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    • 5 hours, 5 minutes ago
      Lawrence S. likes your comment at
      If your insulin pump stopped working, how prepared do you feel to manage injections, including having supplies on hand and understanding dosing?
      Since I started this journey long long ago when there were no pumps, CGMs, I have always kept long acting insulin and test strips on hand so I can use those when needed. Sometimes I have to go old school because of medical tests, so my feeling is to always be prepared.
    • 5 hours, 53 minutes ago
      atr likes your comment at
      If your insulin pump stopped working, how prepared do you feel to manage injections, including having supplies on hand and understanding dosing?
      I answered not at all perpared! I have novolog and syringes on hand but no lantus. However, I use Omnipod 5 pods, which come in boxes of 5 pods, so I always have some on hand. They must be replace every 3 days anyway so if one fails I simply replace it. That has happened twice and when I contacted Insulet they provided a replacement pod both times.
    • 6 hours, 15 minutes ago
      Kathy Hanavan likes your comment at
      If your insulin pump stopped working, how prepared do you feel to manage injections, including having supplies on hand and understanding dosing?
      Was on injections for yrs before a pump so no problem for me
    • 2 days, 2 hours ago
      KarenM6 likes your comment at
      How often do you intentionally run your glucose slightly higher during certain activities (e.g., driving, public speaking, exercise)?
      The question is poorly worded. If I am doing those things I run my blood sugar higher if not I don’t. A better question might be how often do I do those things. Since I do them often I run high often on purpose. I cannot be sub 100 and do them.
    • 2 days, 2 hours ago
      KarenM6 likes your comment at
      How often do you intentionally run your glucose slightly higher during certain activities (e.g., driving, public speaking, exercise)?
      Exercise affects me profoundly at an older age (and has the physics of momentum and driving at ANY age!). Answer: often/
    • 2 days, 3 hours ago
      Richard likes your comment at
      How often do you exercise? Share more in the comments about your exercise routine.
      I have to try my best to move my Leg's for at least 30 minutes a day. If not something around that.
    • 2 days, 3 hours ago
      Richard likes your comment at
      How often do you exercise? Share more in the comments about your exercise routine.
      I exercise daily! I ski, bicycle, walk/jog, and workout at the gym. I currently have a rotator cuff injury so I limit my trips to the gym.
    • 2 days, 5 hours ago
      atr likes your comment at
      How often do you intentionally run your glucose slightly higher during certain activities (e.g., driving, public speaking, exercise)?
      During Ramadhan I keep it slightly elevated so that I don’t have to break the 12 hour fast.
    • 2 days, 5 hours ago
      atr likes your comment at
      How often do you intentionally run your glucose slightly higher during certain activities (e.g., driving, public speaking, exercise)?
      when I am traveling, I will let it run a little higher because I don't know what I'll be doing at any given moment.
    • 2 days, 5 hours ago
      atr likes your comment at
      How often do you intentionally run your glucose slightly higher during certain activities (e.g., driving, public speaking, exercise)?
      The question is poorly worded. If I am doing those things I run my blood sugar higher if not I don’t. A better question might be how often do I do those things. Since I do them often I run high often on purpose. I cannot be sub 100 and do them.
    • 2 days, 5 hours ago
      Lawrence S. likes your comment at
      How often do you guess or estimate carbohydrate amounts rather than calculating precisely?
      Been doing it for so long it's mostly estimation at this point. Every once in a while at home I'll measure out exact portions of rice, pasta, etc to remind myself just how SMALL portions should be as I tend to let them get a little bigger over time. (wishful thinking) Very helpful to have that image in mind at restaurants where portions tend to be way larger than a single serving.
    • 2 days, 5 hours ago
      Lawrence S. likes your comment at
      How often do you intentionally run your glucose slightly higher during certain activities (e.g., driving, public speaking, exercise)?
      Exercise affects me profoundly at an older age (and has the physics of momentum and driving at ANY age!). Answer: often/
    • 3 days, 1 hour ago
      KarenM6 likes your comment at
      How confident are you about having consistent access to the diabetes supplies and medication you need?
      Moderately. My doctor and pharmacy are awesome, my insurance and durable medical equipment supplier, not so much. The excessive red tape of paper to get DME supplies shipped is almost always a nightmare!
