High Glucose Tolerance Test reading :(

Hi Guys,

I had my short glucose tolerance test today (the 1 hour one) and the reading came back at 9.4.. in my book it says its suppose to be below 8. I made sure i didnt eat anything sweet before i had the test or all morning that would effect it. They are sending me for a Long Glucose Tolerance Test on Monday where i have to have the high carb diet for 3 days and fast the night before.
Ive had the flu pretty bad for the past 4 days and the midwife said that shouldnt effect it, though in my book it says stress and illness can interfere with your body's metabolism of glucose and cause an abnormally high blood sugar reading. Would you call the flu an illness?

Everything else in my pregnancy is normal.. my belly measurements were 29 weeks.. i was half a week ahead in my baby's size during my 19 week scan also... my bloody preasure is normal and has been the same all the way so far (100 over 60).. bub's heartbeat is 144bpm.. he's still kicking like a troopa.. i eat a relatively good diet.. im not elergic to anything.. im not a huge sugarholic.. ill have a piece of chocolate maybe once a day.. ive felt fine, other than my flu.

Has anyone had a high SGTT and it turned out normal with the LGTT (Long Glucose Tolerance Test)? Has anyone had Gestational Diabetes and bubs and everything else turned out ok? Ive read having Gestational Diabetes can cause bubs to be an abnormally large baby (over 4.5kg or 10lb) .. does this happen in all cases?

Even though i know i have no control over it, i could never forgive myself if something happened to my little man :(

Ohh Kell - was hoping you would pass the GCT - im sorry to hear that you have to do the 3 day diet and then the 3hr test. Tell me what did you eat the day before? I can tell you if anything you ate affected your blood sugar. did you eat anythign in the morning? Do you normally eat high GI food? such as potatoes, white bread, brown bread, cakes etc? I am wishing you the test on Monday goes well, im sorry I never had the GCT done I only ever had the long tests done due to my insulin issues.

Best wishes
Bel
xxx

Hi Kell! Sorry I can't help at all since I don't know about foods/diabetes etc but I just wanted to say I'm sorry your test came back high... I'll be getting my results from my GCT today or tomorrow hopefully...I'm crossing my fingers it will come back okay. I had no idea what a 'high' result was so it will be interesting to see what 'score' I get.

Good luck with the next test, I hope it's not too hard on you.

A friend of mine had GD and she didn't have any hassles at all...she had to eat a bit 'better' than usual (although she's a good eater anyway) and her bub came out fine & not too big (via caesar though since he was upside down)...both mum & bub are/were very healthy... :)

Thanks guys.

Um.. i did have some chocolate the night before.. not a huge amount, but im not a huge chocolate eater anyway.. um and we had a roast for dinner. Yesterday morning i just had toast for breaky, a glass of milk, and a sandwich at lunch and water otherwise through the day.
Im not too worried about doing the other test, i guess the results would be more accurate.. im just worried what the results will be.

Thanks Sherie.. its always nice to hear that someone has gone through it before and everything was ok.. i guess just the thought of anything not being perfect just worries me, and i know nothings perfect.
Did you do the short or long test? Best of luck with your results, im sure everything will be fine ;)

Im sure everything will be ok.. thanks for your support :)

I had the same problem as you - my first test cam back 9.4 but my second test after the diet was ok. I to was sick before the first test. I think i had the flu or a bug that was going around. try not to worry and follow the diet as this will affect the results if you dont. i missed my last meal and almost had to redo the test because of a high result (but still in normal range). good luck and let us know

I had the short GD test last week and found my results were a little high, so I had to do the long GD test, and the results from that were negative.
I don't eat a lot of sweet stuff, maybe a chocolate bar a week if I'm lucky, and I'm normally pretty good with my diet so I was suprised that the first test said I was high. Try not to worry too much, even if you does come back positive, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll have a big bub.
Good luck
Jodi

Kell, I just did the short (1 hour) test... I got my results back today (as I posted in the other thread) and I got a 'score' of 7 (she said anything below 7.8 was okay). I'm so glad!

I really hope that your results come back better this time! Good luck! I'm sure the diet etc will make all the difference. :) Let us know how you go... :)

Good luck for tomorrow sweety. I had the same thing, and I know for a fact that even if you have sweet stuff, if it's stuff you normally eat, then it shouldn't be a prob.

I was worried too, but the worst bit is the number of blood tests!

Thanks Kate, Chantel and Jodi.. makes me feel a lot better to know you experienced the exact same as me Chantel (with the flu and readings). I will definately sick to the diet.

