Hi,
I just have a question about the A1C. I’m currently at 8.5 and am trying really hard to get it down and leveled. I was wondering how fast an A1C can spike. I’ve been keeping tight control over my blood sugars this past month but once in awhile it gets high (underbolusing etc), and I was wanting to know how long it takes for an A1C level to increase. If my A1C gets bad for an hour does it hurt my A1C very bad? Sorry if the question seems confusing! :\
A little anatomy & Physiology lesson. A1C is a protein on the outside of red blood cells that absorb sugar. The “sweeter” you are, the more A1C picks up sugar. Red blood cells live 90-100days. When a specimen is collected and tested the percentage of A1C can be equated to an AVERAGE Blood Glucose for the past 90-100 days. A statistics class can give you all of the computations and calculations for the rate of dilution between your 8.5% and normal of 5%. Point for you thinking: How low and for how long (up to 90 days) would your blood glucose need to be to reach your target A1C of, say 6.0%?
Best wishes - the retired professor.
A random spike now and then shouldn’t affect it greatly. Like the professor said, sustained high numbers are much more likely to affect an overall average than a few numbers out of the norm.
If you use a pump and/or a CGMS, you might consider checking your statistics when you upload data to see if you can find something called the standard deviation - a calculation that considers how OFTEN you are in the extreme parts of your range. A number of over 50 is less than ideal. You want to have a standard deviation that’s low - say under 30ish, meaning that you normally have numbers very close to the median of your range.
If your blood sugars were closer to 115 all of the time with a couple of outliers (300, 64, 215, etc), you’d have a low standard deviation. If your blood sugars were all over the map, but averaged out to 115, you’d have a high standard deviation. Both would actually give you the same A1c, but one would be considered much better control.
Thanks for the stats lesson. I have always had a hard time with them. I can do the physiology part but stats 
!
BTW, great to have you back from m-leave. Slick trick using two photos.
LOL. Thanks. I wanted to update my photo because new members were always congratulating me on my marriage, but I hated to lose that sort of easily identifiable image. I see now that I forgot to update the one in the bottom corner of every page, too.
That makes sense! Thanks a lot 
;Thank you! That’s a relief
Also, I was on the omnipod but was having problems with the adhesive on my skin, so I am now back on shots.
I also had a CGM, but the adhesive on that also gave me problems :/; the problem wasn’t minor enough to disregard.
As far as adhesive problems, have you tried skin prep type products? They protect the skin from irritation- both mechanical and chemical caused by adhesives.
Yes i’ve tried barrier films, various brands, but they didn’t work. I’ve been searching around, because i’m sure that i’ll get tired of these needles again eventually.
It’s disheartening when you are trying to go down and check your HA1C every 2-4 weeks. (I do at work haha) so remember your averages could be lower but the RBCs are still floating around with past glucose levels. 3 months is really the time to see after a clean sweep. I have a one touch ping glucometer so it tells me my averages, my averages for meals, etc. I had the mini and I really see the advantages of having a bigger one. Good luck!