The A1c Test & Diabetes
What is the A1C test? The A1C test is a blood test that provides information about a person’s average levels of blood glucose, also called blood sugar, over the past 3 months. The A1C test is sometimes called the hemoglobin A1c, HbA1c, or glycohemoglobin test. The A1C test is the primary test used for diabetes management and diabetes research. How does the A1C test work? The A1C test is based on the attachment of glucose to hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. In the body, red blood cells are constantly forming and dying, but typically they live for about 3 months. Thus, the A1C test reflects the average of a person’s blood glucose levels over the past 3 months. The A1C test result is reported as a percentage. The higher the percentage, the higher a person’s blood glucose levels have been. A normal A1C level is below 5.7 percent. Can the A1C test be used to diagnose type 2 diabetes and prediabetes? Yes. In 2009, an international expert committee recommended the A1C test as one of the tests available to help diagnose type 2 diabetes and prediabetes.1 Previously, only the traditional blood glucose tests were used to diagnose diabetes and prediabetes. Because the A1C test does not require fasting and blood can be drawn for the test at any time of day, experts are hoping its convenience will allow more people to get tested—thus, decreasing the number of people with undiagnosed diabetes. However, some medical organizations continue to recommend using blood glucose tests for diagnosis. Why should a person be tested for diabetes? Testing is especially important because early in the disease diabetes has no symptoms. Although no test is perfect, the A1C and blood glucose tests are the best tools available to diagnose diabetes—a serious and li Continue reading >>
How Long Before The False Hypo Symptoms Pass?
How Long Before The False Hypo Symptoms Pass? How Long Before The False Hypo Symptoms Pass? It has been 3+ weeks now, I'm getting a little tired of the crossed eyes / dizzy when I'm at what should be a reasonable BG number. For example, I was talking to my boss and poof spinning. He leaves, I check and my BG is 85 - a quite lovely number. I don't think I'm going too high with meals, 1 hour out is usually <110 and 2 hours is usually <100, which I'm also happy with. I'm not at all hungry. I've upped my calories in the past week to 1200. How long is this nonsense going to last? I hate to whine, but I've given up virtually everything I like to eat and drink and started exercising daily, I would like to feel better not like the room is spinning. A1c - 4/19/13 - 9.2 | 7/26/13 - 5.1 | 10/18/13 - 5.1 | 4/19/14 - 4.8 It's possibly too little food. What are you eating, and how soon after a meal do you get dizzy? And are you drinking enough water? I've lost 24kg without ever intentionally lowering my calories beyond 1600, by replacing carbs with good saturated and monounsaturated fats. HbA1c 1st November 2017 31mmol/mol (5.0%) D.D. Family Getting much harder to control Ok what did your bg run lets say a month ago, or 6 months ago. How high were you what number. It varies for each one of us, yes 85 is perfect but not if you ran higher in the past. Keep a rapid carb with you to offset this feeling till you get more normal stable bg all the time. Comedy - I've had 1.5 liters of water so far today, so I think I'm doing fine in that regard. I have dieted in the past and stuck to 1200 for months without this problem. I understand things change, but this seems D related, not diet. It usually happens about ~3 hours after eating or right after exercising. When I test, my BG is always in t Continue reading >>
7 Mistakes Doctors Are Making With Diabetes
A few years back I was caring for my cousin who suffered from diabetes. During this time, I learned a lot about mistakes doctors are making with diabetes. Now, this isn’t to put down doctors in any way. Doctors are people too. My cousin wasn’t very good at talking to his doctor and this contributed to medical error as well. My cousin was diagnosed in his twenties with Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes. The period of time in the 20’s is a gray area between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. It can still be one or the other. It was pretty obvious it was Type 1 since there was a strong family history and we are Native American – as you probably know already, Native Americans are at a greater risk for developing diabetes. We knew his diagnosis was correct, plus he needed insulin. He had a very good physician who had been treating our entire family for endocrine disease for many years. Then, my cousin moved away and got a new job. He did the normal thing anyone would do when moving; he ordered his records and found a new physician. This led to a whole slew of miscommunications and treatment changes that led to my cousin going downhill. Here are a few things that could go wrong with your diabetes treatment: 1. Type 1/Type 2 Diabetes Confusion This can happen either early on in your diagnosis of diabetes or if you switch medical providers. Even if you are admitted to the hospital, there may be changes in your records or care for the wrong type. Explanation: My cousin was first diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes as his pancreas were still working some. His first doctor realized that he did in fact have Type 1 diabetes and noted that in his chart. When he moved, he handed over his records to his new doctor. The new doctor only looked at the first few pages of his chart and presumed he had T Continue reading >>
Diabetes: What's True And False?
