HbA1c

[Shanghai-Suki]

What would be considered a good result for the HbA1c test for someone on 100mcg Levothyroxine with hypothyroidism? Thanks in advance x

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Normal for anyone is below 42mmol/mol or <6%

Pre-diabetes is 42-47 or 6 - 6.4%

What is your level?

[Shanghai-Suki in reply to SeasideSusie]

My last reading was 4.4 Does having hypothyroidism affect this level?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Shanghai-Suki]

So that's very good then isn't it.

[bookish in reply to SeasideSusie]

I'm afraid not necessarily academic.oup.com/labmed/art...

[bookish in reply to Shanghai-Suki]

Hypothyroidism and blood sugar control do have some links. HbA1c is only an average of usually 3 months and is also dependent on the lifetime of your red blood cells so can be affected by other conditions/deficiencies. As it is an average it can mask having quite significant peaks and troughs. It doesn't show everything about blood sugar control and it can be too low. Personally I would suggest getting yourself a blood glucose monitor and checking for yourself. 4.4 might indicate that you are perhaps regularly lower than you should be. (diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_car... I just bought a Tee2 and am very happy with it so far). Best of luck

[Hidden in reply to bookish]

Is there a way to convert a figure to a number? That article only give the percentage and my result was 34 which feels very low but I can't put it into context without a percentage!

[bookish in reply to Hidden]

Hi, yes they have changed the measurements from percentages to mmol/mol diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-units-... . 34 comes out at 5.3% which is not too bad - above the 'low' of 5.0 anyway. But it still only gives you a guideline. A monitor might be useful.

[Hidden in reply to bookish]

Thank you!

[JoannePA]

That looks like a great figure and as far as I am aware hypothyroidism has no impact on whether you will become diabetic

[bookish in reply to JoannePA]

There is a chapter in Datis Kharrazian's book on the thyroid solely about the need to regain and maintain good blood sugar control. There is a lot of it, so 'll just quote a bit from the summary - "supporting hypothyroidism is futile if your blood sugar is too low or too high. This is called dysglycemia, a stepping-stone to diabetes". He says that hypothyroidism skews the basics of blood sugar metabolism affecting absorption of glucose into cells, so you can experience symptoms of hypoglycemia (even with normal bloods).

Prof Roy Taylor talks of the 'long silent scream' (which can be 10+ years) from the liver as it heads towards diabetes. So I think perhaps it is worth ensuring that it is not an issue for us all personally, especially given that poor blood sugar control is implicated in brain dysfunction, neuropathies, Alzheimer's etc.

[Hidden in reply to JoannePA]

In my preliminary research dive I've found this, in case you're interested! (labs.selfdecode.com/blog/hi...

[Shanghai-Suki]

Thanks everyone for the response, a lot of really interesting comments! Think I will buy myself a monitor just to try & keep a regular eye on the levels, rather than rely on a 3 monthly average! Again many thanks x