Type 1: What are your HbA1c test results?

[Hippo123]

I am new to all this what is a H test my HBa1c was 53 when i saw consultant last week.

Mine was 63 last year - been type 1 41 years will get it checked next week again.
Mags

 

[Nobby247]

154 mmol 16.2%

 

[Ink]

Mine was 63 last year - been type 1 41 years will get it checked next week again.
Mags

I have been a diabetic 54 years type 1 my HBA1C 49

 

[Luke2]

My hba1c was 49 in June.

Diagnosed with type 1 in January and hba1c of 128.

97% in target range and 3% highs - average carbs of 250-300g a day.

Libre now shows hba1c around 40.

Very pleased with myself!

 

[rubypops]

Just received 7.0% today - the lowest I’ve had in 32 years of diabetes

 

[jaywak]

My hba1c was 49 in June.

Diagnosed with type 1 in January and hba1c of 128.

97% in target range and 3% highs - average carbs of 250-300g a day.

Libre now shows hba1c around 40.

Very pleased with myself!

My team gave me a right rolicking when my hba1c went down to 46 and said I was keeping a too tight control ,

 

[Antje77]

My team gave me a right rolicking when my hba1c went down to 46 and said I was keeping a too tight control ,

It depends.
If you have a lot of hypos it will lower your hba1c as well, but it isn't healthy and it can be dangerous. In that case it may be worth aiming for a bit higher. But if don't go below range a lot, there's nothing wrong with a lower hba1c.
Nowadays with CGM's, the time in range should be taken into account as well as hba1c and quality of life dealing with diabetes.
My endo is happy with my hba1c in the mid 30's, but only because my CGM shows her I'm below 4 only about 2% of the time, and most of those don't go lower than mid to high 3's.

 

[Grant_Vicat]

My team gave me a right rolicking when my hba1c went down to 46 and said I was keeping a too tight control ,

Whose life is it anyway? Those are really impressive results @jaywak

 

[jaywak]

Whose life is it anyway? Those are really impressive results @jaywak

Exactly , I don't pay too much attention to them nowadays after 50 years I think I know my own body but have to be grateful that without their help I might not have made it .

 

[Luke2]

My team gave me a right rolicking when my hba1c went down to 46 and said I was keeping a too tight control ,

Funny you should mention this as my hba1c a couple weeks ago came back as 40

Looking at my libre data I’m less than 3.9 for 1% of the time and even then it’s usually no less than 3.5ish. I’m in range 96% of the time and above 10, 3% of the time.

I’ve done so much testing since I was diagnosed with basal and bolus rates I’ve got it dialled in. I literally eat what I want, when I want now (maybe not a big bag of haribo )

 

[Prancy]

Just received 7.0% today - the lowest I’ve had in 32 years of diabetes

To what do you attribute your success?

 

[rubypops]

To what do you attribute your success?

I am preparing for IUI to become a single mother. It is a requirement to have an hba1c of a close to 6,5 as possible, and blood sugars between 3.6 (64) and 6.3 (140) over 70% of the time. I am finding it incredibly difficult. I’m not sure I would call it “success” as emotionally it’s been pretty draining. I sobbed during my endocrinologist appointment last week when she told me I was a “suboptimal diabetic”.

However, getting there little by little. The two changes that have most helped me to lower my hba1c are as follows:

- I am cutting out almost all carbohydrates. Potatoes are fine; bread, rice and pasta have gone. (As have any spontaneous snacks, and a beer on Friday. Life has become rather restrictive!)

- I wait half an hour after injecting before I eat.

I would like to know how so many people here talk about eating whatever they like and maintaining a TIR of over 90% with such ease. My blood sugars are incredibly sensitive and I can go off the charts just by eating a few extra grapes with my morning snack, or one potato too few/many with dinner.

Any advice welcome.

Thank you

 

[rubypops]

Funny you should mention this as my hba1c a couple weeks ago came back as 40

Looking at my libre data I’m less than 3.9 for 1% of the time and even then it’s usually no less than 3.5ish. I’m in range 96% of the time and above 10, 3% of the time.

I’ve done so much testing since I was diagnosed with basal and bolus rates I’ve got it dialled in. I literally eat what I want, when I want now (maybe not a big bag of haribo )

Hi Luke, could you see my message that I posted just now in the group and offer me some recommendations? I’d love to know how you manage to eat whatever you want and maintain such an outstanding TIR.
Thank you!

 

[Prancy]

I am preparing for IUI to become a single mother. It is a requirement to have an hba1c of a close to 6,5 as possible, and blood sugars between 3.6 (64) and 6.3 (140) over 70% of the time. I am finding it incredibly difficult. I’m not sure I would call it “success” as emotionally it’s been pretty draining. I sobbed during my endocrinologist appointment last week when she told me I was a “suboptimal diabetic”.

