Hemoglobin A1C

[rootietootie]

Hi everyone, I had a HA1C drawn at my doctors recently.  It was upper normal 5.9.  Last year it was 6.0 and I was told to lose some weight ( I was 20 lbs overweight ) and exercise.  I lost the weight and am now normal for my height and I exercise vigorously everyday.  I am actually in the best physical shape I have ever been in.  I really am disappointed because I was SURE my HA1C was going to be sooo much better then it was previously.  I check my sugars periodically because I was scared with the pre-diabetes thing last year.  All day long my sugar level is around 100 or 110.  I only eat one meal a day that contains carbohydrates.  I know my sugar rises to around 180 after the meal, but I usually exercise afterwards and it comes down quickly.  When i check it about 2 hours after the meal its usually down to 120.  My question is, would that rise once a day be enough to make the HA1 C so high?  From what I have read I thought it had to be consistently high on average, even before meals.  Any knowledge anyone has I would greatly appreciate it!  Thank you . Shannon

[Barb135]

I thought I had seen pills in the "diet" section of some drug stores that say they have vinegar, but I could be wrong.  You are correct that vinegar is acetic acid. I have a book at home called the "24 Hour Pharmacist" by Susie Cohen, and in there she says also that even though it sounds like a contradiction, sometimes acid reflux is caused by not enough acid rather than too much, especially if one takes med to control acid, like I do.  

I'm sure I don't have full blown diabetes and for heaven's sake I don't want it - I've seen enough it to last me a life time, but I'm with you - I'm thinking probably pre or at least insulin resistance, so even if my doctor won't help me, I'm going to start taking whatever steps I can to prevent full blown.  I already have hypothyroidism (probably Hashimoto's) and pernicious anemia, I don't need diabetes on top of that.  

I agree that doctors don't patients to self-diagnose and that's not really what I'm trying to do - I'm just trying to find out as much about these things as I can, so I can make intelligent choices - and I guess if he has a problem with that (which apparently he does), then I guess that's for him to deal with as I know that if I don't stick up for my self, no one else will either!!  

Anyway, I will continue to check my blood sugars and, who knows, maybe my next doctor will be willing to at least take a look and help with some suggestions.  In the meantime, I will continue to learn as much as possible and do the best I can.  Thanks for your comments and good luck to you also.  Will stay in touch.

[rootietootie]

Yes, I agree with you about the doctor, he sounds arrogant and doesn't want anyone to disagree with him or even be knowledgeable about something.  I would definately get another one.  I also sort of have that problem, I go to a large family practice and I see the nurse practitioner most of the time and I am pretty knowledgeable about the things that are wrong with me, now a days if you don't know something it is so easy to look it up online anyway.  I know this disturbs a lot of doctors but its good for us.  (helps us be our own advocates) Anyway, I go to her and tell her my sugars also.  I think it bothers her that I am taking my own sugars anyway, when she says I don't have diabetes.  Well my HA1C is 5.8 and sometimes my BS's at home are 190's. Yeah, I might not have full blown, but I pre, or at a minimum insulin resistant.  She doesn't want to hear any of that either.  Its better for us to find out what is going on now and not later when diabetic damage has occured.  You would think they would be happy for us but the truth is they don't want us to diagnose ourselves; they want to do it.  Yes, that's the problem, it's so hard to change doctors with these insurances now a days, and its also hard to get everything organized and all the doctors on the same page.  

Yes, discuss the vinegar with your gastro first especially since you have those problems. That is interesting about the pickle juice reducing gastric reflux.  The article I read also said pickles help with blood glucose because they contain vinegar also.  I think vinegar is acedic acid so you would think it would make things worse but I guess there is a reason for it.  I don't think vinegar comes in pills yet, but the article I read says they are working on that now.  That would be great!  Well, good luck with your doctors and keep me posted!  Shannon

[Barb135]

Thanks for your comments.  

I will definitely check out the vinegar thing - I had heard it could help boost metabolism, which I don't believe because I know people who've tried it, but I had never heard that it can stablize blood sugar.  I have also heard recently that it (or pickle juice) can actually help reduce acid reflux.  I have an outside job and can't always carry a bottle of vinegar with me - do vinegar pills work the same way?

As for my doctor - I don't think he's lazy so much as offended for a couple of reasons:  
1) I've done a fair amount of research into these symptoms I have so, although I am a long way from being an expert, I'm not totally stupid about either hypothyroidism or diabetes and he doesn't like the idea that I ask the questions I ask and don't always agree with everything he says. I try to be my own advocate but it seems that he delights in shooting down any idea that isn't his.  
2) I had seen his nurse practitioner for a couple of visits, rather than him and she sent me first, to a cardiologist because of a Holter monitor test that she thought was abnormal but wasn't; and second, she sent me to an ENT because I have a choking feeling in my throat all the time.  My PCP says it's "merely" caused by stress; however, the ENT sent me for anti-body tests (positive) and an ultra sound (waiting for results) on my thyroid, plus he ordered a barium swallow due to severe, long standing GERD and is referring me to a gastroenterologist.  I think my PCP got upset that his nurse practitioner sent me to specialists who are following up on things that he thinks is only stress related; therefore, he refused to look at the records I had kept and came up the thing about the glucose test meters purchased in the drug stores being so inaccurate.  

