HbA1c figure

[Bogart99]

Now this has probably been asked numerous times before. I am somewhat confused regarding this reading and how it varies.
I did try Libre 2 sensors which I found good, only tried as were free!
Now if I do a pin prick test results seem odd to me. I can have a morning figure pre yogurt breakfast of say 6.0. Watch myself all day
on intake. Minimal carbs only drinks tea coffee or water. Next morning is 6.6. Repeat day after then maybe 6.2 on following morning.
Day after up to say 6.6 again. I am very confused as to why these variations.

 

[Rachox]

The readings you quote are very close together in the big scheme of things. Blood sugar levels are not a static thing by any means and can vary from one minute to the next. Levels are affected by many things, not just food. Stress, a bad night’s sleep, activity, illness and more I can’t recall right now. It’s good to keep an eye on what’s happening but try not to get hung up on these tiny variations. What’s important is to look for trends and what your HbA1c is.

 

[becca59]

@Bogart99 The readings are so close together as to be negligible. I wear a Libre and as a Type one can watch my numbers in a morning leap from a five to a six just sitting up in bed.

 

[KennyA]

Now this has probably been asked numerous times before. I am somewhat confused regarding this reading and how it varies.
I did try Libre 2 sensors which I found good, only tried as were free!
Now if I do a pin prick test results seem odd to me. I can have a morning figure pre yogurt breakfast of say 6.0. Watch myself all day
on intake. Minimal carbs only drinks tea coffee or water. Next morning is 6.6. Repeat day after then maybe 6.2 on following morning.
Day after up to say 6.6 again. I am very confused as to why these variations.

There's an acceptable variation in fingerprick testing machines of 15%. That means that a true BG value of 6.0mmol/l could be shown by your machine as anything between 5.1 and 6.9mmol/l and be good enough to meet standards. In practice however the readings will almost certainly be closer than that, although they're unlikely to be the same.

You can demonstrate this by doing two tests in rapid succession using the same drop of blood - you're unlikely to see the same result from both test strips.

Even if the results you report are the true results, you need to remember that our blood glucose values vary constantly in response to various things. One of them is food, but the other is what your liver is doing in response to various stimuli - I mean in terms of making glucose and supplying it to the body systems. The libre graph attached shows huge variation in BG, the result of stress provoking the liver to make glucose, rather than food intake.

 

[Bogart99]

All very up and down then. I thought this morning I might be somewhat higher having had 4 pints of ale yesterday evening, watching the footie, but no 6.2 As you say maybe I am reading too much into it. That is why I liked the free trial of the Libre
device. Am not going to pay £100 a month for it permanently, that is a rip off.

 

[KennyA]

All very up and down then. I thought this morning I might be somewhat higher having had 4 pints of ale yesterday evening, watching the footie, but no 6.2 As you say maybe I am reading too much into it. That is why I liked the free trial of the Libre
device. Am not going to pay £100 a month for it permanently, that is a rip off.

Food-related carb intake should be processed by the body in a couple of hours. What seems to last longer is the message received by the liver about what "normal" blood glucose should look like.

Aside from the carb in the beer there's the fact that alcohol tends to lower blood glucose in many people because it suppresses glucose-producing liver activity. Personally, I find it hard to predict what my BG might eventually be once any sort of alcohol is involved, and I've had a couple of nasty hypo experiences because I didn't factor in alcohol.