Can anyone tell me how I can guess as to what my next A1c test would be? I have a one touch ultra II meter and it gives me averages but I thought I saw somewhere where someone had an excel program that helps them determine what the reading will be before the blood work is done. Thanks
Here’s some information from Dlife.com that might help.
A1C of 12.0 = 345mg/dl avg
A1C of 11.0% = 310mg/dl avg
A1c of 10.0% = 275mg/dl avg
A1C of 9.0% = 240mg/dl avg
A1C of 8.0% = 205mg/dl avg
A1C of 7.0% = 170mg/dl avg
A1C of 6.0% = 135mg/dl avg
A1C of 5.0% = 100mg/dl avg
A1C of 4.0% = 65mg/dl avg
Good luck!
Kaycee
St. Louis Diabetes Examiner
http://tinyurl.com/poao4y
Thank you Kaycee, that gives me something to go on. Right now my meter says the last 202 readings equals an average of 126 mg/dl. But that doesn’t take into consideration all the times I didn’t test.
Out of the 202, what were your lowest and highest readings? Do those two average around 126? Do you randomly pick times to test or do you test on kind of a routine schedule? Do you intentionally include or exclude times of day when glucose would be highest? Lowest? Sorry. All questions and no answers. When are you due to have your a1c checked? Ed
Hi Jackie,
If you Google “glucose conversion A1c” there are sites where you can plug in your average BG & get an exact A1c for that average. You can only get an approximation of what your A1c will be based on your meter since we can’t test constantly & meters aren’t even that accurate to begin with.
You are correct - that wouldn’t take into consideration all the times you didn’t test. However, if that is a snapshot of your true average, then you should be in the high 5’s - and that’s wonderful! There’s nothing as accurate at estimating your A1C as the test itself, but this should at least get you into the ballpark.
Good luck with the test!
Kaycee
St. Louis Diabetes Examiner
http://tinyurl.com/poao4y
First off, thanks to everyone who took the time to respond to my question. All gave really valid points and I will take all that into consideration. I did find one of those converters online and it said I was low. I think my highest reading was 202 and lowest 42 in the last 202 readings. I have bookmarked all the references you gave me and again thanks so much, everyone here is so helpful.
You’ll have to tell us what your A1c is. Bet it will be great!
I try not to play the guessing game for my A1C anymore …always averaged too low and then I was really disappointed. Finger prick a lot and wear a continuous glucose monitoring system ( most of the time ) . So I wait patiently for the results .
Honestly, I think the exercise of using blood glucose readings to predict an a1c or getting an a1c and then using a chart to see the average is more harmful than good. I read and post on a few diabetes boards and I have not once seen anyone post that they are happy after they predict their A1c. However, I have seen many, many posts from people who are upset that the A1c they got was higher than they predicted or their meter average is less than the predicted average blood glucose for their A1c.
The things to keep in mind is an A1c is not an average blood glucose, it doesn’t even measure blood glucose at all. Blood sugar does play into the result but so do things other than blood sugar. I would suggest keeping A1c and meter readings separate. Your meter readings how you how you are doing at a specific time and should be used for things like figuring out how different foods work or don’t work for you, when exercising or for fasting readings. An A1c should be used to give you a general idea of how things are going and to identify any issues that may be being missed from your regular glucose tests. For instance if you are seeing regular 200+ readings after eating but your A1c is 5.5 then it’s a good bet that you are having a lot of hypoglycemia which is not a good thing and would need to be addressed. The opposite can also be true, if you see you post meal numbers are always under 100 but your A1c is 9 then it’s a good bet that you are testing post meal at the wrong time and are either seeing a number before your blood sugar rises or after it’s risen and come down. Or, it could potentially identify other, non-diabetic issues like lupus or sickle cell anemia that would require further investigation.
I agree you can’t guess because an A1C takes into account your blood reading the entire day for 3 months. If you only test 4 or 5 times a day you’re not getting a good picture. I think my bg cycles up and down throughout the day and over night. Unless you use a contiuous glucose monitor you don’t know. I think daily testing is used to adjust food and insulin dose