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Off mess

Tanmc

Well-Known Member
Messages
160
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Nurse has took me off metformin for two months and then will re test. I was diagnosed in October last year at 100 HBA1C then 38 in January then 37 April. I am finger testing between 8-12 each day Randomly. Sometimes I am hungry not long after eating and am also hitting a wall around 4pm becoming sluggish, tired, snappy and depressed
 
When i was reducing my BG levels I was finding that my levels dropped to late afternoon lows - I found that eating two meals a day at wide spaced times, with maybe 10 gm of carbs in the first meal rather than all protein and fat was the way to stop the roller-coaster. My BG levels went on rising all morning after a bacon and eggs type meal.
I was a bit lower in levels but your symptoms are similar.
 
Well done on your huge HbA1c reduction. I’m assuming as you’ve come off your meds that you are low carbing. It sounds like you maybe need a bit more fat with your meals to help you feel fuller for longer. Butter on your veggies or cream on your berries or in an after dinner coffee perhaps. I can easily resist snacking in the morning between breakfast and lunch, but like you get peckish around 4pm. I have a very low carb snack (Sugar free jelly or a high protein snack bar) with a black coffee to tide me over til dinner.
 
She has asked me to eat normally so she can get a true reading. She said normally they would not diagnose in one reading they did because I was 100. I just test at 10.7 before I have eaten so drank some water and jogged on the spot for 5 minutes then was 7.3?
 
What diet were you eating to get your HbA1c down from 100 to 37? Brilliant reduction BTW! It can’t have just been the Metformin alone that did that!
Why on earth does she want you to eat a normal diet to get a ‘true’ reading? While inevitably ruining your HbA1c reading and your health?!
 
I have been on no diet that's why she has asked me to not change anything. When she put me on metformin she said I didn't have to worry about what I ate. So I didn't. I ate like I normally would xx
 
Tanmc said:
She said normally they would not diagnose in one reading they did because I was 100.
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This is interesting. I am wondering if the first test result of 100 HbA1c was an error. Usually they repeat the test just to make sure it was accurate, no matter how high it was. I don't think I've ever seen someone have such a big drop with just Metformin and without major changes in what they are eating.

What is the purpose for having the next test? If I had a result like your last two results I think I would be on 6 monthly tests just to keep an eye on things.
 
I was tested over 2 days and finger prick tests were in the 20s then HBA1C was 100. I also have pernicious anemia and was due an injection. I have had this a few years.
 
Tanmc said:
I was tested over 2 days and finger prick tests were in the 20s then HBA1C was 100. I also have pernicious anemia and was due an injection. I have had this a few years.
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Ah, that makes some sense then. Sorry for assuming the HbA1c of 100 was your first result showing diabetes. I don't know enough about pernicious anaemia to know if it was having some effect. In any case, recent HbA1c tests are what's most relevant. When I blood test at home I usually only do the fasting test then before and 2 hours after a meal. Otherwise it confuses me. Your episodes of feeling unwell in the late afternoon might be caused by something else, I don't know. Good luck.
 
bamba said:
I think by "diet" @Rachox means what were you "normally" eating before.
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Yes that’s right I just meant what do you eat.
Tanmc said:
I was tested over 2 days and finger prick tests were in the 20s then HBA1C was 100. I also have pernicious anemia and was due an injection. I have had this a few years.
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So you had pernicious anaemia when you got the 100 HbA1c? Was your anaemia corrected when you got the HbA1c s in the 30s? Anaemia (a lack of usual numbers of red blood cells) will skew the HbA1c result. If your anaemia remains corrected then I can understand why the nurse wants you to stay eating what you are, indeed to get a true result.
 

I eat bred crisps fruit
 

How do you mean corrected. I get three monthly injections and was due in a weeks time
 
Tanmc said:
How do you mean corrected. I get three monthly injections and was due in a weeks time
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I mean when you had the normal HbA1cs in the 30s were you still anaemic? The nurse needs to check that you have a normal number of red cells at the time the HbA1c was taken to be able to draw conclusions about your blood sugars. However if you have to have regular injections for your anaemia then the HbA1c won’t be reliable. You need to request a different test for Diabetes. I think it’s called frutosamine but I’ll tag in @Bluetit1802 , as she knows more about this.
 
Ha ha of course I am just trying to say nothing is excluded
 
@Tanmc

People with anaemia can have very inaccurate HbA1c results. In some types of anaemia the HbA1c will be higher than it should be, and in some types of anaemia it will be lower than it should be. It all depends on the red blood cells and how long they live before the body renews them. If your anaemia is severe enough to warrant frequent injections, the HbA1c will never be reliable for you. As your home testing with finger pricks is showing high sugar levels and you are experiencing symptoms of high sugar levels, all I can suggest is that your two HbA1c results of 38 and 37 were falsely low. If I were you I would ask for the Fructosamine test and an oral glucose tolerance test. as these should show the true picture.
 
So how do I know if I have ever been properly medicated
 
Tanmc said:
So how do I know if I have ever been properly medicated
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You don't, unless you ask for and receive the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT - the one where you drink 75g of pure glucose and are tested before and after the drink) and hopefully a Fructosamine test, but these are rarely done because they are specialist tests and expensive. https://labtestsonline.org.uk/tests/fructosamine
 
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