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Latest Hba1c

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pickledpepper2

Well-Known Member
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129
Don't know what to say about this.......


Been T2 for 2 years now my hba1c on diagnosis was stonking 15.1 (I know!!), this was in May 2010. At that time I had lost A LOT of weight and after reading this forum I very quickly went low to no carbs. This then I have been steadily getting slack, nothing too drastic but having biscuits here and there etc. but generally keeping it (at least) low(ish) carbs. The Hba1c story goes thus:

May 2010 - 15.1 (diagnosis)
Sept 2010 - 5.8
June 2011 - 5.6
Dec 2011 - 5.7
May 2012 - 5.9

Am I seriously slacking off? Since diagnosis I have put more than a stone of weight back and I work out most of the week. I've filled out a bit and aren't the exhausted rake I was for a good while after diagnosis. But all of that progress seems to be contradicted by the Hba1c which is going the wrong way??

Most forums seem to feel my latest figure is high, my doctor (who seems to be slowly becoming demented, poor women) seems to think it's fine? I don't know how much I should worry?

My cholesterol is a monkey though and is in the 6s. Statins brings it down drastically very quickly but turns me into an imbecile with muscle aches.

Care to share any thoughts on the matter?
 
I think your HbA1c is well within the limits of what I would consider 'fine'... to be honest everyone finds a balance in their control and that's not only the amount of carbs that you eat but also psychologically!

I would keep an eye on the 'diet' and the HbA1c but the main thing is that your happy within yourself about your control and lifestyle.
 
Hi Pickle

You're HBA1c is no doubtedly on an upward trend, however, each of the reading in isolation since diagnosis are enviable to many.

Re the slacking off, you know the answer to that. Is the upward slide due to an increase in carbs etc?.

If hand on heart it;s not - then see how it goes, meds may have to play a part down the line. if, it is. You have a choice - get back to the way you were or take the increase in BG as a side effect.

Re the statins - soz, no use to you (not helpful I know)

Mary x
 
pickledpepper2 said:
Most forums seem to feel my latest figure is high, my doctor (who seems to be slowly becoming demented, poor women) seems to think it's fine? I don't know how much I should worry?

Care to share any thoughts on the matter?
Click to expand...

Firstly, I don't care what "most forums say", they're wrong, 5.9% is an excellent score for any diabetic. You can't get there without a great deal of deliberate effort. Well done.

I think that it's about sustainability. You could cut out the biscuits, and drive your HbA1c to 5.5% or even lower. If you did that would it make you happy? Would it give you more pleasure than the occaisional chocolate hobnob?

Everyone has to make a judgement over risk vs reward. If you think that a 5.5% (say) would significantly reduce your chance of complications, then you need to judge whether that reduction in risk is worth the pleasure of a more varied diet.

We could all probably go lower if we cut more and more things out of our diet. You seem to have found a nice balance between a good HbA1c and a nice enough diet. Diabetes is forever, you have to have some fun along the way too.

(The other thing to note is that the small variations in your HbA1c are not all under your control. Some of them might be down to experimental error, or just other factors that have nothing to do with your diet).

Keep it up!

Stephen
 
Just to really expand on a point borofergie makes..

At the clinic today when I had my latest HbA1c done I was busy chatting away to the nurse (been going for so long we know each other well).. anyway I obviously distracted her with my incessant babble and rather than carry out the one test she put a sample of my SAME blood through two machines.. the first returned 29 mmol/mol and the second 31 mmol/mol (4.8% and 5.0% in old money)... so as you can see even the same sample of blood can return slightly different results in different machines.. I have read that two labs can vary by as much as 1% on the same sample of blood..

If I look back at my average blood glucose readings from my metre (around 12 / day) over the period of all my latest HbA1c's then there is very little difference in my long term averages... maybe 0.1 - 0.3 mmol/l over the periods.. yet my HbA1c ranges from 4.9% - 5.4%.. oddly the 4.9% does not correspond to the lowest average mmol/l readings I have other a 3 month period.

I would suggest your difference is more than likely just testing variation... nothing to worry about... Your doing a great job!
 
There are plenty of people on here who'd be very please with an HBA1C of 5.9 on diet alone. Don't knock it.
 