    • 3 days, 1 hour ago
      KarenM6 likes your comment at
      How confident are you about having consistent access to the diabetes supplies and medication you need?
      Run, don’t walk from Edgepark! Read my response to Nevin Bowman above! (Hint: the company I was referring to in that post was Edgepark)
    • 3 days, 1 hour ago
      KarenM6 likes your comment at
      How confident are you about having consistent access to the diabetes supplies and medication you need?
      I once had a supplier withhold old pump supplies while refusing to ship the order for a new pump and I was on a 3-way call with insurance and got to listen to DME lie directly to Insurance about it and then I had the pleasure of interjecting and getting to call them a liar! I would have been more vindicated if it actually accomplished anything, but after I finally got my shipment I fired that DME and never looked back. The red tape that insurance insists on for DME is excessive for chronically ill patients!
    • 3 days, 1 hour ago
      kristina blake likes your comment at
      How often do you guess or estimate carbohydrate amounts rather than calculating precisely?
      After doing this weighing and measurements you get pretty good at estimating
    • 3 days, 3 hours ago
      Patricia Dalrymple likes your comment at
      How often do you guess or estimate carbohydrate amounts rather than calculating precisely?
      I chose "Often". If I eat something packaged with a nutrition label, I'll use the carbs listed on the label. If I eat a plate of food, at home or at a restaurant, I estimate.
    • 3 days, 4 hours ago
      Kathy Hanavan likes your comment at
      How often do you guess or estimate carbohydrate amounts rather than calculating precisely?
      Been doing it for so long it's mostly estimation at this point. Every once in a while at home I'll measure out exact portions of rice, pasta, etc to remind myself just how SMALL portions should be as I tend to let them get a little bigger over time. (wishful thinking) Very helpful to have that image in mind at restaurants where portions tend to be way larger than a single serving.
    • 3 days, 4 hours ago
      Kathy Hanavan likes your comment at
      How often do you guess or estimate carbohydrate amounts rather than calculating precisely?
      Yes, for me never weighing or measuring but actively using the Calorie King book and app for several years I have most things memorized or I can make a decent assessment.
    • 3 days, 4 hours ago
      Kathy Hanavan likes your comment at
      How often do you guess or estimate carbohydrate amounts rather than calculating precisely?
      After doing this weighing and measurements you get pretty good at estimating
    • 3 days, 4 hours ago
      Kathy Hanavan likes your comment at
      How often do you guess or estimate carbohydrate amounts rather than calculating precisely?
      I chose "Often". If I eat something packaged with a nutrition label, I'll use the carbs listed on the label. If I eat a plate of food, at home or at a restaurant, I estimate.
    • 3 days, 5 hours ago
      Lawrence S. likes your comment at
      How often do you guess or estimate carbohydrate amounts rather than calculating precisely?
      I chose "Often". If I eat something packaged with a nutrition label, I'll use the carbs listed on the label. If I eat a plate of food, at home or at a restaurant, I estimate.
    • 3 days, 5 hours ago
      Amanda Barras likes your comment at
      How confident are you about having consistent access to the diabetes supplies and medication you need?
      Well, since I'm waiting on pump supplies for 2 months now, my confidence is slipping.
    • 3 days, 5 hours ago
      Amanda Barras likes your comment at
      How confident are you about having consistent access to the diabetes supplies and medication you need?
      I am confident about access to my medical needs in the immediate future. I am not a fortune teller and have no idea what my access to medical supplies will be like in a year or longer. I don't take my spoiled lifestyle for granted.
    • 3 days, 5 hours ago
      Amanda Barras likes your comment at
      How confident are you about having consistent access to the diabetes supplies and medication you need?
      I've often said that "hoarding": is a character asset for T1D people. I try to purchase (paying out of pocket) a 60-90 day supply - just in case). I have a new health plan,. effective 1/1/26. AS we know, getting an appt with an HCP isn't easy. They have to be accepting new patients, they have to be in network etc. Once I knew what my new policy would be (nov 2025) I made an appt. The earliest appt I could get was in Sept 2026. Thank goodness for my stash of device supplies. I had to go to Urgent care to get an Rx for insulin (my old HMO plan "doesn't do bridge refills"). So yeah, I worry, and plan for hiccups in the supplies process.
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    What was your A1c at the time of your T1D diagnosis?

