Another GD thread :( (and a slight rant)

[Annunakian]

Like the title says, it's another gestational diabetes thread. I got the call from my doctor today that my blood sugar was above 200. 215 or 250 or something like that, I was in such shock that I honestly don't remember the exact number, just that it was well over 200. I guess this is just one of those rant threads. Thinking back at the sweets I had, all the hot chocolate to help me sleep, the baking we have done.. I am an emotional wreck. It doesn't help that I almost started the stove on fire today and ruined 2 dozen cookies along with our plastic cookie holder.. Hubby thought it was a good idea to hide them in the stove and not tell me, I go to start the oven to make him lunch/dinner and well.. you can guess the rest. Then as we are arguing over who's fault it was a neighbor comes up and tells me that "people are eventually going to get sick of hearing it." The arguing, that is. Today has been a horrible day and I have been crying ever since the oven incident. I can't eat or drink I'm so upset over everything and especially now I'm so afraid to even put anything in my mouth for fear it's going to make my blood sugars spike After reading Pixelles GD thread I now see all the symptoms, the excessive tiredness, constantly thirsty, dizziness, etc. It all comes together. I am waiting for the dietitian to call me, which I am going to guess it will be tomorrow since she hasn't called today, to see what will happen. I will probably be put on a diet, then insulin if that doesn't work. I am so worried and so distraught. I LOVE food and all the food I love I now can't have. The carbs, the chocolate, oj, etc.

Sorry this was long, just looking to vent about it. I don't mind a read and run just needed to get it out there. Thanks for reading it.

 

[Newky]

Aww hunni, I think we all feel like this when we first get diagnosed. I was so shocked, had had a textbook pregnancy up untill then and had no GD symptoms to speak of. It doesn't help that your then left in limbo until you see a Dr/dietician, and naturally you imagine the worst and get yourself in a right state in the meantime.

You seem to have a different glucose measuring system than the UK, so i'm not sure how low/high your reading is, but the chances are that unless your test result was exceptionally high you will be allowed to control with diet at first before they start talking insulin. I love food too, and mourned the loss of desserts, especially over the christmas period, but the diet isn't half as bad as your probably thinking, and you will get used to it pretty quickly. Also you have to remember that it isn't forever, it's only for approx 12 weeks, which seems ages now, but believe me it flies by! x

PS I would tell your neighbour to piss off! x

 

[brittanyland]

*hugs*

I just got diagnosed a few weeks ago and I was so distraught at first. My dietician has me checking my sugar four times a day now and I can honestly say that it is actually so reassuring! I can tell exactly how certain foods effect my sugar levels.

One good thing is that I LOVE milk. Haven't been able to get enough of the stuff while pregnant. But the dietician had told me that milk can effect the sugar so I would need to drastically cut back I was so frustrated that EVEN milk was a no no. But to my surprise, just mildly cutting back has made a huuuuge difference so I don't feel as though I have had to give it up at all!

It is stressful and scary but you find ways to deal. I discovered sugar free chocolate gelato yesterday! Yummmmy!

 

[Annunakian]

Thanks ladies. I do feel better after a couple of days of it sinking in and I know it's not the end of the world and def. worth going through. I see the gals tomorrow to officially start my diet and probably get my strips to test with and things. I've been roughly trying to go off diabetic diets I've come across and can notice a difference in how I feel so I'm sure it will get better as the days go by!

Yes, the measuring system seems well different.. not sure what mine would be in yours but anything above 200 here is not life ending but still really high. I love my milk too, especially whole milk. It is SO freaking good! Ah well.

Here's to better days!

 

[Tanikit]

With Christmas around the corner it could be hard. I am a type 1 diabetic so have had to get used to all sorts of ways of eating nice but low GI foods and that is what you need to go and research - actually insulin itself is not so bad as it means you have more leeway with carbohydrates and if you know how to adjust you can even eat sweet things, but still have to watch it.

As for GD on diet alone - go and look up low GI foods - try to find a comprehensive list including fruits and vegetables - some lists will even include store bought products. Then you can look up certain things and find which is better - for example watermelon and grapes tend to raise my levels far too quickly, but strawberries are a lot slower and therefore a better choice but still fruit and still sweet. You need to play around with it. There are also ways of making your usual food (biscuits and sweet Christmas food) into a more low GI product - it may not taste exactly the same, but usually it is good enough and nice enough that you can enjoy a treat.

