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Utterly Confused

I

irenepr

Member
Messages
6
Location
Essex UK
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
In February 2017 my GP diagnosed me as pre-diabetic with an HbA1c of 45. I started exercising and watching what I ate and by June 2017 I saw my GP again after a blood test and she told me I was HbA1c 42. I was attending an NHS diabetes prevention programme, and by May 18 I was down to 41 (according to the programme who tested me on their machine). My GP called me for another blood test and in July 2018 – just two months later – and I was told my HbA1c was 47! Co-incidentally, the day after my GP appointment I had a final appointment with the NHS diabetes prevention clinic who tested my blood and announced I was HbA1c 39. So you can imagine how confused I feel. It seems obvious to me that something is wrong with one of the tests as the blood tested both for the HbA1c of 47 and the other of 39 were only a couple of weeks apart. I contacted my GP and told her I was concerned and she’s asked me for another blood test in four months time.

Does anyone else have problems like this?
 
paging @Bluetit1802 our resident HbA1c oddities expert.
Although you seem to imply that the diabetes prevention clinic gives you immediate HbA1c readings?
I may doubt their accuracy over one that has been sent off to a lab.
 
bulkbiker said:
paging @Bluetit1802 our resident HbA1c oddities expert.
Although you seem to imply that the diabetes prevention clinic gives you immediate HbA1c readings?
I may doubt their accuracy over one that has been sent off to a lab.
Click to expand...


Yes, it is an immediate result. But I was surprised at the wide margin - I mean, 47 one day and 39 the next? The blood had been taken only a couple of weeks apart. I'd done nothing different and am exercising regularly and my weight has reduced from 12 stone 3 lbs. to 10 stone 10 lbs. (I'm 5'8"). The GP said my weight is fine.
 
Your GP results (sent to a lab) were 45,42,47 and your course results were 41 and 39. So allowing for difference between the 2 methods of measurement you HbA1c has stayed pretty level. You have been exercising, which is good for your general health but doesn't usually make much difference to your average blood glucose level. What diet have you been following since you were diagnosed?
 
irenepr said:
Yes, it is an immediate result. But I was surprised at the wide margin - I mean, 47 one day and 39 the next? The blood had been taken only a couple of weeks apart. I'd done nothing different and am exercising regularly and my weight has reduced from 12 stone 3 lbs. to 10 stone 10 lbs. (I'm 5'8"). The GP said my weight is fine.
Click to expand...
I may then question its accuracy so would probably go with the GP's samples which will have been sent off for lab testing.. I know you probably don't want to hear that but....
 
I’m wondering if your instant HbA1c at the prevention programme was an A1cNow test. I haven’t used them myself but I’ve read that anecdotally they don’t come out with the same result as the lab tests that the Drs surgeries use. @Debandez was disappointed with one of her results at the Drs as it came out higher than an A1cNow she’d done at home.
 
Mr_Pot said:
Your GP results (sent to a lab) were 45,42,47 and your course results were 41 and 39. So allowing for difference between the 2 methods of measurement you HbA1c has stayed pretty level. You have been exercising, which is good for your general health but doesn't usually make much difference to your average blood glucose level. What diet have you been following since you were diagnosed?
Click to expand...

I've been reasonably low carb - brown rice, wholewheat pasta, full fat yogurt, eggs, cheese, etc., hardly any bread (swapped that with Ryvita (ok I know that has carbs but less than bread). Thing is, before I was originally tested, my diet included far more sweet things and white pasta, rice and more bread, yet my HbA1c was only 45. After being good, exercising, watching my diet a bit more closely, losing weight, it suddenly rises to 47! Grrrrr!
 
bulkbiker said:
I may then question its accuracy so would probably go with the GP's samples which will have been sent off for lab testing.. I know you probably don't want to hear that but....
Click to expand...

No, of course, but I just want to know what I should be doing. If I really am 47 then fine, I'll watch my diet lots more closely, but if it's really 39, I could be enjoying a bit of ice cream occasionally!
 
@irenepr Well done for the full fat yogurt, eggs and cheese, but as far a rice/pasta/bread etc are concerned, it doesn't matter how brown, whole, lumpy or generally textured it is, it all turns to sugar inside you. Get rid of, or greatly limit these things and your numbers should improve.
Sally
 
irenepr said:
No, of course, but I just want to know what I should be doing. If I really am 47 then fine, I'll watch my diet lots more closely, but if it's really 39, I could be enjoying a bit of ice cream occasionally!
Click to expand...
I would guess the 47 would be the more accurate reading but this is not stuck there forever and can be brought down by avoiding carbs. The more you can avoid the sooner you will get the benefits and the greater the drop or at least that has been my experience.
 
Rachox said:
I’m wondering if your instant HbA1c at the prevention programme was an A1cNow test. I haven’t used them myself but I’ve read that anecdotally they don’t come out with the same result as the lab tests that the Drs surgeries use. @Debandez was disappointed with one of her results at the Drs as it came out higher than an A1cNow she’d done at home.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. :)
 
I agree with @Rachox that the instant machine used at your course was probably the A1cNow. You can buy these yourself to use at home by the way.

My HbA1c tests done by the surgery and sent to the local lab have always been substantially higher than any of my other data. (Finger prick testing, the Libre sensor, which gives continuous readings 24/7 for 2 weeks, and the A1cNow test done at home. After several years of this I eventually told my GP. She believed everything I said and rang the consultant bio-chemist at the local lab who recommended I have another lot of blood drawn. She would test it and then send the same blood sample to another lab for testing. The results came back, and there was a 4 point difference in the results. The local lab was the higher one. In future, my blood samples will be tested twice, once at each lab. Some labs use different methods of testing with different types of machinery. I would ignore the A1cNow done on the course (if that is what it was) and concentrate on the lab tests as they are fairly consistent with each other.