I have a son who is almost 37 years old and he was diagnosed with type I diabetes when he was 10 yrs old - his doctors were adamant that his blood sugar be checked regularly (several x's daily) with one of those very meters (and they are even better now than they were then).    I also have a nephew and sister with type I diabetes, as well as a brother and another sister, both with type II; I'm sure that all of their doctors would beg to disagree with mine about those meters too.  What else is one supposed to use to keep up with blood sugars since you can hardly run to a testing lab several times a day??  

I think my doctor just got offended by these things - mainly because the ENT thought it necessary to order tests that my PCP thought were unnecessary - like I don't need to know what's going on with all these symptoms, etc.  I will be looking for another doctor - just not sure how to go about that at this point.  Doctors are human, they have feelings and make mistakes just like the rest of us; however, I don't like the idea that one might make the mistakes on me and it certainly isn't right for him to take his feelings out on me!!  

Will discuss the vinegar thing with the gastroenterologist when I see him next week.  Because of the severe acid reflux I have had for so long, I hesitate to take anything more until I find out the condition of my esophagus, etc as I have one brother who's already had esophageal cancer and a nephew who had pre-cancerous cells in his esophagus.  

[rootietootie]

Hi there, you sound like you are in the same boat as me.  I have not been diagnosed with diabetes either but my tests are borderline.  I think it means we are close but not there yet.  Sometimes it seems that my sugars are all over the place too.  I just found out something exciting that might help you too!  Vinegar, do a search on it.  They say it especially helps those in our situations who are pre and not full blown.  I tried it tonight, I took two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar before my main meal (dinner) and my sugars were fantastic.  A few hours after eating they were down to 92 and stayed there.  I really think you should look into it also!  I also exercise and eat right and it makes me angry when the doctor tells me I need to do that stuff, like they don't believe me when I tell them.  I guarantee I could run circles around the doctor. lol, all that beside, the fact of the matter is our blood sugar and trying to  nip this in the bud.  Your doctor is wrong about the glucose monitor.  I am an RN and the ones sold in the drug stores are the same ones diabetics use and report to their doctors.  The HA1C is the main thing they go by but for understanding how your blood sugars run and what triggers them to go  high and when they go low, etc etc is very important for you to monitor it with the "drug store monitor"  Now a days they have made them very accurate.  I don't like the sounds of your doctor much more then I do my own.  He didn't want to look at your record because he was too lazy.  I would really look for a more caring and thorough doctor.  I tell my patients to be their own advocate for their health because you can't totally rely on doctors, so many of them are wrong and just lazy.  ( I need to practice what I preach also but sometimes don't )  Really, you should try the vinegar thing, I just tried it two days ago, but so far its really working, from what they say it works as good as some oral diabetic medicines.  I am going to make a post about it for others also.  Keep me posted on how it goes!  Its important for us to figure this stuff out now and fix it to avoid diabetes if we can or atleast keep it at bay for as long as we can!   Shannon

[Barb135]

I'm not an expert by any means, but I wouldn't think that one daily rise would have that much affect on your A1c.  Have you been diagnosed with diabetes?  I'm asking because I recently had an A1C with result of 5.6 and although it IS in the normal range, it's high normal, but my doctor blew the whole thing off as being totally insignifcant.  I also periodically check my blood sugar with a meter I purchased at the drug store and my blood sugar levels are all over the scale - over the past couple months it's run the range from a low of 64 a couple of times all the way up to 190+, with fasting results usually running 105-120; however on the day I went for my blood work, the lab's result for my fasting sugar was 87, which is definitely normal.  I'd been up and moving around for well over 3 hours before the test so not sure if that would affect the result or not.  My doctor told me in no uncertain terms that meters purchased in the drug store are not a valid way to check blood sugar because they are so inaccurate and he refused to even look at the record I'd kept.  

I am not diabetic, but have a family history of it.  I am hypothyroid and am finding it impossible to lose weight (I'm approx 30 lbs overweight), so I requested testing to see if I might be insulin resistant/pre-diabetic.  Again, my doctor refused to look at the record I'd been keeping and simply told me that I am overweight because I don't move enough, even though I walk 3-5 miles/day and work out approx 30 min/day and eat a healthy diet.