Second HbA1c ...

[Stuboy]

I had my blood drawn for the second time yesturday for an HbA1c... fingers crossed it's better than last time! 7.2% was my last one (and first). That marked the day that I changed from Mixtard30 to Basal & Bolus (Lantus and NovoRapid)

Just gotta wait for results now!! Argghhh

Oh yeh, i got my new Lantus pen yesterday too, 1 to 21 unit doses. So i've started my 7u/7u split too :D

[Emm]

Hiya Stu!

The wait is horrible isn't it... I was lucky with my last one, did it at the hospital where they have a 6 minute hba1c machine. Prick yer finger like you do for a meter reading, and wait 6 mins. Now THAT is cool, I want one! But the nurse at my doc's office wanted me to have another one done (starting to think she doesn't like me!) so I did it again last week. The waiting game is on... and of course just to make things worse I hear that their a1c machine was broken and I'll have to wait an extra few days for the result!

I'm quietly hoping it's just a notch below the last one, even though it was only a week or two later... just wanna show her that I do have good control!!

Anyways, I've watched your progression with interest, and I'll be sitting here with crossed fingers waiting to see your new hba1c result. Good luck!

How do you think it'll turn out?

[KickStart101]

Hey Stu, Good Luck on your 2nd A1c. It should turn out
better this time around. Of course, your 1st one wasn't
too bad. I know it's hard waiting. :)

[Stuboy]

Well, obviously im hoping it will be better than the last.

The only think im worried about is if it's higher... i will be SO dissapointed.

My first HbA1c was 7.2% which was on mixtard30, but i was having a lot of hypos then, and i think that would have contributed to bringing the hba1c down.
Now that im on Basal and Bolus, i've had a marked control improvement, but had a couple of weeks running higher than usual.

When i had the test, i found out after that i was hypo when she took the blood... i didn't feel funny either, i was 2.8!! How drastically does the current BG affect the HbA1c result??

[JediSkipdogg]

How drastically does the current BG affect the HbA1c result??

Not very. Your current BG isn't really "registered" in the cells that an A1C uses. Remember, an A1C is the lifespan of a red blood cell which is at most 3 months. With 50% of that result weighted in the most current 30 days. So a 1 day low or high isn't really going to make a huge difference.

[Stuboy]

My average BG for the last 30 days is 6.5 and 6.7 for the last 90. My nurse said the HbA1c is usually lower than your average BG on your meter? (if you test alot)... (like me!)... (:D)

[JediSkipdogg]

My nurse said the HbA1c is usually lower than your average BG on your meter? (if you test alot)... (like me!)... (:D)

Not sure where she gets that from. It can go either way. If you have alot of unknown highs between tests then the A1C will be lowered than the average BG. If you have alot of lows, then your A1C will be higher. So it's a 50/50 either way.

[Stuboy]

If you have alot of unknown highs between tests then the A1C will be lowered than the average BG. If you have alot of lows, then your A1C will be higher. So it's a 50/50 either way.

Im not sure i get that... why would your HbA1c be lower if you have unkonwn highs and higher if you have unknown lows???

Maybe it's my understanding of an HbA1c, I thought it would the % of a red blood cell that was covered by glucose (because some of it sticks) of the lifespan of the cell? So if you run high... then more glucose sticks, resulting in a higher HbA1c result?

[August]

Im not sure i get that... why would your HbA1c be lower if you have unkonwn highs and higher if you have unknown lows???

Maybe it's my understanding of an HbA1c, I thought it would the % of a red blood cell that was covered by glucose (because some of it sticks) of the lifespan of the cell? So if you run high... then more glucose sticks, resulting in a higher HbA1c result?

Unless you take Alpha-Lipoic-Acid, or high doses of Vitamin E, A, or C, or Grape Seed Extract, Pycnogeol, Resveratrol, drink red wine, or take Fibrates, Pentoxiphylline, or Aspirin. In which case your A1c will be lower than your meter average would suggest.

