Readings

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

marymurphy13

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
This is going to seem like a silly question but how do the readings I get from the diabetes nurse relate to what I’m seeing on my blood sugar monitor. Eg. If my monitor says 6.4, is this 69 in nurse speak?
 
marymurphy13 said:
This is going to seem like a silly question but how do the readings I get from the diabetes nurse relate to what I’m seeing on my blood sugar monitor. Eg. If my monitor says 6.4, is this 69 in nurse speak?
Click to expand...
The reading you are getting from your monitor is a spot test of your glucose level at that moment in time and is in mmol/l
The number your nurse gave you is the HbA1C test result which is an average of your blood glucose over the past 3 months and is in mmol/mol
The higher your finger prick readings are the higher your HbA1C is likely to be, conversely the higher the HbA1C is the more likely your finger prick reading will be higher until you make dietary changes which should bring them down. The finger pricks are most influenced by what you eat, so high carb meal will give a higher finger prick reading especially if your body has not tolerated the amount of carbs in the meal.
Annoyingly not eating can give elevated blood glucose levels as the liver is helpful and releases glucose for your body to function, people find this happens particularly in the morning before they have had breakfast or during exercise.
 
Leadinglights said:
The reading you are getting from your monitor is a spot test of your glucose level at that moment in time and is in mmol/l
The number your nurse gave you is the HbA1C test result which is an average of your blood glucose over the past 3 months and is in mmol/mol
The higher your finger prick readings are the higher your HbA1C is likely to be, conversely the higher the HbA1C is the more likely your finger prick reading will be higher until you make dietary changes which should bring them down. The finger pricks are most influenced by what you eat, so high carb meal will give a higher finger prick reading especially if your body has not tolerated the amount of carbs in the meal.
Annoyingly not eating can give elevated blood glucose levels as the liver is helpful and releases glucose for your body to function, people find this happens particularly in the morning before they have had breakfast or during exercise.
Click to expand...
Thank you for so much info. Really appreciated. It was just that they say 79 whereas my meter would record that as 7.9 ?
 
marymurphy13 said:
Really appreciated. It was just that they say 79 whereas my meter would record that as 7.9 ?
Click to expand...
No. A 7.9 mmol/l measurement from a drop of blood is a measurement of that drop of blood right now. The 79 mmol/mol HbA1c is (approximately) an average over the past 2 or 3 months (weighted towards what happened more recently).

There are charts showing approximate comparisons between the two, so if your HbA1c is such and such, that's like having an average blood glucose of some value. I'm not sure such comparisons are that useful. You want an HbA1c lower than 48 (preferably under 42), and you want blood glucose values between 4 and 7, but the occasional reading over that is fine particularly an hour or two after eating, and occasional values a bit under 4 are also fine (especially if you've unexpectedly had to skip breakfast and run to catch a bus, though you're probably not testing then anyway).
 
Hopefully Bruce's explanation clarifies it for you.
I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough in what I tried to explain.
 
marymurphy13 said:
Thank you for so much info. Really appreciated. It was just that they say 79 whereas my meter would record that as 7.9 ?
Click to expand...

The two measurements are in different units. You can only compare them by using a conversion chart, but I wouldn’t bother. Concentrate on your own targets and use them to judge how well you’re doing. If you do well, this should be reflected in your next HbA1C 🙂
 
Leadinglights said:
Hopefully Bruce's explanation clarifies it for you.
I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough in what I tried to explain.
Click to expand...
I think it was more a case of my not explaining my issue. Thank you for just being there
Inka said:
The two measurements are in different units. You can only compare them by using a conversion chart, but I wouldn’t bother. Concentrate on your own targets and use them to judge how well you’re doing. If you do well, this should be reflected in your next HbA1C 🙂
Click to expand...
Thank you. The cut off for surgery is 69. I need to see this conversion chart.
 
marymurphy13 said:
Now I wish I hadn’t looked. Those charts are a minefield.
Click to expand...
The lower you can get your HbA1C the better as surgery when blood glucose levels are high carry greater risks from infection and poor healing.
An HbA1C of 69mmol/mol is a level that would warrant urgent attention to reduce is even when surgery was not a consideration.
I know they say that is the cut off but lower would be preferable.
 
It shows the old HbA1C measurement and the new one, along with the average blood sugar.
 
According to the chart I looked at your average BG reading needs to be under 10.9 to achieve an HbA1c of 69, so your average BG reading needs to be under 10.9 for you to get the green light for surgery.
The thing you need to understand is that BG levels fluctuate quite significantly throughout the day and night so if you only take 5 or even 10 finger prick readings a day and take an average they may not be representative of what is going on the rest of the time. If you were to do 100 finger pricks a day at random times before food and at various times afterwards, then the average may be more representative of your HbA1c. If you took 1000 finger pricks throughout a day, you could be reasonable confident that the average would convert to a pretty good approximation of your HbA1c but only for that day and HbA1c is sort of an average of 3 months, so unless you maintained what you did that day to achieve good results over the 3 months your HbA1c won't reflect it. If your average reading every day for 3 months is less that 10.9 then you should be on target for your HbA1c to be below 69, but those finger prick readings need to be representative of the highs and lows not just the nice low pre meal readings.

