SIGforum.com Main Page The Lounge Does anybody know anything about blood sugar tests (fasting, A1C)? Very confused
Main Page The Lounge Does anybody know anything about blood sugar tests (fasting, A1C)? Very confusedPage 1 2
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| Member |
My doctor was not very helpful in explanations except for "eat healthy" and a lecture to keep a healthy weight, and now he's retiring. He always sent me for a full blood test every year or so to get an idea of my health. In the last few years, everything came back great on my blood and urine test, except for my fasting blood which was always a bit higher than normal. I hate going to get blood tests, because I have this fear of needles, and I always feel extremely stressed, faint, and sweaty. They can barley find my veins and it makes me feel very tense just being there. Once it was 102, a few months later it went up to 108. When it went to 108, I had this existential crisis where I went into panic mode. I became very anxious about my health. As a result, I hit the gym like crazy, dropped a ton of weight, ate healthy, but my anxiety was through the roof. I went into the blood lab a few weeks later to get tested, it went up to...111! But something interesting...my A1C was 5.0, which didn't seem to correspond. My next test I was able to calm myself down a little bit while still working out like crazy, it went to 102 with an A1C of 5.1. Then this time, I saw my doctor, still working out, eating healthy, it went BACK UP, this time to 111 with an A1C of 5.0. I asked my doctor, hey, does the fact that I go in tense as all hell, ready to jump out the window, hating the idea of getting my blood drawn, sweaty, almost ready to run out the door, possibly skew my results? "No, it can't bring those numbers up." He says. I ask him why my A1C seemed to stay so steady at 5.0, 5.1, and then 5.0 again over the last few tests. He didn't have an explanation. A couple of years ago, I bought a home tester and on most days in the morning I would wake up and get a result in the mid 80's, sometimes in the 90's and maybe every so often in the low 100's if I didn't sleep well... And after meals, sometimes after 2 hours it's well under 100. So I am lost for words and would appreciate some input from those who have been there. | ||
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| Member |
Your blood sugar always goes up when you fast. They do the test this way to have a regular base line of what the real number is. Your A1C is great and 100-111 is fine for blood sugar....I wouldn't worry about it. | |||
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Now and Zen |
Actually that is sort of low for blood sugar levels, my pcp has been content with me averaging about 120, my fasting is usually 100 and my A1C has been staying 5.7. ___________________________________________________________________________ "....imitate the action of the Tiger." | |||
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| SIGforum Official Eye Doc  |
A1C is an indicator of your average blood-glucose over the past roughly three months, and frankly, with your A1C values, I wouldn’t be worried, but only concerned, if your fasting blood glucose is the values you present. Yes, the FBG is in the “pre-diabetic” range, but your A1C is great. Just don’t be complacent, and limit carbs-including beer. | |||
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Member |
Hemoglobin A1c (or HbA1c or A1c, for short) is a measure of sugar in the blood and how it adheres to blood cells over a three month period (blood is "renewed" every three months). Earlier this year, I had an A1c of 13 (!) for evaluation purposes, anything over 6.5 is considered diabetic. 5.6 - 6.5 is diagnosed as "pre-diabetic," and anything under is considered non-diabetic. I was not overweight, but I had fallen into a lethargic and crapfood lifestyle. My A1c reading was a wakeup call! My initial test was taken in late January. It's now middle-late December, and by simply changing what I eat (hint: white and processed/fast foods are a no-no) and by getting more exercise, I've dropped my A1c to 5.7 - 5.8. Getting it below the pre-diabetic stage has proved harder than I thought, but I've also adopted an attitude that I'm not going to live forever, and I'm not going to go to extremes which makes it feel like forever! So, it's common sense for me. I'm 68, 5'10" and 140lbs. I run 4x week (I used to be a marathon runner) and I have rediscovered the joy of cooking! Incidentally, I'm now getting Hello Fresh meals, so my menu has variety, the food is fresh and home-cooked, and I can adjust the ingredients if I don't like what they use (e.g., I replace sugar with Stevia extract). You're healthier than I am. I'd continue to monitor your health, but that's just good advice in any day and age. ETA: One thing you should know is there is something called the "Dawn Phenomenon." Here's a Mayo Clinic article describing it. In brief, there can be an unexplainable rise in fasting blood glucose between 2:00 - 8:00am . It's believed that the body is "preparing" itself for waking and morning activities, by boosting energy (sugar). Morning blood glucose readings (at least in my case) are the highest I get for the day. You can't truly call yourself "peaceful" unless you are capable of great violence. If you're not capable of great violence, you're not peaceful, you're harmless. NRA Benefactor/Patriot Member | |||
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| The Velvet Voicebox |
What Club said. My numbers are right around Clubs. A few years ago My A1C was 12. I'm holding at 5-5.5 over the past 8 months. Acidjazz, your numbers are what a lot of people wish they had. Relax, keep up your good habits. One more thing, I dropped my previous doctor and began to see a Endocrinologist. Helped me out a lot. A option to consider. "All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Sir Winston Churchill "The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose." --James Earl Jones | |||
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semi-reformed sailor |
All these things are scored against the “norm”... maybe you are the guy whose numbers are just outside the edge of the norm. "Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein “You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020 “A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker | |||
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Member |
As someone who just hit 258 and 13 on the A1c scale reality smacked me upside the head.. Thou I've lost about 30 lbs after I retired and eating much better it takes more than that. I'm on meds(Metformin and Jenuviah),watching my sugar intake,exercising and basically quit the booze. Taking my blood readings twice a day and in 2 weeks I'm watching a steady,very gradual reduction in sugar count. In 2.5 months I'll do another blood work up. It's not easy but life sucks when your 6 ft under. | |||
