OSA+Diabetes A1C Check this out!!!!!

john_dozer wrote:I would recommend people monitor their blood sugar instead of just their A1C. If fact if I had a choice, I'd do the blood glucose testing. The tricky part is that blood sugar is more volatile and what is an appropriate number changes depending on what and when you just ate.

Target has meters for a cheap as $9 with 50 strips about $22.

The ReliOn meters at WalMart are also about $9, but 100 strips are $39.

I'm always suspicious about all these places that are going to give you a "free" meter. They never say that the strips are where they're gonna make up the difference. I've also wondered how much those places (like Liberty) charge your insurance or Medicare for all of the supplies that they make sure you have plenty of......and delivered to your door.

By the way, I've always paid for all of my testing supplies out-of-pocket, too. Considering the costs of what the doctor visits would be, tests they would want to do and the deductibles, I can do it for a lot less than by going through insurance.


Den (controlling it by diet and exercise alone)

Wulfman wrote:

john_dozer wrote:I would recommend people monitor their blood sugar instead of just their A1C.
[I'm always suspicious about all these places that are going to give you a "free" meter. They never say that the strips are where they're gonna make up the difference. By the way, I've always paid for all of my testing supplies out-of-pocket, too. Considering the costs of what the doctor visits would be, tests they would want to do and the deductibles, I can do it for a lot less than by going through insurance...Den (controlling it by diet and exercise alone)

Dozer, I think the A1C is intended to be used along with monitoring blood glucose. I think one of the benefit's for docs is knowing the average BG while monitoring for diabetic related complications, especially for people who may have poor control of their diabetes I think for patients, it will be a nice measurement of how BG is going over time.

Den, was you diagnosed by MD, or did you diagnose yourself and create your own treatment plan? Do you test very often since you purchase everything out of pocket. I have to help people get supplies sometimes, and they are not inexpensive. I agree the free meters are simply a marketing technique to get you to purchase the more expensive supplies need. My kitty with chronic pancreatitis had elevated BG I needed to monitor. I was able to get her BG checks done by ordering the free meters that came with a few test strips.

I decided I wanted to experiment a little, so I ordered the Bayer A1C test to see how it work and to see if it seems worth it.

elg5cats

elg5cats wrote:Den, was you diagnosed by MD, or did you diagnose yourself and create your own treatment plan? Do you test very often since you purchase everything out of pocket. I have to help people get supplies sometimes, and they are not inexpensive. I agree the free meters are simply a marketing technique to get you to purchase the more expensive supplies need. My kitty with chronic pancreatitis had elevated BG I needed to monitor. I was able to get her BG checks done by ordering the free meters that came with a few test strips.

I decided I wanted to experiment a little, so I ordered the Bayer A1C test to see how it work and to see if it seems worth it.

elg5cats

I was "diagnosed" by an MD about the time I started on this journey (OSA/CPAP) in 2005, but looking back through my annual blood draw reports (through where I work), my A1C numbers were elevated even though my fasting glucose numbers were in the "pre-D" range, going back to 2003. Over the ensuing years, my numbers continued to climb until Sept. of 2007 when I became alarmed at how high they had gotten to be (around 300). I got serious about it and made some drastic changes in my diet and tried to get some more exercise......found the ADA and dLife websites......and did a lot of reading.
My fasting numbers are now back down in the 120's to 130's range......and going down. My other numbers during the day are usually less then 120 and some below 100.
I test about three times a day......some days more. I'm a little unorthodox as I test at 6:00 am, Noon and 6:00 pm (or as close to those times as possible) and all pre-meals. The conventional wisdom is to test two hours after a meal, but I pretty much know now what foods adversely affect me, so I try to avoid them. I feel that using those times and all pre-meals, I have my "benchmarks" to compare to. One of the weird things lately is that I've been adding a few more carbohydrates and my glucose numbers are still going down.
I get my annual blood draw in October, so I'm anxious to see what the numbers are like this year. Last year, 2008, most of my numbers (particularly triglycerides) were the lowest they've been since I started having the blood draw in 2003 or well within the ranges allowed the other categories. I've never had a problem with my "bad" cholesterol (very low), but my "good" cholesterol (HDL) has been kind of low, so I'm trying to work on that. Total cholesterol was 106 last year.

