Today I’ve had my numbers confirmed.

[Leadinglights]

Morning, so 1st test done, after 3 attempts and ended up just pricking my finger ,,,I have now worked out the release button ,so my number is 8.4 , how do I convert that to my other number ‘44’, sorry I’m being stupid.

You don't as they are measuring something different, Your monitor is giving you a moment in time blood glucose level in mmol/l, the HbA1C is an average over 3 months in mmol/mol.
They do relate in that the higher your spot readings are the higher your HbA1C is likely to be.
Your spot readings will vary depending on several factors mainly what you have eaten.
Make sure your testing has a purpose. Morning readings (fasting so before anything to eat or drink) will indicate progress day to day and should be between 4-7mmol/l.
Testing before and 2 hours after you eat will tell you if your meal is OK if the level is no more than 8-8.5mmol/l or the increase is no more than 2-3mmol/l. The more consistently you are within those parameters the more likely your HbA1C will be normal.

 

[Toddyken]

You don't as they are measuring something different, Your monitor is giving you a moment in time blood glucose level in mmol/l, the HbA1C is an average over 3 months in mmol/mol.
They do relate in that the higher your spot readings are the higher your HbA1C is likely to be.
Your spot readings will vary depending on several factors mainly what you have eaten.
Make sure your testing has a purpose. Morning readings (fasting so before anything to eat or drink) will indicate progress day to day and should be between 4-7mmol/l.
Testing before and 2 hours after you eat will tell you if your meal is OK if the level is no more than 8-8.5mmol/l or the increase is no more than 2-3mmol/l. The more consistently you are within those parameters the more likely your HbA1C will be normal.

Thank you very much for explaining that, it’s starting to make sense, I was getting frustrated by 2 completely different numbers. I’ve never actually sat down with my GP about pre-diabetic,it was a quick telephone call following a routine blood test,, it’s been hard trying to learn the do’s & dont’s.Should I continue with the monitor and not get to hung up about 2 different numbers for now , today was 8.4 was 9 a few weeks ago, hopefully going in the right direction.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you very much for explaining that, it’s starting to make sense, I was getting frustrated by 2 completely different numbers. I’ve never actually sat down with my GP about pre-diabetic,it was a quick telephone call following a routine blood test,, it’s been hard trying to learn the do’s & dont’s.Should I continue with the monitor and not get to hung up about 2 different numbers for now , today was 8.4 was 9 a few weeks ago, hopefully going in the right direction.

Testing a few meals would be a good idea to see if there are any foods which are a problem for you. When was the 8.4 mmol/l that you had. Don't get too hung up on individual reading but look for trends. Keeping a good record of reading, when you tested and what foods you have eaten will give you a good idea of where things are going.
If your 8.4 was a fasting reading then that is a bit high for a pre diabetes diagnosis but stress can increase your level so as it was your attempt with your monitor it could be a bit elevated but if 2 hours after food then your meal was perhaps a bit carb heavy. Certainly 9mmol/l would indicate a higher HbA1C than 44mmol/mol
Keep testing and keep us posted on your results.
The finger pricking will become easier with practice.

 

[Toddyken]

Testing a few meals would be a good idea to see if there are any foods which are a problem for you. When was the 8.4 mmol/l that you had. Don't get too hung up on individual reading but look for trends. Keeping a good record of reading, when you tested and what foods you have eaten will give you a good idea of where things are going.
If your 8.4 was a fasting reading then that is a bit high for a pre diabetes diagnosis but stress can increase your level so as it was your attempt with your monitor it could be a bit elevated but if 2 hours after food then your meal was perhaps a bit carb heavy. Certainly 9mmol/l would indicate a higher HbA1C than 44mmol/mol
Keep testing and keep us posted on your results.
The finger pricking will become easier with practice.

That was my test this morning after waking, , I did get a bit worked up when I couldn’t work out how to use it and ended up just pricking my finger , it wasn’t very comfortable.Hopefully I know what I'm doing now , your advise is much appreciated .