en espaolLa diabetes: Qu es cierto y qu es falso? If you're like most people with diabetes, you'll get all kinds of advice about it from friends and family or online. Some of this information is wrong. Here's the truth about some of the common things you might hear. Does eating too much sugar cause diabetes? No. Type 1 diabetes happens when cells in the pancreas that make insulin are destroyed. This happens because something goes wrong with the body's immune system . It has nothing to do with how much sugar a person eats. Sugar doesn't cause diabetes. But there is one way that sugar can influence whether a person gets type 2 diabetes. Consuming too much sugar (or sugary foods and drinks) can make people put on weight. Gaining too much weight leads to type 2 diabetes in some people. Of course, eating too much sugar isn't the only cause of weight gain. Weight gain from eating too much of any food can make a person's chance of getting diabetes greater. Yes! You can have your cake and eat it too, just not the whole cake! Like everyone, people with diabetes should put the brakes on eating too many sweets. But you can still enjoy them sometimes. People with type 1 diabetes don't grow out of it. With type 1 diabetes, the pancreas stops making insulin and won't make it again. People with type 1 diabetes will always need to take insulin, at least until scientists find a cure. People with type 2 diabetes will always have a tendency to get high blood sugar levels. But if they take steps to live a healthier life, it can sometimes lower their blood sugar. If people eat healthy foods and exercise enough to get their blood sugar levels back on track, doctors might say they can stop taking insulin or other medicines. Can you catch diabetes from a person who has it? No. Diabetes is not Continue reading >>
Understanding A Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis
Diagnosing Type 2 Diabetes Type 2 diabetes is a manageable condition. Once you’re diagnosed, you can learn what to do to stay healthy. Diabetes is grouped into different types. The most commonly diagnosed are gestational diabetes, type 1 diabetes, and type 2 diabetes. Gestational Diabetes Maybe you have a friend who was told she had diabetes during pregnancy. That type is called gestational diabetes. It can develop during the second or third trimester of pregnancy. Gestational diabetes usually goes away after the baby is born. Type 1 Diabetes You may have had a childhood friend with diabetes who had to take insulin every day. That type is called type 1 diabetes. The peak age of onset is in the midteens. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), type 1 makes up 5 percent of all cases of diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes Type 2 diabetes makes up 90 to 95 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes, according to the CDC. It is also called adult-onset diabetes. Although it can occur at any age, it’s more common in people older than 40. If you think you might have diabetes, talk to your doctor. Uncontrolled type 2 diabetes can cause severe complications, such as: amputation of the legs and feet blindness heart disease kidney disease stroke According to the CDC, diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the United States. People with diabetes are 1.5 times as likely to die as people of the same age who don’t have diabetes. Many of the severe side effects of diabetes can be avoided with treatment. That’s why it’s so important to be diagnosed as soon as possible. Some people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes because they have symptoms. Early diabetes symptoms include: increased or frequent urination increased thirst fatigue cuts or sores that won Continue reading >>
How I Was Misdiagnosed With Type 2 Diabetes In My 40’s