I started off with an Accu-Chek Advantage meter in 2005 (and still have it), but the strips are very expensive.....around $100 for 100. So, early in 2008, I decided to try the ReliOn meters and strips and have used them almost exclusively since.....occasionally checking the numbers against my old meter. The "problem" with meters and strips is that the manufacturers (all of them) only guarantee their accuracy to be within 20% of the correct number (how the heck are we supposed to know THAT?)

That was probably more information than you wanted, but I couldn't figure out where to stop......

Please let us know how the Bayer A1C tests turn out. Are you going to use it around the same time as having another test done by a clinic? (to compare)


Den

I just switched to the Freestyle Lite. The company will issue a rebate of $50 every time you buy strips. Through our insurance, we are charged $65 for a 3 month supply so that with the rebate, we actually pay $15. Through our local pharmacy, we are charged $47 for a 1 month supply with a $50 rebate for each purchase. I definitely prefer the local pharmacy, and with the rebate, it's actually less costly. However, I find the Freestyle to be quite awkward to use.

Wulfman

Please let us know how the Bayer A1C tests turn out. Are you going to use it around the same time as having another test done by a clinic?

I got the A1C Now+ test kit. It appears to be the same test used in the laboratory. The box is labeled as a Test "Exam Room System." The instructions are for in use lab use verses home use and labelled as professional procedure guide. It took about 7 minutes to use for the first time including reading the instructions. My results were .3 lower than what I had from the MD's lab about a month ago. I ordered a 10 test kit rather than the Walgreen's two test kit. It's the same item. The caution to ordering a 10 test kit is the expiration date is less than a year out.......so I'll test monthly or line up neighbors, friends and forum members for a A1C screening

elg5cats



elg5cats.

@ elg5cats, I have increased morning BGs following a night with leaks/wakeups; on good nights, next morning is within 5 pts of bedtime. Docs thought my high high high BGs were from the combo of apnea and an insanely stressful job; they wanted to wait until the CPAP therapy effects fully 'kicked in' before investigating further for another cause. Those arousals cause the blood to become a nasty biochemical stew that have horrible effects on body tissues; it can take months for that to normalize.

Muse-Inc wrote:@ elg5cats, I have increased morning BGs following a night with leaks/wakeups. On good nights, next morning is within 5 pts of bedtime.

Is that leaks and Apnea or Hypo's you are calling wakeups, or waking up for some other reason.........how large is the increase in BG when the nights are not so good in comparsion to good nights.

elg5cats

elg5cats wrote:I had a discussion with a MD about diabetes and OSA. Doc seemed to be suggesting apnea events during the night can cause BG spikes in the morning. Have you noticed A.M. increases in your BG after a night with some apnea events!!

Thanks for sharing,

elg5cats.

Did your doctor happen to mention the phrase "Dawn Phenomenon" (or "Dawn Effect")?
That's why we have the increased glucose levels in the morning. Type 2s without sleep apnea can have it, too.....so it wouldn't necessarily be caused by sleep apnea. However, people with sleep apnea are more at risk for Diabetes.

Here are some links that explain it (better than I can).

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dawn-effect/AN01213

http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/A ... henomenon/

http://www.dlife.com/dLife/do/ShowConte ... _0106.html

http://diabetes.about.com/od/whatisdiab ... omogyi.htm

I have very few apnea events during the nights. Maybe a half dozen during a month's time. My events are mostly hypopneas. But, I still have the "DP" in varying degrees.


Den

Following arousals/wakeups, my morning BGs can be anywhere from 10 to 40 pts higher than bedtime.

I have a 5 min ramp because once that mask is on, I'm sound asleep before it goes to full power. I'm asleep for 8 hrs, then wake up fully alert and ready to go -- I'm still amazed that I wake up this way because I can't remember ever waking up feeling like this. That's why my recent bout of arousals/wakeups, leaks, and shallow breathing is so frustrating; I was doing so well.

Den, I only have increased BGs following nightly arousals/wakeups; the rest of the time my morning BG is pretty much what it was when I went to sleep, been that way since they made me start monitoring last August.

The A1c is not done fasting. Of course if you are getting your cholesterol checked at the same time, you would be fasting for that.