Do you have to watch how much sugar you have on the diet? The form they gave me didnt say anything about sugar intake but just to eat what you normally eat but include at least 10 things from the carbs list (which generally mine does)?

Yay Sherie! That is excellent news!
I have a feeling my flu might have been what stuffed my short test up. I was pretty sick over the weekend with it.. heres hoping thats all it is :pray: From what my sister told me, those finger prlck tests can be really sensitive, hense why they make you wash your hands and everything prior.. ahh well.. only time will tell :pray:

Hi Kell...

First off no you don't have to watch your sugar intake. Sugar is a carb just like the other high GI carbs on your list. The intent of the GTT is to test how your pancreas responds to being stressed, so in theory the more you "carb up" before the test the better an idea the docs can get of how your pancreas is coping. Eat as much crap as you like basically.

I have to get on my soap box here sorry guys scroll down if not interested...... eating too much sugar DOES NOT cause gestational diabetes or any diabetes for that matter. It is a much spouted myth that really gets my goat up. You could have the most perfect diet and eat rabbit food 24/7 and still get GD. To give you some idea of what your body is going through I will explain it from my point of view as a type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetic. I produce zero insulin of my own so take it all by injection. ATM non pregnant and take 45ish units a day. From weeks 16ish+ of a pregnancy the hormones your body are making to assist the pregnancy make the body resistant to insulin and your insulin needs naturally rise - my insulin needs could go up to about 200 units per day....as much as four times normal. This is happening in exactly the same way to you guys as well, just your pancreas are coping by producing the extra insulin needed and you don't notice this in your day to day life. Sometimes, in some people their pancreas doesn't cope as well with the added stress and can't quite keep with the extra demand for insulin...this is when you get GD. Nothing you can do will ever totally prevent it....if it is meant to be it will be.
GD does not necessarily mean a big baby...it all depends on how well you and your doctor can mange the blood sugar level during the pregnancy. This may mean having less carbohydrate in your diet to help decrease the stress load on your pancreas or maybe injections of insulin to again, help reduce the stress load on your pancreas. If your blood sugar levels are high it means you dont have enough insulin for your body to use it - but your baby does have its own insulin (and will) use the stuff in your bloodstream...the more that is floating around the bigger he/she can get.
*end vent*
I hope this information helps you....fell free to pm me if want to ask any questions but please please please for the sake of my sanity don't be spouting the sugar causes diabetes line.


BTW this vent is to everyone in general and not meant to offend anyone in any way....more to inform people of the facts.

Have a nice day
Mel
p.s. I am soooooo glad I will NEVER have to do a GTT!!! One plus of already having a stuffed pancreas...hehe

I'll second what Mel says above, even though i can only offer stuff from a male point of view - I've been Type 1 for over 30 years (we have a high incidence in my family of it - my dad, plus 3 of my 4 siblings - no sign of it in any of the next generation yet)

just over 11 weeks ago my partner gave birth to a 7lb4 / 3.3kg boy. She had several GTT's done, and was on insulin for the last 6 or 7 weeks of her pregnancy. Jordy was born 2 weeks early as they thought he was gonna be over 8, maybe 9lb's, but as we all know, even the best ultrasound machinist can still give erroneous guestimates on bub's size

I guess it helped Jen cope with "having GD" since we already ate pretty well in keeping my BSL's fairly stable. And she didn't get a great deal of sympathy re having to inject either. Also helped that I already had the BSL machines (though her Endo wanted to use a different model as she was of the belief that mine is affected by pregnancy hormones - it did actually give different readings to the one she got)

As for the finger *****er - it's bark is worse than it's bite. The Accucheck Softclix is widely believed to be the best. You can adjust quite a bit of how far the *****er goes in. Different people have different preferences on that setting. But they are infinitely better than what they were 20+ odd years ago when the early home BSL machines started appearing

Kell

Mel and Abs explained it very well, I have been on a LOW GI diet the whole pregnancy to avoid GD due to my high insulin levels I took metformin to fix this while TTC but wasnt allowed to take it during my pregnancy. I can still have a hot choc every day with sugar but am unable to eat potatoes, white bread, white rice other than basmati and other high GI foods due to the carbs. If you do have GD usually the first step they will get you to do it change your diet to Low GI. If you want to chat about it anytime let me know there is the GI index online to check the levels in each food you eat.

Goodluck with the GTT, I hope you pass and everything will be fine.