    Home > LC Polls > What was your A1c at the time of your T1D diagnosis?
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    Sarah Howard

    Sarah Howard has worked in the diabetes research field ever since she was diagnosed with T1D while in college in May 2013. Since then, she has worked for various diabetes organizations, focusing on research, advocacy, and community-building efforts for people with T1D and their loved ones. Sarah is currently the Senior Marketing Manager at T1D Exchange.

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    47 Comments

    1. Melinda Lipe

      Really? I don’t remember getting an A1C until many years after diagnosis.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    2. LizB

      I don’t know any of my numbers from my time in the hospital, probably because they meant nothing to me at the time.

      3
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    3. Lenora Ventura

      Never heard what my A1C was but my blood sugar was 856. I can only imagine what it was…..

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    4. Teri Morris

      They said it was around 700, which would be over 33 mmol/l….I was slipping into a coma on the way to hospital. Very painful trip!

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    5. ELYSSE HELLER

      A1c measurements were not around when I got diagnosed, but my BG was either 1200 or 1300.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    6. Robert Wilson

      My Blood Sugar was 688 in the USA. My A1c wasn’t done till 3 months later.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    7. Eva

      I don’t remember the exact number. I what I do remember is that my BG was starting to creep up as a result of pancreatic insufficiency. But my physician thought to hold off on the insulin as long as possible cause he didn’t want me to experience severe hypoglycemia.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    8. Robin Melen

      I was in DKA when I went to the hospital – sick as a dog! That was when I was diagnosed.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    9. Dennis Dacey

      Seventeen years after my diagnosis I participated in the project developing the glycated hemoglobin analysis which is called HgA1c / HbA1c. My blood sugar was estimated as “just over 1700” and I was heavily into acidosis poisoning.

      1
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
      1. JuJuB

        I was just shy of 4 years old, and my mother was told my bG was over 1600. I always say, “with the testing methods available at the time”, which was in 1970. I don’t know what those methods were, or if the same blood sample would measure differently today, but I have always found that number difficult to fathom.

        3 years ago Log in to Reply
    10. Grey Gray

      Amazing how much Diabetes management has changed. When 1st diagnosed I was peeing on glucose/ketone strips. Now your asking me about a test I find antiquated and less than usefull…. Time in range is my standard now.

      2
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    11. AimmcG

      I don’t know what my A1C was but the doctor was shocked that I could even walk because my sugar was @800

      1
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
      1. KCR

        Same here!

        3 years ago Log in to Reply
    12. Philip Bunsick

      Interesting that the questions is really not what is done clinically. As most are saying no A1c, just a quick finger test showing 1500+. The diagnosis was not too difficult after that.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
      1. Amanda Barras

        Mine was a urine test in office that was positive for ketones and off to the hospital I went to be admitted for a week. I’m sure they ran more specific labs there, but I was barely 4 years old so I don’t remember specifics.

        3 years ago Log in to Reply
    13. Patricia Kilwein

      I just remember a couple of lows (30). Pretty scary. Dr ordered a blood that had to be sent to COLORADO. Took 2 weeks for results, they came back with positive markers for T1D.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
      1. Patricia Kilwein

        Blood test.

        3 years ago Log in to Reply
      2. Jneticdiabetic

        Hi Patricia. I also had a history of low blood sugars before my T1D diagnosis (about 6 years pre-diagnosis in my case). Have wondered if that was an early sign of beta cell dysfunction.

        3 years ago Log in to Reply
    14. Amanda Barras

      I do not know.
      I had just barely turned 4 years old at dx.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    15. Joan Benedetto

      10.4 with BG of 454. He was 18 mos old.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    16. Jim Andrews

      The A1C test didn’t exist when I was diagnosed 56 years ago.

      1
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    17. Jeanne McMillan-Olson

      There was no A1c in 1955 when I was 9 yrs old. Myblood sugar was in the 400s. I was getting very drowsy when finally admitted to the Virginia Mason hospital. My current endo was involved in the research for the A1c. He now uses time in range. It is Medicare that requires an A1c every 3 months!

      1
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    18. Jen Farley

      I do not know. I do know he did a test that came back with an over 600 for a reading of that moment. Close to a finger poke test now, but too way longer. I remember I had just gotten paid for a babysitting job and had bought candy I could never eat and was promised a cheeseburger and milkshake for going to the doctor. I was 13 yo and weighed 70lbs and glad now that nightmare ended before my death. So, test used, unknown, results, priceless!

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    19. BARRY HUNSINGER

      I don’t know the mmo/ml, I do know it was 550 gasting at 8 in the morning.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    20. Randy Reed

      I was 20years into diabetes when A1C came uot

      1
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    21. gary rind

      mine was 12.4. three months later, got it down to 7.0 so no pump for me!

