Type 1: What are your HbA1c test results?

[Antje77]

Is there a private health group (favoured by contributors here) that will check my HBA1C every three months, rather than letting me wait for the NHS annual check?

Have you talked to your endo or diabetes nurse to let them know you'd like to have your hba1c checked more often than once a year?
As far as I know, the NHS guidelines say every 3 months unless there's a reason not to. (I'm not in the UK but our guidelines are very similar. I only do once a year by choice, but this took a bit of work convincing my endo who'd prefer every three months or at least twice a year.)

Do you use a CGM? For me, the predicted hba1c isn't very accurate, but I find it a wonderful tool to see where I can adjust things.

As for having your hba1c checked privately, there are home tests available which you send to a lab.
I have no experience with these but I'll tag @AndBreathe for you, who has used them.
There must be a couple of threads on home tests as well but I can't find them. AndBreathe hasn't been around a lot lately, maybe @Rachox knows about them?

 

[Rachox]

Thanks for the tag @Antje77 , hi @Greymalkin , I have used a company called Thriva, just once for an HbA1c, but do plan to use them again. The results were really quick and their Dr writes a little paragraph about what they think of your results.

 

[Marie 2]

Is there a private health group (favoured by contributors here) that will check my HBA1C every three months, rather than letting me wait for the NHS annual check?

In the US you can buy a home testing kit on Amazon. I would think you can in the UK too.

 

[grantg]

As far as I know, the NHS guidelines say every 3 months unless there's a reason not to.

for type1 3-6 months if change in treatment can be more frequent.

care plan
Reviews 2 to 4 times a year of your HbA1c level, which is your average blood glucose level for the last 2 to 3 months
Appointments and tests
an HbA1c test every 3 to 6 months

above quote source from https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/type-1-diabetes/treatment/

nice guidelines also are every 3-6 months for adults with type1 diabetes

1.6.1
Measure HbA1c levels every 3 to 6 months in adults with type 1 diabetes. [2015]

1.6.2
Consider measuring HbA1c levels more often in adults with type 1 diabetes if their blood glucose control is suspected to be changing rapidly; for example, if their HbA1c level has risen unexpectedly above a previously sustained target. [2015]

source for above quote = https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng17/chapter/recommendations

twice yearly should be minimal according to nhs page, nice guidelines and indeed the notes recieved from sars request in the past for type1 no clue why sars gives a bunch of stuff out unncessary ... cost them a fortune to pay for postage (email would imo be better... much less cost to them)

 

[Greymalkin]

Thank you, all, for your replies and suggestions. I suspect that aside from uninterrupted supplies of insulin, test strips and (for the last two years) Libre sensors, my NHS care has been a bit superficial. I'm certain it was never, ever suggested to me that my HbA1c could or should be taken more often than annually.

I suppose that being active, diet-conscious and happily finger-pricking very regularly, I may have seemed to be largely self-sufficient in the eyes of the diabetes nurse I see every 12 months, especially compared with the many patients whose results aren't so good. Actually, when I look back at earlier results over ten years, my history is mixed at best, but that makes me keener than ever to keep things as near to perfect as I can make them.

I had heard of CGM-estimated HbA1c readings not aligning closely with the real thing when it is taken, but after my real reading of 5.4% last year, I was content to see my Libre steadily showing around 5.5%. Unfortunately that seems to have been optimistic this year. I'm not downhearted - just determined to do better.

Many thanks for Thriva suggestion, and the Amazon option...if I can't simply arrange three-monthly tests with my local health centre (Southampton seems extraordinarily over-stretched healthwise) I will do it myself.

Thanks again, to you all. Great forum.

 

[Antje77]

I suspect that aside from uninterrupted supplies of insulin, test strips and (for the last two years) Libre sensors, my NHS care has been a bit superficial.

but after my real reading of 5.4% last year, I was content to see my Libre steadily showing around 5.5%.

If whoever provides your care still uses % instead of mmol/mol, they do seem to be a bit slow to adapt to current guidelines.
In the UK, mmol/mol has been used since 2009, first alongside the 'new' units but hardly anyone uses % anymore.

 

[Prancy]

I’m in US and for my health insurance to cover my insulin pump supplies they require doctor visit, including notes and a1c every 3 months. My endocrinologist is booked up a year in advance so it’s a struggle. I get the blood work done at my primary doctor’s office when I can.

My latest a1c was last week and was 6.9. My doctor is satisfied with that, but I’d like closer to 6.0. I know I can do better.

 

[Greymalkin]

If whoever provides your care still uses % instead of mmol/mol, they do seem to be a bit slow to adapt to current guidelines.
In the UK, mmol/mol has been used since 2009, first alongside the 'new' units but hardly anyone uses % anymore.

I must set the record straight - my NHS record definitely shows my HbA1c in mmol/mol, not percentage. I tend to think in percentage because that's what the Libre displays. Perhaps the Libre can convert to show mmols? I haven't delved into the settings.

On a separate theme, has anybody worked out how to download the Libre app three-month log of readings and notes, on to another device for permanent storage? I find the Libre 2 logbook function extremely slow to load and limited in its depth of memory - after a very long wait, it only shows the past week's records. In theory I can see it should be possible to download 90 days, and very quickly. It needn't be wireless, I'm happy cabling the phone to the laptop. Thanks!

 

[Antje77]

Perhaps the Libre can convert to show mmols?

In the app, go to 'Settings' and you can change to mmol/mol, change your preferred range, and some more things.

On a separate theme, has anybody worked out how to download the Libre app three-month log of readings and notes, on to another device for permanent storage?

Go to https://www.libreview.com/ (I prefer a PC to use LibreView), create an account by following the given steps, and you'll find everything from the past three months already there!
Some useful extras too, in comparison with the app.

 

[Greymalkin]

Thanks so much for responding, and so quickly! I shall get in to the Libre settings this afternoon.

I admit I'm daunted by over 8,000 words of LibreView terms and conditions. I tend to worry that somewhere in there, they slip in (for our unthinking consent) their right to share users' records of wayward blood glucose, with anyone that offers dollars. Even if the current administrators are blamelessly scrupulous, who knows how that right, assented to with one click, may be abused in future.

That might well be my unwarranted paranoia...I'll get round to reading the Ts&Cs eventually, and report back.

Thanks again!
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