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sarahb83

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Got a question - hope someone can help my bg machine I use is accu check instant! I am considering getting a gluco navigator thing cos the strips are soooo much cheaper but before I do I just wanted some advice if anyone has any I’ve just worked out after having this machine since October that it has recorded all of my results so just sat and had a flick through it says my 90 day average is 6.6, 30 6.4 and 14 day average 6.2 not that much of a difference to be fair so it also has these arrows in the side as well which I’ve never paid any attention to 9 dots 3 red at the bottom 3 green in the middle and 3 blue at the top and each result has my number and the arrow is poo ring at one of the dots I’m so observant to have just worked all this out lol so when I was diagnosed hba1c89 and instantly went down to 800 cals only eating one proper meal a day in the evening there are a few 8’s in there with the arrow on the top green dot but then since December they are all 6’s and low 7’s for my post meal readings. My hba1c is now 38 and my results are all I. The middle or bottom green dot mostly in the 6’s apart from 1 9.1 after thinking it was ok to eat an entire Nan bread myself which clearly it wasn’t so haven’t done that one again and that was pointing at the lowest blue dot. So I’m assuming the red dots are indicating to low (which I haven’t had one result in) the green dots are what I’m aiming for and the blue dots are not good! Is this right? Also is that a decent average 6.2? For a type 2 am I doing alright I suppose that’s really what I’m getting at my nurse thinks I am but she only goes off the hba1c numbers. I just need some reassurance that my diet is alright and my body is handing it ok I think x
 
I have to be honest Sarah that I have no knowledge of the meter you are using but I think that would be a logival conclusion about the arrows and those coloured dots but it should explain it somewhere in the handbook I am sure.

As regards your average of 6.6 over 90 days, that is brilliant and totally ties in with your HbA1c result which is also brilliant.
I wonder if this diagram might help you to understand. The numbers underneath the graph are your average BG. The numbers above are HbA1c expressed as mmols/mol and %, so you can see that your result for HbA1c and average BG readings both fall right in the very greenest left hand side segment of the chart which means you are doing excellently.
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rebrascora said:
I have to be honest Sarah that I have no knowledge of the meter you are using but I think that would be a logival conclusion about the arrows and those coloured dots but it should explain it somewhere in the handbook I am sure.

As regards your average of 6.6 over 90 days, that is brilliant and totally ties in with your HbA1c result which is also brilliant.
I wonder if this diagram might help you to understand. The numbers underneath the graph are your average BG. The numbers above are HbA1c expressed as mmols/mol and %, so you can see that your result for HbA1c and average BG readings both fall right in the very greenest left hand side segment of the chart which means you are doing excellently.
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Ah thank you yes that helps a lot! I’ve ditched chocolate and sweeties completely and developed a love for no added sugar peanut butter my husband said yesterday I’m starting to get a bit concerned about your new found fondness for peanut butter I hated it before I was diagnosed!
 
sarahb83 said:
Got a question - hope someone can help my bg machine I use is accu check instant! I am considering getting a gluco navigator thing cos the strips are soooo much cheaper but before I do I just wanted some advice if anyone has any I’ve just worked out after having this machine since October that it has recorded all of my results so just sat and had a flick through it says my 90 day average is 6.6, 30 6.4 and 14 day average 6.2 not that much of a difference to be fair so it also has these arrows in the side as well which I’ve never paid any attention to 9 dots 3 red at the bottom 3 green in the middle and 3 blue at the top and each result has my number and the arrow is poo ring at one of the dots I’m so observant to have just worked all this out lol so when I was diagnosed hba1c89 and instantly went down to 800 cals only eating one proper meal a day in the evening there are a few 8’s in there with the arrow on the top green dot but then since December they are all 6’s and low 7’s for my post meal readings. My hba1c is now 38
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Sarah, just for my curiosity (sort of) is this HbA1c from a blood test taken by a phlobotomist and analysed in a lab, or from a reading on your meter - which I also am not familiar with? I ask because some instruments and apps declare an HbA1c, which really is an estimate from the data they've received; but that data tends to be taken at defined times, such as immediately before a meal and 2 hrs later - whereas a formal blood test uses data from your actual blood glucose and looking up to 3 months back. The formal HbA1c is more accurate. The meter or app generated readings are a reasonable guide, but not definitive. My meter shows them as eHbA1c, ie estimated.
sarahb83 said:
and my results are all I. The middle or bottom green dot mostly in the 6’s apart from 1 9.1 after thinking it was ok to eat an entire Nan bread myself which clearly it wasn’t so haven’t done that one again and that was pointing at the lowest blue dot. So I’m assuming the red dots are indicating to low (which I haven’t had one result in) the green dots are what I’m aiming for and the blue dots are not good! Is this right? Also is that a decent average 6.2? For a type 2 am I doing alright I suppose that’s really what I’m getting at my nurse thinks I am but she only goes off the hba1c numbers. I just need some reassurance that my diet is alright and my body is handing it ok I think x
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Yes, you are doing very well, even though I also have no idea about the dots et al! Give yourself a pat on the back.
 
