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Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
Hi Im a newbie
- Thread starter Nan jack
- Start date
Docb
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi @Nan jack and welcome to the forum.
I think they are different things. Have you had a blood test recently, that is blood taken in a syringe and sent off to a lab? If so, then the 84 mmol/mol will be an HbA1c result. Did somebody (or you) do a finger prick test on Monday and get an reading on a hand held meter? If so, that will be an instantaneous blood glucose measurement and will be in units mmol/l
It can be a bit bewildering until you get the hang of things with the numbers but if you read around the forum you will find lots of explanations - here is one.
Your numbers are consistent. With an HbA1c of 84 mmol/mol you might expect to get spot readings of blood glucose in low double figures. The important thing is that neither are desirable and you need to think about how you are going to reduce them. There are many ways of going about it and if you read around the forum you will get an idea of the principles and the routes that have been successful for members. You need to work out what will work for you.
Above all, ask us questions. There are years of lived experience of diabetes amongst members of the forum and we only too happy to share it. No question is considered silly - we have all been in the place you are now.
I think they are different things. Have you had a blood test recently, that is blood taken in a syringe and sent off to a lab? If so, then the 84 mmol/mol will be an HbA1c result. Did somebody (or you) do a finger prick test on Monday and get an reading on a hand held meter? If so, that will be an instantaneous blood glucose measurement and will be in units mmol/l
It can be a bit bewildering until you get the hang of things with the numbers but if you read around the forum you will find lots of explanations - here is one.
Your numbers are consistent. With an HbA1c of 84 mmol/mol you might expect to get spot readings of blood glucose in low double figures. The important thing is that neither are desirable and you need to think about how you are going to reduce them. There are many ways of going about it and if you read around the forum you will get an idea of the principles and the routes that have been successful for members. You need to work out what will work for you.
Above all, ask us questions. There are years of lived experience of diabetes amongst members of the forum and we only too happy to share it. No question is considered silly - we have all been in the place you are now.
silver minion
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Welcome to the forum @Nan jack
It is bewildering when you are first diagnosed. So many questions running around in your head. What can I eat? What should I avoid? How does medication help? And so the list goes on.
Have a look at the pinned posts at the top of the Newbies section and register with the Learning Zone on Diabetes UK website.
Your doctors surgery should arrange follow up appointments to check your feet and eyes and give you more information. Some surgeries are better than others at supporting newly diagnosed patients and giving diet and exercise advice, but it can be quite variable.
I found this forum really helpful and supportive when I joined a few months after diagnosis. So much experience to draw on from people who really understand day to day living with diabetes. So please do ask any questions, nothing considered silly or trivial.
It is bewildering when you are first diagnosed. So many questions running around in your head. What can I eat? What should I avoid? How does medication help? And so the list goes on.
Have a look at the pinned posts at the top of the Newbies section and register with the Learning Zone on Diabetes UK website.
Your doctors surgery should arrange follow up appointments to check your feet and eyes and give you more information. Some surgeries are better than others at supporting newly diagnosed patients and giving diet and exercise advice, but it can be quite variable.
I found this forum really helpful and supportive when I joined a few months after diagnosis. So much experience to draw on from people who really understand day to day living with diabetes. So please do ask any questions, nothing considered silly or trivial.
Hi thanks for your help. The first one was a blood test in a syringe during routine blood tests. The second one was also by syringe but a fasting test
Docb
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Ok, I think that the first one was an HbA1c - it is the normal way that diabetes is diagnosed. It is a number that reflects how high your blood glucose has been over a period. Anything over 48 gets a diabetes diagnosis and the higher the number the greater the risk of unwanted consequences.
I think the second one was a check that many of us do routinely, and you will see reported in the long running "Seven day waking average thread" on the General Message Board. We do it on hand held meters (you will see them talked about a lot on the forum) which give a result there and then without sending a sample to the lab.
Either way up, you need to start to formulate a plan to get the numbers down. Has your GP suggested anything?
trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
It could be that the lady's GP surgery did a second 'armful of blood' test to check if the first result was true, or perhaps other things they'd tested for the first time also needed re-checking.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @Nan jack
Have you been offered any medication to help with your diabetes management?
It’s completely natural to feel overwhelmed in the beginning. You are absolutely not alone.
Try not to panic. Make small, sustainable positive changes towards a more BG-friendly menu (generally it helps to reduce portion sizes of carbohydrates in your diet, as well as cutting out sweet and sugary things).
Don’t feel you have to ‘fix things’ immediately. You are starting well into the diabetes zone’ and allowing your levels to drift down gradually and incrementally can be much kinder on the eyes and nerve endings, plus it allows you time to adjust to the changes before taking the next step, rather than feeling like there’s “nothing left you can eat”.
Have you been offered any medication to help with your diabetes management?
It’s completely natural to feel overwhelmed in the beginning. You are absolutely not alone.
Try not to panic. Make small, sustainable positive changes towards a more BG-friendly menu (generally it helps to reduce portion sizes of carbohydrates in your diet, as well as cutting out sweet and sugary things).
Don’t feel you have to ‘fix things’ immediately. You are starting well into the diabetes zone’ and allowing your levels to drift down gradually and incrementally can be much kinder on the eyes and nerve endings, plus it allows you time to adjust to the changes before taking the next step, rather than feeling like there’s “nothing left you can eat”.
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Have a look at this link for some sensible information and menu ideas for a low carb approach to reducing your HbA1C which many have found successful. It is based on the suggested no more than 130g carbs not just sugar per day, it is not NO carbs but making good choices will important. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Hi @Nan jack welcome to the forum. When I was diagnosed last October, I found this website and the forums and have found everyone here to be helpful and friendly with great advice and ideas to help me manage my type 2. I went overboard with the diet changes and while I have seen good results in terms of getting my BG down to a more reasonable level, I also had some worrying moments when I went to far in reducing my carbs.
The Diabetes UK website is very helpful and provides lots of additional information and I tend to use that for the general overviews of the condition but the people in the forum are my 'experts' in some respects as they have lived what I am going through.
With regards to your numbers, did they put a % sign after the 13.3? I know when I look at my HbA1c results it is reported as a number (currently 47mmol/mol) and also as a percentage (6.5%). The whole measurement scale is a bit confusing but the link provided earlier in this thread is helpful in explaining the different ways BG is measured.
My suggestion is that for now focus on the future and explore what you can do to change your diet, exercise regime and then make slow changes to see what works best. Whatever you do don't bother worrying about how you ended up here as you cannot change that but you can make the future better.
The Diabetes UK website is very helpful and provides lots of additional information and I tend to use that for the general overviews of the condition but the people in the forum are my 'experts' in some respects as they have lived what I am going through.
With regards to your numbers, did they put a % sign after the 13.3? I know when I look at my HbA1c results it is reported as a number (currently 47mmol/mol) and also as a percentage (6.5%). The whole measurement scale is a bit confusing but the link provided earlier in this thread is helpful in explaining the different ways BG is measured.
My suggestion is that for now focus on the future and explore what you can do to change your diet, exercise regime and then make slow changes to see what works best. Whatever you do don't bother worrying about how you ended up here as you cannot change that but you can make the future better.