
Suggest Remedies For Elevated Hb1AC Levels In Blood

What puzzles me is that nothing has changed over (a) the last year and (b) the previous years. My weight has remained constant at 100kg, overweight I know for a height of 163cm but keeping a food diary for a month showed an average of 1600 calories/day and I am eating more or less the same types of food. Level of exercise is also the same - I know more would help with weight loss.
The only thing I can think of is that following diagnosis of a hiatus hernia at the beginning of this year I have been taking 20mg Omeprazole daily.
I have made an appointment to see my GP to discuss this but another viewpoint would be helpful.
only a few causes of false increase
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
As you stated, this is a very sharp increase and should be repeated to see if a repeat test would have a similar result.
Other than lab error, there are only a few other causes of a falsely high HbA1c.
These include: (1) iron deficiency anemia
(2) pernicious anemia- an illness where there is a lack of vitamin b12 due to poor absorption of the vitamin in the stomach
(3)hypothyroidism- low levels of thyroid hormone
(4)very large doses of aspirin or chronic opiate use
If the repeat value is also high then your doctor may want to determine whether one of these is present.
This would require a complete blood count (to check for anemia), thyroid function test, vitamin b12 level
I hope this helps ,feel free to ask any other questions


(1) iron deficiency anemia – pink nailbeds and under eyelids, so probably not.
(2) pernicious anemia- an illness where there is a lack of vitamin b12 due to poor absorption of the vitamin in the stomach – I’m not a vegetarian/vegan so plenty of meat, fish, dairy and eggs in my diet. However, looking this up I’ve found that long term use of proton pump inhibitors (such as Omeprazole) “can worsen deficiency because gastric acid is needed to release vitamin B12 bound to proteins in food”. I think this is worth following up – I don’t have any other symptoms of pernicious anemia but low vitamin B12 could be a factor.
(3) hypothyroidism- low levels of thyroid hormone –I am hypothyroid, diagnosed about 15 years and controlled by 100micrograms Levothyroxine. Should have been part of panel of blood tests which showed up the high Hb1AC but diabetes nurse didn’t mention result (they are a bit single-minded!) – will check the result when I see my GP.
(4) very large doses of aspirin or chronic opiate use – I have taken aspirin for general pain relief within the last 3 or 4 months but we’re talking about 650mg a couple of times in 24 hours for not more than a couple of days – not very large in my book. No opiate use at all.
This will help me when I see my GP. I’m also going to do another food diary to check for any “hidden” sugars and carbs and that my animal protein (vitamin B12) input is what I think it is.
So, no follow-up question unless you want to comment on any of the above and once again, many thanks for your input.
wishing you well
Detailed Answer:
HI
Yes, you can check up on the thyroid levels to see if these are normal.
I also agree that a food diary would be very beneficial as well.
I hope your visit goes well
If there are any additional queries, can let me know


interesting
Detailed Answer:
HI
Wow, undetectable, that's quite interesting. May need to consider repeating that as well along with the thyroid hormones themselves, T3 and T4.

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