talk to me about AIC's....

blessedhope

I was wondering if anyone could answer my question. IMO AIC's don't tell a whole lot. This pregnancy my AIC has been between 5.0-5.3 but my numbers do not seem that well controlled. I daily have a number over 200- way too high yet as long as my AIC is good my OB and Endo say, you are doing great! Everything looks good. I read on here about women stressing over a number like 140 and I think, "I wish my numbers stayed that good." What are your thoughts? Why do the Dr.s seem to care so much about AIC's rather than day to day control?

babybean82

A1C's are the 3 month average of your blood sugars, so maybe you are getting a higher reading when you test but aren't testing when they are good which must be most of the time... does that make since?

When you test its just a tiny glimpse of what you blood sugar is doing and if you notice you are high and take meds or insulin or exercise to bring it back down then it won't stay that way for long. So if overall your A1C is good then you are in good control. When you test and get a high number then don't try to fix it and maybe eat a cupcake instead and do that on a regular basis so your blood sugar starts to remain high all the time then you will have a high A1C too.

kmc84

Like PP said, an A1C gives an average bs range over 3 months. (3 months is the life span of RBC's and RBC's hold glucose 'markers' on the hemoglobin) Just like you think you don't have great control, on the flip side, I have seen people who think they have 'great' control because everytime they test, their numbers are right around 90. Mind you, they might only be testing 2x a week with an A1C of 9, but because of the fs number, they have a false sence of what is really happening. If your A1C is really in the low 5's, you are doing great!! Really, that's amazing! Don't stress if you have number out of range, it will happen. If you A1C stays around where you are, you're golden!

blessedhope

kmc84:

Like PP said, an A1C gives an average bs range over 3 months. (3 months is the life span of RBC's and RBC's hold glucose 'markers' on the hemoglobin) Just like you think you don't have great control, on the flip side, I have seen people who think they have 'great' control because everytime they test, their numbers are right around 90. Mind you, they might only be testing 2x a week with an A1C of 9, but because of the fs number, they have a false sence of what is really happening. If your A1C is really in the low 5's, you are doing great!! Really, that's amazing! Don't stress if you have number out of range, it will happen. If you A1C stays around where you are, you're golden!

thanks for the encouragement, I needed it today!