Bel
xxx

Hi Bel
the other thing to go with Low GI, and something Jen's Endo never said to her, was also Low Carb

Some low-GI foods can be very high in carbs. Her Ob didn't say anything about it either... Both said "oh yeah, makes sense" when I pointed it out to both of them

Though, as has been pointed out, during the 3day GTT, you wanna load up on everything - the idea is to stress your pancreas to the max and see how it copes. This will be the indicator as to whether you have GD or not

Some ladies with GD can cope with a reduced carb/low GI diet, others will need to inject. And really it isn't that hard injecting... any girl who has gone down the IVF route will tell you that it isn't soo bad. They will have had to done 1 or is it 2 daily tummy injections for a few weeks... tis not really that different, but will be 3 injections (one before each main meal)

I personally have a minimum of 4/day and sometimes more if I need a "booster" shot, and dont think twice about doing it

Good point ABS I still eat pasta and basmati rice but only real small amounts and the 100% duram wheat.. (1/2 cup uncooked pasta per serve) to cut down the carb. Can I ask you quick question - sorry Kell about asking in your thread... no one can ever tell me what GI/Carb Pumpkin is all books are different.. whats your thoughts is it Medium GI/High Carb?

On my GTT I loaded up on high carbs, double the amount of pasta/rice and eating scones etc for 3 days and I felt so ill and tired after it and my GTT was like this:

Fasting BT 4.2
1st hr after drink BT 6.0
2nd hr afte drink BT 5.2

So I guess eating LOW GI the whole pregnancy helped.

Bel

Thanks so much for all the info Mel, abs and Bel.
I think the immediate reaction when you hear something maybe wrong is worry, stress and concern. Until you realize what a particular disorder, as such, in tales you just think the worst. But i really welcome your comments and incite into what GD does involve.

Bel, ask away.. i guess thats this forum is for.. to learn from others :)

Although im not looking forward to Monday, i cant wait to know the results and will try and remain possitive. Do you know if you get the results from the LGTT on the spot or do you have to wait a few days? Will let you all know as soon as i know.

Thanks again ;)

Bel, no real idea on pumpkin - I'm not much for counting carbs anyway - never have been. I'm very good at self picking BSL values (I might test once or twice a month, and usually only if I feel crappy), so will take some more insulin if need be...

But we don't eat a lot of pumpkin, I love it, but Jen's not a real fan of it, so tis only if she's doing roast vegies which isn't very often :( I love roast vegies though :D


Kell, damn right the reaction to hearing about something that all you know about is the garbage shows like ACA and TT blab on about full of untruths and misconceptions and someone promoting their latest getbetter junk. We have a few names for people who with a little education are dangerous, things like Food Nazi's - those who say "should you be eating that" etc etc. Damn right I can eat that, if its loaded with enough carbs, it's easily catered for with a little extra insulin, just like your body would create a little more to counter it

And again, I'll offer one of my personal philosophies.... there's no such thing as Stupid Question - only those who are stupid for not asking the question, or stupid answers which lead people up the wrong garden path and confuse em even more

For every question you think is "stupid" you can guarantee there's another 20 people in the wings wanting to ask the same thing but feel "stupid" for asking it... don't feel stupid, ask away and remember to learn from the answers (I've seen people ask the same question, only to get a fantastic answer, but ignore it and ask again a week/fortnight/month etc later). The question isn't stupid, but the person asking it is


Hope you get my drift, and best of luck with the test on Monday. Oh, the results are rarely released on the day - will probably go back to your Ob/medico who asked for the test to be done, and you'll hear from them

Thanks for the info ABS.. I love pumpkin, cooking pumpkin soup now as we speak :)

Kell - best wishes for the test on Monday, I had to wait 3 days for my results. Are your results going back to your OB or GP?

Bel
xxx

Thanks Bel.
Im just doing my antenatal care with the midwives at the hospital and im having the tests done in the blood testing section so im guessing theyll probably just tell me at my next appointment? Hopefully they call me with the results as my next appointment isnt for another 2 weeks after the tests.

Bin

treat pumpkim as a moderate GI food....It is towards the low end of the moderate range though....and it actually has few carbs in relation to its weight unlike potato. A lot of people get confused with pumpkin cos it looks like potato when cooked etc but it is one of the deceptive foods of which there are many as you are I am sure finding out.

If you want carb info feel free to ask me...I am the avid carb counter having transferred from injections to the new high tech insulin pump technology....abs doesn't count carbs......he's a boring old fart!!!!! ;)

Just want to say double ditto to all abs' comments.....nothing is worse as a diabetic or even as someone with GD having people think it is all your fault. You are dealing with enough crap without the added baggage of a guilt trip. anyways good luck for your test Kell

cheers
mel