HBA1C update plus a question

sno0opy said:

Hi all,

So, I had my latest HBA1C test come through at 33 again, so that’s stayed consistent since the last one was done on November (also 33) and massively down form my original of 87 in August.

Good times!

I was slightly worried about this one as I have cut my metformin down by half and relaxed my diet a bit. Still strict but have been allowing the odd bit of whole wheat noodles and other such things to creep in small portions. Bloods always looked good after (apart from the day I made cakes for the office but the less said about that day the better).

Now, my question to come with my good news is that I have an opportunity to maybe get some testing done as I have a consultant appointment in May. Because I was fairly young with a fairly high number to begin with, they put me into a clinic at the hospital so I can skip some of the local GP staff who I have found to be a little variable to say the least.

So, I’m wondering if there are any tests that I could talk about that would be useful to help understand the status of my condition. Really, I would like to understand how much inulin im producing, if im using it effectively and what I look like vrs a none diabetic? Does any one have any suggestions for testing that have had done that may be useful, I suspect Im going to have to produce an argument for why it would be useful other then “peace of mind”.

Cheers

Snoopy

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My question (and maybe that of your Doc) would be, and what exactly do you intend to do with any results?

So, what do you hope to achieve? You can have a fasting insulin test done, along with a fasting glucose test and calculate your insulin resistance score, but to be honest, that's quite an expensive snapshot, and it can change quite rapidly, and is influenced by many factors.

Coincidentally, I had mine done yesterday, because I could, and because it was very cheap where I am now. This was my second time, having also had it done almost exactly a year ago.

You could have a c-peptide test done, but I'd wish you luck persuading your Doc to sponsor that one. It's a bit more expensive and not all labs process it.

You seem concerned you've made a few changes. If you are self testing regularly, you'll have a sense of how things are going, and if in 3 months, or whatever, things have gone a little in the wrong direction, the new you can tweak things.

You are trying to find a regime that suits you long term, so life won't always go in the the same direction. Over time, most folks' A1c shuffles a bit. At one stage I though the lab were playing games with me as I had had a series I'd 31<> 33 <> 31 <>33.

Yes, of course you should ask your doctor to explain things and raise any concerns you have but I doubt the NHS will sponsor satisfying your curiosity unless you have a robust argument for it.

Good luck with it all.

sno0opy said:

Thanks, i mean what i would like to understand if it is possible, to know if I’m doing well because my diet is well controlled, or if my weight loss and exercise has resulted in dropping insulin resistance.


I don’t know if my pancreas is knackered and thus I will be on the diet for the rest of my life irrelevant of how far I push the weight loss etc, of if it’s a matter of weight management, activity reversing some of the resistance and my pancreas is ok enough that if I maintain my weight or loose a bit more I could process more carbs.


I don’t plan on going back to where I was, but it would be good to know one way or another if my bloods went high because of increasing insulin resistance, decreasing insulin production or both.


Not sure if that makes sense, both options I can draw a line under things and resign to move on with my life. If my pancreas is ok, or ok enough I will keep pushing hard for further weight loss and get into peak condition because a reward for that will be access to some foods I love. If its knackered and im on the border of a long term creep towards worse results then I need to consider a lower carb diet and not focus on the weight loss.


To be honest, its one part of the whole process I don’t really understand, nor understand if its possible to know. I just deal with the things I can control heh

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You can find out if you are still producing insulin, although whether your a Doc will sponsor that whilst you appear to be doing well would be a different query altogether. On the other hand, nobody can tell you what will happen in the future, with any degree of certainty. There are too many indeterminable factors, even without brining in fate and other, unrelated health conditions any of us might bump into on our life path.