• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

HbA1c

H

happykate

Member
Messages
13
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hello,
can anyone help me please. My husband was diagnosed with type 2 a few years ago.
He seems to be having a HbA1c test with the nurse every 6 months but never seems to get any feed back only what we Read on his medical records online. His reading came back as 88 mmol and i just checked the one he had in Dec and that was 84mmol.
The nurse or the doctor never seem to give any feedback or say anything to my husband so he continues to think it’s ok. I am right in thinking this is still a high reading?

Many thanks for reading this and advice or views would be great

Kate
 
happykate said:
Hello,
can anyone help me please. My husband was diagnosed with type 2 a few years ago.
He seems to be having a HbA1c test with the nurse every 6 months but never seems to get any feed back only what we Read on his medical records online. His reading came back as 88 mmol and i just checked the one he had in Dec and that was 84mmol.
The nurse or the doctor never seem to give any feedback or say anything to my husband so he continues to think it’s ok. I am right in thinking this is still a high reading?

Many thanks for reading this and advice or views would be great

Kate
Click to expand...
It is indeed - half that number would be good.
Does your husband eat a low carb diet? That seems to be the way to treat ordinary type 2, as it tends to reset everything back into fairly normal numbers.

To be left with numbers like that is not right.
I suggest taking matters into your own hands, getting a meter to test blood glucose levels and starting to change high carb foods for lower ones - assuming that you have not been advised to do that.
If the high numbers are persisting even with a low carb diet then it could be that it isn't type 2 at all, but something more interesting.
 
happykate said:
Hello,
can anyone help me please. My husband was diagnosed with type 2 a few years ago.
He seems to be having a HbA1c test with the nurse every 6 months but never seems to get any feed back only what we Read on his medical records online. His reading came back as 88 mmol and i just checked the one he had in Dec and that was 84mmol.
The nurse or the doctor never seem to give any feedback or say anything to my husband so he continues to think it’s ok. I am right in thinking this is still a high reading?

Many thanks for reading this and advice or views would be great

Kate
Click to expand...
It kind of sounds like they just gave up on their diabetic patients, and I pity every one of them in the practice. Why do a HbA1c every 6 months if no-one acts on it? Seriously, most of us get one done once a year. So, yes, that is high. Ideally he would be sporting a HbA1c of under 42. https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html might help some to get those numbers back to good. Wouldn't it be something to get his blood sugars back into the normal range, and them asking after the next HbA1c what happened... Well, certainly nothing they did!
 
Thank you all so much for your replies.

Because the surgery/ nurse never really say much apart from try and improve your diet and don’t forget the exercise my husband thinks it all ok, complete denial sometimes. I think he needs to hear it from someone at the practice and not just me.
I have never even heard them say it’s high but maybe they do when I haven’t been there.
my husband takes Metformin twice a day and Novonorm twice a day,mornings and evenings.


i am just looking back over the last 6 HbA1c results, the highest is 94 and the lowest Is 84.

He has been on the same medication for the last two years

Many Thanks
 
happykate said:
my husband takes Metformin twice a day and Novonorm twice a day,mornings and evenings.
Click to expand...
Novonorm (repaglinide) is a medication that stimulates insulin production. This means that it can cause low blood glucose.
So if he decides to adjust his diet and eat less carbs, he needs to be aware of this.
However, with a hba1c of 88, his average BG must have been around 13.5, so a long way from going too low.

Who is the one usually taking care of groceries and cooking? There are some adjustments that may be easily made which can help.

But to really make a difference, he needs to want to change things to feel better and reduce the risk of diabetic complications. You can't do it for him.

Another possible route is to have him talk to his nurse/doctor about his medication, have him ask why nothing is changed despite his numbers being consistently high.

Good luck!
 
Antje77 said:
Novonorm (repaglinide) is a medication that stimulates insulin production. This means that it can cause low blood glucose.
So if he decides to adjust his diet and eat less carbs, he needs to be aware of this.
However, with a hba1c of 88, his average BG must have been around 13.5, so a long way from going too low.

Who is the one usually taking care of groceries and cooking? There are some adjustments that may be easily made which can help.

But to really make a difference, he needs to want to change things to feel better and reduce the risk of diabetic complications. You can't do it for him.

Another possible route is to have him talk to his nurse/doctor about his medication, have him ask why nothing is changed despite his numbers being consistently high.

Good luck!
Click to expand...
Many Thanks for your reply. My husband is away with work a lot so I am afraid I have no input in that time.
I love to cook healthy food and very much into healthy eating so his time spent here I feel may be slightly healthier.
I completey agree with you, he has to want this and I can only do so much.

I don’t think he has ever taken his diagnosis seriously but I think it is a good idea for him to mention his medication and readings to the doctor. If the information and possible list of complication come from the horses mouth he may take things a little more seriously.

when he was diagnosed from a routine blood test he was just given metformin and sent on his way and has never really moved on from that.

Thank you again
 
happykate said:
Many Thanks for your reply. My husband is away with work a lot so I am afraid I have no input in that time.
I love to cook healthy food and very much into healthy eating so his time spent here I feel may be slightly healthier.
I completey agree with you, he has to want this and I can only do so much.

