the prick tests. if your over by a couple of points thats still not to bad...What makes the Hbac1 tests worse? 9. on the prick test is not the same as 9 on the Hbac1. Can anyone understand what I'm asking?
 
Hi mistee71,

Your 4.9 reading can be taken as a false hypo, assuming that your meter is accurate. :problem:

The table below gives you a rough idea of how the HbA1c and fingerstick tests compare.

HbA1c (%) - Average blood glucose level (mmol/l)

13 - 18
12 - 17
11 - 15
10 - 13
9 - 12
8 - 10
7 - 8
6 - 7
5 - 5

In my experience (and dare I say in general), you'll get the biggest improvements in HbA1c by concentrating on keeping your post-meal spikes down, although that's certainly not to say that fasting levels don't count towards the result.
 
Hi Mistee! HbA1C and fingertip tests are in different units, AND measure different things. Slim Tony gave you a chart showing how the units are different - the difeerence gets bigger as you can see as the figures get higher. Big difference is that the "prick" :oops: test (as you put it!) measures simply your blood sugar level at that time. The HbA1c looks at the average your levels have been at over the previous few months in a different type of unit. But if you steadily bring your sugar levels on the prick test down to better levels, it will be reflected in your HbA1c results later.
 
Back
Top