Hi guys I have put on 4 stones since September last year and have not been eating healthy at all my last a1c test was 40 June last year, I got bad case of covid pneumonia in January and was hospitalised 3 times was given different type meds in March I decided to get my blood work done and my hba1c was 50 the doctor didn’t diagnose me diabetic just told me to lose my weight and I’ll be ok as I got fatty liver, I been home testing frequently and my fasting glucose has been 4.5 to 6.1 max and post meal if I eat 100g carbs 7.5 to 8.5 only once I seen reading of 11.4 couple hours after eating a 300g carb meal. Was it possible that I had covid for a while it may have elevated my hba1c level to 50? I am confused because in last couple of months I’ve lost weight and am sure I’ll have normal hba1c level but will that not make my diagnosis go undetected if I had diabetes?
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Hba1c 50 post covid
- Thread starter ka678
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There’s certainly been a few on here reporting higher bgl after covid and I’ve heard reports of high glucose in hospitalised covid patients whether previously diagnosed diabetic or not. It’s a natural response to infection and it sounds like yours was prolonged. Hope you’re over it now.
Personally I’d treat it as a warning shot across the bows, lose the weight, remove excess carbs from my diet and be mindful and observant of the possibility of levels creeping up and reaching diagnostic levels in the future if I didn’t take control of my health. Make sure you continue to monitor at regular intervals and/or get a check again next year. IF you do have diabetes treating it is the same as avoiding it ie Fewer carbs and a healthy weight.
Personally I’d treat it as a warning shot across the bows, lose the weight, remove excess carbs from my diet and be mindful and observant of the possibility of levels creeping up and reaching diagnostic levels in the future if I didn’t take control of my health. Make sure you continue to monitor at regular intervals and/or get a check again next year. IF you do have diabetes treating it is the same as avoiding it ie Fewer carbs and a healthy weight.
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HI @ka678 and welcome to the forums.
I believe that if you had a hba1c of 50 in the UK then they'll keep monitoring your hba1c for diabetes even if it returns to normal. 50 puts you firmly into diabetic territory, though at the low end. Though of course, given that it was only one test and was influenced by COVID, it's possible that they won't give you an official diabetic tag. And illness elevates blood sugars, as do certain medications (eg maybe you were given steroids while you had covid), so if you were sick for months then this is quite likely to have influenced your hba1c.
An hba1c of 50 corresponds to an average blood sugar of 8.1mmol/L. And an hba1c of 40 corresponds to an average level of 6.7 mmol/L and is one point below where you'd be considered to have prediabetes.
I'd personally argue that it doesn't really matter what the official diagnosis is. You now have the information that you need, which is that in certain circumstances your body doesn't cope well with carbohydrate. (I'm making an assumption here that your issue was insulin resistance and carbs (T2), rather than lack of insulin (T1) because your weight loss appears to have reversed or reduced your symptoms.) And frankly, if you can eat 300g of carbs and only go up to 11 you are coping with carbs much better than anyone with a T2 diagnosis on these forums
. (Though 11 is outside the normal range, you can't tell much from one reading.)
No doubt your doctor will give you an official diagnosis next time you go for testing, and I hope that that is not diabetes. But for future reference, if your figures are higher than you like, then have a look at the carbs in your diet. Ideally, your blood sugar 2 hours after your first bite of a meal should be no more than 2mmol/L than the level before. If it goes higher than that, there's probably too many carbs in that meal for your metabolism.
I believe that if you had a hba1c of 50 in the UK then they'll keep monitoring your hba1c for diabetes even if it returns to normal. 50 puts you firmly into diabetic territory, though at the low end. Though of course, given that it was only one test and was influenced by COVID, it's possible that they won't give you an official diabetic tag. And illness elevates blood sugars, as do certain medications (eg maybe you were given steroids while you had covid), so if you were sick for months then this is quite likely to have influenced your hba1c.
An hba1c of 50 corresponds to an average blood sugar of 8.1mmol/L. And an hba1c of 40 corresponds to an average level of 6.7 mmol/L and is one point below where you'd be considered to have prediabetes.
I'd personally argue that it doesn't really matter what the official diagnosis is. You now have the information that you need, which is that in certain circumstances your body doesn't cope well with carbohydrate. (I'm making an assumption here that your issue was insulin resistance and carbs (T2), rather than lack of insulin (T1) because your weight loss appears to have reversed or reduced your symptoms.) And frankly, if you can eat 300g of carbs and only go up to 11 you are coping with carbs much better than anyone with a T2 diagnosis on these forums
. (Though 11 is outside the normal range, you can't tell much from one reading.)No doubt your doctor will give you an official diagnosis next time you go for testing, and I hope that that is not diabetes. But for future reference, if your figures are higher than you like, then have a look at the carbs in your diet. Ideally, your blood sugar 2 hours after your first bite of a meal should be no more than 2mmol/L than the level before. If it goes higher than that, there's probably too many carbs in that meal for your metabolism.
HI @ka678 and welcome to the forums.
I believe that if you had a hba1c of 50 in the UK then they'll keep monitoring your hba1c for diabetes even if it returns to normal. 50 puts you firmly into diabetic territory, though at the low end. Though of course, given that it was only one test and was influenced by COVID, it's possible that they won't give you an official diabetic tag. And illness elevates blood sugars, as do certain medications (eg maybe you were given steroids while you had covid), so if you were sick for months then this is quite likely to have influenced your hba1c.
An hba1c of 50 corresponds to an average blood sugar of 8.1mmol/L. And an hba1c of 40 corresponds to an average level of 6.7 mmol/L and is one point below where you'd be considered to have prediabetes.
I'd personally argue that it doesn't really matter what the official diagnosis is. You now have the information that you need, which is that in certain circumstances your body doesn't cope well with carbohydrate. (I'm making an assumption here that your issue was insulin resistance and carbs (T2), rather than lack of insulin (T1) because your weight loss appears to have reversed or reduced your symptoms.) And frankly, if you can eat 300g of carbs and only go up to 11 you are coping with carbs much better than anyone with a T2 diagnosis on these forums
No doubt your doctor will give you an official diagnosis next time you go for testing, and I hope that that is not diabetes. But for future reference, if your figures are higher than you like, then have a look at the carbs in your diet. Ideally, your blood sugar 2 hours after your first bite of a meal should be no more than 2mmol/L than the level before. If it goes higher than that, there's probably too many carbs in that meal for your metabolism.
I was given steroids 3 times while I was in hospital, my dr felt that all my over readings were good (cholesterols, triglycerides, bp) he has told me that if I lose weight (25kg) that I will have a completely normal ac1 and normal post meal reading even if I ate 300g carb after the weight loss as he said that my ac1 is higher because of my unhealthy eating last few months and covid combination and believes that once the fat has been removed from liver and pancreas’s my beta cells should work fine.