I don’t think he has ever taken his diagnosis seriously but I think it is a good idea for him to mention his medication and readings to the doctor. If the information and possible list of complication come from the horses mouth he may take things a little more seriously.

when he was diagnosed from a routine blood test he was just given metformin and sent on his way and has never really moved on from that.

Thank you again
Click to expand...
I agree with what's been said above.

One thing to watch out for though: what the NHS and media says is "healthy eating" is absolutely no good for T2 diabetics, in my opinion.

The official advice tells you (diabetic or not) to base all your meals around starchy carbohydrates which turn into glucose when digested, leading to high blood glucose levels). Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, sweets, cakes and pastry, and fruit are all high carb/sugar items and don't feature in my diet anymore. Result, a shift from diabetic levels of blood glucose to low-normal in four months. Other people have made much bigger reductions from higher starting levels.

Best of luck - he will have to decide for himself to do this, and some willpower is needed.
 
Could you persuade your husband to join the forum. I am sad to say that not all health professionals are up to date or knowledgeable about how to improve BG. the food they recommend as healthy for a non diabetic is often not helpful to the rest of us. BUT everyone on here has walked the walk and if he read around the forum he might be encouraged to grasp the nettle. Up to him oc.
 
Thanks again,

I did mention the forum to him but I can 100% say it’s not something he will come on. He does know I am here as I said I was worried about his results and needed some guidance and advice.
KennyA said:
I agree with what's been said above.

One thing to watch out for though: what the NHS and media says is "healthy eating" is absolutely no good for T2 diabetics, in my opinion.

The official advice tells you (diabetic or not) to base all your meals around starchy carbohydrates which turn into glucose when digested, leading to high blood glucose levels). Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, sweets, cakes and pastry, and fruit are all high carb/sugar items and don't feature in my diet anymore. Result, a shift from diabetic levels of blood glucose to low-normal in four months. Other people have made much bigger reductions from higher starting levels.

Best of luck - he will have to decide for himself to do this, and some willpower is needed.
Click to expand...
Many Thanks
 
PenguinMum said:
Could you persuade your husband to join the forum. I am sad to say that not all health professionals are up to date or knowledgeable about how to improve BG. the food they recommend as healthy for a non diabetic is often not helpful to the rest of us. BUT everyone on here has walked the walk and if he read around the forum he might be encouraged to grasp the nettle. Up to him oc.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your reply.
 
happykate said:
Thank you so much for your reply.
Click to expand...
Does he experience complications by any chance? Like, is he tired all the time? Tingling hands and feet maybe? Because that could be used as a motivator to get his diet sorted... With the medication he's on, he could indeed hypo when he changes things around far as eating goes, so it would be very, very wise to test a lot if he does. And something he might not know: A pancreas can get burned out. It doesn't 100% certainly happen, but it can. It's being forced to produce insulin, and it can happen that at some point, it just gets too tired and won't. Then it's hello, insulin injections, because you simply can't go without. It's a reason not to want to continue with these pills indefinitely, if one can avoid it.

Just some stuff to mull over. But yeah.. He has to want it. If he doesn't, that's it. Honestly though... I don't care a fig about myself, the only reason I went the diet route is because I didn't want to make my husband a young widower (I wasn't even 40 when I was diagnosed). I'd seen my uncle lose his legs, and I wasn't going to make my husband haul me in and out of bed or on and off the toilet. I did it for him. Now, amputations and the like aren't every diabetic's fate, but it got my b*tt into gear. I just couldn't do it to him.

Whatever happens, good luck with all of it. It's hard to get someone to listen when they really don't want to hear, and your doc doesn't seem much help in this so far... You're doing what you can, though. Whatever comes next, it's up to him.
 
Hello All,.
My husband has had his yearly foot check at the doctors where he was told his levels are far too high and they have increased his metformin and advised he goes on Statins.
we are both going to have a read up on this medication later. They have spoken in great detail about diet and exercise which has really helped.
looks like we may have moved on and finally got some help and advice.
Thank you all for your messages.

it does seem a lot of tablets to be taking but I guess he must need it.

Take care
 
happykate said:
Hello All,.
My husband has had his yearly foot check at the doctors where he was told his levels are far too high and they have increased his metformin and advised he goes on Statins.
we are both going to have a read up on this medication later. They have spoken in great detail about diet and exercise which has really helped.
looks like we may have moved on and finally got some help and advice.
Thank you all for your messages.

it does seem a lot of tablets to be taking but I guess he must need it.

Take care
Click to expand...
Statins can raise blood sugars... The best thing really would be a change in diet. (That would affect cholesterol too, actually).

He needs it... Yes... I guess. If he doesn't tackle his diabetes through diet. Then there's nothing else for it. But diabetes isn't considered a progressive condition for the fun of it. Just throwing medication at it isn't going to make it not progress, so far only a dietary change has been proven effective against that. Slow it down? Reverse it? That's not going to happen with medication only.

Maybe put Dr. Jason Fung's book The Diabetes Code in his hands. It's not some whack-jobs (like me) on the internet preaching their own personal gospel, it's an actual specialist who got people out of their weelchairs and off of insulin. Maybe now that his medication's being upped he might see the need to start taking this thing seriously. I sincerely hope so.
 
Back
Top