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Hba1c result 2023

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Sharron1

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Had the blood test yesterday morning and checked on Patient Access today to see if I could get in. Lo and behold the result was back. Even with my increased carbs it returned 37. Looking forward to the talk with the nurse about my current four tabs daily of metformin. Wonder what she will say this time. Hey ho
 
Sharron1 said:
Had the blood test yesterday morning and checked on Patient Access today to see if I could get in. Lo and behold the result was back. Even with my increased carbs it returned 37. Looking forward to the talk with the nurse about my current four tabs daily of metformin. Wonder what she will say this time. Hey ho
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That's a great result - well done. Looks like you're maintaining good control. I'm also wondering how your DN will view things. My last 4 results have been 38, 41, 40 and 41 and mine hasn't suggested I go back on medication.
 
Thank you. Should be an interesting chat.
 
Sharron1 said:
Had the blood test yesterday morning and checked on Patient Access today to see if I could get in. Lo and behold the result was back. Even with my increased carbs it returned 37. Looking forward to the talk with the nurse about my current four tabs daily of metformin. Wonder what she will say this time. Hey ho
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Really good result @Sharron1, and so consistent! Are you hoping that you can reduce or come off the met? Good luck x
 
Well done
 
Sussexmax said:
Really good result @Sharron1, and so consistent! Are you hoping that you can reduce or come off the met? Good luck x
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Thank you. I will just go with the flow. Taking metformin doesn’t really bother me. I am more curious as to why the GP and the nurse insist on keeping it at this amount when I consistently have such good Hba1c levels. My understanding is my lifestye, diet etc is doing the heavy lifting and the metformin is not doing much at all.
 
Well done - a great example to us newbies
 
Sharron1 said:
Thank you. I will just go with the flow. Taking metformin doesn’t really bother me. I am more curious as to why the GP and the nurse insist on keeping it at this amount when I consistently have such good Hba1c levels. My understanding is my lifestye, diet etc is doing the heavy lifting and the metformin is not doing much at all.
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I agree with you and think the same about my situation taking metformin. I’m conscious about its cardio and other benefits, so have kept on taking the tablets. My only concern is whether the longer this happens the less likely I would be to be able to ever come off the medication…
 
My cynical opinion is if the GP reduces the tabs for me unexpected consequence may be an increase in sugar levels which may require a little more monitoring. This way levels good only need to monitor annually. Tick box job done. Sigh.
 
Sharron1 said:
My cynical opinion is if the GP reduces the tabs for me unexpected consequence may be an increase in sugar levels which may require a little more monitoring. This way levels good only need to monitor annually. Tick box job done. Sigh.
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Mmm interesting thought, you’d hope that wouldn’t be the case but could be a reason. Of course I imagine you’d be interested to see what would happen to your sugar levels on a lower dose…
 
Sharron1 said:
My cynical opinion is if the GP reduces the tabs for me unexpected consequence may be an increase in sugar levels which may require a little more monitoring. This way levels good only need to monitor annually. Tick box job done. Sigh.
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When my DN told me I could stop taking Metformin altogether she said that I should monitor my BG and if it rose to above 8 then to come back. It started to creep up but didn't reach 8 and it then dropped back, where it's thankfully stayed.
 
Martin.A said:
When my DN told me I could stop taking Metformin altogether she said that I should monitor my BG and if it rose to above 8 then to come back. It started to creep up but didn't reach 8 and it then dropped back, where it's thankfully stayed.
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That's interesting. I may suggest that when we have our little chat.
 
Sussexmax said:
Mmm interesting thought, you’d hope that wouldn’t be the case but could be a reason. Of course I imagine you’d be interested to see what would happen to your sugar levels on a lower dose…
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Tbh i keep to 100-130 carbs daily sometimes even fewer which is why I believe 5 years,down the line metformin does really play much of a role with my diabetes. It also might be completely useless due to my initial diagnosis based purely on a suspect blood test and I now know I should have had a second one. But I gave since learnt from other patients that many GPs in this practice are very quick to get the prescription pad out and less so to make any reductions.
 
Congratulations @Sharron1

Hope the conversation with your nurse is a positive and encouraging one.
 
I worry about the variation and inconsistency between different surgeries
my last two HbA1c June and September 2023 were 34 and 37 and my metformin was stopped I queried why and was told it was harmful as I was being ‘ over medicated’ I was taking 1000 a day ( 500 am and 500 pm)
 
Anji53 said:
I worry about the variation and inconsistency between different surgeries
my last two HbA1c June and September 2023 were 34 and 37 and my metformin was stopped I queried why and was told it was harmful as I was being ‘ over medicated’ I was taking 1000 a day ( 500 am and 500 pm)
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Conversely other GPs have been known to suggest to forum members that they keep taking Metformin because of it’s potential health benefits.

Anything from reduction in risk of heart disease, cancer, or long Covid!
 
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everydayupsanddowns said:
Conversely other GPs have been known to suggest to forum members that they keep taking Metformin because of it’s potential health benefits.

Anything from reduction in risk of heart disease, cancer, or long Covid!
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Quality evidence for any of these benefits = sod all.
 
Eddy Edson said:
Quality evidence for any of these benefits = sod all.
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IMHO the evidence for its benefit for long covid is good enough. I'd prefer if there were a few such studies, but the one that was done (a rather complex study because they also wanted to test a few other things) seemed OK to me, and didn't show benefits for anything else they were testing. And Metformin is nice and cheap.
 
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