Type 2 Pre Diabetic Newbie

Buzyizzy said:

Would the bloods that were taken reflect on my literally having had my usual bucket of high carb and high sugar cereal?

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If it was an HbA1c then no, as it is an average of your blood sugars over the previous 8-12 weeks (with some bias towards the most recent weeks).

Buzyizzy said:

Also, I have been very kindly given a Libre sensor which I’ve used for 10 days now and I’m consistently getting readings of around 5.5.

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That’s a great range. To give you an idea, an HbA1c of 42 is roughly equivalent to an average blood glucose of 7. Have you checked against a glucometer? While the Libre is a great tool, it measures interstitial fluid rather than blood and sensors often run either lower or higher than readings on a more traditional meter.

Buzyizzy said:

so am I actually pre diabetic or was this a false reading?

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A diabetes diagnosis would generally be confirmed with a second HbA1c within 2 weeks of the first. So yes, it’s possible that this was a one-off, but personally I’d take it as a warning sign and take some steps to address it so that full blown diabetes is kept at bay.

Buzyizzy said:

Sorry but your second comment has completely baffled me. I’m a newbie remember so no idea what you are talking about.
Is the doc likely to take another blood test tomorrow?

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Apologies.

Your blood result of 42 was from a test called an HbA1c, which is an estimated average of your blood sugars over the previous 8-12 weeks.

The readings you’re seeing on the Libre (and that you would get from a glucometer) are one-off blood glucose readings - a snapshot in time, if you like. While the two aren’t directly comparable, there are calculators which estimate what an HbA1c would be based on the blood glucose readings taken day to day. I used one of these which estimates an HbA1c result of 42 to be equivalent to average readings of 7 over time.

I meant it to put your Libre readings into context.

Does that make it any clearer?

The calculator I used was this one: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-to-blood-sugar-level-converter.html

The doctor might take another blood test tomorrow as usually a diagnosis is confirmed by 2 HbA1c tests.

Editing to add more on the Libre incase it was that bit of my second point that wasn’t clear.

The Libre is estimating blood sugars but without using a blood sample! It uses interstitial fluid, so again it’s not a direct comparison to a blood glucose reading using a glucometer. Among other things there’s a time lag between the Libre and blood glucose readings using a glucometer (which is more relevant to someone using insulin). The other factor is that Libre sensors often run high or low compared to readings from a glucometer - those using them will often calibrate for that reason.

It sounds complicated but isn’t once you get used to the terminology.

I was diagnosed on one test - but with a Hba1c of 91 and blood glucose of 17.1 mmol/l it was pretty clearly full on diabetes.