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Type 2 hba1c new way of calculating test results

F

Fly Fisher

Active Member
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29
Hi,

Ive just had full blood tests and rang the surgery to ask the hba1c result before i go to see the nuirse tomorrow, and receptionist said its normal,!!!!!!!!!!! when challenged she said in fairness she wasnt medically trained and then said 6%.

my last 3 hba1c tests were, 6.1, 6.1, 5.9, so obviously this is ok, but i rang to ask if the result had been done in the new up to date way of calculation ie. in mmls? they didnt know what i was on about.

any help will be appreciated thanks very much. :)
 
Re: Type 2 hba 1c new way of calculating test results

I had the same! But if you see the doctor, you'll find he has your results in both units. That will be 42 in the new ones
 
Re: Type 2 hba 1c new way of calculating test results

Honestly Fly Fisher! You wanted to know the ACTUAL result! Are you some sort of deviant? You were told it was OK -"normal" what more do you want?

The last time I insisted on asking the receptionist for ny HBA1C result I was sorry I had bothered.
After spending about ten minutes going through all the results I was given the wrong one. As I had been taking a new drug I had no idea whether the figure was likely to be right or wrong but I was very disappointed.The following day I was due o see the Consultant at the hospital and had been old that if the new meds had not worked I would have to start insulin.
As I wasn't at all keeen I went along feeling as if I were going to my ex ecution. I was greeted by congratulations and smiles etc. The result I had been given was nowhere near the real thing.

I never have to ring for results before seeing the nurse. She does the blood tests when I see her. Totally illogicalI feel. She will then ring if the results are abnormal.! Why would I want to know my results if she is satisfied?

I don't know who some of these diabetics think they are!

You get to see a DOCTOR Grazer !WOW!
 
Re: Type 2 hba 1c new way of calculating test results

My surgery won't allow the receptionist to give out numbers on test results. I too was told that the result was 'normal' at 5.6% (which I found out later from the Doctor).
 
Re: Type 2 hba 1c new way of calculating test results

They shouldn't be allowed to give out results unless they have been trained to do so..I think my practice wants it both ways.They don't want to rain the receptionists and they don't want to speak to patients themselves so they ry to fob you off with the "Normal" business.
If you are told that the receptioniist is not allowed to gibve results that is fair enough/
In my practice you are told o ring for results. and the receptionist will give them to you.

I now ask the nurse if i can speak to her when I ring. because I dont wish to be given the wrong information and "normal" means nothing to me.
She now puts a note on tthe file giving the HBA1C result but if I want the other results , cholesterol etc I have to spend weeks trying to track her down or wait three months to my next HBA1C
I know why they call us patients!
 
Re: Type 2 hba 1c new way of calculating test results

Unbeliever said:
................ now ask the nurse if i can speak to her when I ring. because I dont wish to be given the wrong information and "normal" means nothing to me.
She now puts a note on tthe file giving the HBA1C result but if I want the other results , cholesterol etc I have to spend weeks trying to track her down or wait three months to my next HBA1C
I know why they call us patients!
Click to expand...

Not that you feel strongly about this unbeliever................ :lol:
 
Re: Type 2 hba 1c new way of calculating test results

Hi Guys!

Receptionists at my GPs mustn't give out results, but when I ring to check if the results are back, I always ask them to do me a print out. I then just call in and pick it up. They always seem happy with this. Might be worth asking yours to do the same?

Smidge
 
Re: Type 2 hba 1c new way of calculating test results

Grazer said:
Unbeliever said:
................ now ask the nurse if i can speak to her when I ring. because I dont wish to be given the wrong information and "normal" means nothing to me.
She now puts a note on tthe file giving the HBA1C result but if I want the other results , cholesterol etc I have to spend weeks trying to track her down or wait three months to my next HBA1C
I know why they call us patients!
Click to expand...

Not that you feel strongly about this unbeliever................ :lol:
Click to expand...
No, Not at all. Just mildly irritated! :lol:

They really do just seem to go out of their way to make klife difficult. I don't mind the diabetes.
I don't like it but can accept it -and there are worse things. I just object to having to be there
for the benefit of the Practice rather than vice versa.

