getting my HBa1C down

[baz carter]

Last test put it at 7.2% but nurse wants it below 6.5%. I've drawn up a diary and started monitoring dose, carb, exercise, etc is there anything else I need to do?

And are there any quick wins? I read some where that getting fasting BS down to below 8mmol consisently will give a reduction of 1%.

So should I focus on this.. or just gather data across the whole day for the next five and see what else crops up?

 

[Rainbow]

Firstly I think that 7.2 is ok and I wouldn't go making any drastic changes. Continue monitoring and keeping a diary to see if it highlights any trends that need adjustment. Take it steady.

 

[Freddie99]

Perhaps you might want to put down exactly what you're eating. Sometimes with me they like a dietician to grill me (pardon the pun) to see if they can help.

Tom

 

[Caroline]

Like most things involving diet, I don't think there are any quick wins. The diary is a good idea as it will pick up on any trends that might be happening and you can take it along to appointments to show your medical team what you are doing.

As what you are doing is working, unless advised to do otherwise by medics, carry on doing it.

 

[Northerner]

Hi baz, what sort of insulin regime are you on? If you're on multiple injections (like lantus/levemir and novorapid) then it's important to get your basal dose right so that you can reduce your fasting levels. Are your fasting and pre-meal usually 8 or above? If so your basal is probably too low. How long have you been diagnosed? Do you hypo much, or get high post meal levels? How often do you test? Do you carb-count and inject accordingly?

What does your doctor or nurse say? Sorry for all the questions, but answering them will help us to suggest a plan of attack. Certainly, keeping a diary is a good start so you can spot trends.

I see you've been a member for a while but this is your first post - welcome to the forum!🙂

 

[Northerner]

Firstly I think that 7.2 is ok and I wouldn't go making any drastic changes. Continue monitoring and keeping a diary to see if it highlights any trends that need adjustment. Take it steady.

You shouldn't really settle for 7.2% if you want to give yourself hte best chance of avoiding complications. Ideally, getting it below 6.5% (some say 6.2%) will put you at similar risks to non-diabetic people - as it increases the possiblility of complications rises exponentially. It's not easy, but don't regret not trying when you look back.

Look at the graph on this page to see what I mean:

http://www.diabetesuffolk.com/Complications/HbA1c.htm

 

[sofaraway]

Is your overnight stable? thats a good place to start, if you can go to bed on a good level and then wake up in range then thats 1/3 of the time already sorted, can make a big difference to the A1c.
Maybe you could set a staggered goal, like next time to be 6.8, then after that 6.5. Once you start getting down dropping 1% gets harder

 

[Copepod]

Welcome Baz - hope it's not over a year until your next post!