Ok, so I went to the free Walgreen’s A1C test here today. My results were down but a bit disappointing. In May I was 7.2, but that included the period in March when I was still struggling to get on the right insulin doses. Now I’m 6.5 which is better but still an average of 154! I felt like I was doing better than that!
Dumb question: Is the A1C test one that makes a difference if you are fasting? My 7.2 was fasting but this one wasn’t. I didn’t even think about that as the times you could go were 1-7. Does anyone know if it makes a difference and how much of one?
Most doctors don’t recommend going much lower than 6.5 because at that range the benefits (fewer complications) taper off, and the risks (hypoglycemia) go up.
I’ve always found my a1c to be a little enigmatic. Sometimes it’s lower than I expect… sometimes it’s higher.
Anyway, yeah, 6.5 is pretty darned good… Keep it up! (er… down?)
Most doctors don’t believe that patients can have better control. They’ve got low expectations of us, which isn’t helpful. The closer to normal we achieve, the fewer the complications. Takes a ton of testing & experimenting with doses & timing of doses, but A1cs in the 5’s without serious lows is possible. I’ve found that too many doctors really don’t want to take the time to go over logs to help us.
Many doctors, unfortunately, follow ADA dietary guidelines. Since these are pretty high carb for tight control for many, the ADA (& doctors) accept correspondingly higher A1cs as acceptable.
I agree, Gerri. The people at the Walgreen’s testing were telling people that anything under 7 is good. My goal now is to get down from 6.5 closer to 6.0.
Infuriating the amount of misinformation that’s put out! A friend’s Type 2 husband’s last A1c was 7.1. Doc told him to keep up the good work, take his pills, lose a few pounds & he’d see him in 6 months. He tests a couple times a month because that’s what he was told.
You’ll get it down. It’s hard in the beginning when you’re still producing some insulin & then things change.
Walgreen’s probably used the at-home tests & they have a margin of error that’s not as accurate as lab tests.
Most doctor’s approval notes are a slow death sentence for us. Way to go! It’s worse than mediocre.
An outrage what people are told by most medical authorities about how to manage diabetes. One CDE admitted that she didn’t want to scare people off so gave them attainable goals. Huh, WTF? Would bad widespread medical advice be tolerated with any other disease?
We can thank the ADA for most of this party line. Push the high carb diets, take more insulin, accept higher A1cs. Follow the money.
I refuse to go to another CDE or dietician. I’ve had enough head shaking from explaining that I won’t eat 45-60 carb meals with 15 carb snacks. No, Ms. CDE, I don’t feel deprived, hungry or have lack of energy. No, my brain cells won’t die from not eating potatoes. And yes, you can download my meter to see that I’m not stumbling around from lows.
Thanks, Gerri! Yes, was a bit disappointed that Walgreen’s free A1C’s were the home test kits; but then, it was free! Sometimes I have to recognize that those of us who frequent these sites are something of an elite group in our knowledge and outlook on diabetes management. I’m also starting to think the medical profession has much more than its usual blinders on when it comes to diabetes, more so than other conditions. I have a friend of 30 years who is an RN and I have always totally respected her medical opinion. I was talking to her awhile ago about limiting carbs and she said she had heard that low carb was a popular weight loss diet. When I said I meant for diabetes management she said she had never heard of that. WHAT??? And her husband is Type 2. I wonder why the blinders on diabetes? Are they overwhelmed by all the Type 2 baby boomers in their offices? Is the ADA that powerful? Strange.
6.5 is an average of 140. Sounds like you are doing pretty well. Subtract an little for inaccuracy, and that’s not so bad. As others have said, fasting makes no difference with A1c
The converter I used, John, says 6.5 is an average of 154 which to me is not okay. Remember that is an average so that would include many numbers over that 154. Thanks for the support. I’m not freaking out over the 6.5 because it is progress from 7.2, but I want to get consistently below (not just averaging) where studies say damage occurs which is 140. Today was my 61st birthday and there was a beautiful November sunset here in California and I want to walk around and see many more years of sunsets.
Free is good & hopefully many people were tested who wouldn’t have done it otherwise. Walgreen’s in my area isn’t a 24-hour store, so it wasn’t offered.
I’ve wondered about this also. The politics of diabetes. Partly, I think it’s due to PCPs being inundated with Type 2s, as you said, & not having the time to educate patients. Take this pill is about all patients get. A disease that’s tragically prevalent is being viewed as oh yea, another Type 2–ho-hum. Doctors also don’t learn much about diabetes in med school. They’re not trained to train patients. Doctors relie far too much on their pharm reps, but that’s another whole topic.
Diabetes is the most lucrative disease.
Throw into the mix the quite powerful ADA, The Authority. Check out their funding sources. Like any huge organization their primary goal is maintaining their own existence, not the welfare of the group they’re supposedly representing. My in-laws wanted to make a donation to the ADA. I told them no, actually I screamed no. Doctors, nurses, dieticians, CDEs push ADA propaganda. That’s what they’re taught.
I took a diabetes ed class with a nutritionist about to complete her Ph.D. Members here know far more than she did.
The CDE I saw is also nurse practitioner. Numerous people told me she was the best in my area. My PCP referred all his diabetic patients to her. Lovely woman who truly cared about her patients. She lectured me on how dangerous it was for my A1c to be lower. She was quoting from the seriously flawed ACCORD study. I asked her what she thought of the diet & combo of meds subjects were given. She fumbled around & it was clear she hadn’t read much more than the headline, which was that lower A1Cs caused cardiac death in PWD Second CDE warned my brain would fry if I didn’t eat more carbs.
Every time I read a story here detailing misinformation from healthcare professionals I want to cry.
I couldn’t find an actual converter on that site, just an equivalency that stopped short of a formula and involved way too much math…lol. I’ll stick with my converter that does the work for you!
No way. You enter your glucose number, and it translates to an A1c. Or you enter A1c and it gives you the average glucose number. no math. just plug in the numbers and submit them.
Probably pasted the page with the results, instead of the input boxes. Sorry.
