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  #1   ^
Old Wed, Apr-09-08, 08:36
LoKarb Kay's Avatar
LoKarb Kay LoKarb Kay is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 240
 
Plan: 90% classic Schwarzbein
Stats: 342/257/165 Female 5'7"
BF:>55%/51%/<30%
Progress: 48%
Location: Michigan, US
Smile A1c test after 3 months of LC

A question and a "yippee!" -- I'm probably evaluating this too much.

I was diagnosed with PCOS about 12 years ago. When my periods stopped and my fasting blood sugar crept into the borderline range, my endocrinologist put me on Metformin. I hated Metformin from the first week and weaned myself off of it in January, just after I started eating LC. My menstrual cycles came back and normalized on their own, but I did have a lingering anxiety about my blood sugar. To be honest, I'm afraid of becoming diabetic.

Yesterday my new doctor did a hemoglobin A1c test during my appointment... and my level was normal! 5.3. I'll get a fasting blood glucose test later this week, so my joy might be premature, but I was so relieved. Yippee!

But here's the question: If I'm eating low carb, why isn't my number even lower? 5.3 is just dandy and I should probably stop questioning it... but if that's my test result when I'm restricting carbs, is that an indication that my body continues to be overly sensitive to sugar?

From what I can find about the A1c test, the range considered normal is 4-5.9, and this is a reflection of average blood glucose levels for the past 2-4 weeks or up to 120 days (depending on which expert is cited). In the past month, I've averaged 36 net grams of carb per day; for the two months before that, I averaged about 45.

In the world at large, 36 net carbs per day is ridiculously low. Many people must be eating a lot more than that and still testing in the same range. I would have expected that I'd be near the bottom of the range, just because there haven't been that many carbohydrates entering my body.

Am I overthinking? 5.3 seems to be a healthy level and I don't know of any reason why I would try to get it lower. I'm simply surprised that it's not.

Anyway... yippee! And, any insight?
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  #2   ^
Old Thu, Apr-10-08, 08:18
Squid's Avatar
Squid Squid is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 479
 
Plan: general LC
Stats: 195/142/148 Female 65
BF:
Progress: 113%
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I've seen the same thing. My A1C actually went up on low carb from 4.9 to 5.6 which really surprised me. It's still considered normal but equates to an average daily blood sugar of about 100 which is higher than I want. I too was surprised. I'm not sure what caused my A1C to go up, but I suspect it was one of two things. Either I'm losing blood sugar control or more likely I was having a lot of high/low swings and it has now evened out, just a little higher than I thought it would.

I have Dr. Bernstein's diabetes book, and its based on his statement that A1C levels should be even lower that I give this any thought at all. He lists some supplements and approaches to try before going on meds. I don't remember it all but I think alpha lipoic acid was one of them. I'm going to try his suggestions and see if that helps.

5.3 isn't bad - just higher than you'd expect.
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  #3   ^
Old Fri, Apr-11-08, 08:18
LoKarb Kay's Avatar
LoKarb Kay LoKarb Kay is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 240
 
Plan: 90% classic Schwarzbein
Stats: 342/257/165 Female 5'7"
BF:>55%/51%/<30%
Progress: 48%
Location: Michigan, US
Default

Good to know I'm not alone; thanks for the info!

I found a website that cited a study showing correlation of A1c numbers above 4.6 and increased risk of heart disease, but that's not mainstream medical thinking now. Of course, given my opinion of mainstream medical thinking, I'm going to keep an eye on my A1c number and see if there's anything I can do to lower it!

Today I had my fasting blood glucose test, which came back at 99. Normal, sure, but on the brink of the "pre-diabetes" range. Again, knowing what I eat, I'm surprised. I'm going to ask my doc to test them again in a couple of months. The good news is that my numbers ARE in the normal range, and that's without the Metformin that I used to take. Woo.
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