 

[LydiaDustbin]

If you have a smartphone, I would recommend downloading the MySugr app to record your fingerprick results. Once you've added a certain number of results (can't remember how many, think it might be 3 weeks' worth) it will start to tell you your estimated HbA1c level.

 

[Toddyken]

If you have a smartphone, I would recommend downloading the MySugr app to record your fingerprick results. Once you've added a certain number of results (can't remember how many, think it might be 3 weeks' worth) it will start to tell you your estimated HbA1c level.

Thank you very much, I’ll do that today

 

[Toddyken]

If you have a smartphone, I would recommend downloading the MySugr app to record your fingerprick results. Once you've added a certain number of results (can't remember how many, think it might be 3 weeks' worth) it will start to tell you your estimated HbA1c level.

Your numbers are impressive .

 

[Leadinglights]

You will get the hang of pricking your finger, I must admit I gave up on the lancing devise and just hold the lancet in my hand and give a quick stab. I always take the strip to my finger once it is in the monitor. I was well renowned at work ( teaching lab ) for being able to get blood out of most people including myself as we always needed blood samples for something or other and I could get 100x as much as needed for a strip from my finger.
There are some YouTube videos if you are still having a problem.

 

[RBZ5416]

my number is 8.4 , how do I convert that to my other number ‘44’

As above, converting a single reading is meaningless. But if you test regularly for a period & calculate the average, you can use a converter for an idea of how they compare. There's a calculator here that you can enter a figure into any field & it will calculate the others. The first column is HbA1c (your 44) & the last is the equivalent on your meter. You can disregard the middle two as one is an old method of recording HbA1c (%) & the other is a standard used overseas. So your HbA1c of 44 equates to an AVERAGE of 7.25mmol/L on the meter.

Be aware that meters aren't that accurate though. They are only required to read +/- 15% on 95% of readings. So if you receive an unexpectedly high reading it's worth repeating that. Case in point, my bedtime reading last night was 8.2 with nothing consumed to raise it that high. Retested immediately & got 6.2. Oh & you should always wash your hands first.

 

[Gabbie12]

Morning, so 1st test done, after 3 attempts and ended up just pricking my finger ,,,I have now worked out the release button ,so my number is 8.4 , how do I convert that to my other number ‘44’, sorry I’m being stupid.

Blood Sugar Glucose Converter for Diabetes

Convert blood sugar/glucose from mmol/L (UK standard) to mg/dl (US standard) and vice versa using our blood sugar converter.

www.diabetes.co.uk

just enter your numbers in the converter!

 

[Leadinglights]

Blood Sugar Glucose Converter for Diabetes

Convert blood sugar/glucose from mmol/L (UK standard) to mg/dl (US standard) and vice versa using our blood sugar converter.

www.diabetes.co.uk

just enter your numbers in the converter!

This might confuse the OP as we use mmol/l and mmol/mol in the UK so no need to worry about conversion to mg/dl

 

[Docb]

Blood Sugar Glucose Converter for Diabetes

Convert blood sugar/glucose from mmol/L (UK standard) to mg/dl (US standard) and vice versa using our blood sugar converter.

www.diabetes.co.uk

just enter your numbers in the converter!

That converts your spot reading from English to American units - it effectively multiplies your English meter reading by 18 or thereabouts.

You cannot convert spot readings to Hb1Ac as explained above. Although if you are a number nerd and have collected several years of data you can get some correlations.....

 

[Toddyken]

That converts your spot reading from English to American units - it effectively multiplies your English meter reading by 18 or thereabouts.

You cannot convert spot readings to Hb1Ac as explained above. Although if you are a number nerd and have collected several years of data you can get some correlations.....

No years of data for me , I’m hoping to crack this in a few month

 

[LydiaDustbin]

Thank you very much, I’ll do that today

I started testing my blood before and 2hrs after each meal, so 6 times a day, on 6 Feb this year and entering the info into MySugr. I'm also doing the 800cal low carb (no more than 50g a day) diet, and, as of this lunchtime, MySugr tells me my estimated current HbA1c is 38.1, which is most heartening. It'll be interesting to see just how accurate that figure is when my next proper blood test comes around.