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    22. Virginia Barndollar

      1965 No A1c’s

      1
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    23. Kevin McCue

      In 1992 at time of diagnosis I only remember the sugar numbers not the long term hba1c and don’t believe it was measured

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    24. Trina Blake

      I don’t know, I was found in a DKA coma (not that I knew that at the time) by a nosy (thankfully, this time) neighbor who had a key to my house. She thought it best to call my day job to let them know I wasn’t coming in to work that day. Thank goodness my day job was with a large city Fire Dept. The dispatched EMS from HQ. Those guys saved my life.

      1
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
      1. Trina Blake

        AS a humorous side note, I had been feeling awful that weekend, decided to wear pj’s and go to bed. Thank goodness – the first responders were my co-workers. And in spite of the fact that in that job they see all sorts of people in all sorts of undress – these were my colleagues!!!!

        4
        3 years ago Log in to Reply
      2. AnitaS

        My cousin who was a type-1 (besides me), had EMS at her home often and because she would sweat when having a severe low, she would usually undress herself before becoming unconscious. One day when she was out and about, a paramedic greeted her and said “Joan, it is nice to see you with your clothes on!” 🙂

        1
        3 years ago Log in to Reply
    25. Janis Senungetuk

      The test didn’t exist when I was diagnosed in 1955.

      1
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    26. Steve Rumble

      I do not believe A1C measurements were available when I was diagnosed in 1970

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    27. Marty

      I only remember that my diabetic friend who diagnosed me with his own BG meter was shocked and felt he needed to get me to the clinic ASAP. I didn’t really pay attention to any lab results, which didn’t mean anything to me at the time. I continued to believe it was all a big mistake and I’d get over it soon on my own. I firmly embraced denial until they put me in a room to learn how to do insulin injections about a week later.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    28. T1D4LongTime

      LOL! 1966 had no A1C, current sugars were thought to be known with testing urine. So inaccurate!

      2
      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    29. KarenM6

      A1c was still about 5 years away from becoming a tool.
      I don’t know my BS# either. I was 5 and I don’t think anyone thought I needed to know. *shrugs

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    30. Chris Albright

      Too many years ago to recall……..

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    31. Pauline M Reynolds

      At time of diagnosis, my fasting BG was 229.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
      1. Pauline M Reynolds

        Oh, and I went to the doctor because I thought I was having a nervous breakdown!

        3 years ago Log in to Reply
    32. Kris Sykes-David

      I said I don’t know, actually, I don’t remember! Maybe in the sevens? Or nines.? I wasn’t in DKA, had a long LADA honeymoon, and caught it early.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    33. Thomas Cline

      I went to the doctor (GP) only because of severe leg cramps that actually caused me to collapse on the street while walking with some friends. I was oblivious to the fact that I had all the standard symptoms of Type 1 diabetes except for being 56 years old — in fact I had been delighted with the effortless weight loss! First thing she did was measure my blood sugar, but she had to look up what a reading of “high” meant on the meter (= >500 mg/dl). Then and there she (mis)diagnosed me as Type II simply because of my age. A few weeks later I saw my first endocrinologist who took one look at me and said I was likely Type 1 (he ordered an antibody test that cliched the diagnosis). I don’t know why as late as 2002 a young, smart doctor would not know that adults can get Type I. I hope medical education has caught up with reality since then.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    34. Molly Jones

      I don’t remember what my A1C or BG was.
      All the comments sparked my interest in the history of HbA1c
      I saw an article on pubmed.gov stating: “Using the HbA1c as a biomarker for monitoring the levels of glucose among diabetic patients was first proposed by Koenig et al.7 in 1976.”
      Due to all the tested dogs and patients before the discovery of insulin having sweet urine, I assumed it was earlier.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    35. RegMunro

      My bg after the glucose tolerance test was about 660 so that was that. I doubt AIC had been implemented here in South Africa back in 1966

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    36. John Henninger

      I do not remember an A1C but my blood sugar was 640 with classic urination and water drinking issues. Added to it was Keto issues. The doctor told me about diabetes, and I said ok, fine and got up to go home. He stopped me and said, “I am admitting you to the hospital now” and they took me upstairs to my hospital bed. A vivid memory from many years ago.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    37. sweet charlie

      that test did not exist 70 years ago.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    38. Becky Hertz

      I was diagnosed in 1974. I don’t remember hearing about an A1c. Were they done then?

      3 years ago Log in to Reply
    39. Andrea Hultman

      We didn’t check my A1c to diagnose; we checked postprandial blood glucose. Had to hold up the reagent test strip to the color code on the Chemstrips container. Anybody else remember those old days? (1980s.) BG was around 240. Pretty obvious I had T1D.

      3 years ago Log in to Reply

    What was your A1c at the time of your T1D diagnosis? Cancel reply

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