slowly rising

[rossi_mac]

Alright campers,

Phoned Mr Quack to get bloods and my Hb... before he said if it is over 7.0 then I am to make an appointment to see him, (presumable for a talking too!) that sounded a bit harsh to me but I guess he wants me to achieve the best possible control which I do too by the way!

A year ago by Hb was 6.0, in June it was 6.4, it is now 6.7.

I'm still quite happy with it, just wondering if this is just a result of me coming out of the honmey moon and having slightly poorer control and now slowly getting it back?

At what stage do I think 'bother' I need help?

Because I don't at the moment but want to be heading back nearer 6.0!

Thanks

Rossi 🙂

 

[Freddie99]

Hi Rossi,

Is this your GP? When I had an HbA1c done via the GP it came back with the comment "diabetic control needs improving" and that was at 7.6%. Personally I'm happy with that but it could be better.

It could well mean that you're coming out of the honeymoon period or you've just had a patch of slightly slacker control for whatever reason, such as illness. That said, if I were getting my HbA1c in to the six percent region I wouldn't complain!

Tom

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I've heard a lot of different opinions expressed about A1c's recently. Some people getting told off for having theirs 'too low', other's worrying if they come out of the 5% club.

I think general advice is lower the better, as long as you aren't having many hypos (define 'many'!). Under 7 seems to be a common guideline. The NICE document I read suggested that a 0.5% drop in A1c was equivalent to perhaps a 15-20% reduction in development of complications so clearly even small improvements are worth making.

Are you keeping much in the way of records at the moment? Does your meter do 30 day or 90 day averages? If you are testing both before and after meals and your results show (as far as you can tell) a fairly accurate reflection of the ups and downs during the day you could try that "meter average -> HbA1c conversion" * to get an idea?

M

* Here is (one of the many) conversion formula:
Calculated A1C = (Average Blood Glucose in mmol/L + 2.52) / 1.583

Haven't had a proper test done since I found this, so am intrigued to see if there's any correlation at my next test.

 

[bigpurpleduck]

Hi Rossi,

In my experience, an A1c under 7% is not at all easy to achieve. In fact, I don't think mine has been under 7% since I was in primary school, so at least 10 years ago. And it's not for lack of trying, especially the last 2 or 3 years.

My DSN told me that the target A1c at my clinic from a reducing complications point of view is <7.5% - my previous two A1c's have been 7.1% and 7.4%, so they're very happy with me at the moment.

I get the impression from my consultant & DSN that they're not seriously concerned until A1c reaches around 8% - and you're a long way away from this.

However, I know every PCT is different - obviously your doc looks for much tighter control than mine! Is it your GP you've spoken to, or a consultant? I often think medical professionals take diabetes out of context and forget that you have to live life along with controlling diabetes!

The gentle rise could well be due to the honeymoon period fading out - not sure how long it's been since you were diagnosed.

Were you expecting it to have risen slightly again, based on your BG readings? If not, it could be DP or night hypos (& the subsequent rebounds) pushing it up a bit.

In my humble opinion, your A1c's are great. I would love to get mine to 6.7%. I guess it's all relative! I certainly wouldn't worry yet 🙂

 

[Northerner]

Hi Rossi, your HbA1c has been heading the same way as mine over the past year, although mine did start much lower than yours at 5.2% - I'm now at 5.9%. It may be that, like me, with greater experience of diabetes you are avoiding the lows more often than you used to which will have the effect of raising your HbA1c. If, however, you are getting a similar number of lows to what you have always had then you must also be experiencing higher levels generally than before so you need to look at your records (or start recording things!) so you can spot where these are occuring. 🙂

 

[rossi_mac]

Cheers all,

I was diagnosed just two years ago really and I think I had a long is honeymoon only really came out of it spring time this year, I think.

I realise the numbers are still good.

I don't have many hypos at all actually so thats a good point cheers.

I am getting better at carb counting and understanding things thanks to all of you lot.

I don't record in a log but I use the contour USB and every month I download and print off a report to see how good I have been.

It is my GP that I see he is a specialist in the old D I beleive was heavily involved in some hospital in the big smoke in the eighties and then he set up this practise which appears prettty darn ace for use diabetics! No need for hospital at all here!

I think part of the reason Doc said what he said was that he wanted to send me to a dietician but I said I'm fine and he couldn't say much as we didn't have my HbA1c in front of us for my yearly review!! He probably wasn't being as severe as I thought, I guess I just thought hmm I thnk it's gone up but not sure how much so I think I was being quiet and defensive! But I did have a nice final year medic take my blood pressure and ask me to take my top off!! 😛

Thanks again

Rossi 🙂