 

[42istheanswer]

If you have a smartphone, I would recommend downloading the MySugr app to record your fingerprick results. Once you've added a certain number of results (can't remember how many, think it might be 3 weeks' worth) it will start to tell you your estimated HbA1c level.

For MySugr to give an estimated HbA1c you need at least 21 readings in the last 7 days (i.e. average of at least 3 per day), and no more than 3 days in the past 7 missed completely. If you have readings going back longer than 7 days it keeps including them until there is a 2 day gap in readings (presumably or it has reached 90 days ago but I don't think it specifies that)

 

[Toddyken]

I started testing my blood before and 2hrs after each meal, so 6 times a day, on 6 Feb this year and entering the info into MySugr. I'm also doing the 800cal low carb (no more than 50g a day) diet, and, as of this lunchtime, MySugr tells me my estimated current HbA1c is 38.1, which is most heartening. It'll be interesting to see just how accurate that figure is when my next proper blood test comes around.

Amazing, all the effort certainly paid off.

 

[Toddyken]

Good Morning, hope you are all enjoying your Easter break, so today is my 3rd day of monitoring, my numbers so far 8.4 7.6 6.2 today, this is my fasted reading, is this the way my numbers should be going, thanks .

 

[LydiaDustbin]

Readings are almost always higher than one would like first thing in the morning, even for non-diabetics - it's how our bodies wake us up and get us ready to go hunter-gathering. Personally, for me at least, I would expect it to decrease before eating, then go up again after eating. How much it goes up is the key thing.

For example, yesterday evening before eating, mine was a very lovely 4.6 but then I realised I didn't have anything low cal low carb planned for dinner so I decided to take the opportunity to test for a favourite pre-diagnosis meal of fish fingers, oven chips and garden peas (I've not eaten this since some time last year!). My portion was not large - 4 fish fingers, about half a dozen chunky chips and a tablespoon of peas. 2 hours later my reading was 8.1, a rise of 3.5. Now, in the scheme of T2 diabetes, 8.1 might not be too worrisome but the difference, 3.5, indicates to me that I had eaten too many carbs so now I know to avoid that meal in future. Or, at least, try and test the component parts separately to see my reaction to them individually, or see if it's all of them together.

This morning my BG reading was a more-or-less normal 6.2.

 

[Leadinglights]

Good Morning, hope you are all enjoying your Easter break, so today is my 3rd day of monitoring, my numbers so far 8.4 7.6 6.2 today, this is my fasted reading, is this the way my numbers should be going, thanks .

Looking good, what changes have you made to your diet etc. Look at trends rather than individual readings.

 

[Toddyken]

Readings are almost always higher than one would like first thing in the morning, even for non-diabetics - it's how our bodies wake us up and get us ready to go hunter-gathering. Personally, for me at least, I would expect it to decrease before eating, then go up again after eating. How much it goes up is the key thing.

For example, yesterday evening before eating, mine was a very lovely 4.6 but then I realised I didn't have anything low cal low carb planned for dinner so I decided to take the opportunity to test for a favourite pre-diagnosis meal of fish fingers, oven chips and garden peas (I've not eaten this since some time last year!). My portion was not large - 4 fish fingers, about half a dozen chunky chips and a tablespoon of peas. 2 hours later my reading was 8.1, a rise of 3.5. Now, in the scheme of T2 diabetes, 8.1 might not be too worrisome but the difference, 3.5, indicates to me that I had eaten too many carbs so now I know to avoid that meal in future. Or, at least, try and test the component parts separately to see my reaction to them individually, or see if it's all of them together.

This morning my BG reading was a more-or-less normal 6.2.

I decided rather than stress myself out to much until I get used to the monitoring this week I’m only testing 1st thing , in a few days I will start to test after food ,, I’m getting there.