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

How could I get an HbA1c reading without going through my DSN?

S

Sosgez

Well-Known Member
Messages
54
Location
HULL
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Being bitten by cats. And women.
My DSN thinks I only need to do it once a year. I would like to know 2-4 times more often, to see if dietary changes are having an effect. I don't have access to test sticks either, but that doesn't bother me.
 
Hello, I have no information on getting hba1c without your dsn but I get hba1c done twice a year and I’m type 1. I think your best bet is to get a blood meter because hba1c is just a 3 month average, it doesn’t tell you when you spike from foods etc.
 
There are some private medical firms that will do an HbA1c by post. Someone may come along with the information on this.

However, if you bought your own meter and strips you wouldn't need so many HbA1c tests. You would know exactly what your blood glucose is like each time you test and whether you are on track or not, and know which foods are good or not so good for you personally.
 
I have a meter but no access to strips. Daily readings are not useful to me.
I've seen private HbA1c tests going for £78, but that's not possible either.
 
Rachox said:
.. they aren’t following the guidelines!
Click to expand...
You're a star!!! Thank you for that. I shall mention it to my doc next time.

I'm in a funny situation. I just had an Ophthalmologist meeting and without using the actual words, I think they wish my Hb was much lower. (44 last month.) But I said the DSN tells me my BG is controlled, and mediation is not required. I don't think he wanted to actually dispute that, in front of me.

I would like to try a different diet for 3 months and see if it can be dropped back to say 34. But I won't know if its worked until next January.

Meanwhile, it looks like I've acquired another morbidity to my collection, nothing to do with T2D.
 
Sosgez said:
I have a meter but no access to strips. Daily readings are not useful to me.
Click to expand...

Why are they not useful to you? You can see instantly what your food choices have done to you if you test before a meal and 2 hours after first bite. Keeping a food diary and recording your levels alongside your food you will very soon see whether your diet is suitable, and which foods you can reduce or eliminate. To be honest, a meter is the best tool most of us have, and the majority of us could not manage without one.
 
Sosgez said:
My DSN thinks I only need to do it once a year. I would like to know 2-4 times more often, to see if dietary changes are having an effect. I don't have access to test sticks either, but that doesn't bother me.
Click to expand...
It says in your profile insulin dependant, so you should have strips and a meter supplied.

As for blood tests I ask my GP for them every three months.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Why are they not useful to you? You can see instantly what your food choices have done to you if you test before a meal and 2 hours after first bite. Keeping a food diary and recording your levels alongside your food you will very soon see whether your diet is suitable, and which foods you can reduce or eliminate. To be honest, a meter is the best tool most of us have, and the majority of us could not manage without one.
Click to expand...

I don't vary the food I buy very often, and frequently repeat meals from day to day. All strip readings are likely to be in a sensible band, based on what I've seen in the past. I don't have hypos and am seldom abnormally high. I do keep a diary. The average BG is ,much more interesting to me than the daily fluctuations. It would be good to see the average drop a bit.

When money was no object, sometimes I'd do a strip reading every 15 minutes across a meal and afterwards. It can vary quite a bit from one to the next, so only taking one reading 2 hours afterwards wouldn't necessarily get the peak. It depends on what you eat. Under sampling is bad science. I'd love to have continuous sampling. Maybe that would become practicable one day.
 
I get my hba1c done at my GPs, when I phone to make an appointment they ask if the GP has requested the test, I say no, my hospital consultant has (which is completely true), but the GPs are quite happy to do my hba1c every 3 months anyway.
Is your DSN at your GPs? Could you ask your GP to authorise having the test more often?
 
@Sosgez - If you decide to pay for one, MonitorMyHealth is the NHS Exeter lab, providing private tests, using the lab in the quieter nights and weekends.

I haven't had an A1c test done by them, but have had a few Thyroid panels done. They are very simple to do and efficient.

https://monitormyhealth.org.uk/#

upload_2020-2-21_5-39-59.png
 
DCUKMod said:
If you decide to pay for one, MonitorMyHealth is the NHS Exeter lab, providing private tests, using the lab in the quieter nights and weekends.
Click to expand...
That's very useful to know, thanks for the link. But its still way beyond my means.
 
sleepster said:
I Is your DSN at your GPs? Could you ask your GP to authorise having the test more often?
Click to expand...
Yes, and yes that's the plan. But with 3-4 weeks between appointments and something worse than diabetes creeping up on me, it might not happen soon.
 
Back
Top