I had no idea how to change my life; I didn't even know what Type 1 was. Even though an A1c is a 3-month average of blood sugar, it's heavily weighted toward your more recent blood sugar levels. However, it’s not something we can ignore either since there is a correlation between A1c and the risk of long-term complications.”. The glucose sticks to the cells until they die which is typically two to three months, reports Utah.gov. What you choose to eat and drink can have a major impact on not only your waistline, mood, and well-being, but also on your blood sugar levels. According to this interview with several diabetes experts, most recommend that you spend less than 3% of the time below 70 mg/dl (3.9 mmol/l) and less than 1% of the time below 53 mg/dl (3 mmol/l). I was retested on July 7 and had an A1c of 10.4...almost a 4 point drop. First, weight gain and total body swelling. The A1C is now standardized, and the acceptable variance can be up to 0.5% from what your actual result is. I turned to Dr. Peters for an explanation: “If you lower your A1c too quickly, many bad things can happen. THere’s no way to know without the right blood tests. I think the A1c depends on the red blood cells normally after three months after its creation it die and new red blood cells are replacing the old with low A1c. An A1c of 7% roughly translates to an average blood sugar of 154 mg/dl (8.6 mmol/L) as you can see from this conversion chart. Now that you have a better idea of what your “pain points” are, you can start making changes to your diabetes management. Here's to more lower A1c results for us all! The A1c goes by several different names, such aswa Hemoglobin A1C, HbA1C, Hb1C, A1C, glycated hemoglobin, glycohemoglobin and estimated glucose average. An A1c can go from 6.0 to 6.5 in three months in a diabetic very easily (mine often changes that much in a three month period). When I was diagnosed I was 9.2 and when I went in for my 3 month checkup it went down to 6.2, my doctor was really surprised that it went down that much. By making a conscious choice of which type of nutrition plan to follow (the majority of the time), you can more easily establish healthy habits that will benefit not only your overall health but also your daily blood sugar levels, and thereby your A1c. Your doctor or endocrinologist should test your A1c regularly (typically every 3-6 months). One Drop has been working with type 2 diabetics through their mobile application in IPhone and Apple watch. To have an A1C of 10 his blood sugar would have had to be 240 mg/dl on average the last 3 months. However, the closer you get to the recommended A1c target, the less benefit you will get from lowering your A1c further. I'm having a hard time trying to get everything under control, and have developed neuropathy in my hands/feet. Home A1c kits can be useful if you go for more than three months between doctor visits and want to keep an eye on how your A1c is developing yourself. I will explain why “time-in-range” is just as important as a low A1c later in this guide. In the body, red blood cells are constantly forming and dying, but typically they live for about three months. The reason for the increase in blood sugar is that the improved insulin sensitivity from exercising is surpassed by your body’s increased glucose production. But when we get 45 minutes each of aerobic exercise and resistance training for just three days a week, we can reduce our A1C a lot. Some people manage their problems properly without having any issues, But some of them struggle a lot. A1C How Often to Test The A1C test does not require fasting. If you need a friend, please reach out to me. So is A1c a bad way to gauge whether your diabetes management is on track? A normal A1C score should be … Diabetes and High Blood Pressure: What is the relationship? A .3 drop isn't necessarily bad, depending on the starting point. It has been invaluable to me. But if you add in vocational blood sugar readings you’ll have a better idea of the progress and maybe where you can still make changes. How hard was it for you to accept commitment to change? As someone living with type 1 diabetes, Christel is particularly passionate about helping others with diabetes live active healthy lives. He also probably weighs 100 pounds. The A1C is a blood test that gives us an estimated average of what your blood sugar has been over the past 2-3 months. Multiple studies have shown that high average blood sugars increase the risk of diabetes-related complications. I should have said the diabetes community rather than T1 in my post - everyone here has been so helpful! GET ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. My husband was just diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Such as Diet, Exercise, Stress control, etc. If you found this guide to lowering your A1c useful, please sign up for our newsletter (and get a free chapter from the Fit With Diabetes eBook) using the form below. My A1c number doesn’t reflect what’s been going on in my life for the last three months. For athletes, too many lows can limit performance, for someone who is pregnant it should be <6%, for an older person the target should be higher. You seem like you are staying on top of things so big kudos on that! Surprised but not really. Often adults are dismissed as pre-diabetic or having type 2 diabetes but it important to get tested for antibodies so that you know how to proceed. Home » Diabetes » Type 1 Diabetes » How to Lower Your A1c: The Complete Guide, By Christel Oerum on April 18, 2018, Updated March 22, 2020Featured Posts. As an example, people react very differently to carbs like oats or sweet potato. Because A1c is simply a measure of your average blood sugar over 2-3 months, it can (in theory) decrease by any amount over that time period. As soon as we found out we hit the internet and created a quick plan to get him through the week. For a detailed guide to resistance training and diabetes, please see my article “How Resistance Training Affects Your Blood Sugar.”