Home HbA1c tests?

yolo85

Newbie
Messages
4
I wondered whether anyone has experience of using these and how reliable they are? I am supposed to have an annual HbA1c via my GP but they are not doing these kinds of routine tests at the moment due to Covid-19. My annual test is already six months overdue, so I am considering getting a home test. I know they are not supposed to be a substitute for a proper venous blood test but I figure a home test is better than nothing. Does anyone have any views on them? TIA
 

VashtiB

Moderator
Staff Member
Messages
2,283
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I don't know what they are like but I use the mysugr app and have found that pretty accurate. it also encourages me to keep tracking which I intend to do for a while. I think it would be too easy for me to carb creep and at the moment I want to lose weight and insulin resistance.
 

DCUKMod

Master
Staff Member
Messages
14,298
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I wondered whether anyone has experience of using these and how reliable they are? I am supposed to have an annual HbA1c via my GP but they are not doing these kinds of routine tests at the moment due to Covid-19. My annual test is already six months overdue, so I am considering getting a home test. I know they are not supposed to be a substitute for a proper venous blood test but I figure a home test is better than nothing. Does anyone have any views on them? TIA

yolo - I have used several A1cNow test kits, at various times, and for me, they are extremely accurate - within 0.1% of a lab test done on the same day. There was a gap of about an hour between the tests, getting home from the blood clinic toi doing the test at home, but that could only have a negligible impact, if any, given the nature of the tests.

Personally, when I was using them regularly, it was in a time when there were quite a lot of things changing in my life, and I was doing one a month, to ensure if things were changing, the changes weren't too rapid (if in the wrong direction). That strategy could have helped put mitigating steps into place if the direction of travel had been poor.

If you buy a single test, they are (per test) expensive, but on a multiple basis, the unti price comes down.

Alternatively, you could look at the likes of MonitorMyHealth, which is an organisation set up to do a range of blood tests, for a modest charge, using the NHS labs at Exeter, during "quiet hours". I have used them a few times for thyroid testing, rather than HbA1cs, but they are easy to deal with, extremely efficient and very much in line with expectation.

https://monitormyhealth.org.uk/

With them, a lab analysed HbA1c is £29. You take the finger prick blood at home, post it off, then slavishly watch your email over the next day or so. :)