Guess the HbA1c

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That is great news - after you building us up expecting something awful!

Why did you come off the statins?
 
MargB said:
That is great news - after you building us up expecting something awful!

Why did you come off the statins?
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Thanks Marg, I honestly expected things to be worse! I stopped taking statins for a number of reasons: My cholesterol had dropped to 2.4 whilst taking them, so I decided to read up on what was a 'safe' lower limit - I couldn't find a definitive answer anywhere, and it seems that some doctors are happy to just see it drop and drop.

The doctors always bang on about what the 'safe' upper limit is, but never the lower and we do actually need cholesterol to live! It helps repair cells in the body and so a very low level can actually be as bad for you as an elevated level. You have an increased chance of stroke with very low levels.

Also, the statistics of the advantages didn't convince me. By taking them there was a possibility that I might be 2 or 3% less likely to have a heart attack, but actually a 97% chance I would be no better off. I decided that taking such a powerful drug was unnecessary for me, but that was a personal decision and obviously not one to be taken lightly! I'd rather do without them and not be exposed to the potential side-effects too.
 
Hi Northe, that is a fair explanation. 2.4 does seem very low and as we all know, there is good cholesterol as well as bad. I usually ask for the full breakdown these days and am more interested in the triglycerides reading than the overall cholesterol one they usually recite. That reading sticks with me because when I first went on medication it was because despite being really, really good and eating the correct things, exercising, etc my overall cholesterol level went up between tests. I was shocked and my doc explained she could see I had been doing the right things because of the triglyceride reading, with my family history it was always going to happen that the genes would beat the diet.
 
I knew it would be better than you thought you should have more belief in yourself. Very well done on a great result :D x
 
Great result :D Really pleased for you!

Whilst your on the subject of cholesterol levels, I wondered if you could tell me what a normal level is? My consultant made a point of telling me mine was 3.1 last time where they have never mentioned it before :confused:

Is it because im getting older now and something i should be more aware of? 🙄
 
xxlou_lxx said:
Great result :D Really pleased for you!

Whilst your on the subject of cholesterol levels, I wondered if you could tell me what a normal level is? My consultant made a point of telling me mine was 3.1 last time where they have never mentioned it before :confused:

Is it because im getting older now and something i should be more aware of? 🙄
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They like non-diabetics to be below 5 and diabetics to be below 4, ideally, althoug my doctor thought the 4.5 was fine. As Marg explained earlier, it means more if you can get the breakdown between HDL and LDL (so-called good and bad). I'd be happy with 3.1, but not if it dropped below that, personally.
 
Northerner said:
They like non-diabetics to be below 5 and diabetics to be below 4, ideally, althoug my doctor thought the 4.5 was fine. As Marg explained earlier, it means more if you can get the breakdown between HDL and LDL (so-called good and bad). I'd be happy with 3.1, but not if it dropped below that, personally.
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Yeah, I wondered why there was more than one cholesterol result but he never explained that! 🙄 the other result was 1.6 :confused:

think ill ask next time hehe thanks for the reply :D
 
I'm just going to hide in a corner and cry (not that I'm competitive or anything)!

But, on the bright side, congrats on the numbers! 🙂

Andy
 
😱 Joint winner eh? great stuff and even better that it was a great result for you, well done :D
 
I wrote this poem about 5.6 a while ago - not really about HbA1c it's about those photos of meters you see in the adverts with their 'perfect' reading, but thought I'd post it again! 🙂

What a magical number is five point six!
What a heartwarming figure to see!
But elusive and mythical, impossible to fix,
A number you are unlikely to see?

For the meter will show just too high or too low,
Or may even show an extreme,
But to see five point six on my little box of tricks ?
I?d be like the cat with the cream!

It?s a subliminal ruse that the companies use
To persuade us their meter?s ideal,
And help us to choose, and believe we can?t lose ?
Just imagine how much better we?d feel!

But I won?t give up hope, and I think I can cope
If the figure I see?s five point seven?
For it?s just within scope of that slippery slope
To a number that?s blood glucose heaven!

:D
 
Well done, Northerner and love the poem :D x
 
Northe I really you should be publishing these poems in a book for diabetics - it would be a best seller! :D
 
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