MySugr app and its Hb1AC estimates

I thought I would put my own experience of estimating HbA1C via the glucose monitoring app MySugr. There has been a number of threads on this recently. But here are my own experiences to throw into the mix. I would be also interested to have feedback from those more experienced than me to suggest how I could get more realistic estimates from mySugr.

I was diagnosed with T2 3 months ago in mid July this year. At this time I was almost certain I was diabetic and had already been making big diet and exercise changes for some weeks. My initial HbA1C reading though was a scary 117. I was immediately put on 850 mg metformin twice a day and also went on a fairly strict regime of exercise and diet (in 3 months I have lost about 8kg and my BMI has gone down from 32 to 27.5).

I had taken my BG a few times before I got diagnosed and it was then around about 20 mmol/l (which is what got me to the doctor) . Some time after starting the metformin (early August) I started a regular monitoring of BG (using an Accuccheck Performa Nano) and tracking it with mySugr. Gratifyingly there was an immediate big drop in BG levels.

Now I am not totally consistent when I take my BG reading - I usually do it first thing (which is often the highest reading), and then typically between 2 - 6 times a day, usually before and after meals (after meals its usually 1.5 - 2 hours after eating). Typical readings have been 5.5 - 6.5 mmol/l with a few much higher (I found hard physical exercise shoots BG right up for a couple of hours) and some lower (down to 4.7). The mySugr estimated HbA1C has been pretty consistently in the high 30s (today its 36.5). I admit I was sceptical at this figure as this was such a huge drop in a few weeks from my initial 1A1C test at 117, but I WAS hoping for something in the non-diabetic range as I read on the forums here about how quite a few people found good correlations between the mySugr HbA1C estimates and the actual tests.

So I have now just had my first 3 month HbA1C test and the result has come through with a disappointing 51. Obviously it is great I have more than halved the reading from July but there is really a very big difference between this and the mySugr estimates. Now I am the sort of person who does like to monitor things - but clearly. I would like to get something closer to reality. Maybe I should take readings after meals much sooner? And maybe after having a snack? Suggestions?

Thanks @xfieldok @Rachox and @ChrissiStar for your helpful comments! In fact I have been inputting into MySugr pretty well every day except for the first two weeks following diagnosis (so 10 weeks in all) and I have just checked - I have 387 logs which averages about 5 readings a day. I still think that divergence from estimated and actual hb1AC (50% error) is pretty huge given this. I guess I will try and be more disciplined in my sampling (I like @Rachox's regime - I think easy to follow).

Here is a follow-up to my original post when I reported that MySugr was estimating my Hba1c ro be in the high to mid 30s but my HbA1c in mid October was 51. Since then I have been much more rigorous and frequent with my testing, as suggested on this forum, though I have also have reduced my carb input (previously I was on a low GI diet, now I have gone more-or-less keto, recently always less than 50 g carbs/day). MySugr is now reporting an even lower estimated HbA1C of 33.5. I have learnt that I do not appear to have big spikes. Even a backslide of eating pasta one evening some weeks ago pushed my BG to just 7.0 for a few hours. With these apparent contradictions I was sufficiently motivated to get a rather pricy (£47) private HbA1c test done exactly 2 weeks after my "official" one done via my GP. TThis second test had an HbA1C reading of 44 mmol/l compared to my 3 month GP check of 51. Now I initially thought this implied the GP test was possibly wrong, but on due reflection in my first 3 months my BG level came down by 5 mmol/l on average a week, so this might just be a natural reduction with a further two weeks of daily lower blood glucose. I live in hope that when I have my next official test (still well over 2 months away) that the mySugr and my HbA1C results are as close as the other posters here..

Updating this thread for the Greater Good:
Here is a summery of my Hb1AC:
117 - July 2019 (diagnosis)
51 - October 2019
44 - October 2019 (privately paid test done 2 weeks after previous one, as I did not trust the result - because of my own BG readings)
38 - January 2019 (results posted on my GPs web site yesterday - I am yet to meet nurse to discuss them)

I became much more rigorous about recording BG levels after interaction on this forum in October (as I did with the low-carbness of my diet). So while I am (obviously!) very pleased with my progress, the mySugr app has consistently estimated values for my HbA1C in the low to mid 30s - today's estimate is 34.2

I am not totally sure what to conclude from this other than in my case the mySugr application consistently underestimates my A1Cs which is different to most other people who have reported. It may be my recording is not rigorous enough or perhaps I have more spikes than are typical. One thing I have found out relatively recently is that vigorous exercise (of which I do quite a lot) sends my BG right up (maybe 2 points up). Maybe I should be recording this?

Anyhow, having said all, in my case I have really learnt the importance of self testing and am very relieved dietary control has worked so well for me.

xfieldok said:

How many times a day are you entering data? You can record exercise in mysugr.

Click to expand...

@xfieldok I record typically 4 - 7 times a day and I HAVE now started recording exercise, but this is recent. But (thanks to other forum posters)I have realised what is significant is WHEN you record. First thing in the morning is easy, doing it before eating and 2 hours later is much more tricky when you are working and have other distractions (and I confess I am much better at remembering 1 hour after a meal rather than 2 hours).