Hba1C Fine, Morning Readings on the High Side

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timewins

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Type 2
Hi .. new to the forum, apologies if posting in the wrong place.

I am Type2, treated by Metformin (4x500mg daily)

My annual Hba1C result always comes in ok, but when I take the occasional meter reading I seem to get something like 11.4 in the morning.

My diabetes nurse told me to stop testing 🙂

Anyone else seeing this sort of thing ?

Regards
Tim
 
timewins said:
Hi .. new to the forum, apologies if posting in the wrong place.

I am Type2, treated by Metformin (4x500mg daily)

My annual Hba1C result always comes in ok, but when I take the occasional meter reading I seem to get something like 11.4 in the morning.

My diabetes nurse told me to stop testing 🙂

Anyone else seeing this sort of thing ?

Regards
Tim
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum.
Often people see higher readings in the morning (fasting) than would be expected from an HbA1C that is in an 'OK' range'. It can depend on when you do your test, as some people get a increase as soon as they get out of bed referred to as Foot on the Floor Phenomenon.
Try testing before you get out of bed and see if that makes a difference and make sure you have nothing on your fingers. I know hard to wash your hands without getting out of bed???
Even so that morning reading does seem high. What was your HbA1C, an actual number would be useful to know rather than just OK.
Has your morning reading suddenly been that high and is it consistently at that level?
Sorry for the third degree but it helps to suggest what might be going on.
 
Hi .. sorry for my vagueness ..... I have now found my documentation.

I had my annual blood test this morning (which refocussed me on this point), but last year my HbA1c was 40, and was told below 48 is Ok.

I know a year has passed, so this year's result would be more helpful.

My morning readings when I do them, are usually higher than I would expect (certainly above 7).

Over lockdown I have lost over 3st, and have also been taken off Gliclazide completely.

Obviously if the diabetes nurse has a concern, they will address it.

So I guess its wait and see.

Regards
Tim
 
Hi Tim, what would your evening meal typically be and what time would you usually have this?
 
Hi Emma .. typically it would be pasta with a meat sauce (that's what I ate last night), meat, stir fries, noodles, rice, reasonably healty stuff ... but we do tend to eat late, typically 8-00 - 9.00 pm

I don't eat sugary foods, so most of my sugars come from carbs I guess
 
Okay so I think you know what I’m gonna say, the pasta noodles and rice will spike you big time and the time your eating is also not good. I know this because pasta was my favourite and I always ate late due to work commitments. Now I don’t eat anything past 7pm and my numbers are around 4.8 on waking. Although if you notice in my description that I’m type 1 I’m actually somewhere in the middle or 1 and 2 so I don’t take meds just control through diet. Hang on I will send you a pic of a really good alternative to pasta … watch this space
 
Hi Emma ..... yes, those carbs are going to keep things high in the morning, and may well indicate why long term is low, but immediate is high (I have had type 2 for 20 years now, and I have been told about this).

We do eat late .... simply because I usually work till 7-00pm (or beyond) ... my choice, I know.

Then I prepare food .... from scratch normally, so its 8-9 before we eat.

Not a healthy lifestyle :(

My wife has jus been diagnosed with Type 2 as well ... so I think I may have to look at diet, and when we eat.

Unfortunatley I really dislike fish !

Thanks for your help .. await the pasta dish 🙂

Well done for the self diabetes control
 
Okay so this stuff is my new favourite. Yeah it’s green and for some reason smells a bit like paint when it’s cooking (no idea why) but i mix mine with a low carb pasta sauce, any meat you like, beansprouts, mushrooms etc, first time I tried it I wasn’t sure then I cooked it a bit longer than recommended and I really enjoyed it and for the first time in ages I was full! £12 on Amazon but that is for 4 boxes and I get four individual meals out of one box, well for now anyway, daughters have taken a liking to it ! Also hi lo bread is a good one if you can find it. My fasting numbers where about 13-14 on diagnosis. Keep coming back there are loads of tips on here
 

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timewins said:
Hi Emma ..... yes, those carbs are going to keep things high in the morning, and may well indicate why long term is low, but immediate is high (I have had type 2 for 20 years now, and I have been told about this).

We do eat late .... simply because I usually work till 7-00pm (or beyond) ... my choice, I know.

Then I prepare food .... from scratch normally, so its 8-9 before we eat.

Not a healthy lifestyle :(

My wife has jus been diagnosed with Type 2 as well ... so I think I may have to look at diet, and when we eat.

Unfortunatley I really dislike fish !

Thanks for your help .. await the pasta dish 🙂

Well done for the self diabetes control
Click to expand...
Ahh thanks and your welcome. Sorry to hear about your wife, and not that I’m saying it’s a positive in any way but you can motivate each other. My other half eats the most amount of rubbish !!!
 
If your wife has now been diagnosed that should make it easier to reduce your carbohydrates which will as Emma says push up your glucose levels. I know people on gliclazide are advised not to reduce their carbs too low as it could cause hypos but as you are now not on those there should be less problem with reducing some of those high carb foods your are having like the rice, pasta, noodles, potatoes, pastry, bread for example.
I use edamame or black bean pasta as it is much lower carb than normal pasta and people use cauliflower rice. Breakfast cereals are another thing to be careful of as they are high carb.
Remember it is ALL carbohydrates which convert to glucose not just sugar, things can be low sugar but high carb.
I'm not sure how much difference the time you eat makes as we always eat late by most people's standards usually about 8pm. just got into that habit when working and have not changed even though retired.
Most people find keeping a food diary really helpful to revisit what they eat periodically as it is easy for things to drift over time.
 
Thanks ..... as my wife has been diagnosed recently, she is getting all the diet information, some online courses, etc as part of her initial diagnosis.

That was 20 years ago for me, so it will be good to brush up on the diet information.

I must admit, as time has passed I am not as observant as I used be (apart from avoiding sugar), seeing that everything looked ok, and average levels are low.

Perhaps this is a wake up call.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Note, I have no other Diabetic issues at the moment, except for some background retinopothy .. fingers crossed
 
Initially I simply dropped the pasta, and the rice.
Bulk up with chickpeas for curries, kidney beans for chillies, try butter beans in spag bog, add mushrooms, cauliflower.

Having said that, if it's been working twenty years for you, you're doing something right.

Eating earlier would help, cook a batch at the weekend and freeze it, or put everything in a slow cooker in the morning.
I used to prepare a monster pot full, then freeze it for several days meals.

(Nowadays, I don't worry, I managed to reverse my diabetes, so I do eat all that type of stuff again)
 
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