Pneu said:
she put a sample of my SAME blood through two machines.. the first returned 29 mmol/mol and the second 31 mmol/mol (4.8% and 5.0% in old money)...
Click to expand...

Just as long as you don't try and claim the 4.8% Pneu, cos the 5.0% was obviously the correct one.
 
borofergie said:
Pneu said:
she put a sample of my SAME blood through two machines.. the first returned 29 mmol/mol and the second 31 mmol/mol (4.8% and 5.0% in old money)...
Click to expand...

Just as long as you don't try and claim the 4.8% Pneu, cos the 5.0% was obviously the correct one.
Click to expand...

The DSN I see after nearly had a seizure when I got a 4.9% and spent a good 1/2 hour lecturing me on the risk of hypo's so I asked the testing nurse to put the 5.0% down... not that I didn't get a lecture but I think a 4.8% may have finished her off
 
To me, anything under 6 is excellent control representing minimal extra risk balanced with a decent lifestyle. Well done.
There isn't always rhyme or reason to the A1c anyway. I got to 5.9 three months after diagnosis. Best part of a year later, with BETTER average BGs, I got 6.0 I was so fed up I conned a repeat test the next week and got 5.9 again.
 
Yeah, I could knock it down further, but as alluded to previously, life gets grim.

I'm thinking, can I eventually get to a place where I've fixed my lifestyle a certain way and can then largely forget that I have this condition, instead of it preoccupying me so much?

Can I get back to having a normalish sort of life?, because this condition always has me worrying at the back of my mind - my eyes! my feet! heart attacks, strokes, thyroids blah blah blah

Need to get to place where I can 'chill' again. Maybe I am getting there?

But then what happens when it starts going 6 then 6.3 and then 6.5 will I be panicked and going overdrive again?

hhhmmmm.....
 
Agree with all the other posters. 5.9% is excellent and don't let anyone tell you otherwise :clap: . Anyone who gets a sub 6.5% HbA1c is working **** hard to do it. The key to all this is to pick a sustainable life style so if that means 5.9% instead of 5.whatever% pick 5.9% everytime. Remember research shows that within reason having stable BG's gives better outcomes even if the HbA1c of the person with stable BG's is slightly higher than someone with a lower but more spikey profile. Also remember that hBA1c is not the only factor that effects outcomes just as important if you believe the numbers are weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
 
pickledpepper2 said:
But then what happens when it starts going 6 then 6.3 and then 6.5 will I be panicked and going overdrive again?

hhhmmmm.....
Click to expand...

Then it's just like driving a car around the corner, you just make a series of small adjustments to stay on track. Fine tuning is easy, just don't do anything drastic and swerve off the road altogether.

Don't know how old you are pepp, but I hope that you'll have Diabetes for a very long time. There's bound to be good tests, there's bound to be bad tests, you just have to deal with them as they come along. I wouldn't sweat it.
 
hey Pickle.... don't let the numbers get to you. And as others have already said... your HbA1c is nothing to sneeze at. You're doing extremely well on diet alone.

Just remember this condition has so many angles to contend with... food alone isn't the be all end all. My doc goes on all the time to me about stress and it's impact on BGLs... and I know he's right as I've seen it plenty of times on my meter. :lol: I could go on about all the other factors... but I'm sure you don't need reminding.

Whatever you're doing... keep it up as it works for you.... be mighty proud of your HbA1c results... I've never been that low as a diabetic and I'd would love to see that number. I'm proud at 6.4% which is my lowest in years. :)
 
pickledpepper2 said:
Yeah, I could knock it down further, but as alluded to previously, life gets grim.

I'm thinking, can I eventually get to a place where I've fixed my lifestyle a certain way and can then largely forget that I have this condition, instead of it preoccupying me so much?

Can I get back to having a normalish sort of life?, because this condition always has me worrying at the back of my mind - my eyes! my feet! heart attacks, strokes, thyroids blah blah blah

Need to get to place where I can 'chill' again. Maybe I am getting there?

But then what happens when it starts going 6 then 6.3 and then 6.5 will I be panicked and going overdrive again?

hhhmmmm.....
Click to expand...
picklepepper, As much as we all want our readings in 4-6 range, I think we have to remember that many reports and findings are saying complications dont start until our Bg levels are 7.8 or above, ( Unfortunatly the NICE guide recomends 8.5 2 hours after a meal which is misleading) so you are well within that range. I think you are doing great, and remember, if you control your diabetes and dont let it control you, you can lead a normal life.
 