. Anything too sudden and the body reacts badly.”. She is a Certified Personal Trainer specializing in diabetes. Keep it up :). It means that if you do NOT live with diabetes, your A1c is expected to be below 5.7%. This is why there’s really no need to have the test more often than every 3 months. According to the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases: “The A1c test is based on the attachment of glucose to hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. Indeed. A1C is a blood test that is done to diagnose diabetes in a patient and also to check how well the patient is managing his/her diabetes if already diagnosed with it. If you rely on manual blood sugar testing, it’s a little trickier since most people don’t test every five minutes. To add to this, your A1c is a very rough average of the past three months, but it weighs the more recent levels more heavily than the older levels. Whereas cardio will lower blood sugar during exercise and potentially up to 36 hours after exercise, resistance training can increase insulin sensitivity for much longer since muscles work as little “glucose tanks” and you’ll store more glucose in your muscles rather than sending it directly to your bloodstream. People with diabetes get their A1C checked every 3-6 months or yearly. While exercise is essential for building and maintaining good health and improving insulin sensitivity, it can be a double-edged sword if it constantly throws your blood sugars for a loop. It’s not an “even average,” but an average where your blood sugars over the last few weeks count a little more than your blood sugars 2-3 months ago. Basically, I’d rather see someone with an A1c of 6.9% and low blood sugar variability than an A1c of 6.2% with lots of variability”, “A1c goals should be individualized based on the individual capabilities, risks, and prior experiences. She’s a diabetes advocate, public speaker, and author of the popular diabetes book Fit With Diabetes. Just be aware that most people will see an increase in blood sugars during resistance training (research was mainly done on people living with type 1 diabetes) rather than a decrease. So if you're running high the week you get the A1c, it'll be higher than if you were high for a week two-three months ago. Coming to the point 15 days back i went with my sister to check her fasting sugar as she is pregnant I also thought to get my self tested. Or perhaps you always go low after exercise. My eyes filled with tears as I sat in my doctor's office and listened to him read my A1C: 11.5%. HUGE a1c drop. It is important to remember that the A1C is a 3 month average, so when you get your A1C result from your provider, you should count backwards 3 months to know the date range that the A1C covers. I would highly recommend you go see a doctor and get the appropriate blood work done. I kept wondering things like "why me? I absolutely think we should, but we also need to understand what it means as well as why we should look beyond the A1c number. Significant changes in blood glucose can be seen within 2 weeks. And certainly, someone who has been running A1c’s in double digits for quite some time should not be targeting an A1c of 6%… better to set modest, realistic, achievable goals.”. Below 2 links so you can read more about type 1 and LADA Adding resistance training to your daily routine, even if it’s just bodyweight exercise, can be instrumental in increasing your insulin sensitivity and lowering your A1c. Now check your email to download the eBook chapter. I usually find myself in the high 6s to mid 7s right about now (damn those Christmas sweets and high fat casseroles!). Optimally, you’d have an A1c below 7% accompanied by a low blood sugar variance (high time-in-range). Most meters allow you to download data to your computer, or you can upload the data to app-based platforms like One Drop or mySugr. In general, it should not be needed to “carb up” to do up to 60 minutes of steady-state cardio, but there can be situations where reducing insulin before exercise can’t be done, so additional carbohydrates must be consumed. Level than non-diabetics, resulting in a nerve wracking situation people with diabetes depends! 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With the latest posts and recipes from diabetes Strong LADA https:.! Fat also have an A1c test result is reported as a percentage how much can a1c drop in 3 months adjust my up!

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