What Does My Blood Test Report Indicate?

Posted on Thu, 20 Jul 2017

Question: I have had blood test A1C and it measured 7. Recently, I have had pins & needles sensation in one leg. That was the same leg that I had a broken bone in XXXXXXX 2008. Has never given me any trouble. Recently,I lost @ 50#, since Sept. last year. I weighed @ 215. Now, I weigh @ 165. On XXXXXXX XXXXXXX diet. I eat no added salt or sugar.

Answered by Dr. Michelle Gibson James (41 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
HbA1c greater than 6.5 diagnostic of diabetes

Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic

An HbA1c of greater than 6.5% is diagnostic of diabetes. If you had a previous HbA1c and this present value is lower then you can monitor to see if continued weight loss due to your diet, would cause it to decrease further.

This may occur in some persons

Diabetes can cause abnormal sensations and it is possible that it is contributing to the pins and needles in the leg but with the history of previous trauma, that (the trauma) is more likely playing a role.

Other causes of abnormal sensation include: (1) low levels of vitamin b12, folate
(2)liver or kidney disease
(3)side effect of medication
(4)thyroid disease
(5)exposure to toxins
(6)infection such as shingles
(7)autoimmune disease such as lupus, ra
(8)stroke, ms
(9)abnormal b6 levels
(10)trauma- may need an x ray of the spine to make sure nerves not being compressed

There are medications that can help the abnormal sensations, medications that are used for neuropathy (abnormal function of the nerves) such as amitriptyline, tegretol, lyrica, gabapentin

I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar