Guest guest Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 Can having a bunch of low and high blood glucose numbers and having an under 7% haic bad? I know, it's better to be level and not up and down, but does it matter how long you are at that high? I know many type 2 diabetics that test themselves, once a month, and their bg is 170. Their haic is always over 7%. Isn't that worse than having a few sporadic highs and lows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 << Can having a bunch of low and high blood glucose numbers and having an under 7% haic bad? >> I'm not sure whether I would use the word " bad " to describe that you're talking about; I think that " inaccurate " is probably a more accurate description. I know what you're talking about very well, as I've experienced this sort of situation myself more than once. Just under two years ago, my three-month A1c was 4.9. That might look impressive on paper, but the reality was that I was experiencing so many lows and occasional *very* significant spikes (sometimes as a result of the lows, I would bounce back in the opposite direction) that my average BG fell exactly where I wanted it to. I told my doctor at the time (my internist; this was before I started seeing my current endo) that I didn't feel that 4.9 carried a whole lot of credence since I knew that my control was *not* good due to the frequency and severity of the lows. My last A1c, in November, was 5.3. I'd had several tests done between the time I got the 4.9 and the 5.3, but those *were* a fairly accurate representation of what my BGs were like on a day to day basis. This 5.3, however, was just as inaccurate as the 4.9. This was after I went off my first pump in February 2003 and before I re- started pump therapy in February 2004, and on a regimen of Lantus and Humalog, and I was experiencing some of the most extreme BG fluctuations I'd ever seen. My lows were often in the 20s, sometimes even in the high teens, and I had several rebound highs that were well into the 300s and even close to 400 on a few occasions. As for your question re whether it matters how long your BGs remain high, I do believe the evidence that prolonged elevated highs -- i.e., several days or weeks with elevated BG readings, even those that are below 200 but in the higher levels of the 100s, like the 170s, 180s, etc., are what will ultimately play a role in complications down the road. I saw it with my father. He would check his BGs only sporadically, and was actually *pleased* when he saw a number under 200, but even those sporadic readings didn't register much below that level. As a consequence, after over fifteen years of this sort of " I don't care " indifference to what his blood sugars were doing, he suffered from significant neuropathy and near the end of his life was regularly taking falls and was unable to walk without a cane, because he had lost so much feeling in his feet. When I was diagnosed, my A1c was 14.9. Three months later, I'd managed to reduce it to 8.1. That's certainly not ideal, but it was heading in the right direction. I'd witnessed my father's lack of control for over a decade. Imagine how I felt when I saw *his* blood test results, that he had gotten just around the same time I had gotten the 8.1 A1c, and saw that *his* A1c was 8.0. This really woke me up to where my BGs were on a regular basis: I knew that his BGs were consistently elevated, and if this was his *average,* then my average must have been pretty similar. It made me want to work that much harder to bring it down even farther. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 That story is very similar to mine. My dad is the one I was referring to, he checks his sugar the week before he has his doctors appoint. I sneak into his room when I go back home and look through his meter, and for the past year, might be 6 numbers! I too am on the pump. Just started 2 months ago. While, my haic went up, it was still 6.9%. I heard it can take up to 6 months on the pump to get better results. Now, I check myself about 10 times per day. I still get over 300's and in the 40's. I so want to get down into the 5's again. See, when I was diagnosed, must have caught it early, I was 5.9%. I eventually went up to my highest, I think was 8.7% or so. It was around that level twice, that's when I started to see an endocronolist. Since, then it went down to about 6.8% and it's been stable there. I did have a " false " 5 something but I knew I had way to many lows and that was inaccurate. > << Can having a bunch of low and high blood glucose numbers and > having an under 7% haic bad? >> > > I'm not sure whether I would use the word " bad " to describe that > you're talking about; I think that " inaccurate " is probably a more > accurate description. I know what you're talking about very well, as > I've experienced this sort of situation myself more than once. Just > under two years ago, my three-month A1c was 4.9. That might look > impressive on paper, but the reality was that I was experiencing so > many lows and occasional *very* significant spikes (sometimes as a > result of the lows, I would bounce back in the opposite direction) > that my average BG fell exactly where I wanted it to. I told my > doctor at the time (my internist; this was before I started seeing my > current endo) that I didn't feel that 4.9 carried a whole lot of > credence since I knew that my control was *not* good due to the > frequency and severity of the lows. > > My last A1c, in November, was 5.3. I'd had several tests done > between the time I got the 4.9 and the 5.3, but those *were* a fairly > accurate representation of what my BGs were like on a day to day > basis. This 5.3, however, was just as inaccurate as the 4.9. This > was after I went off my first pump in February 2003 and before I re- > started pump therapy in February 2004, and on a regimen of Lantus and > Humalog, and I was experiencing some of the most extreme BG > fluctuations I'd ever seen. My lows were often in the 20s, sometimes > even in the high teens, and I had several rebound highs that were > well into the 300s and even close to 400 on a few occasions. > > As for your question re whether it matters how long your BGs remain > high, I do believe the evidence that prolonged elevated highs -- > i.e., several days or weeks with elevated BG readings, even those > that are below 200 but in the higher levels of the 100s, like the > 170s, 180s, etc., are what will ultimately play a role in > complications down the road. I saw it with my father. He would > check his BGs only sporadically, and was actually *pleased* when he > saw a number under 200, but even those sporadic readings didn't > register much below that level. As a consequence, after over fifteen > years of this sort of " I don't care " indifference to what his blood > sugars were doing, he suffered from significant neuropathy and near > the end of his life was regularly taking falls and was unable to walk > without a cane, because he had lost so much feeling in his feet. > > When I was diagnosed, my A1c was 14.9. Three months later, I'd > managed to reduce it to 8.1. That's certainly not ideal, but it was > heading in the right direction. I'd witnessed my father's lack of > control for over a decade. Imagine how I felt when I saw *his* blood > test results, that he had gotten just around the same time I had > gotten the 8.1 A1c, and saw that *his* A1c was 8.0. This really woke > me up to where my BGs were on a regular basis: I knew that his BGs > were consistently elevated, and if this was his *average,* then my > average must have been pretty similar. It made me want to work that > much harder to bring it down even farther. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 Judt because your numbers went up does not mean that control is not there yet, Your levels have probably stopped swinging wildly ie roller coastering. Mine went up sligtly after starting on the pump because severe lows were not being offset by highs. Vern Catron www.history-buff.org <http://www.history-buff.org/> Meddle ye not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup. Re: erratic control That story is very similar to mine. My dad is the one I was referring to, he checks his sugar the week before he has his doctors appoint. I sneak into his room when I go back home and look through his meter, and for the past year, might be 6 numbers! I too am on the pump. Just started 2 months ago. While, my haic went up, it was still 6.9%. I heard it can take up to 6 months on the pump to get better results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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