My monitor has a button that gives you a 14 day average, and I was wondering if it was really worth messing with, or if it is just something that should be left alone. I don't know what this average would be called for? Can anyone explain it to me please.

A HbA1c test will give you an average over the last 6 weeks to 2 months. The 14 day average on your meter will give you a better idea of how you are doing in the short term. For example, if you had a high A1c and started working harder on maintaining proper levels, you would see within a couple of weeks how much better you are doing.

I use my 14 day average a lot to get a ball park idea of how things are going. That way I won't have to wait for a blood test every 3 months.

Cora

Just a reminder....

The 14 day average on your bg monitor ONLY averages the tests you've done, while the A1c is an average of your constant bg levels, 24/7.

Ruth

Ruth and Cora have it right on the money: Yeah, it gives you a general indication, but of course excludes all the time you DON'T run tests (sleeping), and over-emphasizes those times when you run EXTRA tests.

Back in the days I depended on a regular bG meter (I'm now a CGMS user), my "averages" were always much less than my A1c tests indicated my true average to be... because I'd do a LOT more tests during Hypo epsiodes, to see whether I was crawling out of them OK.

Thanks for the info, maybe you can clue me in here, what is an A1c test? I'm not sure as to what you all were referring to with that, as I am new to this. How often does the doctors check with testing and what tests are they? I know I have to see my doctor in another three weeks, and I just saw her a week ago. I have done well though from the 14 day average is 131, and I test before and after lunch, or before and after dinner, and once in the am before eating(doc said that I should watch the am BGL as it will tell if I need less meds, she doesn't want me to go into a hypo state)And so far I haven't had anything less than 80.

The HbA1c (aka hemoglobin a1c, aka glycosylated hemoglobin) is a test that measures the amount of glucose stuck to the hemoglobin in your blood. When your blood sugar is normal, there is still always some hemoglobin that has some sugar stuck to it. When you glucose is too high, you have a higher percentage of hemoglobins with sugar stuck to them. Because a hemoglobin lasts for about 100 days, the test will give you an average of what your blood sugar was for the last couple of months. It is most accurate for the last 6 weeks but the test will give you a ball park for the last several months. That is why they do it about every 3 months. At that point you have an entirely new set of hemoglobin from the last test. They can correlate the result of the test to an average glucose level for the previous time period.

Hope this answers your question.

Cora

Is the A1c the same test that they do when your first DX or is it different? Thanks Cora, that did help me understand a bit more.