Hey @A DiabetesTeam Member - high potassium levels can really mess with your heart rhythm, shortness of breath, extreme muscle weakness akin to paralysis.

If you are on certain blood pressure meds (ACE Inhibitors for sure) the Doc will typically add in a Potassium test once a year with your A1C test just to make sure you aren't going high because that class of meds causes you to (retain) potassium.

And at least the Med that I take (Perindopril) has a highlighted warning right on the label to avoid foods high in Potassium (like grapefruit etc).

So at least in my case, since it is tested as part of my regular blood work, I know that I don't have a Potassium deficiency - I'm consistently above the mid-point of the normal range for levels.

We may also have a B vitamin deficiency with B-12 being common in Diabetics. You can likewise ask the Doc to include a B Complex test (use A1C blood) to see if you are deficient at all. Like Potassium, too much "B" can cause issues so you don't want to add it if you don't need it.

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A Diabete...

@A DiabetesTeam Member when you quit smoking A1C can go be raise by 2.3, in the articule i read it said it take 3 years for BS to stabilize after you quit smoking. So if a person A1C is at 6.0 before quitting, his A1C can raise up to 8.3, probably because we are eating more when we quit. I know i gain 20 lbs when i quit 22 months ago, down by 15lbs now.
Anyway after i quit smoking i thought i would be taking less meds, but no taking more.

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A Diabete...

thank u for helpfull advice have a blessed day my friend

Hey @A DiabetesTeam Member - I have never read about a specific A1C result from quitting smoking but it has been studied quite a bit and what they have found is that smokers tend to have higher Triglyceride levels then they would if they didn't smoke (or stopped) and higher levels of bad cholesterol.

Triglycerides are "fat in the blood" which are "known" to be a cause of insulin resistance and is also closely related to being overweight - so lose weight, triglycerides go down - stop smoking, triglycerides go down.

One study looked at a couple dozen smokers and non-smokers. They had them consume a test substance so that they all ended up with the same glucose level introduced to their blood - then tested their insulin levels and compared the results.

The smokers had higher sugar levels after (whatever period their were measuring) which was how that study (proved) concluded that "all else being equal" and after accounting for levels of insulin production, that smokers are more insulin resistant then non-smokers.

I would just find it tough for (anyone) to quantify for example - lose 15 pounds and your A1C will drop by "X" or quit smoking and it will drop by "whatever" - just way too many individual factors.

But what they can do is show "the average effect" - so could say you could improve by an "average of 10%" - that way if you A1C was 10.0 you would drop 1.0, but if your A1C was 6.5 you would only drop 0.65 "on average".

And the reason I say that is what about a Type 2 smoker with an A1C of 5.7 - if they reduced by 2.3 they would be in a constant state of hypoglycemia, which would be pretty unlikely. So perhaps the 2.3 drop was in an "extreme case".

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A Diabete...

hey there well I started taking supplements back when I was on different diet regimes back in 2010 and since it can be difficult to adequately take in the amount of vitamins we need on a daily basis through food consumption I have been taking supplements for all those years including potassium but never have I had any testing done to make sure the vitamins I am taking are not causing me any issues so maybe I should double check with my doctor about that since I am and have been on high blood pressure medication as well RAMIPRIL 5MG not a high dose mind you but regardless maybe I should check into this more in depth and have you heard anything about those who take BIOTIN? I read that taking this supplement can change your blood readings when it comes to having to get blood drawn at the lab for whatever reasons so have you heard of this before and any concerns taking this when comes to our diabetes and our blood work that we usually get done every three months? Thanks for any input....your turn lol....