Why why why

Last few days wont make any difference to your overall HbA1c result.

Oh to have your problems!

11 days? I get my results within 2/3 days. It seems a long time.

every 6 months is a lot more frequent than most would get.....

I hope your result is what your looking for.......

Wurst said:

Low carb , high exercise and ignore NHS diabetic guidelines and you too could have these same 'problems'.

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Gee... why did I not think of that.
It's not that easy for everyone.

dawnmc said:

11 days? I get my results within 2/3 days. It seems a long time.

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2/3 days! If test is not done and sent by the next day then the practice needs to pension off its mail pigeon

Wurst said:

Low carb , high exercise and ignore NHS diabetic guidelines and you too could have these same 'problems'.

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COULD is the operative word there are many other factors at play (like amount of damage to the insulin metabolism:***

The 3 days will make little difference, I'm sure I read that the results are heavily influenced by the previous 4 weeks bg control, hope you get the results you desire Wurst.

Maybe you're stressing too much about getting into the '4% club', which could easily make your levels rise. To be honest, if you've got such good control over it anyway I'd be more inclined to accept that and enjoy life. Don't beat yourself up for being in the 5% club - it's a great achievement in itself.

All the best

Wurst said:

B*****ks , 5 % exactly again. I'll never get in the 4% club

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My last test came in at 5.1%, but I don't have expectation of going any lower, to be honest, even though I have maintained my regime. At these sort of levels, it takes fewer rises to bring things up a bit. Without a long explanation, I'm hoping you get what I'm saying.

I firmly believe we all have a threshold, below which we would not go, without impinging on our lifestyle, health and general wellbeing. I mean, is there any point in being in a 4% club, if it means you can only eat lettuce leaves, spread with butter, whilst pounding the treadmill of 16 hours a day, in an effort to maintain a Belsen-like figure? I appreciate that's a uber-extreme description, but again, I hope you understand what I'm saying.

Your profile doesn't give any clues as to either your brand of diabetes or your management regime. But, to be honest, at the levels you are, if you are taking any meds, I couldn't see any medic increasing them to trim 0.1%. You are well within the non-diabetic ranges. Many non-diabetics will have HbA1cs lower than yours, so I would urge you to think again.

If, when I go for my next batch of tests next month, I have gone lower I will be astonished. If I go a little higher, I'll probably be disappointed, but I'll get my head around it, provided any increase is marginal. I (and my OH) need to live a good life whilst managing this condition. It can't be in the driving seat at all times.

Why are you concerned with 5%??? This is a non-diabetic value!

6.5% was my last. & they said i was running too low... lol I respectfully disagreed. Now they want me back in 3 months..

Incidentally they give me a weeks wait for my results. But normally let me know via text or phone call in a couple of days..

Wurst said:

I see your points, However I am not complaining that I am in the 5 % range but more that within a week or so of the test I get bizarre high values that screw up the test .

I have the usual low carb disagreement with my doctor and getting my 1AC in the 4 % club would add some weight to the argument.
The doctor may also recommend this low carb approach to other patients, who knows! I see some of the other patients waiting for appointments with amputations , blindness and obesity and wish I could help , so convincing the doctor may help other patients.

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Whilst I empathise with your views, in that we are part of the growing empirical evidence that reducing carb intake is critical to diabetes management, I can also see that those of us who religiously test and "go very low" in our bloods may also be feeding into the prejudiced view that testing can become obsessional and drive us to "extreme" and "unsustainable" diets. I use the "" to frame words and statements I have heard by those resisting the reduced carb arguments.

Just applying a sort of devil's advocate view......

The week preceding your HbA1c will contribute around 8% of the HbA1c value, therefore any anomalous highs in that period will contribute to your HbA1c. Saying that, the error on your HbA1c measurement is around 2% (i.e. your result would have been 5+/-0.1%), so you have a 50% chance that your result was in the 4%s.

Personally, however, I wouldn't even entertain the idea of having levels that low and tight. First, because large-scale studies have shown that the risk of complications is at unity with the non-diabetic population at an HbA1c of around 6.5%; there's negligible reason to aim significantly lower than that. Secondly, if your BGs are persistently in the 4s (which they probably are for the HbA1c level you are aiming at), then you are at a high risk of losing your hypo symptoms and therefore at an increased risk or mortality from having a serious hypo. Finally, for me, it would be unbearable to have control that tight. Sometimes I like to have a cheeky beer, or go out to restaurants to eat, or participate in something else that may raises my BGs.

SamJB said:

The week preceding your HbA1c will contribute around 8% of the HbA1c value, therefore any anomalous highs in that period will contribute to your HbA1c. Saying that, the error on your HbA1c measurement is around 2% (i.e. your result would have been 5+/-0.1%), so you have a 50% chance that your result was in the 4%s.

Personally, however, I wouldn't even entertain the idea of having levels that low and tight. First, because large-scale studies have shown that the risk of complications is at unity with the non-diabetic population at an HbA1c of around 6.5%; there's negligible reason to aim significantly lower than that. Secondly, if your BGs are persistently in the 4s (which they probably are for the HbA1c level you are aiming at), then you are at a high risk of losing your hypo symptoms and therefore at an increased risk or mortality from having a serious hypo. Finally, for me, it would be unbearable to have control that tight. Sometimes I like to have a cheeky beer, or go out to restaurants to eat, or participate in something else that may raises my BGs.

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I agree Sam! I want good control, but what is the point if you can't live your life? My latest hba1c was 6.8%, I aim to reduce that to low 6s but no desire to go further than that. I would be risking hypo unawareness and potentially lose my driving license. Not worth it.

As for a couple of 7s making your hba1c higher than you'd like, it's unlikely they would have had a drastic effect