Meter Readings and HBA1C

[Duane Charles]

Is there a way to correlate meter readings to roughly work out what your HBA1C is or should this only be calculated every 3 months and by a professional?

 

[Leadinglights]

Is there a way to correlate meter readings to roughly work out what your HBA1C is or should this only be calculated every 3 months and by a professional?

The short answer is as they measure different thing they are only roughly comparable in that the higher glucose meter readings are the more likely that the HbA1C will be higher and visa versa.
HbA1C is an average over the previous 3 months of the glucose with attaches to your red blood cells, the life of red blood cells is about 3 months so if blood glucose levels fall then there is less glucose in your system to stick to those new red blood cells or if blood glucose levels are higher then more sticks to the new cells. This is the simple explanation.
Your monitor gives you a point in time reading and will be influenced by lots of factors, food, stress, exercise, hydration, illness etc etc.

 

[Duane Charles]

Thank you @Leadinglights and apologies for all the questions I’m asking

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you @Leadinglights and apologies for all the questions I’m asking

No problem, I worked in education and when people asked questions I regarded as a rewarding part of the job to find answers and solutions to their problems.
I hope you appreciate that my comments are from a Type 2 perspective and so may not quite fit your situation.

 

[helli]

Some meters and apps will approximate your HBA1C based on finger prick readings. However, this is a massive approximation because you have no idea what happens to your blood sugars between the finger pricks.
Libre is able to overcome this limitation and will provide an estimation. However, as @Leadinglights explained, it is measuring something different. I find the Libre estimation about 20% lower than my real HBA1C - a useful number to track progress but not a useful indication of HBA1C.

 

[Duane Charles]

I guess I have to accept that the higher the BG reading then the higher the HBA1C will be. I have had a couple of readings recently that have indicated ketones, the previous time that happened I got it checked out but was negative. At what level of BG are ketones visible or is it different for everyone?

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I guess I have to accept that the higher the BG reading then the higher the HBA1C will be.

That's a good summary. There are charts showing the correlation between average BG and HbA1c but they're not especially useful, I think.

At what level of BG are ketones visible or is it different for everyone?

I think it varies. I think ketones are produced in response to low insulin levels rather than high BG levels (though obviously the two are often correlated).

 

[helli]

When our BG meter suggests ketones, it is not saying that you have them but suggesting you check for them.
The level at which we are likely to get ketones varies from person to person and there are multiple reasons for getting them.
The concern for those of us with low insulin production (Type 1 and Type 3c) is high BG and high ketones indicates the likelihood of DKA.

 

[Martin.A]

Is there a way to correlate meter readings to roughly work out what your HBA1C is or should this only be calculated every 3 months and by a professional?

Not for individual readings but if you had 3 months' worth of readings logged and took an average you can get a rough idea of where your HbA1c might be using the attached chart, but having done this for every HbA1c tests that I've had I've found that it's best to allow +/- 2. For my most recent HbA1c, for example, I calculated that I would be in the range 37-41 and it came back as 41.

 

[Duane Charles]

Not for individual readings but if you had 3 months' worth of readings logged and took an average you can get a rough idea of where your HbA1c might be using the attached chart, but having done this for every HbA1c tests that I've had I've found that it's best to allow +/- 2. For my most recent HbA1c, for example, I calculated that I would be in the range 37-41 and it came back as 41.

Thank you