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

My best HbA1c to date

chrisjohnh

chrisjohnh

Well-Known Member
Messages
286
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Just had back my latest HbA1c test result which was 38, my best ever. Was diagnosed in Dec 2020 with a value of 74. No meds used. My regimen has been mostly around 2000-ish daily cals, 3 miles daily fast walks and 130-150g daily carbs. However, GP has noted my total cholesterol has risen to 6.1 from 5.2 three months ago so may try to steer me towards statins. My triglycerides however are rock bottom at 0.5 and my HDL is above the top end of the normal range. Would appreciate comment on this, eg from @bulkbiker?
 
Up to you.. full disclosure.. in my view statins provide little benefit to anyone apart from the shareholders in the companies that made then the most profitable drug in history (for the time being).

My total is always fairly high (last one was 7) but I don't worry about it in the slightest.

Seems I have trained my doc to think the same too!



Screenshot 2023-01-19 at 12.57.31.png
 
chrisjohnh said:
Just had back my latest HbA1c test result which was 38, my best ever. Was diagnosed in Dec 2020 with a value of 74. No meds used. My regimen has been mostly around 2000-ish daily cals, 3 miles daily fast walks and 130-150g daily carbs. However, GP has noted my total cholesterol has risen to 6.1 from 5.2 three months ago so may try to steer me towards statins. My triglycerides however are rock bottom at 0.5 and my HDL is above the top end of the normal range. Would appreciate comment on this, eg from @bulkbiker?
Click to expand...
Have you lost any weight in the recent past? That can muddle the lipids for a while.
 
bulkbiker said:
You might find this interesting

jamanetwork.com

Statins and All-Cause Mortality in High-Risk Primary Prevention: A Meta-analysis of 11 Randomized Controlled Trials Involving 65 229 Participants

Background Statins have been shown to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality among individuals with clinical history of coronary heart disease. However, it remains uncertain whether statins have similar mortality benefit in a high-risk primary prevention setting. Notably, all systematic...
jamanetwork.com jamanetwork.com
Click to expand...
Many thanks for this pointer, I will study with interest. There are so many papers out there, so many studies and meta-studies and meta-meta-studies, with many varied pronouncements. How did you reach your own position on the subject given all the conflicting evidence? I think I’ll take the same position as yours but would wish to know why!
 
AndBreathe said:
Have you lost any weight in the recent past? That can muddle the lipids for a while.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the interest - no, my weight is exactly as 3 months ago and I have varied nothing in the slightest regarding eating, exercise etc. Are lipid results volatile? That is, could they be quite different the next day?
 
chrisjohnh said:
Many thanks for this pointer, I will study with interest. There are so many papers out there, so many studies and meta-studies and meta-meta-studies, with many varied pronouncements. How did you reach your own position on the subject given all the conflicting evidence? I think I’ll take the same position as yours but would wish to know why!
Click to expand...

This thread kind of sums up what I think

Cholesterol and Statins

There are always a lot of threads about Statins and Cholesterol and we all post our various favourite bits of current presentations about them but I thought it might be handy to have them all in one thread. I meant to put this together soon after the get together in Birmingham (sorry @Debandez)...
www.diabetes.co.uk www.diabetes.co.uk
 
chrisjohnh said:
Just had back my latest HbA1c test result which was 38, my best ever. Was diagnosed in Dec 2020 with a value of 74. No meds used. My regimen has been mostly around 2000-ish daily cals, 3 miles daily fast walks and 130-150g daily carbs. However, GP has noted my total cholesterol has risen to 6.1 from 5.2 three months ago so may try to steer me towards statins. My triglycerides however are rock bottom at 0.5 and my HDL is above the top end of the normal range. Would appreciate comment on this, eg from @bulkbiker?
Click to expand...

Hi- they say statin can cause diabetes - I know you have it and can control by diet but statin could make it worse
 
bulkbiker said:
This thread kind of sums up what I think

Cholesterol and Statins

There are always a lot of threads about Statins and Cholesterol and we all post our various favourite bits of current presentations about them but I thought it might be handy to have them all in one thread. I meant to put this together soon after the get together in Birmingham (sorry @Debandez)...
www.diabetes.co.uk www.diabetes.co.uk
Click to expand...
Terrific, thank you!
 
chrisjohnh said:
Just had back my latest HbA1c test result which was 38, my best ever. Was diagnosed in Dec 2020 with a value of 74. No meds used. My regimen has been mostly around 2000-ish daily cals, 3 miles daily fast walks and 130-150g daily carbs. However, GP has noted my total cholesterol has risen to 6.1 from 5.2 three months ago so may try to steer me towards statins. My triglycerides however are rock bottom at 0.5 and my HDL is above the top end of the normal range. Would appreciate comment on this, eg from @bulkbiker?
Click to expand...
Hi, and congratulations.

