A while back I reported here that I had my lowest-ever A1c result of 5.4. I also stated I felt it was in error. I just got another test result which is in line with years of A1c results right around 6 or 6.1
Clarity shows 6.0 and that’s my result from last week’s lab test. Chalk one up for Clarity.
So I’m no longer in the 5’s club–but I never felt it was legit anyway as my average glucose was in my normal range 3 months ago. So it seems the lab result last time was a mistake.
It is kind of a sad state of affairs when test results can’t be trusted. But I have come to realize it happens more than we care to admit. I had one A1C was just not anywhere near where I thought it should have been, so I just asked for a retest and sure enough it came back more in line. The same thing happened to my husband with his PSA test and after years of the same kind of result he had one that was just off the chart and his doctor called him in, demanding bone scans as the cancer may have moved to the pelvis bones. It was a nightmare. He was almost destroyed after that visit. So I asked him to pull up his results and we looked and I asked him, didn’t his doctor think it was strange for such an increase in a 6 month span? Of course he didn’t ask, so I told him to call the office and demand a retest. He did and the test came back, the same as the rest. Labs make mistakes. The people in the labs are not perfect, so if we get a second opinion for surgery, there is no reason you shouldn’t ask for a retest. And that being said, he found a different doctor who didn’t make horribly wrong decisions due to one test result.
And it is nice to hear that your Clarity results line up with mine. They have been pretty right on for me. I am one of those fortunate ones who don’t have any issues with underlying conditions.
I just had an A1C yesterday that came back at 6.5 even though Dexcom Clarity put it at 5.9. I have 3 different meters that all test relatively the same, makes no sense.
As much as I have said that we shouldn’t put too much weight on the A1c result, it’s hard to avoid that. You were smart to be skeptical about the 5.4% outlier.
I realize the hazard of letting the A1c take on the role of serving as a judgment of our glucose control efforts. But it is an independent measure of our average control and can be helpful in motivating us with the long game.
For years I observed that my A1c rode about 0.5% above my Clarity CGM average. I knew there had to be a reason for this and recently discovered that my undiagnosed iron deficiency anemia was the cause. It irritated me that a series of doctors failed to be curious about this and missed the opportunity to detect and treat my anemia much earlier.
When I added daily iron supplements my A1c aligned with my Clarity average glucose within 0.1%. That confirmed my sense of this misalignment was justified.
I agree with others that insisting on a repeat lab test when faced with an outlier result that prompts a significant treatment change is prudent. It also confirms to me that the patient has a distinct and important perspective. We should never allow the doctor to unilaterally take action without persuading us, based on tangible facts, to take significant clinical action. Simply deferring to the professional credential absent strong supporting evidence is a mistake.