Hba1c v glucose testing

[CyprusTania]

Hi all
i was diagnosed with Type 2 in June. Hba1c 7.2 and fasting glucose 114. I immediately started on a strict diet (low carb) and exercise regime and 3 months later had lost 10%of my body weight, Hba1c 6.4 and a month after that 5.8. My blood glucose testing is always higher in the morning on waking but never goes over 180 after a decent sized meal. I’m considering leaving out the glucose testing and just paying for a monthly hba1c. Any thoughts on this please?

 

[trophywench]

Sorry, what use is knowing what your average blood glucose for the previous approx 3 months to you, when you've no way of plotting it more regularly? You have to test both before and approx 2 hrs after eating, to ensure that meal did not cause an increase of more than 36 to 40 -ish, if you wish to achieve remission.

You've done well so far - but a bit too soon to relax I think.

 

[Dave W]

As @trophywench has said, HbA1c only provides you with an average over the previous 3 months and gives no real idea as to how well you are contolling your glucose level. As it's just an average you could have been very high half of the time and very low half of the time, but the average will fall in the middle.
You'll gain a far more accurate indication of how good or poor your control is if you test regularly, so stick with it.

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi all
............................... My blood glucose testing is always higher in the morning on waking but never goes over 180 after a decent sized meal. I’m considering leaving out the glucose testing and just paying for a monthly hba1c. Any thoughts on this please?

The higher blood glucose reading in a morning (if before breakfast) is your liver being 'helpful' and dumping some glucose into your blood to give you the energy to go and hunt/gather your first meal like a cave dweller. This will take time to reduce and is usually the last thing to normalise after you get all your post meal BG levels back into the normal range.
Mine have been normal for over 1year, but my morning fasting BG still has further to drop, though it has dropped a bit.

 

[CyprusTania]

The higher blood glucose reading in a morning (if before breakfast) is your liver being 'helpful' and dumping some glucose into your blood to give you the energy to go and hunt/gather your first meal like a cave dweller. This will take time to reduce and is usually the last thing to normalise after you get all your post meal BG levels back into the normal range.
Mine have been normal for over 1year, but my morning fasting BG still has further to drop, though it has dropped a bit.

Thanks for that. My doc advised to eat something before bed because my nighttime fasting window was too long. I don’t have other help because I live in Cyprus so it’s just GP. Good luck with yours, you’ve done really well!

 

[CyprusTania]

As @trophywench has said, HbA1c only provides you with an average over the previous 3 months and gives no real idea as to how well you are contolling your glucose level. As it's just an average you could have been very high half of the time and very low half of the time, but the average will fall in the middle.
You'll gain a far more accurate indication of how good or poor your control is if you test regularly, so stick with it.

Thanks, during the 3 months of testing, my BG readings were always between 95 and 160 so never huge drops or peaks. I’ll continue with the monitor.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @CyprusTania

Sounds like you are using % for HbA1c and mg/dl for BG fingersticks which takes me back to comparing notes with people with diabetes in the US.

For forum members who aren't used to the conversion, Diabetes UK have an HbA1c converter here

What is HbA1c?

HbA1c is your average blood glucose (sugar) levels for the last two to three months. If you have diabetes, an ideal HbA1c level is 48mmol/mol (6.5%) or below. If you're at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, your target HbA1c level should be below 42mmol/mol (6%).

www.diabetes.org.uk

And for mg/dl to mmol/L you divide by 18.

Well done on getting into the 5% club 🙂 Brilliant progress!

 

[CyprusTania]

Welcome to the forum @CyprusTania

Sounds like you are using % for HbA1c and mg/dl for BG fingersticks which takes me back to comparing notes with people with diabetes in the US.

For forum members who aren't used to the conversion, Diabetes UK have an HbA1c converter here

What is HbA1c?

HbA1c is your average blood glucose (sugar) levels for the last two to three months. If you have diabetes, an ideal HbA1c level is 48mmol/mol (6.5%) or below. If you're at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, your target HbA1c level should be below 42mmol/mol (6%).

www.diabetes.org.uk

And for mg/dl to mmol/L you divide by 18.

Well done on getting into the 5% club 🙂 Brilliant progress!

Thanks, yes, although British I live in Cyprus where things are a little behind on the diabetes front. This forum will be very helpful.