Do I have to take insulin?

Hi ladies,

was diagnoised with GDM last month i think and have been on diet control.

Unfortunately my levels esp after dinner have been high and was advise to go on 4units of insulin after dinner.

I really really really dont want to do it as I dont feel i need to and can still control it by diet (the last few weeks were experimental and i know white rice really ticks me over, so was going to cut it out)

Anyway, i am going to a course on how to use the needle now.

The reason they put me on insulin also is because DD2 is measuring on the 92% percentile band when it comes to her size.

Do I have to take it???

Thanks, am very confused and i still believe i can control it with diet

I used the first week or two to experiment with portion control also. Then spoke to the dietician, diabetes consultant and endocrinologist and they all agreed to give me another week of monitoring levels.
During that week I was very conscious of how much carbs I ate and that kept my levels under 7.0 every time. Even if it's 6.9 it's still under!
Just ask them about giving you one more week! One thing I noticed is they were very careful about monitoring and won't muck around if you have constant high levels!! That's why I was so strict with my diet and made it thru the ten weeks diet controlled :-)

Try reducing everything to low gi foods (ie wholemeal/multigrain bread, brown rice/pasta)

Going low gi means your body won't get a massive sugar hit the minute you eat. Also can you potentially cut some carbs out at dinner. My dd is a type 1 diabetic, so very different to gestational diabetes, but we have her dinner carb intake as relatively low compared to every other meal as we found it took a lot longer to burn off and she stayed higher for longer.

Also different foods have different absorption rates, so if you really want to steer clear of insulin try go into more detail with the dietician.

Good luck

Thanks girls!!

I tried very very hard to convince them as I knew what my problem was!! White rice. I almost got away with it with the dietitian until she saw my latest scan results which had bub at 92% which is way above avg.

They wont give me another week of trial even though I know I can fix it with as you said replacing white rice with wholemeal =(

Exercising after your meal will also help with your bsl after meals. If they're not willing to negotuate, im guessing that your levels after dinner have been high 3 x readings in a row?

The good news is that 4 units is a very low dose. Im on my phone so i cant see how many weeks you are? Is there something in particular that worries you about taking the insulin? Ive had to take it with both my pg & with my dd i went into spontaneous labour & only had gas (so it didnt impact on the labour i wanted).

The scans etc are notoriously inaccurate later in pg - i had a scan & they gave me similar results but the obs (public hosp) didnt place too much importance on it.

Of course you dont HAVE to take the insulin - but i wouldnt encourage you to disregard medical advice.

And avoid brown rice as well - basmati & doongara are the lowest gi. But more than that - with gd, diff ppl react differently to different foods. So with my ds even eating the lowest gi rice my levels would go up. Portion control is also a big thing - did the dietician go through them?

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I can't see why you HAVE to go on insulin. I was fortunate enough to avoid it due to very good diet control - I identified what tipped me off early on - white rice, pizza dough, potatos were the main culprits as well as portion sizes like Sarah said above. I also walked everyday which helped immensly. Can you go to every second day on insulin whilst trying changes to your diet at the same time? That way you can be sure if it is just the white rice or if you really need to be on insulin.

I agree with all the above advice and just wanted to let you know that at 36 weeks they did an ultrasound and put him in the 90th percentile, said he weighed 3.7kg and had a very large head! Went on to have all my fundal measurements normal and midwives said theres not a big baby in there! Then went on to have a 40 minute drug free labour paranoid about pushing out a big baby!
So 5 weeks later he arrived and weighed 3.77kg which is what they said he weighed at 36 weeks!
Scans def are not accurate enough for me when it comes to weight and size!!

I am a type 2 and find that Basmati rice is better for my BGL than white rice.

I was really stressed about having GD. Fortunately for me my Auntie is a diabetic nurse and gave me some hints. Most of them have been mentioned here. It seems that everyone has a different type of carb that sets them off. My hubby is on a GF diet and it was his pasta that gave me high readings on the other hand I could eat hot chips without a worry!. My Auntie's advice was that if a reading was a bit high after dinner do a few laps of the living room, bounce about while doing the dishes and do the reading again. She also said to REALLY wash your hands well as anything sweet on your fingers will upset the reading.
I managed to avoid insulin but had a couple of high readings. Perhaps you could ask them to re-assess after you've had a bit more chance to mange your diet?
I don't know what the protocol is with having insulin so not sure if you can check levels before you take it. It was my understanding that the fasting test being high was the biggest problem.
Good luck

Hi, I had diet controlled GD and found it extremely difficult. I exercised for 10-15mins after every meal. If I got a high reading, I did it again on another finger straight away and 90 % of the time I got a lower reading. Also as said before ensure you wash your hands thoroughly. Good luck!

Hey Ladies
just wanted to update you.

Went to the insulin injection class. Wasnt as bad as i thought, the injections didnt hurt though I did take the longest to inject myself at the demo because i was SCAREDDDDD

I was telling the girls there that i was negotiating and asking the dietitian and encronlogist if i can have another week as I found out what tipped me off and all the ladies there said they tried to do the same!!!!!

Anyway, we will be getting monitored closely and adjust the doses accordingly.

Thank goodness i only have 9 weeks to go and only need insulin during dinner.

And yes, i noticed anything white (white rice, white bread, pizza dough) will always tip me over.

My dinners have all been high only a few readings were avg.

Thanks for your support ladies and your advice.

The idea of injecting yourself is way worse than doing it - i found doing the finger *****ing for bsl more ouchies! It just seemed such a strange thing to me to voluntarily be jabbing yourself with a needle (but you get used to it very quickly!)

Im guessing they told you already but, if not, sometimes it's beyond diet control & if your levels go up despite eating within guidelines, it's not your fault.

:hug:

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^^ I was going to say the same thing, I hated doing the finger *****s! lol I didn't do injections with my GD but did for IVF and I was the same, scared the first time doing it.

Interesting that your dinner readings are high..... I found my morning readings were high after eating a not so great dinner. I wonder if it is more your snack & lunchtimes that are then affecting your dinner readings??

sloane is right too - my gf did all the right things & still had to go on insulin.

Enjoy the last 9 weeks of your pg :-)

M2OSB just wondering how you're going this week hun?

M2OSB I was just thinking of you and wondering how you were going!!

Hey ladies. Im going ok. On 10 units for dinner nw.

The injections are ok. I still get really nervous and can only inject on my left.

Last time I injectd on my right I hit a vein and it bruisd really bad.

My readings for lunch seems to be getting worse so I wouldnt be surprisd if enchronologist makes me take insulin for lunch too.

Thanks for following up :-)
Not lng nw for me yay

Good to hear! At least you don't have long to go! I got the all clear post natal tolerance test a few weeks back! Eating way to much choccy again but oh well :-)