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Type 2 HbA1c and Glucose Readings

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CanderelKaren

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Hi everyone,
Relatively new to all this so please bear with me!
I went to my Dr in January because I was feeling tired and asked for a blood test. I am 50 with plenty of menopausal symptoms but with no symptoms of diabetes! I smoke 20 a day and weighed in at 13st 2lbs which is overweight I know but I am tall at 5'10" They were just going to do a blood count and thyroid tests but the nurse suggested blood sugars and cholesterol as well, so I said OK. The results came back and blood sugar was 15.8 and cholesterol was 7.5 so they did a fasting BG and an HbA1c which came back as 11.3 and 9.1 respectively. They said I was type 2 diabetic and I went into complete denial saying there must be some mistake and another reason for the high sugar levels. Anyhow they sent me to a consultant who specialises in diabetes and to cut a long story short he convinced me and said the fact that I was diabetic was "incontravertible" and as if that wasn't enough also found that I had a fatty liver too! He put me on statins and wanted to put me on Metformin straight away but I resisted and said I wanted to try diet and exercise first rather that subjecting my poor liver to more assault.
Since then I have lost 1st 4lbs but have not given up smoking and have not done any exercise and now the HbA1C result has dropped to 7.4% and cholesterol has dropped to 5.8. The lab says that the target range for HbA1c for diabetics is 6.5%-7.5% but I have been scouring the internet and it seems to say that less than 7% should be the target. I am getting really confused because the lab is saying one thing and everywhere else I look it is saying something else. Is the lab wrong? On top of all this my BG meter gives me average readings of 7.2(all taken at various time of the day although confusingly higher first thing in the morning) which should equate to an HbA1c of about 6.5% so any ideas about this either? Would be pleased to hear from anyone who could shed any light on all this.
Thanks Karen
 
Hi Karen ,welcome to the forum,,confusing isn't it?! Congratulations on the weight loss,that will certainly help bring down your blood sugars.If you browse through the forum you will find that we all have found restricting carb.intake very helpful ,this certainly helps control blood sugar.Your readings of 7.2 are still on the high side but will improve.You want to get your BS readings below 7.The higher reading in the morning can be the 'Dawn effect' there is a link that explains this in' the links for diabetes' in this part of the forum.The Hba1c is an average of glucose that you have had in your blood over the past 90 days so the percentage does not always equal your daily tests.You have obviously been researching this so I suggest having a read through the forum to see if it makes it any clearer.There is a lot to get your head round.
 
Hello Karen,
I have found the most useful information about diabetes on the internet and in books, not from "official" NHS sources. There is lots of useful information on the following sites:

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/index.php
http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com
http://www.mendosa.com/diabetes.htm

I have found the following books very useful:
Gretchen Becker - Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year
Jenny Ruhl - Blood Sugar 101

I agree about restricting carbohydrates also, but be prepared for a battle with the dietician (like I had today!)

Keith.

By the way, hello everyone. This is my first posting.
 
Welcome to the forum,Keith,you've obviously been doing your research.Look forward to hearing from you on the forum.
 
Keith,

You've done the right thing by trying to adjust your diet in order to normalise your blood sugars. Simply taking medications without adressing the core issue, too many carbohydrates, is not the solution.

Also, I think you're quite right about the HbA1c's. 7% was originally set as an upper limit, although still too high in my view. Some doctors now present 7% as a target value, which is quite wrong, since it's around 50% higher than a healthy non-diabetics HbA1c.

All the best,

fergus
 
Thanks to all for the replys. Those websites are great, especially the first one and they have gone straight into "my favourites"! I shall raise the issue of the target HbA1c level with the consultant on 20th May because it looks like the lab is indeed quite wrong to state that "target levels for diabetics should be 6.5-7.5%" and that my result of 7.4 was "normal". However this would not surprise me because some funny things happen in Kent!

Another point I would like some help with concerns Blood Glucose Meter testing which I have become addicted to! The nurse who gave me the meter said to scoop of the blood from my finger with the strip. I was doing this but getting very different results with the same drop of blood from the same finger within the same minute. I thought the meter was at fault and rang the suppliers who kindly replaced it. The same thing happened with the next one too. The company said that there was probably tissue contamination in my sample and to not squeeze the blood from the finger but just to let it ooze out by itself and then to just touch the strip lightly with the blood without touching the finger. The problem is that the blood does not ooze out without squeezing even when I use the deepest setting on the lancet. Anyone know how to combat this? Could I get away with squeezing out some blood the wiping it away and then squeezing out some more to prevent tissue contamination? Hope this all makes sense and glad of any pointers. Karen
 
Which finger are you using to get blood from? I find that the side of either little finger is good for me.The blood comes out sufficiently to get a drop without squeezing.I think all meters do this,give differing results within moments , as I have heard others on here discussing the same thing.
 
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