Many of us use the Freestyle Libre system which is a sensor which is applied to the back of our arm for 14 days and samples our levels every few minutes. This means that an average of those readings is going to give us a much better idea of what our HbA1c will be than 5 or 10 finger pricks a day. It might be worth you trying the system for a couple of weeks.... there has been an ongoing free trial if you have a compatible phone which might help you assess how you are doing better than random finger prick tests. I usually find that it slightly under estimates HbA1c by 3-4 mmols/litre but if you aim for something like 55 or 60 then you should be under target for the op on your knees.

I would like to say that whilst I can understand the operation being a real motivation for you to get your levels under better control, please don't think that those high levels are not potentially causing damage to your body rather than them just preventing your Op. It is really important not to be complacent with your diabetes management and BG levels, so if the knee Op is motivating you now, please keep that momentum going after the Op. No point in having your knees fixed only to risk losing your feet or your eyesight!
 
Leadinglights said:
The lower you can get your HbA1C the better as surgery when blood glucose levels are high carry greater risks from infection and poor healing.
An HbA1C of 69mmol/mol is a level that would warrant urgent attention to reduce is even when surgery was not a consideration.
I know they say that is the cut off but lower would be preferable.
Click to expand...
Thank you for going to so much trouble.
 
rebrascora said:
According to the chart I looked at your average BG reading needs to be under 10.9 to achieve an HbA1c of 69, so your average BG reading needs to be under 10.9 for you to get the green light for surgery.
The thing you need to understand is that BG levels fluctuate quite significantly throughout the day and night so if you only take 5 or even 10 finger prick readings a day and take an average they may not be representative of what is going on the rest of the time. If you were to do 100 finger pricks a day at random times before food and at various times afterwards, then the average may be more representative of your HbA1c. If you took 1000 finger pricks throughout a day, you could be reasonable confident that the average would convert to a pretty good approximation of your HbA1c but only for that day and HbA1c is sort of an average of 3 months, so unless you maintained what you did that day to achieve good results over the 3 months your HbA1c won't reflect it. If your average reading every day for 3 months is less that 10.9 then you should be on target for your HbA1c to be below 69, but those finger prick readings need to be representative of the highs and lows not just the nice low pre meal readings.

Many of us use the Freestyle Libre system which is a sensor which is applied to the back of our arm for 14 days and samples our levels every few minutes. This means that an average of those readings is going to give us a much better idea of what our HbA1c will be than 5 or 10 finger pricks a day. It might be worth you trying the system for a couple of weeks.... there has been an ongoing free trial if you have a compatible phone which might help you assess how you are doing better than random finger prick tests. I usually find that it slightly under estimates HbA1c by 3-4 mmols/litre but if you aim for something like 55 or 60 then you should be under target for the op on your knees.

I would like to say that whilst I can understand the operation being a real motivation for you to get your levels under better control, please don't think that those high levels are not potentially causing damage to your body rather than them just preventing your Op. It is really important not to be complacent with your diabetes management and BG levels, so if the knee Op is motivating you now, please keep that momentum going after the Op. No point in having your knees fixed only to risk losing your feet or your eyesight!
Click to expand...
Thank you Barbara. I think I’ve had the kick up the backside I needed. I’ve been diabetic since I had a heart attack 12+ years ago. I was probably diabetic before but it brought it to attention. I’ve not shown my diabetes the respect it deserves for a long time and have relied on medication. My diabetic nurse had brought it to my attention before I saw the consultant and was happy to up my meds. It was actually my decision not to have any more medication controlling my body. I truly believe just cutting my horrendously bad eating habits might do the trick but I’ve also made changes within meal times. Thanks once again.
 
Hi @marymurphy13 has anyone ever told you what it is in foods which raise BGs? I ask because dietitians and health workers often point us to the "healthy eating platter" which is dire for people with diabetes. The foods which raise BGs are starches, such as breakfast cereals (including porridge), bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and anything with flour in it. Doesn't matter if it's white or brown. You clearly have a meter and it should be your best friend. Test before each meal and at 2 hours after it - you are aiming for a rise of no more than 2-3 mmol/l. Hope this helps.
 
Pattidevans said:
Hi @marymurphy13 has anyone ever told you what it is in foods which raise BGs? I ask because dietitians and health workers often point us to the "healthy eating platter" which is dire for people with diabetes. The foods which raise BGs are starches, such as breakfast cereals (including porridge), bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and anything with flour in it. Doesn't matter if it's white or brown. You clearly have a meter and it should be your best friend. Test before each meal and at 2 hours after it - you are aiming for a rise of no more than 2-3 mmol/l. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Sadly I know where my downfalls are. Don’t know if this Ames the situation better or worse. Better I suppose because I know what I need to stop. Worse because I shouldn’t have allowed myself to get where I am. I’ve managed it for over a decade then between covid and not being very mobile, I’ve gone off track. Thank you for showing an interest.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top