Hba1c

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Daniel_0101

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Type 2
Hi everyone,

I recently received my hba1c results, and I was hoping it would have dropped further, however I have heard the lower the hba1c, the harder it is for it to lower further, I was not sure if it was true, so I thought I would ask here.

Thank you.
 
Daniel_0101 said:
37, was 40 previously, however it was 5 months ago so I just assumed it would drop more, but I guess it's not that simple (shocker right).
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37 is very good 🙂 I can understand why you were hoping it had dropped more, but it is good and you should be pleased. It’s lower, and I think you’re probably right that progress slows down as you get back to more normal levels.

Do you have a glucose meter?
 
It is good, and I am grateful it has dropped back to normal ranges as I know it's more of a difficult process for others, but I was told by my consultant that the diabetes was caused by my weight, and I have lost quite a bit, so I guess it was just wishful thinking that it would have dropped further. My hba1c was 36, then I got carried away with food, and it went up to 40 3 months later - I guess it's just like losing and gaining weight, easier to put on than lose (for some people)
 
Congratulations! 37 is in the normal range, so that is a fantastic result! Well done!
How much lower do you hope to get it? I am just wondering if your perception of what is achievable is perhaps too high? It is easy to get so focused on achieving good numbers that you lose sight of what a good number actually is? Wanting to get levels lower and lower is like an athlete wanting to achieve a personal best every time they go out there. You can't necessarily continue to improve when things are already really good. There will be an optimum level for your body and metabolism, just like there is an optimum BMI range for your height. I think it is likely that some people will not be able to reduce their HbA1c into the low 30s or high 20s and it would not be natural or even perhaps healthy for them to try.

Those are just my thoughts.
 
rebrascora said:
Congratulations! 37 is in the normal range, so that is a fantastic result! Well done!
How much lower do you hope to get it? I am just wondering if your perception of what is achievable is perhaps too high? It is easy to get so focused on achieving good numbers that you lose sight of what a good number actually is? Wanting to get levels lower and lower is like an athlete wanting to achieve a personal best every time they go out there. You can't necessarily continue to improve when things are already really good. There will be an optimum level for your body and metabolism, just like there is an optimum BMI range for your height. I think it is likely that some people will not be able to reduce their HbA1c into the low 30s or high 20s and it would not be natural or even perhaps healthy for them to try.

Those are just my thoughts.
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Thank you.

My hba1c has been 36 at one point, so I was hoping for a lower reading.
You are right, I appreciate you commenting on the post.
 
There will be an intrinsic error factor in any reading or result so I don't really recognize any significant difference between an HbA1c result of 36 and 37. They are, to all intents and purposes, the same, so be happy :D You are smashing it!
 
Daniel_0101 said:
Thank you.

My hba1c has been 36 at one point, so I was hoping for a lower reading.
You are right, I appreciate you commenting on the post.
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What you have is one fantastic result (Normal) so very well done. Just a suggestion, would it be more beneficial to maintain the 37 and be more than happy with a job well done rather than trying to lower it any further than normal? 🙂 After all 0.1 difference is nothing to write home about is it? Have a celebration you deserve it.
 
No, not ungrateful ... after all you will have put a lot of hard work into getting that result so you have been justly rewarded.... but you are perhaps heading towards becoming a little obsessive which is something we all need to guard against, as diabetes can affect our mental health and perspective in all sorts of odd ways and it is easy to lose sight of what is normal. I know because I have this battle with myself sometimes about being realistic about targets.
 
My husband doesn't have diabetes. He's well overweight exacerbated by heavy steroid use for his COPD. He's 74. His HbA1c is 36.

I do have diabetes, mine is 50+.

I'm not sure as an adult, that anyone would have a much lower result than mid 30s.
 
trophywench said:
I'm not sure as an adult, that anyone would have a much lower result than mid 30s.
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This is taken from a post in the links section where @Eddy Edson was sharing some BG data from non-D people

But the study found average "normal" HbA1c's consistent with the other studies I've looked at: 5.3% (34mmol/mol) for 60+ year olds; 5.1% (32mmol/mol) for younger folks. Again, this would have been constrained to some extent by the selection criteria, which required HbA1c < 5.7% (39mmol/mol).

I’ve added the ‘new money’ conversions in brackets.

 
Thing to also consider is whether it's US or UK or anywhere else - unless any person had summat else wrong with them at some stage - why on earth would they even get their HbA1c tested and therefore become a statistic which can be delved into?

I'm sure most people who have had it tested, wouldn't remember what it actually was themselves unless they actually were diagnosed with D. Why would you, it's just a number so as long as the medic says it's normal, you'd pretty instantly forget it.

Just like BP or PSA or U&E or anything else ........
 
Daniel_0101 said:
It is good, and I am grateful it has dropped back to normal ranges as I know it's more of a difficult process for others, but I was told by my consultant that the diabetes was caused by my weight, and I have lost quite a bit, so I guess it was just wishful thinking that it would have dropped further. My hba1c was 36, then I got carried away with food, and it went up to 40 3 months later - I guess it's just like losing and gaining weight, easier to put on than lose (for some people)
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I rather suspect that the weight gain was caused by the diabetes rather than the reverse.
 
Pumper_Sue said:
What you have is one fantastic result (Normal) so very well done. Just a suggestion, would it be more beneficial to maintain the 37 and be more than happy with a job well done rather than trying to lower it any further than normal? 🙂 After all 0.1 difference is nothing to write home about is it? Have a celebration you deserve it.
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I don't know what my end goal was in relation to my hba1c, but you are right, thanks.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
This is taken from a post in the links section where @Eddy Edson was sharing some BG data from non-D people

But the study found average "normal" HbA1c's consistent with the other studies I've looked at: 5.3% (34mmol/mol) for 60+ year olds; 5.1% (32mmol/mol) for younger folks. Again, this would have been constrained to some extent by the selection criteria, which required HbA1c < 5.7% (39mmol/mol).

I’ve added the ‘new money’ conversions in brackets.

Click to expand...
Thank you, that is very informative.
 
trophywench said:
My husband doesn't have diabetes. He's well overweight exacerbated by heavy steroid use for his COPD. He's 74. His HbA1c is 36.

I do have diabetes, mine is 50+.

I'm not sure as an adult, that anyone would have a much lower result than mid 30s.
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I totally agree, I am happy with this result for sure, thanks!
 
trophywench said:
Thing to also consider is whether it's US or UK or anywhere else - unless any person had summat else wrong with them at some stage - why on earth would they even get their HbA1c tested and therefore become a statistic which can be delved into?

I'm sure most people who have had it tested, wouldn't remember what it actually was themselves unless they actually were diagnosed with D. Why would you, it's just a number so as long as the medic says it's normal, you'd pretty instantly forget it.

Just like BP or PSA or U&E or anything else ........
Click to expand...
Exactly, I got overly obsessed with having the "perfect" hba1c,I should just leave it at that and just continue with what I am doing, thanks again!
 
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