Info for a 72 year old

[Shortie75]

Hi all,
My mum was diagnosed with diabetes 18 months ago, she takes metamorfin and tests bloods 3 times a day 3 times a week.
She has recently started to take pregabalin and put a stone on in weight.
She's not a big eater piece of toast for breakfast 4 crackers and cheese for lunch then meat potatoes and veg for tea. (I think this is too many carbs)
At her last diabetic check the nurse said her levels were to high late 50s, yesterday they were 5.6 on her machine. Are the nurses readings based on a average?

Thanks any help info would be appreciated

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hello @Shortie75

Welcome to the forum.

While it is a good aim to keep BG as near as possible to the normal range - especially if this can be achieved with low risk of hypoglycaemia, there is increasing evidence that aggressively lowering BG in more elderly people may actually be counterproductive, especially if this involves significantly upping medication and hypo-risk, which in turn can increase risk of falls etc.

As a reference point 48 is the target HbA1c for people living with type 1 diabetes, and only a relatively small proportion manage to successfully achieve that level of diabetes management. To my mind, a level of 50 still offers a good level of protection against future long-term complications. If it can be reduced to below 48 without increased hypo risk then great! But I’ve seen presentations which question the wisdom of trying to push everyone, at all stages of life to non-diabetic HbA1cs

5.6 is an excellent result. It may be that some small adjustment to the amount or type of carbs might gently reduce your Mum’s levels, without hypo risk.

 

[Ljc]

Hello Shortie 75. Welcome to the forum.
The Hb1ac is an average of your blood glucose levels over the past 12 or so weeks. The finger prick tests your mum is doing is an on the spot check of her glucose levels , so they are totally different measurements.

I have Googled the patient info leaflet for Pregabalin and found weight gain mentioned. I only had a quick read up to the point of the weight gain so I don’t know if it also affects glucose levels as well , though it’s likely gaining weight will

https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/files/pil.9299.pdf

 

[SB2015]

Hi @Shortie75, and welcome to the forum.

Everyone’s blood sugar levels rise and fall during a day in response to carbohydrates eaten, exercise, and changes in the trickle of glucose from our liver to keep us ticking over. The finger prick test is a snapshot of the BG at the time of the test. The HbA1c gives an average of the glucose levels over the past three months, but weighted to the more recent weeks. A very different measure.

 

[Drummer]

Nothing fresh or low carb would make me feel old again - I have thrown off several decades by eating salad stuff, berries too.
There is no nourishment in bread or crackers - could you perhaps buy a few tomatoes and a pack of salad to go with the cheese? Your mum is going 24 hours between anything with vitamins - and those are cooked.

 

[Shortie75]

Thank you all for your replies

 

[Ralph-YK]

At her last diabetic check the nurse said her levels were to high late 50s, yesterday they were 5.6 on her machine. Are the nurses readings based on a average?

Is that a HbA1c result in the 50s? Is the 5.6 from a finger prick test?
The HbA1c is an average, covering 8-12 weeks. It's done with blood taken from the arm usually.
A finger prick & drop of blood on strip gives your blood glucose level at that moment. This will go up and down throughout the day, and possibly from day to day. It'll also be affected by when you last ate. (HbA1c isn't.)