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| Muzzle flash aficionado  |
Well, I am a true Type 2 Diabetic and my A1C level stays just at or just below 7.0, which is the level at which doctors typically begin medicating. I take a nightly shot of slow-release Insulin (Lantus) and a tablet of Trajenta, and my fasting blood glucose readings are typically in the 100-130 region. My doctors are not doing handsprings, but they are reasonably OK with my readings. I do not suffer any Diabetic symptoms--no neuropathy, sugar in the urine, vision problems, etc.--so I appear to be doing OK. (I do allow a little sweet treat from time to time.) Your condition seems to be very good, so I would not worry about it (IANAD, though). flashguy Texan by choice, not accident of birth | |||
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| Why don’t you fix your little problem and light this candle  |
Anything under 120 and you are golden. If your fasting test is over 120 then start a conversation with your doc. This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it. -Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Joshua Painter Played by Senator Fred Thompson | |||
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| You're going to feel a little pressure... |
Your numbers look fine. You will outlive that doctor. And, BTW, stress does cause your surgar to temporarily spike. Fight or flight and all that jazz. The fact that you freak out whenever you have a blood draw will affect that. Keep doing what you're doing. Bruce "The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams “It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free." -Niccolo Machiavelli The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken | |||
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Member |
I have been a diabetic for over 30 years and at 15 I was diagnosed as "boderline diabetic". I am now 62 and for the last 4 years have been on insulin. My A1C has been 6.2 or less since going on insulin and as others have stated, you numbers are golden. Diabetes does no real damage until your A1C is over 7.0 and that is why the docs want it under 7. A1C for a healthy normal person is 4.5 to 6.0 so a number in the 5's is perfect. “Our actions may be impeded... But there can be no impeding our intentions or our dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impeding to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” ― Marcus Aurelius | |||
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For real? |
I’m type 2. My A1C has been hovering at 7 all year. I’m down to 195 from 245 but my bad eating schedule and lack of exercise is preventing me from lowering it more. He’s thinking of starting me on injections Not minority enough! | |||
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| Conveniently located directly above the center of the Earth |
My instructors were teaching A1c is a measurement of the oxygen binding site on the red blood cell, which is compromised by attachment of glucose molecules. This impairs oxygen binding and carrying, which affects critical cell metabolism, such as wound healing. Retinal and kidney cells very vulnerable along with certain cognitive functioning. Per Guytons Physiology 7th edition, circa 1977. Newer research may have modified that. **************~~~~~~~~~~ "I've been on this rock too long to bother with these liars any more." ~SIGforum advisor~ "When the pain of staying the same outweighs the pain of change, then change will come."~~sigmonkey | |||
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Oriental Redneck |
Glucose blood test, whether by a fingerprick or by actual blood draw, only tells you a single glucose measurement at that single point in time. Nothing else. A1C tells you how well controlled your glucose has been in the past 3 months. It's not a one-point-in-time value. When you are under stress, you body responds by releasing the so-called stress hormones, one of which is a glucocorticoid called cortisol. One of the effects of cortisol is elevation of the blood glucose. Seems to me that, from your description, your body has been reacting very appropriately. You freaked out every time you go to the doc for testing, so your glucose shot up just a little. So, there is no reason to worry about the minor fluctuations. Less than 126, you are OK. The fact that the glucose is less than 100 when you are resting at home (no stress) and 2 hours after meals also tell you a whole lot in supporting the theory above. So, you are right after all. Your A1C tells you much more than a single blood glucose level. Your A1C numbers say you are GTG. Q | |||
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| Member |
My GF is a Diabetic 2 and was told a blood glucose reading (finger stick) between 80 and 120 is a good range. A1C below 7 is good. Of course, YMMV. ********* "Some people are alive today because it's against the law to kill them". | |||
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Spread the Disease |
I’m a Type 1 diabetic. You have nothing to worry about with those numbers. Still, don’t use that as reason to let healthy habits slip. ________________________________________ -- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. -- | |||
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| california tumbles into the sea |
Borrow any one of these books from the library: Why We Get Fat, Gary Taubes The Diabetes Code, Dr. Jason Fung The Obesity Code, Dr. Jason Fung | |||
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| Member |
Thank you all for your insightful replies! I do my best to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle. In 2017 when I decided i was tired of being several pounds too heavy, I really started hitting the gym hard and changed my diet fast. I was able to burn the pounds really fast. But the extremely strict diet and constant exercise, never being able to drink alcohol or eat at restaurants was not entirely sustainable forever. Interestingly, my A1C was 5.0 when I was fatter, and when I worked my ass off and dropped a ton of weight, it went to 5.1, and now it's 5.0 again now that I still eat healthy but have not been as strict. Go figure. | |||
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| Member |
What did you expect it to be? 5 is very normal. Lower isn't always better. | |||
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SIGforum.com Main Page The Lounge Does anybody know anything about blood sugar tests (fasting, A1C)? Very confused
Main Page The Lounge Does anybody know anything about blood sugar tests (fasting, A1C)? Very confused© SIGforum 2024