HBA1C results - confused, please help

[Maggie75]

Hi everyone,

I'm T2, diagnosed in Nov/20, my diabetes hasn't been well managed until around 4 weeks ago when I started following a low carb diet again and went back on my alogliptin medication. Went to see GP on Monday with some stomach issues, she ordered bloods to be done to check various things including HBA1C, she also confirmed at appt I've lost 2.7 kilos in weight in the 4 weeks, results came back today on the my diabetes my way acct, my HBA1C has gone up from 63 in Nov/23 to 64 now, I don't understand this, how can this have gone up? I know it's not a big jump but I've really been trying with the low carb and have lost a little weight, I just don't get it. Also my cholesterol has increased as well in this period, I know it's going back 3 months but I'm so confused and disappointed with these results, particularly the HBA1C, when I was first diagnosed I followed the exact low carb diet I'm doing now and it worked amazingly well, I was taking Metformin then, should I possibly ask to be put back on that maybe at a higher dose? I've noticed when I've been checking my own bloods at home they were too high so the results probably shouldn't have been so surprising but I'm just gutted. Sorry for the rant, this has just floored me today.

Maggie

 

[Dancing Badger]

Puzzling. Do you use a meter?

 

[searley]

Hi everyone,

I'm T2, diagnosed in Nov/20, my diabetes hasn't been well managed until around 4 weeks ago when I started following a low carb diet again and went back on my alogliptin medication. Went to see GP on Monday with some stomach issues, she ordered bloods to be done to check various things including HBA1C, she also confirmed at appt I've lost 2.7 kilos in weight in the 4 weeks, results came back today on the my diabetes my way acct, my HBA1C has gone up from 63 in Nov/23 to 64 now, I don't understand this, how can this have gone up? I know it's not a big jump but I've really been trying with the low carb and have lost a little weight, I just don't get it. Also my cholesterol has increased as well in this period, I know it's going back 3 months but I'm so confused and disappointed with these results, particularly the HBA1C, when I was first diagnosed I followed the exact low carb diet I'm doing now and it worked amazingly well, I was taking Metformin then, should I possibly ask to be put back on that maybe at a higher dose? I've noticed when I've been checking my own bloods at home they were too high so the results probably shouldn't have been so surprising but I'm just gutted. Sorry for the rant, this has just floored me today.

Maggie

Firstly thing to remember is hba1c is not 100% accurate there is a margin of error

If had 2 hba1c in the same day from the same blood sample and had a difference of more than that

So don’t see it as a it’s gone up.. more it’s stayed the same

If you were poorly controlled then your hba1c would have been higher 4weeks ago and the fact that you have now started to bring it back under control may help to see a slight decrease again over the coming weeks

 

[mouseee]

If I'm reading right, there aren't many weeks between the two hba1c tests.
As it measures the average blood glucose over the last three months then a month's changes aren't going to show up that quickly. I've only just got back to my low carb a month ago and I know if I had my hba1c today it would be showing much higher than I want it to.

 

[PenguinMum]

Hi Maggie don’t be too disheartened this condition likes to throw spanners in the works. I am just wondering if your LC is not as low as you need. How many carbs per meal or day do you stick to? Not trying to undermine you but I started out at 75g per day, then after a few months needed go down to 50g per day and in the last few years try to stick to within 30g per day. Just a thought!

 

[Maggie75]

Thank you for your replies, yes, I do use a meter and I should have expected these results given the high readings I was getting. It has been 3 months since my last HBA1C, DN didn't want my bloods tested until April but GP wanted all the tests including diabetes.
My low carb eating is probably still quite high, I'm on around 100 carbs a day but less than that would simply be unsustainable for me, as I said it's exactly the same diet as I was following before when I lost 3 stone in 6 months and was back to non diabetic levels.
My fear is I've done a lot of damage with just going off the rails since the middle of 2021, think another call to the DN will be in order, I'm just not sure the diabetic medication I'm taking is enough to get this under control. I'm trying not to catastrophise this but it's thrown me quite a bit. Thanks again.

Maggie

 

[Resurgam]

@Maggie75 I need to stick to under 40 gm of carbs a day to keep my numbers normal. I can't seem to reduce my Hba1c into the 30s, but that could be my age - just coming up to 73 this April.
I do low carb by excluding high carb foods and low fat options. Having seen my grandmother deteriorating over some years when I was a child I would make any changes necessary to avoid high blood glucose. Unfortunately I can't go out of the house regularly - but regular exercise might help with levels if you can't reduce carbs.
Don't be too despondent about recovery though. My thyroid was not working for decades, but since sticking to low carb and getting levels down, the amount of Thyroxine I need has reduced from 200 to under 125 micrograms - I need to get it checked and reduced from the 125 I got down to last year. Thyroids are not supposed to recover.

 

[Maggie75]

Thank you for the advice, I'm going to start exercising again definitely, I've got my treadmill and there's plenty of low impact exercises online I can do, my knees are a bit painful now and I don't really go out due to social anxiety but I can do something.
The thyroid is one of the things the GP was testing for, I've been on Thyroxine for years but she's concerned thyroid may be getting worse. I'm assuming I'll get a text asking me to call the surgery for results so I'll know more then. Hopefully this will sort itself out, today has just been a bit of a shock for me.

Maggie

 

[KennyA]

Readings of 63 and 64 are essentially the same value and well within allowable error, so I wouldn't take this as your A1c "going up". It might be more positive to think of it as you've stopped it rising further.

It's also possible that your medication may be having a slightly different impact.

So it may take a little time to get things moving again. Would it be possible to go on a much lower carb regime for just a week or so, to see if that might bump-start something?