Have you looked on the Accu-Chek website to see if there is an explanation on there? - all the manuals for their bits of kit are normally available online.
 
Proud to be erratic said:
Sarah, just for my curiosity (sort of) is this HbA1c from a blood test taken by a phlobotomist and analysed in a lab, or from a reading on your meter - which I also am not familiar with? I ask because some instruments and apps declare an HbA1c, which really is an estimate from the data they've received; but that data tends to be taken at defined times, such as immediately before a meal and 2 hrs later - whereas a formal blood test uses data from your actual blood glucose and looking up to 3 months back. The formal HbA1c is more accurate. The meter or app generated readings are a reasonable guide, but not definitive. My meter shows them as eHbA1c, ie estimated.

Yes, you are doing very well, even though I also have no idea about the dots et al! Give yourself a pat on the back.
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Yes my hba1c results are from blood tests taken at the gp surgery my bg readings are from my home resting thingy
 
sarahb83 said:
Ah thank you yes that helps a lot! I’ve ditched chocolate and sweeties completely and developed a love for no added sugar peanut butter my husband said yesterday I’m starting to get a bit concerned about your new found fondness for peanut butter I hated it before I was diagnosed!
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Yes, when I see the recycling box, it is quite shocking just how many empty peanut butter jars are in there! 😱
I usually have mine with a half a square of 85% dark chocolate but it goes in other stuff too.... or on a bad day I might just get the jar and a spoon although that usually ends up requiring a dose of insulin later. 🙄
 
If I can put my old and rather battered scientific hat on..... Any average shown on your meter will be an average of the readings you have taken, it will not be your average blood glucose. That might sound a bit odd but let me try and explain.

Your blood glucose goes up and down through the day. If you do all your measurements when it is down, then your meter will show a low "average". If you do all your measurements when it is up, then your meter will show a high "average". If you do some when it is up and some when it is down, then you will get a third "average" which ought to be somewhere between the other two. The whole thing is not helped by the fact that you do not test through the night when you are asleep when blood glucose is probably at its lowest. The result of this is that any "average" blood glucose shown on your meter is of limited use when it comes to predicting things, like your HbA1c.

When i did the monitoring I reported in my stopping gliclazide thread I deliberately took readings at random times during the day to try and get a better indication my "average" blood glucose and managed to get a reasonable prediction of a HbA1c result but it was more a bit of fun than good science.

So, I would not worry about the dots and arrows on your meter - looks like somebody trying to be too clever by half.

Things are different with the continuous and intermittent measurement devices like the libras and dexcoms. They take measurements much more frequently and so can work out a better "average" and much more importantly the direction and rate of travel of your blood glucose level. All those readings should give short term warnings of impending danger and in the long term a better prediction of HbA1c. There is of course the issue that they do not measure blood glucose, they measure blood glucose in interstitial fluid and from that infer a blood glucose level, but that is another story.
 
Docb said:
If I can put my old and rather battered scientific hat on..... Any average shown on your meter will be an average of the readings you have taken, it will not be your average blood glucose. That might sound a bit odd but let me try and explain.

Your blood glucose goes up and down through the day. If you do all your measurements when it is down, then your meter will show a low "average". If you do all your measurements when it is up, then your meter will show a high "average". If you do some when it is up and some when it is down, then you will get a third "average" which ought to be somewhere between the other two. The whole thing is not helped by the fact that you do not test through the night when you are asleep when blood glucose is probably at its lowest. The result of this is that any "average" blood glucose shown on your meter is of limited use when it comes to predicting things, like your HbA1c.

