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Hello Diabetes Forum

4K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  Shanny 
I've read posts here for about a week, and it seems like a good place to be.

2. I'm looking for opinions on this sentence: 'It takes 2-3 months to get an HbA1C level down." I really understand that avoiding diabetes is a permanent lifestyle change, but I'm feeling much better after only a few weeks of cutting out bad stuff and eating much healthier foods. I guess my questions are 'Why does it take so long for that number to decline?' and, 'Is it possible that I will I feel a lot better in 2-3 months? (Yes, I realize that I can't go back to the diet I had.)
Hemoglobin is part of a red blood cell. Glucose binds with hemoglobin creating glycated hemoglobin. If you have poor control of your diabetes and you blood sugar is high, you will have a higher amount of glycated hemoglobin. The reason it takes 2-3 months to see a "true" reduction of this number is that a red blood cell lives approximately 3 months. For instance, two months ago my A1C was 12.6 (horrible I know). Six weeks later it was down to 10.1. Now my control was much better...but it isnt really a "true reflection" of my progress because some of those older red blood cells are still alive and showing up as high. A true reflection will show up 3 months after that first one, because all the old red blood cells will be gone, so previous damage wont still be showing up. Make sense?

Cheers
Pam
 
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