Home testing for HbA1c ?

[Verna Jan]

Some who post on this forum have suggested that they do
their own HbA1c testing. Is that a good idea? Is there a
testing kit that I can buy?

[Tom Koeppl]

I saw it at a local drug store. $56.00. I am thinking of it.
daily testing sometimes confuses me. a1c gives me a good
idea of whee i was. tom

[Cheri]

I do my own with the Metrika Brand that I buy at Walgreen's.
Ask your pharmacist for it, because they are refrigerated.
They are simple to use as well as accurate. Cost around
25.00 or so.

--
Cheri
Type 2, no meds for now.

Verna Jan wrote in message
<20040701163211.23777.00000932@mb-m28.aol.com>...
> Some who post on this forum have suggested that they do their own
HbA1c
>testing. Is that a good idea? Is there a testing kit that I can buy?

[Kromagnon]

Verna Jan wrote:
> Some who post on this forum have suggested that they
> do their
own
> HbA1c testing. Is that a good idea? Is there a testing
> kit that
I
> can buy?

I continually compare my bG average (and the way I test)
with the A1c results I get from a lab test. Now I can
predict what my lab results will be within a 10th. I haven't
been wrong in over two years. Today my A1c is 5.8.

K

[Alan Mackenzie]

Verna Jan <vernajan@aol.comnojunk> wrote on 01 Jul 2004 20:32:11 GMT:
> Some who post on this forum have suggested that they do
> their own HbA1c testing. Is that a good idea?

In my opinion, no. HbA1c is not good diabetic control. It's
merely correlated, in some vague fashion, with blood sugar
over a long time period. HbA1c will have some value to a
specialist doctor, but I'm not sure how much.

However, if you start testing it yourself at home, you might
well start treating your HbA1c instead of treating your
diabetes. Rather than improving your diabetic control, you
might just be breaking the vague correlation between that
control and HbA1c.

> Is there a testing kit that I can buy?

That's the other thing - it'll cost you money. From your
health's point of view, that money might be better spent on
a season ticket to the local swimming pool, or a weekend for
two in a luxury hotel, or a decent bottle of Rioja, or a
massage session, or ......

--
Alan Mackenzie (Munich, Germany) Email: aacm@muuc.dee; to
decode, wherever there is a repeated letter (like "aa"),
remove half of them (leaving, say, "a").

[Alan]

On Thu, 1 Jul 2004 15:38:07 -0500, tomspeed@webtv.net (Tom Koeppl)
wrote:

>I saw it at a local drug store. $56.00. I am thinking of
>it. daily testing sometimes confuses me. a1c gives me a
>good idea of whee i was. tom

Tom, read http://www.alt-support- (http://www.alt-support-/)
diabetes.org/Newly%20Diagnosed.htm . It may help reduce the
confusion.

Cheers, Alan, T2 d&e, Australia. Remove weight and
carbs to email.
--
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter.

[Verna Jan]

Cheri wrote:
>I do my own [HbA1c testing] with the Metrika Brand that I
>buy at Walgreen's.
Ask your
>pharmacist for it, because they are refrigerated. They are
>simple to use as well as accurate. Cost around 25.00 or so.

Thanks very much!

[Verna Jan]

Tom wrote:

>I saw it at a local drug store. $56.00. I am thinking of
>it. daily testing sometimes confuses me.

I am on insulin, recently 'promoted' to using both long
acting and short acting. I also get confused. I want to find
out if I am making progress. Will call around and see what
the different pharmacies charge.