When i did the monitoring I reported in my stopping gliclazide thread I deliberately took readings at random times during the day to try and get a better indication my "average" blood glucose and managed to get a reasonable prediction of a HbA1c result but it was more a bit of fun than good science.

So, I would not worry about the dots and arrows on your meter - looks like somebody trying to be too clever by half.

Things are different with the continuous and intermittent measurement devices like the libras and dexcoms. They take measurements much more frequently and so can work out a better "average" and much more importantly the direction and rate of travel of your blood glucose level. All those readings should give short term warnings of impending danger and in the long term a better prediction of HbA1c. There is of course the issue that they do not measure blood glucose, they measure blood glucose in interstitial fluid and from that infer a blood glucose level, but that is another story.
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My 3 hba1c that I’ve had since diagnosis were 89 45 and 38 so I think my hba1c is good it’s my post meal readings that I’m really bothered about and they tend to sit in the 6’s and 7’s post evening meal sometimes my post lunch readings are I. The 5’s but I don’t eat big meals for breakfast or lunch x
 
All that said @Docb, you can't get away from the fact that Sarah's average BG over 90 days of 6.6 ties in pretty well with her HbA1c of 38, so providing you are testing before and 2 hours after food, this average on the BG meter will give you a reasonable estimation of a ball park figure for your actual average BG reading. After all there is an error margin in the HbA1c result as well. The important thing here for Sarah's mental wellbeing is that both average BG reading from the meter (ie the readings she has taken which are reasonably representative) and her HbA1c are both extremely good results and corroborate each other to a large extent.
 
A whole nan bread Sarah?? Jealous! Your figures sound good to me, I follow a target suggested by a well known Australian blogger and a wonderful american woman who bloggs in the usa in the abscence of any advice from my doctors. 6.0 before meals, 8 1 hour after and 6.4 two hours after. I am usually under these but tend to exceed the 2 hr at dinner times cos I pig out. NHS nice say a "normal" person, sorry for the phrase, can be up to 7.8 two hours after.
Following this target I reduced AC1 from 53 down to 41 in 13 weeks. My meter and associated app was predicting 38 over the 90 days so quite close but a tad optimistic. I can factor this in for next time. Basically I am quite happy as long as the weekly averages do not go above 6.0, they generally hover around 5.7 - 5.9 so the meter in effect gives me a running target now by just keeping an eye on the averages which makes it easier to quickly comprehend.
 
Dave_Z1a said:
A whole nan bread Sarah?? Jealous! Your figures sound good to me, I follow a target suggested by a well known Australian blogger and a wonderful american woman who bloggs in the usa in the abscence of any advice from my doctors. 6.0 before meals, 8 1 hour after and 6.4 two hours after. I am usually under these but tend to exceed the 2 hr at dinner times cos I pig out. NHS nice say a "normal" person, sorry for the phrase, can be up to 7.8 two hours after.
Following this target I reduced AC1 from 53 down to 41 in 13 weeks. My meter and associated app was predicting 38 over the 90 days so quite close but a tad optimistic. I can factor this in for next time. Basically I am quite happy as long as the weekly averages do not go above 6.0, they generally hover around 5.7 - 5.9 so the meter in effect gives me a running target now by just keeping an eye on the averages which makes it easier to quickly comprehend.
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Jealous I’m not under 6 2 hours after eating I’m always in the 6’s after my evening meal. Yeah a whole nan bread from the Indian take away it was huge as well I can’t believe the level of stupidity and that I was shocked I was 9 2 hours after needless to say I haven’t done it twice!
 
rebrascora said:
Yes, when I see the recycling box, it is quite shocking just how many empty peanut butter jars are in there! 😱
I usually have mine with a half a square of 85% dark chocolate but it goes in other stuff too.... or on a bad day I might just get the jar and a spoon although that usually ends up requiring a dose of insulin later. 🙄
Click to expand...

Ah, I've also become addicted to peanut butter as well. Although I've started to get a taste for pip and nut Almond butter.

Dark chocolate with nut butter is delicious.
 
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