How I Was Misdiagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes In My 40’s Written By: Erin Clausen In my 42 years leading up to my Type 1 diabetes diagnosis, I’d never been the type of person to get sick much at all. An occasional cold every couple of years. Maybe a quick 24-hour flu a couple of times in my entire life. My immune system always seemed to function incredibly well. Better than most I’d always thought. Eight months before my diagnosis, I had the flu. It was the most awful three days. I couldn’t keep anything down. My bones ached miserably. A seemingly inescapable relentless aching that made me want to scream. I could do nothing but hope to sleep in between diarrhea, vomiting, and dry heaves. In the months that followed that horrible flu. I noticed I wasn’t feeling up to par. I started having to use the bathroom in the middle if the night. Where before, I almost never got up to pee during the night. It soon became two to three times a night. I also noticed that I was often very thirsty. I would wake up every couple of hours and drink from the 32-ounce glass of water on my nightstand. I even started to run out halfway through the night and needed to refill my cup. Then the frequent urination became five to six times a night. The conversations I’d have in my mind every time I’d wake up needing to pee went like this. “Dammit Erin, stop drinking so much water and you won’t have to pee so much!” or “I wonder if I should see my doctor about overactive bladder issues?” I had also been losing weight easily. I chalked it up to the fact that I was a massage therapist and I expended a ton of energy during the day working on clients. I even wore a fitness activity/calorie burn monitor. It confirmed that I was burning a lot of calories. In hindsight, my job and leve Continue reading >>
Diabetes Symptoms: Adults Diagnosed With The Wrong Type, With ‘life-threatening Effects'
Adults are just as likely to develop type 1 diabetes as children, according to researchers at the University of Exeter. There is a misconception among some doctors that type 1 diabetes can only be diagnosed in childhood, they said. Adults that are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, when they actually have type 1, face “life-threatening” consequences, they added. Doctors were urged by charity Diabetes UK to not rule out type 1 diabetes after the age of 30. Type 1 diabetes patients need insulin injections to control blood sugar levels, as their immune system destroys the cells which makes the hormone. Diet changes and medication may be enough to control the condition in type 2 diabetes patients, though. If type 1 patients don’t receive enough insulin, they could suffer drowsiness, blurred vision and extreme thirst. It can also lead to diabetic ketoacidosis - a serious condition where the body begins to break down fat and muscle as an alternative energy source. Ketoacidosis can cause vomiting, a build-up of acids in blood, and even death. More than 40 per cent of type 1 cases occurred in people over 30, the researchers revealed. Type 2 accounts for 96 per cent of all diabetes cases diagnosed between 31 and 60 year old patients. One in nine adults with onset type 1 diabetes were hospitalised with the lethal condition, diabetic ketoacidosis, because they weren’t given insulin. “Diabetes textbooks for doctors say that type 1 diabetes is a childhood illness. But our study shows that it is prevalent throughout life,” said researcher Dr Richard Oram. “The assumption among many doctors is that adults presenting with the symptoms of diabetes will have type 2, but this misconception can lead to misdiagnosis with potentially serious consequences. “The Prime Minister is Continue reading >>
All The Symptoms But Negative Tests
I recently saw the following question: I have all the symptoms for diabetes but the test always comes back negative. Why? My reply: If you have symptoms of diabetes, it’s almost 100% likely that testing for diabetes will be positive. As I see it, there are two issues to be tackled in answering your question as to why: What symptoms do you have? Classic symptoms include extreme thirst, excessive volumes of urine, and hunger (these are called polydipsia, polyuria, and polyphagia in medical jargon). There are lots of other symptoms, and some people have a lot of them, while other folks may have few or no symptoms. Here’s a comprehensive list: extreme thirst, excessive volumes of urine, and hunger fatigue/tiredness nighttime urination blurred vision slow healing of wounds frequent infections, including vaginal yeast infections in women weight loss despite increased appetite (much more common in uncontrolled type 1 diabetes than in type 2) Tingling, pain, and/or numbness in the hands or feet dry itchy skin What testing did you have done? There are basically three tests for diabetes: Urine sugar. A positive test is likely if your blood glucose level has been over 180 mg/dl or thereabouts during the time between the current and previous urination. Blood sugar (AKA blood glucose). A fasting level of 126 mg/dl (7.0 mmol/L) or higher on more than one testing occasion is diagnostic of diabetes. Sometimes BG is measured repeatedly after ingesting a lot of glucose, in what is called a Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT or GTT); BG values of 200 or higher are abnormal. A1C (this test is also called hemoglobin A1C or glycosylated hemoglobin or HbA1c). A value of 6.5 or more indicates diabetes. The A1C test is influenced by BG changes over a period of about 2 or 3 months, so if your Continue reading >>
