I am getting my blood drawn for my A1c numbers. I usually am between 7-8%. What are some of your numbers??
Since I have been on CGM my last 2 have been 5.8 and 5.9 %. Before that it was hovering right around 7%.
There are some important things to remember before you get tested though. Make sure your sugar is as close to normal as you can get it before the test. I shoot for 100mg/dl.
Most doctors will tell you that your random glucose at the time of draw does not matter, but really it does matter a lot.
Also if you want to improve your numbers, try to get better control at night, Red blood cells are mostly created while we sleep. If you have high sugars at night, it will skew the test high.
Easier said than done though if you have hypo unawareness as I do. My CGM allowed me to get tight control at night, and that is all that changed really. I am very happy with my current numbers. And my awareness of sugars both high and low has gotten significantly better over the past 5-6 months with tighter control.
I got mine checked at my endo's office last Friday and I was 5.4!! I don't see it from my numbers but hey...I'll take it.
Before I got on the pump I stayed pretty much from 6.3 to 6.5. (which I was fine with). Since I got on the pump I have had two A1C's that were both 5.7. The irony though is the first one I really worked hard at and expected it would be under 6. The second one I had a huge period of time where I was struggling; but the low numbers I'd gotten and the high numbers I'd gotten averaged out to the same 5.7. So it's not all about the number itself but what it indicates as well as if it's an improvement over previous ones.If you've been between 7 and 8 then getting under 7 would be a great goal! Personally I think when someone asks this question the people with "good" A1C's are the ones who respond so it's not necessarily a true sampling!
My last two have been 5.5 and 5.7. Prior to that 6.6 which was pre-pump.
I agree with Zoe as far as the people who respond are probably those with decent numbers. My last A1C done in May was 6.1% but prior to that my numbers have ranged from a high of 8.7% in 1999 and a low of 6.9% in 2004. I finally started taking better care of myself over the last 6 months or so and started paying attention to what I was eating and how much insulin I was taking and a bunch of other stuff that I hadn't paid much attention to in the past. As a result the numbers have improved and so has my attitude. I have learned a lot here, like the reply from Timothy who is a wealth in info. I had no idea you should shoot for a normal BS before you have your blood drawn. So I learned even more today.
6.1% as of two days ago! 6.2% a month ago. I've been in the 6s for about two years now. I'm MDI, no CGM or pump.
I've been averaging much lower, but it's taking a few months for my A1cs to catch up and reflect the changes. My fastings have been from 60-80 and my 1 hr postprandials are 110-140, 2 hr pp around 100. I'm guessing my next A1c which will be done next month will be closer to 5.8% (which is the lowest I will have ever been)
Before two years ago, I was averaging in the 8%s for years. I couldn't break the plateau. Then, I changed my Levemir schedule & split the dosages, lowered my carb intake to about 30-60g per day, and take Metformin in the mornings.
I agree w/ Timothy, in that nighttime is very important. 1) it's like 4-8 hours of numbers and 2) it leads to AM, the most challenging time of the day. I fixed my nights w/ the pump.
I'd hit the 5s a few times during my off the ranch years, when I didn't go to the doc very often. I'd hung out in the 6s too, and then drifted up to the 7s when I started working out all the time and eating less, losing weight. That prompted me to get a pump. I haven't been > 5.8 since I got it in 2008. The last one was 5.5 but involved quite a bit of turbulence? I have another one in 3 or 4 weeks I think? It's about time to dig the card out of my wallet!
I agree too w/ Zoe that these threads attract people who are doing ok. I look at the TuAnalyze map occasionally and it seems that the "averages", which I've only found sorted by country, run in the 6.5-7s ranges, for the most part. Perhaps eerily, Wisconsin seems to be the lowest region, at 6.6%? This is, of course, hugely imprecise but maybe it says something about cheese?
It must be the cheese, what on earth else could it be... ?
My last a1c was 7.3… I usually hang between 6.3 to 7.3. I’m going low carb to try and loose about 15 lbs and my bg’s are getting much better. So, my next a1c should improve. My guess is it will be my best ever!
As many here will attest (AND comment about) I am pretty OCD about my glucose levels, which affects my A1C. In March, I was 5.6, up from 5.1 six months earlier. Must say, the results are a little scary and I am trying to relax. Going in Friday for the latest.
Below 7 is fantastic.
Watch a low A1C number like that. As I said below, I am kind of OCD about glucose levels, but ask you doctor if your control is too tight. I am often told that my numbers under 5.7 mean I have a lot of low glucose levels, scary, but true.
Be safe!
My A1C has been 6.3 for a long time, ever since I went off my pump and back onto MDI. Once upon a time, on the pump, I was in the 5 Club. (Ran out of real estate for the pump, but I remember it fondly... )
And I am the other way have been on MDI for ever and am probably getting an Omnipod once the newer smaller ones are FDA approved. Only been in the 5 club once, but that was when I was pregnant, way too much stress for me.
That's a false assumption, Spock, that doctors push on us. There is no such thing as control that is "too tight". Dr. Bernstein and others believe that Type 1's should aim for A1C's that are in the non-diabetic range. While that isn't either possible or desirable for all of us, it is definitely possible to have A1C's in the 5's without a lot of lows. If we keep good records (or check on our pumps) we can see if our a1C's are caused by too many lows or not. As I mentioned above I had two 5.7's one of which did not involve too many lows, one of which did (too many highs and too many lows averaging out).
Nothing wrong with 6.3 Trudy!
My last was 5.8 down from 5.9 that's with a lot of work. This is with MDI's added in last year. Before that it was higher than I like to admit.
Gary S
I am actually due for an A1c soon. I don't really know what it will be, but my last two were 7.4% so at least I've been steady.
For my first 8 or so years of diabetes I was on two shots per day and my A1c hovered around 7.0% but that was with WAY too many lows, including about one severe low per year that required assistance from others. I used to go low pretty much every day, as well as high, and this was only testing 4x before meals!
Then for about 5 years during high school and college I hovered in the 8-9% range taking three shots per day, but having a completely unpredictable schedule. I was mostly responsible with eating and taking shots, but it was impossible to get good control on NPH and two shots of Humalog a day and a college schedule.
Then I switched to MDI and started carbohydrate counting and was able to keep my A1c around the 7.5% mark for about two years.
Then I got the pump and for the first time EVER got into the high 6% range. My lowest-ever A1c has been 6.4% but that is the only one I've ever gotten below 6.5%. I've achieved a handful of A1c results in the high 6% range, but even on the pump I have to work hard to stay below 7.5%. I had a period about a year and a half ago where I had major stress and burnout and my A1c rose to the 8.5% range.
My ultimate goal is to get my A1c in the low 6% range and keep it there. I would be so happy if I could do that, but it's something I've been working on for literally the past 7 or so years ... I'm kind of thinking that I will need a CGM to make that leap. I get really frustrated sometimes when I feel I put in so much effort but don't get the kinds of results I see other people getting; it makes me feel like I must be missing something or doing something wrong. But I just keep doing the best I can do and try to stay motivated despite the setbacks.
6.7 and trending down...i hope.
To add to this, my sports doc just revealed to me that the A1c is HEAVILY weighted to the last two weeks (it's not an even percentage over the last 90 days, as I had been told prior). That would explain my inexplicable recent A1c of 5 toward the end of May: I'd been running somewhat low in the few weeks just prior to my test, and also I was at 68 when the blood was drawn. My previous two were a 6.7 in January of this year and a 6.5 in October '11.
Bet my next one is higher. :)
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