Over the past year I have reduced my level from 54 to 42 which now agrees to my Dr's ideal target, however my end has set a level of 53 is 7% rather than 6% as he feels I am having too many hypos whilst trying to maintain strict control. My motivation to reduce it was to reduce some neuropathy I was feeling. I have never had any problems with the hypos and have always acted on them swiftly. I was also advised that hypos can damage the heart. What do you think I should do?
Hba1c too low!
- Thread starter johnboy326
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Hba1C is an average.
If you are having quite a few hypos, it is likely you are achieving this Hba1C with quite a few highs too.
I believe, the best target is to aim for a more level BG. If you have a Libre, it would be useful to understand what is causing the highs and lows and try to level them out.
If you are having quite a few hypos, it is likely you are achieving this Hba1C with quite a few highs too.
I believe, the best target is to aim for a more level BG. If you have a Libre, it would be useful to understand what is causing the highs and lows and try to level them out.
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I guess the simple question in this case @johnboy326 is:
Did the Endo say that he believed you were having too many hypos or did the data support the point that you are having too many hypos?
If it's the latter, then, as @helensaramay says, you need to reduce them, as otherwise, hypo unawareness may be on the cards, and that's really not something you want. Systems which provide continuous data really do help with this kind of thing.
Did the Endo say that he believed you were having too many hypos or did the data support the point that you are having too many hypos?
If it's the latter, then, as @helensaramay says, you need to reduce them, as otherwise, hypo unawareness may be on the cards, and that's really not something you want. Systems which provide continuous data really do help with this kind of thing.
Hi there, yes correct, I'm just using normal testing strips at the most using the mysugr app to record, on a cluster graph I'm in range ie 4.1 to 7.7 about 50% of the time 20% hypo, 30% hyper but not spiking more than 12. I worked out my carb factor ratio at 1unit to 6 g of carb and I only consume about 100g of carbs per day on average, including no more than 2 slices of brown bread which can spike it. The way I achieved the drop was by increasing my basal to 50 units per day from about 10 units before, I've now dropped the basal to 35. Also note I have graves disease hyperthyroid but that's it remission and I am now actually on thyroxine as I have gone hypothyroid. I have increased the amount to 8 g per unit of insulin but if I have a carb load it will spike it to 14!
Hi after I provided him with the data, however the results can be skewed rather as I will test more if I feel odd or there have been extremes of range. Very much trying to keep a strict range but I can be prone to over correcting one way or the other
TheBigNewt
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20% hypo sounds like to many (I don't know where your program defines a hypo). Hypos do not damage the heart. They don't damage the brain. But they can result in injury and other bad events and are best avoided. Lowering your A1C from 7 to 6 will not affect neuropathy in any way. An A1C of 7 is something that not a lot of Type 1 diabetics achieve.
If insulin had nothing to do with D, but was for example a hair tonic it would be banned due to it's nasty side effect. I agree with all the above
phdiabetic
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A "low" HbA1c is fine if you are not having severe hypos, or spending a lot of time hypo, or often going low in your sleep. My endo is perfectly fine with my HbA1c in the low 5%'s (most recent 5.1), she also asks me about hypos and emphasises the importance of staying at a safe level. 20% of the time hypo is very concerning in my opinion - you are spending far too much time at an unsafe level, and it is very easy for a mild hypo to become a much worse one without you noticing. I spend almost 100% of my time above 4.0, obviously you can't stop every hypo, but it is definitely possible to stop them before they get too dangerous. Work on reducing that 20% first of all.
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I agree. I had awesome HbA1C results while I was pregnant with my two children. I also had several severe go to the hospital hypos and reached the point where I had no hypo awareness when napping. This was fine for two lots of 9 months (I had a very good support network of friends) but no good for long term life afterwards. I'd actually rather keep my blood sugar a bit higher and avoid the hypos. My eye doctor also doesn't like quick changes in blood sugar, so is not a hypo fan. I recently had a year where I got my HbA1C down to 6.5, but it was accompanied by lots of hypos (mild but not severe, but even so, too many). My specialist recommended me to drastically reduce my basal lantus and it has helped a lot.
In the end, you know your own body, but 20% below 4 does sound a lot. (Unless you're getting this figure from a libre, which in my experience can under read dramatically!)
My data readings are slightly distorted I record on average 6 times a day just using test strips not yet convinced about libre yet and am ocd about recording, always when first wake up and before meals and then when I dont feel right hence being 20% below 4 is probably higher than actual time spent in hypo as I jump all over extremes of range, this seems to work for me and I am a trained biochemistry graduate so data recording is important to me. What I need to do is be even more regimental with my recording ie before a meal then 2 hrs after and recalculate my insulin carb factor, and my correction factor based on the 450/500 rule,with basal being approx 50-60% of the total insulin taken and then adjust for the glycemic index of certain foods eg need to take more for bread. Since being advised by my end and dietician that I'm taking too much insulin I have reduced my hypos to just 2 a week rather than 10 actual recordings below 4 but my range has increased and a few times have woken up at 14 which wasn't happening before was more like 8 Max first thing, and surely a wider range is less good in the matter of cardio disease I am 50 13 stone and with a cholesterol of 3.9 on stations but also have graves hyperthyroidism but am actually on thyroxine as I am now subclinical hypo thyroid so as u can see there are lots of variances affecting the overall position, and I am also prone to burn out so I have to reduce my over thinking of the matter and so if I feel fine in a day when I fast my blood sugar will be flat lining all day at about 5-6 which shows that my basal dosage must be about right
