Glucose Test

[childondaway]

I am 28 wks pregnant and yesterday I had my glucose test. Had to drink this liquid stuff then wait an hour and have a blood test. My obgyn called me the afternoon with results and apparently it is too high, so I have to do it again tomorrow.

What does it mean if its too high?

If it comes back too high again what does that mean?

Any opinions / advice is much appreciated

Many Thanks in advance

[[M]umma[M]ia]

the first one is usually a short test.

the second one is longer.. from memory 2 hours.. 3 blood tests.

If it comes back high again it means you have Gestation Diabetes which can be managed by a well controlled diet or injections and it put you are your baby at a higher risk of something going wrong. I dont want to scare you, think positive and if it comes back high im sure you doc will explain everything to u. goodluck xoxoxo

[[M]umma[M]ia]

Gestational diabetes (or gestational diabetes mellitus, GDM) is a condition in which women without previously diagnosed diabetes exhibit high blood glucose levels during pregnancy.

Gestational diabetes generally has few symptoms and it is most commonly diagnosed by screening during pregnancy. Diagnostic tests detect inappropriately high levels of glucose in blood samples. Gestational diabetes affects 3-10% of pregnancies, depending on the population studied.[1] No specific cause has been identified, but it is believed that the hormones produced during pregnancy increase a woman's resistance to insulin, resulting in impaired glucose tolerance.

Babies born to mothers with gestational diabetes are at increased risk of problems typically such as being large for gestastional age (which may lead to delivery complications), low blood sugar, and jaundice. Gestational diabetes is a treatable condition and women who have adequate control of glucose levels can effectively decrease these risks.

Women with gestational diabetes are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus after pregnancy, while their offspring are prone to developing childhood obesity, with type 2 diabetes later in life. Most patients are treated only with diet modification and moderate exercise but some take anti-diabetic drugs, including insulin.

[Inertia]

Yeah, basically you are going for the glucose tolerance test this time. Yucky drink, test - walk around bored for an hour - test - walk around bored for another hour - test. Done while fasting.

A lot of the time a high mini test is anomolous and the full test comes back okay - so try not to stress about it at all. Won't help you at all, either way.

such as being large for gestastional age (which may lead to delivery complications)

Oh heck Hollye! Where did you find that? LOL.

[Pandora]

75% of the people who go on to have the long test get normal results and dont have gestational diabetes

[sloane]

good luck with your test today.

if it does come back high & you have GD - don't worry because it is manageable either by diet or insulin (although there are a couple of ladies on here who take tablets). there's loads of info around but i won't bombard you because you may not need the info

[Serenitylee]

Hey Childononway, don't panick hun!

My Midwife told me alot of pregnant women get gestational Diabetes during pregnancy and for some women it goes away after pregnancy.

Another question for others...do you only have to have the long test IF your first test shows up high?

[sloane]

i went straight to the long test because i have such a strong family history of type 2 diabetes. i think for most people they do the short test & only go on to the long one if their levels are high. hth

[tk1999]

I did the long test and had it done early because of strong family history and my PCOS which was being managed with medication often used by diabetics so we wanted to make sure the medication hadn't been masking GD.

My levels were well within the normal ranges so they have told me I shoudn't have to have any other GD tests later in the pg.

[Serenitylee]

You usually have a test done around the 26-28 week mark tk1999 so maybe you might have one more around that mark?

[tk1999]

lol I hope not - it was hard enough going through the long test during the midst of morning sickness time he he he but unfortunately it is a reality that I may have to have another GTT... I am just holding out hope that I don't

[Serenitylee]

yeah waiting around is the worst! Needles i'm fine with but i hated waiting the hour!

[~CrazyMumOf3~]

with baby #2 my results came back in the higher range of normal but was sent to do the longer test. that came back fine(which i knew it would)

[Inertia]

I kept getting sent for the long test due to diabetic family history and over 4kg babies.

Then I got hypoglycaemia and they just do the short one now because I had a hypo in the hospy with the long one and they went all panicky that I'd sue em or something.

[blondedoctor]

If the second test comes back high, that means you have gd. Usually this can be easily managed through diet and exercise alone and it will disappear soon after your bub is born. Unfortunatly some of us arent so lucky - I am starting insulin injections tomorrow because I was unable to manage it through diet. There is a thread relating to GD in the section about "Medical Conditions During Pregnancy" if you'd like to ask some more questions or read about what other women with GD are going thorugh.


Quite seriously it is no big deal, the main problem according to doctors is that you may birth a child that is 9 pounds or over. Personally I dont think that is too big but many doctors do. I wish you all the best - you'll be fine however the test turns out

[*The_Mrs.*]

I feel you pain!! I just got the dreaded call to saying I failed the one hour one. I have to go back in on monday and do the three hour one and get blood drawn FOUR times. I hate getting blood taken.

[childondaway]

Hi All,

Thanks to everyonewho submitted a message, it was very much appreciated and well needed as I was stressed about results.

Just letting all of you know I PASSED THE SECOND TEST! Must have eaten too many chocolate bunnies the day before!!

[*The_Mrs.*]

CONGRATULATIONS!
Wish me luck on mine tomorrow