
What Do These HbA1C Levels Indicate?

Posted on
Sun, 16 Aug 2015
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team


Question : Hello. I have been diagnosed as Hypoglycemic through a couple of A1C blood tests. My first was 4.5 and my second was 4.9 after the Holidays and binge eating. In January of this year, I had a major episode ( vomiting, personality change, moodiness ,etc ) that sent me to the Doctor. I was sent to a Dietician in March and have been put on a low carb diet ( 120 carbs per day ). It brought my A1C up to 5.2 . Recently, I went through an episode where my blood sugar dropped from 143 to 103 in less than an hour ( I had eaten maybe an hour to an hour and a half before the episode ) . My symptoms were : my eyes didn't want to stay open and felt like they were bulging from my head. I had a headache , felt strange, and my family said my eyes looked funny. Now, I'm getting hot flashes and waking up feeling like I'm covered in a light sweat. It's been going on for a few weeks now. I get upper abdominal pain ( above the belly button ) occasionally both before and after I eat and then feel sick after a meal. I've had bouts of restlessness and have issues sleeping sometimes. I struggle t wake up a lot of mornings. I had a hard time walking in a straight line one morning after waking up. I am 45 so, I'm aware some of this may be pre menopausal.... but what else is going on ? And what can I do ?!
Brief Answer:
Cause for low sugars need to be ascertained
Detailed Answer:
Hello. Noted your concern. Thanks for writing.
The sugar level you mentioned do not fall into the classic range of hypoglycemia. Your symptoms however fit those. Hence you need to go through a 72 hr fasting test and when symptoms appear get tested for blood glucose along with cortisol, insulin and c peptide. This is ideal case testing.
You may also need additional imaging to ascertain the cause. Few patients have something called reactive hypoglycemia due to an excess insulin level secondary to insulin resistance which is a marker of impending diabetes.
A few of your symptoms like you said are definitely pre menopausal in nature.
Take care. Regards.
Cause for low sugars need to be ascertained
Detailed Answer:
Hello. Noted your concern. Thanks for writing.
The sugar level you mentioned do not fall into the classic range of hypoglycemia. Your symptoms however fit those. Hence you need to go through a 72 hr fasting test and when symptoms appear get tested for blood glucose along with cortisol, insulin and c peptide. This is ideal case testing.
You may also need additional imaging to ascertain the cause. Few patients have something called reactive hypoglycemia due to an excess insulin level secondary to insulin resistance which is a marker of impending diabetes.
A few of your symptoms like you said are definitely pre menopausal in nature.
Take care. Regards.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

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