After I started 20g/day at first my total cholesterol went up: then it fairly rapidly came down. I think it was about 6 in summer 2022, not that I pay it any attention. Unfortunately my GP practice can't grasp that it's falling and assume the higher reading from 2020 is the most recent. I've had to point out the time sequence twice now, while they're looking at the figures on the screen. Keep being offered statins, keep refusing.
 
Excellent HbA1c result, reminds me that I should book my checkup as well.

When did you eat last before the test? While for HbA1c fasting is not relevant, some here find that for cholesterol the results are better when not having eaten on the day. Personally I want to have tests always under the same conditions, so I always go without eating for lab tests.
My cholesterol has been reducing overall with HbA1c coming down and it fluctuates by the same amount as yours increased. So I suggest to look at the previous values and waitfor your next test before you decide if there is a trend.

BTW how do you get lab tests every months? I've been told not to come back until called once per year.
 
It is only on things like Twitter, but a fair few reports appear that a repeat analysis of data from testing done a couple of decades ago, the findings of which are what is now considered gospel truth, does not show what was claimed.
Some show a slight reverse of what was claimed - and there are also people who appear to be medical experts reporting that following the accepted treatment guidelines was not providing any positive outcomes for their patients.
Some doctors who publicly pointed out these findings were threatened and even struck off for doing so - but there are ever more claims of outright lies being paid for.
 
Lupf said:
Excellent HbA1c result, reminds me that I should book my checkup as well.

When did you eat last before the test? While for HbA1c fasting is not relevant, some here find that for cholesterol the results are better when not having eaten on the day. Personally I want to have tests always under the same conditions, so I always go without eating for lab tests.
My cholesterol has been reducing overall with HbA1c coming down and it fluctuates by the same amount as yours increased. So I suggest to look at the previous values and waitfor your next test before you decide if there is a trend.

BTW how do you get lab tests every months? I've been told not to come back until called once per year.
Click to expand...
Thank you, and you raise an interesting aspect. This latest test was done only about 45 minutes after breakfast whereas previous ones have been at least 2 hours after. When next tested I will allow a good interval. Thank you for pointing this out. You ask about my test frequency. My NHS surgery does my blood and urine testing six-monthly, and I pay to have intermediate tests done just of HbA1c at a private clinic, so the HbA1c gets tested every 3 months. The private tests cost me £100 a time.
 
Resurgam said:
It is only on things like Twitter, but a fair few reports appear that a repeat analysis of data from testing done a couple of decades ago, the findings of which are what is now considered gospel truth, does not show what was claimed.
Some show a slight reverse of what was claimed - and there are also people who appear to be medical experts reporting that following the accepted treatment guidelines was not providing any positive outcomes for their patients.
Some doctors who publicly pointed out these findings were threatened and even struck off for doing so - but there are ever more claims of outright lies being paid for.
Click to expand...
A shocking thought indeed.
 
chrisjohnh said:
A shocking thought indeed.
Click to expand...
Agree...but once you start looking into the claims made at the time, and by whom & those that stood to benefit...

Not unlikely, sadly :(

Decades of denial by the pro smoking lobby
Decades of denial by the pro nuclear lobby re soldiers

And recently decades of denial by oil companies over climate change.

All done at the people's/planets expense to protect revenue streams.

Products may change but the tactics remain the same .
 
chrisjohnh said:
Thank you, and you raise an interesting aspect. This latest test was done only about 45 minutes after breakfast whereas previous ones have been at least 2 hours after. When next tested I will allow a good interval. Thank you for pointing this out. You ask about my test frequency. My NHS surgery does my blood and urine testing six-monthly, and I pay to have intermediate tests done just of HbA1c at a private clinic, so the HbA1c gets tested every 3 months. The private tests cost me £100 a time.
Click to expand...
I always have bloods done as early as possible, fasted. My naughty old GP sometimes slips in the odd thyroid, or lipids or whatever might be due in the next few months. That way I have half a chance of consistently comparable results.
 
Back
Top