Blood results

[cheryl.montgomery]

Good morning! I had blood testing March and my HBA1C was 43, since then I’ve changed my diet and exercised, started daily swimming and the last month I’ve quit alcohol. I have lost a stone too.
I’ve just had my results from yesterday and the HBA1C is now 45!

However my cholesterol and triglycerides are back to normal. I’m so confused, how could it have gone up? It was a fasting blood test and I went straight away after an hours swimming.

Can anyone help reassure me at all?

 

[Gildersleeve]

Your concerns are the same as myself. I have lost weight. Always ate well. Moderation. Small portions. I can do no more. I feel fine. I always have. Wishing you well.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Ah sorry to hear you've not seen the reduction in your HbA1c you might have expected after all the hard work you've been putting in

Congratulations on your weight loss, and well done on increasing your activity levels - that will be having a positive impact on your health - so try not to be discouraged.

From my past history I know how disappointing results like this can be - but try to remember that there are lots of factors in play - and some of them take while to work through.

43 vs 45mmol/mol is pretty much holding steady. There will be a degree of imprecision in any blood result, so while it is a small increase, if those were my numbers I'd see them as being mostly level rather than having risen in any meaningful way.

Have you been monitoring your total daily carbohydrate intake? That is the part of your diet that will be having the most significant upward impact on your daily glucose levels. It may be that reducing your daily total carb intake a little might help give your metabolism a helping hand?

The swimming and exercise should be helping too, of course.

Hope your next results are more encouraging for you and better reflect the effort you've been putting in. 🙂

 

[cheryl.montgomery]

Ah sorry to hear you've not seen the reduction in your HbA1c you might have expected after all the hard work you've been putting in

Congratulations on your weight loss, and well done on increasing your activity levels - that will be having a positive impact on your health - so try not to be discouraged.

From my past history I know how disappointing results like this can be - but try to remember that there are lots of factors in play - and some of them take while to work through.

43 vs 45mmol/mol is pretty much holding steady. There will be a degree of imprecision in any blood result, so while it is a small increase, if those were my numbers I'd see them as being mostly level rather than having risen in any meaningful way.

Have you been monitoring your total daily carbohydrate intake? That is the part of your diet that will be having the most significant upward impact on your daily glucose levels. It may be that reducing your daily total carb intake a little might help give your metabolism a helping hand?

The swimming and exercise should be helping too, of course.

Hope your next results are more encouraging for you and better reflect the effort you've been putting in. 🙂

Thank you so much for your reply, I am a worrier and just need reassurance at times. I’ve rescued my carbs greatly, and no white carbs at all. If I have any good carbs it’s once a day. I just need to believe now it’s a blip and try to be positive, it’s just upsetting after all this hard work, especially quitting alcohol! My sleep has been bad so maybe it’s a contributing factor?

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you so much for your reply, I am a worrier and just need reassurance at times. I’ve rescued my carbs greatly, and no white carbs at all. If I have any good carbs it’s once a day. I just need to believe now it’s a blip and try to be positive, it’s just upsetting after all this hard work, especially quitting alcohol! My sleep has been bad so maybe it’s a contributing factor?

Remember the HbA1C covers a period of 3 months prior to the test so it is not something that will be influenced by what you did yesterday or even a few weeks.
I would also regard it as pretty level but if you did some meal testing then you may be able to eliminate a few foods which might just be not tolerated as well as you think.

 

[Tdm]

Thank you so much for your reply, I am a worrier and just need reassurance at times. I’ve rescued my carbs greatly, and no white carbs at all. If I have any good carbs it’s once a day. I just need to believe now it’s a blip and try to be positive, it’s just upsetting after all this hard work, especially quitting alcohol! My sleep has been bad so maybe it’s a contributing factor?

Just thinking...it my be best to spread you carbs out to give your body a better chance of dealing with them.
Do you test your blood sugars? May be a good way of finding what is happening and the effect your diet has on your levels.
Well done with the weight loss and icreased excercise!
The bad sleep may not be helping...stress can raise blood sugar levels

 

[s'nic]

Good job on all the hard work you put in. While the results went up by 2, your changes will have made a difference to your health. 🙂

I’ve rescued my carbs greatly, and no white carbs at all. If I have any good carbs it’s once a day.

This struck me. What carbs do you eat, which carbs do you refer to as white carbs (those not wholemeal?), and what do you class as good carbs?
All carbohydrates are broken down into glucose in the body, whether wholemeal or not. Some foods may contain resistant starch, but based on peoples experiences, not everyone has the same success when trying resistant starch.

Carbs and cooking

Pasta, potatoes and rice... are all carbohydrates that cause a surge in blood glucose levels as they are broken down. For people with diabetes, these surges in glucose can be tricky to manage and cause problems over time. But what if simply changing the way these foods were prepared and cooked...

www.diabetes.org.uk

 

[Vonny]

Add into the mix that all diabetics are different! Whilst we are supposed to reduce carbs generally, what works for one may not for another. I only found out what I can eat in moderation (occasional potatoes and rice) and can't (white bread, and no more than half a slice of granary, and pasta) by prick testing before a meal and 2 hours after.
Very dispiriting for you though after all your hard work, but please don't give up on the changes you've made to your lifestyle, it's clearly working in many respects 🙂