Gestational Diabetes General Chatter #2

[kirsten74]

Tennykins, when I had my Glucose Tolerance test it was only my fasting reading that was high (was 6.8 and should have been under 5.5). I now take a shot at night of a long lasting insulin and my morning readings have been perfect ever since (granted it is quite a high dose but if it works....).
Have you tried uping your exercise? I tried it this time and it didn't seem to have much of an impact. It was almost a relief to end up on insulin as my results have been sooo much more under control, even when I do have something bad. If you end up on injections it isn't the end of the world. Whatever it takes to have a healthy baby, right? Like you I was diagnosed with it pretty early in the pregnancy. Do you see an endocronologist or just the diabetes educator?
THey will usually give you a couple of weeks to try and get your levels down, so don't stress too much if you can't do it straight away. Some foods which you don't think will affect you, can sometimes really bump you up, so experiment a bit. I also find portion sizes have a big impact on levels as well. Lots of a low GI food will actually mess with your sugar, while a little doesn't. THis of course leaves you hungry, so I found salads to be a life saver. Also milk with milo was good for a snack.
Any questions please ask. I have been in exactly the same place you are, and the whole thing can be a bit overwhelming.

Caz, Mel is right. THe educator will work with you to work out why the readings are high. Portion sizes, poor food choices, will exercise help? You usually have a couple of weeks to experiment and see how you go with diet, but for some people (like me) diet and exercise doesn't have a huge impact on my levels. Talk to your educator though and find out at what point exactly she will refer you to a specialist. Are you writing everything down to show her? This I find always helps as patterns can be seen much easier.

Good Luck!

[Jewel]

I've just seen a diabetes educator. I've only seen her once.
I've only just started testing my levels at different times of the day. She only has me doing it 2 times at the most a day, so far.

When I had the fasting BT, my results came back at like 10. ( high, I know) I was shattered.
So when I did the first test on my own yesterday morning before breakfast, I got like 7.9
I was excited and happy that it had dropped. Now, I'm not so sure it's that exciting, cause it's still high, but at least it dropped.

Thank you, Kirsten. It is really overwhelming.

Update:
I had to just test before lunch today.
I went for a walk to return a dvd we hired and whatnot beforehand. When I tested I got a reading of 5.8.
I don't know what to think of it. Lol.

[kirsten74]

Tennykins 5.8 is a great reading. Unfortunately (if you ar anything like me!) this means there is a bit of exercise in your future! The morning fasting reading is a bit high, as there isn't really anything you can do to bring it down. It was the final straw for me as it meant that my silly body was actually producing sugar while I was asleep (how f&*ked up is that!) SO it didn't matter what I ate before bed, what exercise I did, nothing would bring it down. Hence the insulin. You of course may be completely different and manage to do great just with diet and exercise! Just remember that sometimes there are things outside your control!
Good Luck

[Caz1971]

Caz, They will go over your history from all angles especially when you are getting the high readings, what you were eating at the itme etc. essentially in diabetes managament no matter what the type, it all comes down to looking at patterns and the more info you can provide the educator the better able she will be to prescribe the best course of treatment. If you can try and record times of things like what you eat and when and if you do anything unusual activity wise like extra exercise or less exercise...all that sort of stuff will help her immensely. Also the educator can not prescribe insulin....if she feels this is an appropriate course of action she will have to refer you to the endo for all that. Look for if you seem to be high ata prticular time of day like ater brekky every day then look at what you eat for brekky could that be contributing? that type of thing IYGIM.
from the point of view of type 1 Diabetes in prgnancy breakfast levels are the hardest to get down towards the end most type 1's ditch carbs almost totally for brekky in favour of a protein based meal and we are already on insulin to help adjust the levels. So dont feel bad everyone if you struggle with brekky levels...they are a biatch at the best of times. What a lot of us do at these times is maybe have a small omlette on wholegrain toast rather than cereal - cereal and pregnancy and diabetes so do not go together for most people.

Melbel, ye my before and after brekky readings are very good, its just later in the day or dinner that it can read high. I found cereal made my reading high so usually have toast and cheese or eggs.

[Jewel]

Thanks Kirsten!
I thought 5.8 was alright, but I wasn't getting my hopes up or anything, only to be let down.

With the 7.9, I just keep thinking, at least it wasn't 10 like it was before.



Have a great day!

[Sandles]

Hi everyone,

I am close to 29 weeks with my 2nd child and this is the first time that I have been diagnosed with GD.