I asked the Diabetes Nurse for a print out of my results after they had messed up my carefully worked out arrangements. She obliged , albeit reluctantly. Couldn't understand why hospital couldn't look for themselves. {Maybe because they have OCT and angiogram results onscreen together for comparison , in eye clinic and it is much quicker to ask me}, When I got home I discovered the results referred to the test before last.

Just another hiccup. nothing to get worked up about.! And they wonder my BP is high when I seee them! :cry:
 
Re: Type 2 hba 1c new way of calculating test results

It is any patients right, yes right, to see their medical records.
No one has the right to refuse this, receptionists are generally not trained to give out results but my surgery is happy for them to do this.
I would never accept "normal" as a response to any request, I always get the actual readings so that I can understand what is going on.
Not everyone is able or willing to interpret results, my DSN tells me some patients don't even ask for the results!
She knows I will keep a record of them and interpret them in the light of suitable research, and is happy that I do this.

I have a review on Tuesday next week, I already know my A1c is 5.4%, I know that this is good, I also know that it is good because I keep an eye on my Bgs with regular testing.

"Normal" HbA1c BGs might be about 4.5% or a little more. So anything more is not normal.

I still remember being told some 30 years ago by a hospital doctor who had done some blood tests after a period of illness for which no cause was ever found, " Your triglycerides are up but not to worry" how I wish then that I had the knowledge to ask for the actual results and interpret them. High triglycerides and diabetes go hand in hand, I might have been able to keep an eye on things from a much earlier date.

Insist on getting your results, ask to see your medical records. It is your right.

H
 
Re: Type 2 hba 1c new way of calculating test results

I concur with H. Any information held on hospital or GP computer systems belongs to the patient and it is the duty of NHS staff to make this available to them. I spent too many years not taking note of actual test results whilst my diabetes got slowly but progressively worse.
Being aware of what test result ranges indicate and how you can actively manage your illness is one sure way of preventing its progression.
 
Re: Type 2 hba 1c new way of calculating test results

It appears that I am the only diabetic patient ever in my practice to have asked for a prin out of my results. I only managed o get any sort of a print out because I said the eye clinic always wanted o know.

I am very well aware hat the nurse is only trying to coverup her lack of knowledge. She tells me hat "her" checks are for different things! ie blood pressure and weight. This is a catch 22 siuation because the implication is that you hat all these hings may be discussed with the Dr at the annual review. This is nt the case.- especially as I have HBA1Cs every 3 months.
Try to talk to any of the en drs in my Pracice and they immediately look panic sricken and tell you o see he nurse.
I told the last dr I saw , when this occurred that I had no faih in the nurse because she had ried o assure me hat pioglitazone was a good option for mre and would not affect my macular oedema.
On the contrary, it would have blinded me completely . This information is not specialised or resstricted it is on the fromnt page of the NHS leaflets. Even when I told her my disease had been caused by rosiglitazone she insisted and told me there was no alternaive. I refused it of course.
There are other instances of her ignorance i could qupote but con't wan to bore anyone.
The doctor's response? She recommended me o see he other . less senior ppacice nurse who is also "diabetes rained"! Apart from anything else it is not even possible to ask for one Nurse raher than another. The one i see is knwn as The DSN" and the other only seps in when she is absen.
I think that taking the blood test at the session rather than getting the results first is another way of avoiding discussion.
Just sick of it all. . She has started putting my medication review dates down o coincide wih my 3monthly HBA1C. There is never an opportunity to discuss my medication. She doesnt know what she is talking about and he drs seem to think she does - or want to think so.

I have been told by drs in the past A] to take bp readings in 3s and write down the avarage b] keep on tesing until results appear to settle down and beconme consistent. i find the second method works for me but would despair of geing the nurse to understand this..

She told me that home monitors should be sent away to be re=calibrated every 6 months.! Nonsense!
 
My test results are 7% I do not take any medication so far after being diagnosed 6 years ago, I have been taking cinnamon and chromium recently and feel that this has helped as I got my HbAC1 down one point at the last test and am now on a mission to get it down another point if possible. I do test my blood most days. I was 7 when diagnosed.
 
I'm one of the awkward ones and I ask for a print-out.
I get it ttoo.
Hana
 
I always ask for a print out but I have to sign that will allow myself to take my results away from the surgery in case I lose them and some one else reads them and I sue because of patient confidentiality or some such thing :?
CAROL
 
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