Does A1C read high with iron deficient anemia?

[Janeykins]

So I was diagnosed with Type 2 in August of last year. I have a few concerns with my diagnosis. First, the whole reason my doc did a full blood exam was bc of my extreme anemia which at the time was pretty bad; my hemoglobin was terrible. Based off those results he said my blood sugar was high and scheduled an A1C a week later. Based off the A1C he diagnosed me type 2.
Since being diagnosed, I've been on Metformin BID. But ever since taking the Metformin I get hypo all the time on my readings and my avg blood sugar is normally 70-120. On my personal app logs, my A1C estimate is 5.4-5.8 but when I A1C test in the docs office it's 6.0-6.3.
After some research, I see that iron deficient anemia can cause high A1Cs and I'm wondering if my doc may have jumped the gun with a type 2 diagnosis. I feel like maybe I was more pre-diabetic? Anyone have any experience with this?

I am not a diabetic.

Your question seems very valid to me. Is your anemia resolved? I would want to know what your Hba1c is when you're not anemic.

[Janeykins]

Thanks for the response. I should note when I'm hypo it will drop down to 40-60 range but this isn't due to sugar crash. I'll be in the 80s-90s and then drop to 40-60 after taking the Metformin.  My highs even right after eating are 110-120 but normally I'm around 80-90 throughout the day on my readings and I've control tested so many times and used 2 diff meters to make sure it's not misreads.

[Super_sally888]

Hi,
It is not usual to crash from metformin.  But I guess we're all different.

Is it straight metformin?  or is the metformin combined with any other drug?

If you're sure the lows are from metformin, then maybe you will want to try stopping it, and instead adopting a low carb diet.

Note that low blood sugars are best managed by limiting carbs and instead eating adequate protein and fats, which result in much more stable blood sugars.

[Super_sally888]

Hi,

Normal blood sugar levels are in the 70 - 120 range.  This is not low.  It would mean that metformin is working.

I assume that the result from your Dr at 6.3 was before the metformin.

Now, with the metformin, your levels have become closer to normal.

Note: totally normal hba1c will be < 5.0.

If you want to avoid / reduce medications, you can try low-carb eating, which can be beneficial for normalizing blood sugars (along with exercise, weight loss if overweight, etc);

Hope this helps.