 

[Annunakian]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Sarah10]

Aww, i hope you feel better soon!
I found out quite late during my pregnancy about GD, i was 34 weeks along (little did i know i had it since 19 weeks!) Everything will work out fine hun, once you get to grips with what you can/can't eat.
Breakfast was a difficult one for me, anything with carbs (bread.cereal etc) made my sugar levels rise high, so i always ate things like eggs/sausages etc.
xx

 

[Annunakian]

My mornings seem to be hard also. I just went shopping so now I feel a bit better since I'm not completely starving and have proper things to eat and whatnot. I've been doing maybe a fried egg and toast or toast with peanut butter and a yogurt. I talked with the gals from the nutrition center and they said those things are alright for my breakfast and did the whole portion talk since my main problem is portions. I eat well just too much of it. (Who knew?!) So now it shouldn't be so hard. Oddly enough I found that my test after dinner was seriously lower than any of the tests during the day. Weird! Of course I'll be talking with my ob when I go and she checks my testing log. I just hope I don't loose too much weight. I'm trying to find a way to keep my calories up but my carbs down and boy, is that a challenge!

 

[Tanikit]

Sounds like you are doing well - changing diet is a mission especially when you have to get it right so quickly. As for portion size - try and find things that do not raise your sugar levels to snack on - things like cucumber, lettuce and apple (must be fresh apple with the skin) and obviously water in huge doses can keep you full and do nothing to your sugars though you may have to eat them very often to stay full as they work their way through you very fast.

 

[Annunakian]

I am officially frustrated. Yesterday my numbers were really good for the most part and today they are sky rocketing. I don't get it? I ate pretty much the same as yesterday. I have been SO hungry all day, how could they possibly be high?

 

[Tanikit]

Sorry you are going through this

As for sugar levels, there are a number of things that can affect them even though doctors tell you it is just food and your pancreas/insulin.

1)Food - the type of food you eat and in particularly whether it is high GI or low GI food as well as the quantities
2)Insulin (that you take) or what your pancreas is producing
3) How far pregnant you are and how mature your placenta is - as baby grows insulin resistance increases making it harder to control levels (that is why they test you from 28 weeks usually and not right at the beginning of pregnancy) - if a placenta ages earlier than normla your insulin resistance drops and you may find your sugars are lower than you have been used to
4)Exercise - the more you do the lower your sugars will go especially if it is very physical
5)Stress and other hormones - cortisol caused by stress can raise your blood sugar levels
6)Illness - any flu or colds or any other aimlments may raise your sugar levels however aspirin drops them and so can paracetamol to some extent - do not use this to lower your levels!!!!!!!!!! It won't work and is dangerous.

And there are probably more I can't think of now - so somes days will be better than others even if you eat exactly the same thing every day (thats what vets do with diabetic dogs and even then the dogs have varying sugar levels from day to day)

 

[Pixelle]

Sorry to hear you've got GD.

I won't lie, I found it incredibly hard to manage and control, at times. But with the support of my diabetic team and the ladies on here, I got through it.
Some days were great, others weren't and it took a long time for me to learn what I could and couldn't eat....everyone is different and it's all trial and error. Even when I'd learned, there were days where my levels were high or too low, no matter what! Frustrating but the odd day here and there won't affect you or baby.

The 2 main things that got me through it were:

Knowing that I'd more than likely get rid of it once baby was born and then I could eat what I want! Though I've actually got a much better diet now....I never realised how much sugar and fat are in foods until I had to look at every label. Now I'm disgusted by what I ate before!

Knowing I was doing my best for my baby....some days I would allow myself "bad" things but as long as it's not everyday and you exercise after, it's not a problem.

I hope everything goes okay for you.

 

[Annunakian]

I never thought stress would effect the levels, that could really explain some of those rather high days. I saw my ob today and with a sad head she filled out my prescriptions for insulin. I start it tonight before sleep so I can technically start tomorrow. If that makes sense. I do need to exercise more, although keeping the house clean gives me movement, I suppose I need to do it in small increments instead of big cleaning days and end up spotting due to over exerting myself. I know this is best for the babe and boy it's hard but I know I will have a healthy wee one after it's all said and done. I just get frustrated sometimes but thank you ladies for understanding and letting me vent and giving me advice.

 

[Tanikit]

and good luck with the insulin - it is tough at first if you have never used it before but try to think of the advantages too - it should get your levels under much better control which is good for baby and at certain doses your diet can actually be a lot easier (as a type 1 diabetic who has learnt what to eat and when and how much insulin affects me I can very often still eat some sweet stuff and just adjust my insulin dose - be careful doing this though - its taken me almost 19 years and I still don't always get it right)

Good luck - I see you have less than 10 weeks to go, if necessary count down the time til the insulin should stop.

 

[Annunakian]

Indeed, if I wasn't counting down the days before I sure am now.