Do I need to do more work?

[MAC2020]

Good morning

I am just trying to figure out where I am on the spectrum and what I need to do to improve and reduce my average numbers ready for my next A1c blood test in August/Sep. I understand that the frequency, regularity, when during the day and over a reasonable length of time for testing can all affect the accuracy.

A few weeks ago my meter recorded the following averages:
7 days 5.6 mmol/L = HbA1c 32mmol/mol in the converter (chart doesn't use mmol/L)
14 days 5.4mmol/L = HbA1c 31mmol/mol
30 days 5.6mmol/L = HbA1c 32mmol/mol
60 days 5.8mmol/L = HbA1c 34mmol/mol
90 days 5.7mmol/L = HbA1c 33mmol/mol

This morning my meter says
7 days 5.5 mmol/L = HbA1c 32mmol/mol in the converter (chart doesn't use mmol/L)
14 days 5.4mmol/L = HbA1c 31mmol/mol
30 days 5.4mmol/L = HbA1c 31mmol/mol
60 days 5.6mmol/L = HbA1c 32mmol/mol
90 days 5.7mmol/L = HbA1c 33mmol/mol

Is this making any sense to anyone?

Would I need to keep reducing carbs to get the 90 day average reading down to be on the safe side given the lack of accuracy of meters and not a straight forward calculation from meters to HbA1c?

If I'm aiming for an A1c in the low 30s what do my average 7 day, 14 day etc to 90 day meter readings need to say, or is it not as simple as that?

Any insight much appreciated.

 

[Ljc]

Hi . Your results are very good now
Have a look at this conversion chart more at the colour coding to see where you stand on your glycemic control

http://baspath.co.uk/Hba1c_table.pdf

Your meters predicted Hb1ac is already in the low 30s

 

[Lucyr]

Your levels look great but your a1c also depends when you test, what time of day and how often are you testing?

 

[Docb]

Hi @MAC2020, the numbers you have are averages of the measurements you took and not necessarily an average of your blood glucose. As such using them to predict your next HbA1c is a bit iffy. Take 500 readings at random times in the day and night over a couple of months so you are covering all bases and maybe you will get closer.

That said, they will be a reasonable estimate and certainly suggest that your next HbA1c will be in a good place. You could look at all the numbers (not just the averages), do some stats, predict the Hba1C, and see how close you can get. Good fun but a bit nerdy and the sort of thing I might try as a challenge as an alternative to Sudoko or trying to get my ancient Toshiba portable to boot up linux.

The important thing is to keep doing what you are doing, your BG seems to be under good control and the important thing is to maintain that!

 

[MAC2020]

Thanks @Ljc and @Lucyr.

Yes I can be a bit nerdy @Docb although it's been a long time since I read the word Linux as an OS!

As I'm not testing all the time, maybe twice or three times a day, so not a large enough sample, these averages might be misleading. I'm hoping to give myself the best possible chance to be in the 30s come the real test for A1c at the GP.

 

[Docb]

Being a bit nerdy, your averages are an estimate and it is not right to say they might be misleading.

They certainly have an error associated with them for which you do not have an estimate. You can be misled by them if you do not appreciate this but in themselves they are not misleading.

 

[Eddy Edson]

If you want to really nerd out & can afford it, why not self-fund a couple of Libre sensors?

From your numbers my guess is that you've actually sorted out the D caper & can now move on to the next thing - solving poverty, peace in the Middle East, whatever - so it would just be for nerd-interest, really. But that's OK 🙂

 

[MAC2020]

If you want to really nerd out & can afford it, why not self-fund a couple of Libre sensors?

From your numbers my guess is that you've actually sorted out the D caper & can now move on to the next thing - solving poverty, peace in the Middle East, whatever - so it would just be for nerd-interest, really. But that's OK 🙂

Lol!! As much as I'd love to tackle poverty and world peace, keeping on top of my carbs and dropping a couple of dress sizes is for the moment proving sufficient extra challenge for me! When I get to a BMI of 20, well, that might convince me to change my priorities (wink).

Thanks for the tip on libre sensors. Will check them out to see if they are within my budget.

 

[Amity Island]

Hi @MAC2020, the numbers you have are averages of the measurements you took and not necessarily an average of your blood glucose.

Doc B,

That's one of the best comments I've ever seen on this forum. Many would have misunderstood those averages.

@MAC2020, you've got some good results there.

 

[Docb]

If you want to really nerd out & can afford it, why not self-fund a couple of Libre sensors?

From your numbers my guess is that you've actually sorted out the D caper & can now move on to the next thing - solving poverty, peace in the Middle East, whatever - so it would just be for nerd-interest, really. But that's OK 🙂

That isn't being nerdy, that's just doing the obvious and easy. Being nerdy would be to devise a randomly generated set of times to take measurements covering day and night together with devising a strict eating regime with menus to cover various carb intakes from different foods. Then you would need to set up a series of alarms to for the randomly generated times and have some a computer and some software (preferably running under Linux) to capture all the data. Having got that lot you would do need to do a load of statistics to get an average blood glucose with confidence intervals. Converting those using existing tables would give you an average HbA1c together with confidence intervals.

Either that or eyeball the OP's numbers and say.... "they look pretty good"..... and get on with life.

Thanks for the compliment @Amity Island - it is best read in conjunction with the slightly later post 😉.