I have been reading this forum and I am quite surprised about my daily glucose results. Not sure if you girls can shed any light on it.

We were told that fasting (first AM read) had to be less than 5. Easy. I constantly get 4.2 and that is with a snack at night and sometimes not. Depends if I am hungry or not.

Other meals are to be less than 6.5.

I have not changed my diet at all. I basically eat the same main meals as I have always done, but mid and afternoon snacks are given more thought now. And I avoid bananas :-) But I still get low readings of around 4, and if I pile the carbs on my plate, and that means TWO potatoes and corn, then I might get 5. I feel totally crap if I hit 3 or less but generally don't need snacks as I am just not hungry.

I see my dietian on Tuesday and the educator so I will be interested to see what they say about my numbers and food diary. I literally am full of food. Could not eat another thing. My hubbie reckons there is nothing wrong with me and I am beginning to think the same thing. Sure, if I had a can of coke, I'd probably tip the scales big time and I do feel better in terms of energy. And I can tell with my glucose is down because I hit the wall big time.

Has anyone else experienced this? Because I feel weird as everybody else seems to be having a hard time with it. Am I a normal GD person?

[teachmum]

Sandles having a reading below 4.0 means you're having a hypo. From what I've read this isn't good for you either. The diabetes educator should be able to give you strategies to make sure this doesn't happen. The goal should be to keep you levels stable.

I'm so envious because I ca't eat two pieces of toast in the morning without being out of range. Let us know what the Dr's say. Good luck

[melbel]

Sandy...... ummmm........ I don't like to tell your educator what to do but unless you are having any readings over 7 in that lot I would be seriously questioning the diagnosis.
Anything under 4 is not good for you or bubba you need to try and stay above 3.5 at least. 3.5 is what we classify as hypo and yeah you will feel very ordinary at the level.
If you maintain a lowish level for a period of time like say a borderline hypo that will also make you feel pretty rough around the edges so please try and stay in that normal range. You sound like you are doing all the right things and it may just be that cutting out the simple HI GI sugars is all you needed to do.

Also and this goes for evryone who has GD or has D and is pregnant be very wary if you start to get a run of hypos or low sugars consistently especially in the last few weeks of pregnancy. This is rare these days with better monitoring but a sudden drop in sugar levels can indicate placenta breakdown which is something GD's and D's can get. So if you like have a day where your sugars suddenly drop from where they have been for no real reason please ring your doctor....

[Jewel]

Lol. I feel like I'm always whinging or something here.

I got a high reading last night after dinner 9.6
but then this mornings level before breakfast was 6.0. I have to do one after breakfast today, so it'll be interesting to see what it is.

How can you not let this constantly get to you? Is there anyway not to cry your eyes out when you get a high reading? lol
My partner says I'm letting it get to me too much, but I'm not sure he fully gets the whole thing.
Good on him for trying though.

[Sandles]

Thanks for the advice girls.

I am finding that I am definitely on the low side on all my readings. I think the dietian will tell me to increase my food intake.

For brekkie I have 1/2 cup of oats (as porridge) with 200mls of orange juice to have with my supplements. I cook the oats in water but add milk when served and some brown sugar. Reading 2hrs later was 4.0 today and most days, rarely higher. I might add a piece of toast with vegemite or even avocado and see what happens. Thing is, I can't eat that much food. I'll puke.

In the 4 range I feel ok. In the 3 range I definitely get hypo. But I do feel best at 5.5. Eitherway, I see the dietian tomorrow and hopefully they will be able to give me some food advice.

I had an egg and lettuce sandwhich for lunch but knew after my morning snack of 4.2 that I'd feel hypo soon after my sandwhich. At work I had no choice for further carbs except hot chips (staff cafe is closed) so a lunch colleague shared a few of theirs. Hopefully this will be enough to pull at 5.5 reading.

I have a lite fruche and orange for my afternoon snack but I can see now that that won't cut it either. This is my first day back at work and coping with it all here is proving difficult. Especially meetings and my blood test times. Lots of juggling.

[Artechim]

Sandles, I am also wondering why they have diagnosed GD if you are borderline low all the time. Hope that the dietician is helpful tomorrow.