A1c can be very misleading.

[Stuboy]

that just throw me off even more, two difference of opinions there...

[DeusXM]

Your meter average should 'differ' from your A1C but whether it's higher or lower is really more dependent on when you test. For instance, I don't tend to bother with testing when I am running low - I know I'm running low and don't need a meter to tell me that! Therefore my meter averages will always look 'higher' because I don't have those low incidences to average out.

Also bear in mind that despite the similarities in numbers, A1C and mmol/l do not correspond exactly. An A1C of 6% will not correspond to a meter average of 6mmol/l - I forget the exact conversion but it's something like 7mmol/l.

[JediSkipdogg]

Im not sure i get that... why would your HbA1c be lower if you have unkonwn highs and higher if you have unknown lows???

Maybe it's my understanding of an HbA1c, I thought it would the % of a red blood cell that was covered by glucose (because some of it sticks) of the lifespan of the cell? So if you run high... then more glucose sticks, resulting in a higher HbA1c result?

What I meant was if you have say 25% of your time above say 200 during a day and you don't know that at all (because by luck you don't test then).....then your A1C is going to be lower than what it would truely be from a BG meter.

[August]

A1c is just a rough approximation. If you take anti-oxidants, or suffer from sickle cell anemia, anemia, or thalassasemia. A1c will be erroniously LOW. If you've been in hospital on a glucose IV, during the past 60 - 90 days it will be erroniously HIGH.

In order for you meter average to give a true A1c correlation you would have to do approx 5000 finger sticks a month spaced evenly around the clock. Now lets see, . . at 40 cent a test strip, . . . . and 5000 finger stick, . . on just 5 fingers, ... sound like raw meat!!

Don't worry too much, . . BE HAPPY!

August

[DeusXM]

Well of course A1c is just an approximation. After all, it's an average. You could have 2 people with an A1c in the 5s but if one of them is having lots of lows and highs to get that number, then you couldn't say they were well-controlled.

However A1c is the closet thing we've got to a definitive measure of control and so it should always been the bedrock of any treatment regime. Your A1c is the 'climate' of your body; BG tests are the weather reports.

[Stuboy]

im not really that worried... because i know i've got better control, but whether that control is tight enough yet is another question.

I was only wondering if there was a link between the two.

Just gotta wait now! hopfully by tuesday or wednesday maybe.... !

[DeusXM]

A1C 'broadly' correlates with meter readings the lower down you get - you can take it that A1Cs between 5-8 generally sorta mean your BGs are in that sort of ball park. At the end of it though, A1C is most useful when compared with non-diabetic ranges. 4.5-6 are 'non-diabetic' so if you're hitting that, you're doing great. WHO guideline is 'below 7' and I think Diabetes UK recommend below 6.5.

[Stuboy]

6.0!!!!!!

:star: :star: :star:

:marchmell :marchmell :marchmell
:tee: :tee: :tee:
:party:

[Georgia]

Woo hoo well done - you've done a great job!! :rock: :smartass:

[Stuboy]

I should see the grin on my face!! :D:D:D:D:D:D

[DeusXM]

Wow....that is a seriously good A1C for anyone - you're practically in the non-diabetic range!

[Scratch]

Good job, Stu.

You're in the honeymoon phase right now though? If you are, then the one thing you might want to keep in mind is that when the honeymoon phase ends, it'll get tougher to post an HbA1c like that.

I honeymooned for a decently long time, about 2.5 years after my initial diagnosis and my doctor loved how I was able to post HbA1c's that put his other patients to shame, and I was doing it on NPH and R, 2 shots a day. Then the honeymoon ended, and it started getting ugly.

[sofaraway]

thats amazing! well done mate!

[blue eyes]

That's awesome! http://bestsmileys.com/hyper/7.gifhttp://bestsmileys.com/thumbs/7.gif

[FrankDr]

Congratulations. We're all happy for you (and perhaps a bit jealous)