However, getting there little by little. The two changes that have most helped me to lower my hba1c are as follows:

- I am cutting out almost all carbohydrates. Potatoes are fine; bread, rice and pasta have gone. (As have any spontaneous snacks, and a beer on Friday. Life has become rather restrictive!)

- I wait half an hour after injecting before I eat.

I would like to know how so many people here talk about eating whatever they like and maintaining a TIR of over 90% with such ease. My blood sugars are incredibly sensitive and I can go off the charts just by eating a few extra grapes with my morning snack, or one potato too few/many with dinner.

Any advice welcome.

Thank you

You know to say suboptimal….omg. That really bothers me. How dare a medical professional use that kind of language to a patient who has literally saved their own life for over 30 years. It’s inexcusable. Hold your head high! Many could not do what you do. The goal of healthcare professionals is to aid them with support. This is why some patients avoid seeing their doctor. I’m fortunate that no matter how poor my management was, my doctors encouraged and supported me. No negativity.

Best of luck with achieving your goals!

I struggle too and have for over 20 years. I’ve had a few 6 range a1c results, but not many, Pump therapy has been a huge improvement for me. Hope to be back into 6 range again on next a1c. Or close.

 

[Hopeful34]

I would like to know how so many people here talk about eating whatever they like and maintaining a TIR of over 90% with such ease.

I'm so sorry you've been treated in this way. Well done on the steps you've taken to lower your hba1c. Did the endocrinologist have any advice to increase your TIR?

As far as TIR goes, the normal target for T1D (apart from those trying for a baby or already pregnant) is for blood sugar levels between 3.9 and 10, so it's much easier
than the target range you've got to work with.

Are you on an insulin pump, and which insulin are you using?

 

[Marie 2]

@rubypops I am one of those that is a very well controlled type 1. I average an A1c of 32-34. TIR 96%. But I am retired and have had type 1 for over 20 years. When I was working I was around a 44 A1c. What I can do is different from what you can. Just because I can, doesn't mean you, your body and your life allows you to do the same. It takes learning and experience and even then circumstances and health and who knows what can effect control. You do the best that you can.

Always remember we can all be very different and BG levels are affected by so many different things. The doctors and help team tell you what works for a majority of people and a very general set of guides. But that isn't necessarily what will work best for you and your circumstances.

I do eat what I want, I am a vegan and generally eat pretty healthy. The things that have helped me the most, a cgm and prebolusing. Some things require more experience and work. Rice throws my numbers off easily and yes a grape will raise my BG level. One maybe not much, but 5 yes. So if I want 5 grapes I prebolus. You can say to heck with it, but experience tells me I will go up and then wait to come down. That takes extra insulin than taking it before and waiting. And grapes are a great low sugar treatment because they hit the system pretty quick. Prebolusing timing is different for grapes than sprouted bread.

And really that is what eating and dosing is all about... learning how you are affected by what foods you eat. Don't beat yourself up about it. No one asks to be a type 1 and it takes extra work to be one that others don't have to worry about or really have a true concept of what it's like. If you have a goal you are aiming for, especially in a certain time frame. Maybe start writing down, how much of a dose, how much time on a prebolus, and what food and how much you ate. Different foods respond differently, fat content prolongs digestion and can make you need more insulin as it causes some insulin resistance. A day I have some high fat foods even affects my needs the next day. A high exercise day affects how well my insulin is working. I have the luxury of getting on my exercise bike if my numbers start going up more than I want. That works to stop increases pretty quickly for me. So taking a look about what you are eating for a day, exercise etc to really understand what dosing is needed. It's not always easy. Even a few days of logs might help you a lot.

Don't fret it. Emotionally it can take a toll. Just focus on learning and when you take wrong turns, you chalk it up to learning. You just try the best you can.

 

[Luke2]

Hi Luke, could you see my message that I posted just now in the group and offer me some recommendations? I’d love to know how you manage to eat whatever you want and maintain such an outstanding TIR.
Thank you!

From what I’ve learned in the very short time that I’ve been diagnosed with type 1 (13 months) is that everyone is different.

Different sensitivity, different activity levels, different bodies! Unfortunately, there is no one size fits all. I do find how ‘active’ I am makes a huge difference.

These are a few of the things that I do to help maintain my TIR, keep my Hba1c pretty healthy and eat what I want:

- I’ve done extensive calculating in my bolus and basal ratios. This has been done at different times of the day based on activity levels.

- regarding the above - I inject the most for my breakfast, I do inject a fair bit for lunch, and the least I inject for is my tea.

- Pre bolus - I do this for everything, usually 25 mins if I’ve not been very active. 15 minutes if I’ve been active (gym/walk etc).

- High carb - I usually dump all my insulin at once. High fat/protein i usually split it 60% upfront and 40% after an hour.

- I count all carbs and use an app called ‘calorie counter’. This helps me log everything I’m doing, including exercise as it links to my Apple Watch. This can help identify more problematic food.