A False Sense Of Hypoglycemia
By Nora Saul, M.S., R.D., C.D.E., Manager of Nutritional Services at Joslin Hypoglycemia is defined as a blood glucose level below 70mg/dl. But many people find that they feel the symptoms of low blood glucose at levels much higher than expected. Some patients have come into my office reporting getting sweaty, hungry and tachycardic at levels in the mid 130s. Symptoms of hypoglycemia are individual, but may include extreme hunger, nervousness, excessive perspiration, rapid heartbeat (tachycardia), headache, fatigue, mood changes, blurred vision and difficulty concentration and completing mental tasks. Extremely low glucose levels can lead to disorientation and convulsions. People who take insulin or some oral medications that cause the pancreas to produce insulin are usually prone to episodes of hypoglycemia. This is especially true if they are attempting to keep their glucose level as close to normal as possible. But, people in poor control can also have hypoglycemic reactions as they swing from high to low glucose levels. False hypoglycemia is usually due to one of two causes. The first can be compared to an incorrectly programmed thermostat. If you usually keep your room at a steamy 85 degrees, 70 degrees might start to feel chilly. People whose blood glucose is often high trick their body into thinking this is normal. If they rapidly bring their blood glucose into the normal range their bodies’ trigger the same autonomic and neurological warnings as if their blood glucose had fallen into the danger zone. Gradually bringing yourself into better control will help accustom your body to lower blood glucose levels. The other cause of pseudo-hypoglycemia occurs when glucose levels drop rapidly in a short time period. This can happen when exercising vigorously and can oc Continue reading >>
My Diabetes Was Misdiagnosed—and It's A Lot More Common Than You'd Think
The diagnosis from my primary care doctor was type 2 diabetes, but the specialist sitting across from me could tell that was wrong just by looking at me. I was 33 years old and slim, a new mom who'd been diagnosed with gestational diabetes while pregnant. All the hard work I'd been doing for the last year to control my blood sugar levels—fitness boot camp, a diabetic diet with drastically reduced carb intake—wasn't working anymore, so I'd booked an appointment with Jessica Castle, MD, an endocrinologist at the Harold Schnitzer Diabetes Health Center of Oregon Health and Science University. Castle told me I didn't have type 2 diabetes, the kind characterized by insulin resistance, where the body's cells are unable to fully use the insulin the pancreas makes. I had type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that destroys the beta cells of the pancreas that produce insulin. MORE: 9 Everyday Things Making Your Gut Really Unhappy "It's OK," said Castle, handing me a box of tissues. "You're not the first person to cry in this office. You're not even the first person to cry in this office today." Type 2 diabetes, tied to obesity and genetic predisposition, has become an epidemic in the United States. Ninety to 95% of all 30 million diabetes cases are type 2. Type 1 diabetes is less common, representing approximately 5% of cases, with most of those surfacing during childhood. gettyimages-200454896-001-sweets-jw-ltd.jpg But those numbers may not be entirely accurate: A 2005 study found that about 10% of those over age 40 diagnosed as type 2 actually tested positive for the antibody cells associated with type 1 diabetes. For those younger than 35, the rate was closer to 25%. Castle says her practice sees multiple cases every year of people misdiagnosed with type 2. Many primary c Continue reading >>
Dui Or Diabetes?