Tennykins, when do you go back to the doctor? I was allowed up to 5.5 before breakfast and 7.5 two hours after meals. You are getting levels higher than those and you are only early on in your pregnancy. I would suggest calling the diabetes educator and telling them your results to see if they can bump up your dr appointment a bit because it is obvious that you are not going to be able to control it with diet. It did constantly get to me, I felt like everything I ate was hurting my baby and spent a lot of time in tears. In the two weeks I had to control it with diet I ended up cutting out all carbs, was still getting high readings, was hungry and cried all the time. It is a pain, but at least on insulin you can actually eat a meal without feeling guilty.

[kirsten74]

I'd have to agree with you Artechim. When I was on the 2 weeks of diet stuff I was in a constant state of fear. From the minute I woke up in the morning until I went to bed at night I was on tenterhooks. What would my readings be, what could I eat, how would it affect me. Like you and Tennykins I was crying a lot. I used to phone my hubby at work just to whinge to him about how the carton of low GI yogurt I had had for breakfast had given me a BCL of 7.4. It was a relief to end up on insulin. SOunds like you had a forgiving Dr though. I've been told 6.8 is the magic number 2 hours after meals.
It is not the end of the world if you end up on insulin Tennykins. Especially since you are so early into the pregnancy. The injections are not too bad and it may be a simple matter of 2 or 3 a day at the right times.
I saw my Ob today and he said that he wants to see all my BS readings as if they start to go up, he might bring my c section forward. At the same time if they go down dramatically then he will also bring the c section forward. Only 7 weeks to go as it is. Can't happen soon enough.
ALso have just discovered that Subway subs are not a great option. Just had a BS of 8.9 after a sub. Will have to stick to salads I guess.
Good luck with it all everyone!

[Sandles]

Artechim, my hubbie keeps saying that he thinks I am not diabetic. And reading everything here and on Essential Baby, I find it hard to believe that I have GD too. But at the same time, I feel sooooooo well. Its amazing! My reading after the egg and lettuce sandwhich with chips was 6.3 and I have felt like crap all afternoon. I am no good with any reading over 6. I get really, really tired. What I didn't notice was that my sandwhich was white bread and that is what boosted my numbers I think. So it seems that I am suspectable to stuff. Talking at length to hubbie and my family last night, they reckon that I just eat well anyway. I am a qualifed personal trainer so that might explain it. Mum reckons she and dad starve when they come stay with us as my pantry is so boring and I never eat take out. Hence my MEGA surprise when I was told about having GD. If anything I have been low blood sugar all my life. Anyway I will report back on my dietian appointment tomorrow night.

And for anyone who goes on insulin, I have read in many places that you do get used to it. I am even finding with the finger lancing now that I just do it sometimes and never feel it. But to begin with I flinched everytime. I really feel for those of you who are having a hard time with GD. Its a shame that we have to spend our pregnancies like this.

[Caz1971]

I have a question...as Im at my wits end with DH!

My hubby seems to think that when I have a meal (i.e. breakfast, lunch or dinner) I should not eat between these meals cos it may spike my sugar levels. But yr supposed to snack right. LIke 6 small meals a day not just 3! He think if I eat say lunch, then eat an hr later - then I have to do the test 2 hrs after my 'snack'. Keeping in mind that my snacks are low GI anyways!

I think this is crazy.

Caz

[Artechim]

Hi Caz. You are supposed to have morning tea, afternoon tea and supper to keep your levels steady. You should have your meal, wait two hours, test, then have your snack. The snacks should be 1-2 serves of low G.I carbo. The BSLs peak after approx 1 hour after eating then subside and should be back to the normal range after two hours. If you eat after your meal but before you test you will be getting a false high because you have introduced more sugar into your system before the two hour response time is up.

[Caz1971]

Hi Caz. You are supposed to have morning tea, afternoon tea and supper to keep your levels steady. You should have your meal, wait two hours, test, then have your snack. The snacks should be 1-2 serves of low G.I carbo. The BSLs peak after approx 1 hour after eating then subside and should be back to the normal range after two hours. If you eat after your meal but before you test you will be getting a false high because you have introduced more sugar into your system before the two hour response time is up.

That's so hard cos I am hungry just after one hr of eating a main meal. That really sux doesnt it...

[Artechim]

It sucks big time. I hated sitting there hungry while DH was snacking away. Especially if dinner was late then I would have to stay up for two hours to test then have supper.

[Caz1971]

It sucks big time. I hated sitting there hungry while DH was snacking away. Especially if dinner was late then I would have to stay up for two hours to test then have supper.

No wonder us gals with GD are so weepy all the time.