Stress, Medications (including Stains and Steroids), Lack of Sleep, Infection etc. can all raise Blood Glucose. But if they are only short term, then they won't distort an HbA1C figure too much.
What was your HbA1C originally? Has it come down since then, or has it not been tested since you tried Low Carb?
How are you managing Low Carb, since what we can and can't eat without spiking our Blood Glucose varies considerably from person to person. I find it best to use a Blood Glucose meter and test the effect of different foods on me by testing before eating and then 2hrs after first bite. Looking for both: 1. A spike of less than 2.0 mmol and 2. Trying to keep the after a meal number below 7.8 or 8.0 mmol.
There are 2 meters available which have cheap test strip (around £8 for a pot of 50). The cost of the strips is the main cost when used to find the right diet for you. The meter I use is the Tee" from Spirit Health. The other one used to be called the SD CodeFree, but that has been replaced and I don't recall the name of the new version.