Was that person arrested for drunk driving truly under the influence of alcohol—or could it be that he was simply a diabetic having a low? The similarity in symptoms caused by alcohol intoxication and low blood glucose levels is striking and commonly leads to easy—but false—conclusions by law enforcement officers. Diabetes is a very common disease in America. Fifteen to 20 percent of all drivers on the road are diabetics. The reactions of a person in the early stages of a low blood glucose attack include dizziness, blurred vision, slurred speech, weakness, loss of coordination and confusion. Coincidentally, these are the symptoms and signs that the patrol officer is looking for in a person who is driving under the influence of alcohol. And the officer’s observations are quickly followed by a failing performance on DUI field sobriety tests. But a Breathalyzer Will Clear a Diabetic, Right? Wrong. Ignoring for the moment the inherent inaccuracy of these breath-alcohol machines, most suffer from a little-known design defect—they do not actually measure the alcohol in the blood. Rather, they use infrared beams of light. The light beams are absorbed by any chemical compound in the breath sample (including ethyl alcohol) that contains the “methyl group” in its molecular structure. The more absorption, the higher the blood-alcohol reading. The machine is programmed to assume that the compound is “probably” alcohol. Unfortunately, thousands of compounds containing the methyl group can register as alcohol. One of these is acetone. And a well-documented byproduct of hyperglycemia is a state called ketoacidosis, which causes the production of acetones in the breath. In other words, the Breathalyzer will read significant levels of alcohol on a diabetic’s breath, Continue reading >>
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10 Surprising Causes Of Blood Sugar Swings You Probably Didn’t Know
1 / 11 What Causes Blood Sugar to Rise and Fall? Whether you were recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or have been living with the disease for several years, you know how fickle blood sugar levels can be, and how important it is that they stay controlled. Proper blood sugar control is key for helping ward off potential diabetes complications, such as kidney disease, nerve damage, vision problems, stroke, and heart disease, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). If you keep your levels in check on a daily basis, it will help you stay energized, focused, and in a good mood. You’ll know if your diabetes is poorly controlled if you experience symptoms such as frequent urination, sores that won’t heal, blurred vision, and unexplained weight loss. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), proper medication, effective meal planning, regular exercise, and use of a blood glucose meter to track your numbers routinely can all help you keep your levels within a healthy range. The ADA recommends blood glucose be 80 to 130 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) before meals, and below 180 mg/dL two hours after the start of a meal. Furthermore, the organization recommends getting an A1C test, which measures your average blood glucose over the past two to three months, at least twice per year if your levels are stable and you are meeting treatment goals. Learning how different habits can cause your blood sugar to fluctuate can help you better predict how your levels will swing. You may be more likely to experience hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar if you have advanced-stage diabetes, according to the ADA. Meanwhile, high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, may be caused by factors such as not using enough insulin or other diabetes medication, not following a prop Continue reading >>
Low Blood Sugar Symptoms But Normal Levels
High blood sugar usually feels bad. Kerri Sparling of the blog Six Until Me said, “It’s a thick feeling in the base of your brain, like someone’s…replaced your gray matter with sticky jam.” Other people report physical symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, headaches, blurry vision, thirst, and frequent urination. These symptoms often drive people to seek help, which is a good thing. Other people can get used to high sugars. They may feel few or no symptoms. That’s not good, because blood vessel damage is still going on, even if you can’t feel it. If your body gets comfortable with higher blood sugars, normal sugars may start to feel bad. A woman named Angela posted to Diabetes Daily, “I feel so crappy when my [blood sugar] is in the 90s…. That seems to be about 50% of the time. Sometimes I test when I’m feeling GOOD and it’s [much higher]…. I