- If my levels rocket up after eating something I’ll usually think what it could be and try and eat that again but try different tactics, then keep doing it until I’ve nailed it.

- If I can see my levels going to the moon (I consider this anything over 10-11mmol) I will then try to go for a walk (I bought a walking machine for the winter) or even do some chores haha!

- I do weight training 3 times a week without fail. When I have a week or two off because of holiday I notice my sensitivity decrease to insulin.

- when you have days/weeks of poor control relative to yourself, I always find these as opportunities to learn. What has caused this? What can I do to change it?

- I avoided certain foods when diagnosed as reading information online kind of points you towards a low carb diet (which I hate). So, I decided to start adding different foods in gradually to see how I reacted and kept trying to ‘master’ those foods. I would absolutely advocate trying different foods to see how you react and how you can manage them with bolusing etc.

- what I will say is my early days of ‘lower carb’ diet I was still the same in terms of TIR as I am now and it hasn’t impacted my Hba1c. Now I eat on average circa 250/300g of carbs a day (sometimes more).

I don’t claim to be any form of expert, as I am a newbie to the world of diabetes. I do have an addictive personality and I’ve done stupid amounts of research. I’m now at a place where I can relax a bit more which is nice!

 

[ajnjie]

Finally on track after 15 years of T1 : Hba1c of 6.1% , 43
took the rest of the day off!

 

[rubypops]

I'm so sorry you've been treated in this way. Well done on the steps you've taken to lower your hba1c. Did the endocrinologist have any advice to increase your TIR?

As far as TIR goes, the normal target for T1D (apart from those trying for a baby or already pregnant) is for blood sugar levels between 3.9 and 10, so it's much easier
than the target range you've got to work with.

Are you on an insulin pump, and which insulin are you using?

Thank you for your reply. No, I’m not on an insulin pump and would rather not be. I am on Levemir and Novorapid, although they want me to switch from Novorapid to FIASP.

And no, certainly within the ten years I’ve been living in Spain I have never been given any useful advice by an endocrinologist. They generally tell me “do two more units of insulin a day” (which makes no sense and is dangerous advice), or they switch my type of insulin. This forum is 1000% more useful than my hospital appointments have ever been!

 

[rubypops]

From what I’ve learned in the very short time that I’ve been diagnosed with type 1 (13 months) is that everyone is different.

Different sensitivity, different activity levels, different bodies! Unfortunately, there is no one size fits all. I do find how ‘active’ I am makes a huge difference.

These are a few of the things that I do to help maintain my TIR, keep my Hba1c pretty healthy and eat what I want:

- I’ve done extensive calculating in my bolus and basal ratios. This has been done at different times of the day based on activity levels.

- regarding the above - I inject the most for my breakfast, I do inject a fair bit for lunch, and the least I inject for is my tea.

- Pre bolus - I do this for everything, usually 25 mins if I’ve not been very active. 15 minutes if I’ve been active (gym/walk etc).

- High carb - I usually dump all my insulin at once. High fat/protein i usually split it 60% upfront and 40% after an hour.

- I count all carbs and use an app called ‘calorie counter’. This helps me log everything I’m doing, including exercise as it links to my Apple Watch. This can help identify more problematic food.

- If my levels rocket up after eating something I’ll usually think what it could be and try and eat that again but try different tactics, then keep doing it until I’ve nailed it.

- If I can see my levels going to the moon (I consider this anything over 10-11mmol) I will then try to go for a walk (I bought a walking machine for the winter) or even do some chores haha!

- I do weight training 3 times a week without fail. When I have a week or two off because of holiday I notice my sensitivity decrease to insulin.

- when you have days/weeks of poor control relative to yourself, I always find these as opportunities to learn. What has caused this? What can I do to change it?

- I avoided certain foods when diagnosed as reading information online kind of points you towards a low carb diet (which I hate). So, I decided to start adding different foods in gradually to see how I reacted and kept trying to ‘master’ those foods. I would absolutely advocate trying different foods to see how you react and how you can manage them with bolusing etc.

- what I will say is my early days of ‘lower carb’ diet I was still the same in terms of TIR as I am now and it hasn’t impacted my Hba1c. Now I eat on average circa 250/300g of carbs a day (sometimes more).

I don’t claim to be any form of expert, as I am a newbie to the world of diabetes. I do have an addictive personality and I’ve done stupid amounts of research. I’m now at a place where I can relax a bit more which is nice!

Thank you very much for all this information, it’s very helpful. I’m very interested by this:

“High carb - I usually dump all my insulin at once. High fat/protein i usually split it 60% upfront and 40% after an hour.”

I’ve never heard of anybody doing this before (I always do the total amount of insulin prior to eating). Does this make a noticeable difference (apart from making you feel like a pincushion) and why do you think that is?