It can cause a false low reading, James.

dave

If your internist doesn't know the answer, I'd consider looking for a
better educated doctor, myself.  He should know that sort of thing!

Dave

Are there any indications, or is there a measure, of how rapidly your
autoimmune disorder is depleting your rbc? And, I would also ask if
there is any treatment that will bring the autoimmune problem under
control, thereby normalizing the depletion rate of your rbc?

Obviously, your a1c is what it is. The way in which it should be
interpreted may change, depending upon the answers to the questions I
have posed above....

Also, consider Dave's responses... If your doctors have no answers for
you, you may want to seek out other doctors who are more informed.

Will, T2

This post not CC'd by email
On Sun, 26 Mar 2006 17:48:04 GMT, "James E." <wer25@example.com>
wrote:

G'day G'day James,

How could you ask such a question when some of us have had only our
first coffee for the morning?

Let's start at the begriming and make no fast moves.
That usually works to avoid short circuit logic errors.
Let's see if we are in luck this morning.

I'll start with an assumption ie that your condition is not
deteriorating.  This means you have reached a steady state. Your
auto-immune system is destroying red blood cells, rbc faster than
usual. This has lowered the level of rbc in the blood. That has
signaled rbc production rate to increase.  You are now producing red
blood cells AT THE SAME RATE as they are destroyed.  I think what you
meant to say in your opening paragraph is that the destruction of the
rbc by the autoimmune system is destroying the rbc faster than they
are USUALLY produced.

True. I think we can accept that as a fact rather than a fict that
turns to fictitious custard on close inspection. Unglycated rbc would
also turn over in the less than 90 days.

Heck, I don't know.  What I've read is it lowers the A1c.
That would make sense if the glycation process occurs throughout the
life of the rbc.  A short life would give less exposure time for
glycation to occur.

Someone asserted here a while back that glycation occurred only at the
birth of new rbc.  I can't remember what the outcome was of that
discussion.  Birth happens only once whatever the life span.

Perhaps if I had another coffee?!

Silence is often ignorance masquerading as wisdom.  
Perhaps in this case the reverse is true.  

They are wise enough to know the issue isn't entirely without its
pitfalls for the unwary and choose to remain quiet.

Best wishes,

seem that

days.

More often than not my iron stores are very low. My A1c
remains around 4.7 -5.0. So I have not noticed any
difference

Is your A1c significantly lower than what you'd expect from your
testing? If it is you probably should raise the issue with your doctors.

Hemolytic anemia causes serious problems with the A1c as a guide to
control. Other forms of anemia seem to cause lesser problems. Some
people also have variants of the hemoglobin molecule that don't test
properly.

The longer your hemoglobin cell lives, the more glucose it collects, so
if your cells are turning over very quickly, they won't be all that
glycosylated. The test assumes that they are living 3-4 months, which is
the average. However, a study I saw recently found that people with
poorly controlled diabetes have shorter-lived hemoglobin cells, too, and
that as the A1c rises over 9% the actual blood sugar is probably higher
than what the formulas predict.

--Jenny

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes  Diabetes Info

http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/newlydiagnosed.htm Get Your Blood
Sugar Under Control

It could render your test inaccurate.  I don't know if it would make it
higher or lower.

Hi, I haven't posted here for about a year, but I found good info on the
net.  I think in my most recent post I asked some questions about
anemia.  I was in an osteoporosis study which, upon termination,
required a blood test of my.  They found my iron (I think it is the
seral ferritin component)measured around 7.4,  (should be 11 for women,
16 for men, ranging up to 270) and insisted I call my primary care
physician.  My MD hadn't been testing, but immediately set up
colonoscopy, barium enema and endoscopy, and just to be sure, had me
take ranitidine (an ulcer med).  No ulcer, though I found out I have a
hiatus hernia.  Not serious, and no possible source of blood loss.  (The
osteo people said that it was possible to get lowered blood iron as the
result of a serious infection, but I had no history of that.)

I also started on 65 mg of ferrous sulfate 2 X daily, and when that
didn't work in 3 months, 3X daily (over the counter).  Well, some
research I did on the net about how to get iron tabs to work did the
trick, I think, though to tell the truth, I feared for a while that the
osteo meds had killed my bone marrow.  (My mother died of a leukemia, so
I have been watching my white cell count, too.  I also wondered if the
BP meds and cholesterol meds might have done it.  I think, though, that
in the end, since a few diet changes appeared to restore me to a normal
level, that I was just in a pattern of poor nutrition.

Anyway, I now watch when I take my iron pills (timing it is important. .
.not sooner than 2 hours before or after a cup of coffee, or a quart.)
I also wait until after I have my cold cereal (with milk).
I eat my oatmeal with raisins (no milk).  It is usually sweet enough.  I
sometimes have a supply of dried figs for sweetening oatmeal, and
boosting the iron.  I try to eat red meat (contains heme iron)which
helps uptake of iron supplements, too, I guess.  Oh, and my first meal
of each day, about 1/2 hour before breakfast, I take one iron pill and
about 3 oz of tomato juice, which was listed as being of the best acid
source to help the iron be used by the body.  Oh, I stopped the
prescription for ranitidine, but take the remaining pills occasionally,
not for indigestion, but because, having paid for them, I refuse to
throw them out.  In addition, one of the websites said that a side
effect may help the body use iron.

I don't think I have an auto-immune disease, other than diabetes, which
is on the fringe of determination, I suppose.  But I have three first
cousins with MS, some of them with fibromyalgia, etc. The fact that they
also have diabetes may or may not be related.  I just don't want to be
in their shoes.

I wish you a good outcome from your anemia.

Pat Durkin.
Dx T2 Fall of 2000,
2500 mg metformin daily (the max) snce Dec. 2000
Jan 06 tests:
Total Cholesterol 150
HgbA1c:  6%
BP 125/70

Still about 20 lbs overweight.