want a low A1C, but I don’t want to feel ‘fuzzy’ all the time either.” What is happening is that Angela’s body adjusted to higher sugars. Now she’s getting tighter control, but she’s not used to it. On another site, diabetes educator Janet Mertz explained, “Because your body is accustomed to the higher levels, the lower numbers may now be perceived as too low…. Your body reacts like you’re having low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)…. It generally takes a couple of weeks for the body to adjust to the new, healthier numbers.” Another person wrote on Yahoo! Answers, “When I was diagnosed, my sugar was over 350. I started metformin and eating very little carbohydrate. My levels dropped to the 150s by the end of the week. I wasn’t anywhere near hypoglycemic, but I felt like I was. I had all the signs — dizziness, shakiness, and weakness. Within a couple of weeks, the symptoms disappeared. Continue reading >>
Anemia Can Lead To False Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis, Research Shows
[shareaholic app="share_buttons" id="18113159"] Anemia can lead to a false type 2 diabetes diagnosis, according to research. Anemia is a condition where there is fewer red blood cells found in the bloodstream than normal. This can be due to lack of iron which is necessary for red blood cells and can leave a person feeling low-energy, dizzy, low appetite, short of breath and with a rapid hear beat. Anemia can also be seen in diabetics because an essential hormone which regulates red blood cell production is created by the kidneys and kidney damage is a known complication of diabetes which can then contribute to anemia. New research highlights how anemia can lead to false diagnosis of diabetes A fairly recent study revealed how anemia can lead to a false diagnosis of diabetes. A common form of diagnosis for type 2 diabetes is with glycated haemoglobin (sugar-bound haemoglobin, or HbA1c) but if a person has anemia it may reveal that they have blood sugar problems even when they really don’t. For the study the researchers utilized a systemic review which included studies from 1990 to 2014. The researchers found that an iron deficiency with or without anemia increased the values of HbA1c compared to controls. Therefore a diagnosis of diabetes in these patients would be unreliable without the help of further testing. The authors explained, “HbA1c is likely to be affected by iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia with a spurious increase in HbA1c values. This may lead to confusion when diagnosing diabetes using HbA1c. This review clearly identifies the need for more evidence, especially in identifying the types and degrees of anaemia likely to have significant impact on the reliability of HbA1c.” Recommendations form the authors included: If results are different co Continue reading >>
New Here - Another False Hypo Case (what Is Wrong With Me)
New Here - Another False Hypo Case (what is wrong with me) New Here - Another False Hypo Case (what is wrong with me) So, I joined to get some input on what happened to me a year ago. I've never been diabetic and the occasions of hypoglycemia since childhood have been mighty rare. In 2015, I got sick one day. I felt flu-y. Afterwards, I started to notice I get massive calf cramps if I ate at night and otherwise fall apart after I ate. I would get an inner-weakness as if I was laboring to breathe, my legs would shake, as would my arms when I set them against a counter or something. This was either preceded by extreme hunger or weakness. This was the only time my blood sugars got higher (highest recorded number was 131 after a meal with combined carbs and protein, but the number was 105 within an hour and 85 at the close of the next). And then, it got better...somewhat. Over the last year, the condition transitioned into a general reactive hypoglycemia--at least, those are the symptoms. My sugars never get lower than 66 and never higher after a meal than 107. But the sleepiness, mental fatigue, shakiness, and wanting to sit down after a meal, plus irritability, have all been present. Unless I eat pure protein or fat, I get the same reaction with rare exceptions, but I can't eat like that. I am 6'3 and 209 and work out. Shouldn't be any problems since I weight train. It's been a while now. A1C is 5.6. Moderator T2 dx'd 2009, low carb diet, Metformin, Januvia. Hello and welcome to DD! We can't diagnose you but hopefully someone who has experienced something similar will chime in soon. Have you brought this to your doctor's attention? D.D. Family type 2 since January 27th, 2016 Excess insulin is my best guess for me. I get the similar symptoms but add in blurred vision and Continue reading >>