I was nterested in the timing of your HBA1Cs. Do you hav them at such irregular intervals for some reson. In order to really see a trend I imagine you would have to have themat shorter, more regular intervals. Oherwise its just a snapsho .{comparatively speaking} More frequent or more regular testing migh show a different picture. You might have gone higher and be coming down again now!

I am supposed to have 3monthly HBA1Cs to track the trends - ordered by the consultant but my Practice can't get heir heads round the concept.

Tesing at more regular, shorter intervals makes easier to remember any particular events which may have affected the outcome.

In any event , as everyone else has said you have no reason at all to be concerned. Those are excellent results. Don't stress abut it ! That can really affect your levels!

At least you are not becoming complacent! If i could achieve 5.9 without medication I should be celebrating! :)
 
Thanks guys. You are right, I should be glad, and as I'm stuck with this condition for life I guess I'll have plenty of time for 'cause and effect' type experiments with the diet.

I was nterested in the timing of your HBA1Cs. Do you hav them at such irregular intervals for some reson. In order to really see a trend I imagine you would have to have themat shorter, more regular intervals.
Click to expand...

On diagnosis the nurses initial idea was tests every 3 months until stability. This happened quicker than anyone thought (through anally retentive dieting on my part), so then it went to every 6 months. Though the labs somehow forget to do the hba1c (amongst the other tests) on one occasion - this was the Dec/Jan 2010 test, but if you look at the rest they are broadly 6 months apart. If I'm a a month or a few weeks early or late for these tests it doesn't bother me, so they are not exactly 6 months part but thereabouts.

Actually, so people know, originally I tested hardcore, even buying my own strips in bulk off ebay (like 5 packs!). This helped with control in a big way. But then the doctor went 'austere' on me and the financial situation didn't allow me to get my own, so the testing largely stopped (I get 2 x 50 strips a year i.e. a pack every 6 months and my doctor plainly told me I should happy for that too as she was under no obligation to give me any as I'm not on meds).

Although I resented it at first, I've now come to actually appreciate not testing in a compulsive manner (which I can easily do) and this probably plays a part in my rising hba1c. So now I even grab a Percy Ingles sausage roll when shopping (I love them)! Naughty but nice and as I walk about quite a lot when shopping (at least half an hour) and train quite frequently I hope any damage is minimised.

Now that it is summer again, the crunchy raw veg salads are back on the menu so I guess I'll benefit from that. My other vice are these peanut cookies from Sainsbury - love them too!

What REALLY helped me was a love of cooking, and the impact of the condition on this at first really demoralised and depressed me. But I have learned to adapt and do without certain carby ingredients and now it's all cool.

For instance tonight after training I will make some chicken vegetable stir fry (carrots strips, shredded cabbage, mushroom, onion, peppers) with Thai spices (Swartz in a little jar before you ask) and eat this. The only difference is that I'll have no rice.

I should be thankful because things aren't as grim as I thought they would be originally. lol
 
you're doing really well Pickle :D

The occasional treat is fine so I wouldn't worry too much about having one... life is to be lived. No need to use diabetes as an excuse to avoid life... we've enough to deal with. From what you've said you already have learnt to compensate anyhow which is exactly what I was taught to do.

How are your BGLs after eating onions? Personally I have found they can make my BGLs skyrocket.... so I watch my portion with onions. I did the low FODMAP diet previously and that was a diet to eliminate all fructose, lactose, and gluten from your diet. Onions is full of fructan (a type of sugar) and was excluded. When I found this out it made sense why I noticed my BGLs soaring after eating them. Salads are great... it's just a case of watching what you put in them. :)
 
Been a while since I posted. have now got more regular Internet access so will try and visit the forum more.

Anyways....

Here's the latest HBA1C. Still going upward, but ever so slightly. I don't obsessively low carb as I did on first diagnosis and I do have a drink a few times a week (Guiness or whiskey usually).

Hba1c = 6.2

Was 5.9 at the previous reading last year. Thought I'd pin this years reading onto last years post for continuity.

Hope you guys are all as well as can be given our circs.
 
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