Do you test your own blood at home with your own meter? If so, if you test regularly, several times a day before and after meals, you should get a reasonable idea of what your HbA1c might be.
 
irenepr said:
I've been reasonably low carb - brown rice, wholewheat pasta, full fat yogurt, eggs, cheese, etc., hardly any bread (swapped that with Ryvita (ok I know that has carbs but less than bread).
Click to expand...

Just to put some numbers to your food choices. All are per 100gms.
Brown rice 23 gms
Whole Wheat pasta 40 gms
Ryvita 7gms

Personally the rice and the pasta would be a no no, I can eat a Ryvita maybe 2, without too much change in my BG.

If ice cream is something you like, have a look at Oppo, available at Asda, Sainsbury, Waitrose. about 6gms carb per 100gms. You can find a fuller list at https://www.reddit.com/r/ketouk/comments/847j5s/uk_keto_ice_creams_per_100ml/.
 
Rachox said:
I’m wondering if your instant HbA1c at the prevention programme was an A1cNow test. I haven’t used them myself but I’ve read that anecdotally they don’t come out with the same result as the lab tests that the Drs surgeries use. @Debandez was disappointed with one of her results at the Drs as it came out higher than an A1cNow she’d done at home.
Click to expand...

This may be of assistance re A1cNow Test at home, I am very happy to report from first hand experience that I have found the A1CNow test to be accurate to a degree a couple of examples, again, this may not prove the same for all, I speak only of my own experience

A1C Lab test 5.8% v. A1CNow test 5.7%. Both tests taken one hour apart same day and fasting test.
A1C lab test 5.4% v. A1C Now test 5.3% both tests taken one hour apart same day fasting. A1Cnow test non fasting 4pm 5%
A1C lab test 5.% v. A1C now test 5.2%

yes, there is a little difference, not a doctor, but based on more or less law of averages, I have truly found the A1CNow test at home to be sufficiently accurate to have confidence in the testing using as a tool inbetween official lab testing.

Infact, I have had the unpleasant unwelcoming experiencing of not one but two false lab tests one a typographical error, along with discordant results, and another discordant situation resulting in error.

Hope within info proves of beneficial to add to the pot of general info. Again, others may not have found the same accuracy, one has to be very careful to follow the instructions, and especially so temperature, the test equipment that has to be placed in fridge, must be taken out and let stand no direct sunlight for min one hour, the test equipment is so good it actually tells you anyway, if the temp is not correct i.e. error due to this. It is important to shake the blood collector vigorously side to side 6/8 times. Do not touch the monitor for the 5mins while it is getting results, it also tells you if sufficient quantity of blood has been taken, and has passed the laboratory standard passing. Its vitally important it is not touched.

have friends who have not followed the instructions 100% and yes, I can confirm they have very irregular results compared to their lab tests.

Mallorca
 
Moggely said:
I thought the HbA1c and the A1c was the same. Ok now i'm really confused.
Click to expand...
They are Moggely, we are talking about a home tester you can buy to measure your HbA1c with, it’s called the A1cNow
 
Sorry for the delay in replying @Rachox. Away on holiday and signal not the best. On my way home now.

I did a home a1cnow test on 28 April and got a 37 which I was delighted with as well into non diabetic range. Down from gp lab test 6th Feb which was 47 and in the prediabetic range. However my gp lab test 6th may was 41. Just scraping into non diabetic range. So although I was delighted it left me feeling less confident with the home test kit. I have been low carb since diagnosis. No bread pasta rice potatoes cereals milk. Apart from a couple of experiments to see if my insulin resistance had improved. Still spiked my BS!

You are going in the right direction. Well done on your achievements so far.

I find mysugr is a great app. I've just been to Dublin and to please my auntie I ate a slice of white thick batch bread. My results input into mysugr took my reading from 33.8 to 33.9! So you can see instantly the effect just one slice of bread has on your hba1c!
 
I winced when I read about the bread - in a similar situation I'd have cut off the smallest sliver and tasted it - said 'even better than I remembered it' and left the rest. Nothing to do with numbers, all to do with the way that the thick sugary blood damages the smallest blood vessels until you can somehow get back to normal levels.
I don't have an auntie left though - the last one died a few months ago after a long fight against diabetes and a family who did not understand what a carbohydrate is.
At the 'do' after the internment I looked over the food on offer and said to my cousin, 'there's nothing I can eat, I'm diabetic, as I told you' and she looked at me in astonishment.
 
Is y
irenepr said:
I've been reasonably low carb - brown rice, wholewheat pasta, full fat yogurt, eggs, cheese, etc., hardly any bread (swapped that with Ryvita (ok I know that has carbs but less than bread). Thing is, before I was originally tested, my diet included far more sweet things and white pasta, rice and more bread, yet my HbA1c was only 45. After being good, exercising, watching my diet a bit more closely, losing weight, it suddenly rises to 47! Grrrrr!
Click to expand...
Is your HbA1c of 45 done 3mths after first diagnosis. As in the 2nd hba1c you've had done?
If so many find similiar. The shock of diagnosis restricts some from eating so much and therefore, for some, can give a lower hba1c result. Then once over the shock it can rise, a little. Not for everyone, but some.
Could that be what's happened here?
Alongside instant hba1c testing which marks your current bgs and their possibilities into lower hba1c results. A result of what your HbA1c could be if your current bgs stay stable? A prediction rather than a definite?
 
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