Anyone having trouble controlling their blood sugar?

[hello_kitty]

I was diagnosed with GD yesterday. I made an immediate appointment with a diabetes educator per my ob's request. Today I got my glucometer and have been testing my blood sugar 3 times already. First time was in the office with the educator, 3.5 hours after I ate a piece of baked chicken for breakfast. It was only 95 which was good but she said it doesnt count since its over 2 hours.

Then my husband and I went to an Asian restaurant and I ate a bowl of spicy beef noodle soup. Checked 2 hours later and it was 136, not too bad but I was expecting that since its restaurant food. Told myself I would control my dinner better.

Comes dinner, and I strictly followed the guidelines. Only 1 cup of rice (I actually measured it) with some beef and a piece of salmon with some teriyaki sauce on the top. I ate all the rice and beef but still had quite a bit of salmon left. I was still hungry but refrained from eating anything else until 2 hours later.

I checked my sugar exactly 2 hours later and it was 145! I was strictly following the guidelines yet my number was higher than lunch. She said I could eat 1 cup of rice and as much protein as I wanted and I didnt even finish the whole piece of salmon.

I am so discouraged. Most of my meals dont leave me satisfied yet my blood sugar is still high. I dont want to be put on any meds. What should I do? Is anyone experiencing this? I think the last resort is for me to starve.

 

[flyingduster]

From my own research, you are far better having all the protein in every meal and cutting carbs right down. You can always slowly try increasing them again once you have a handle on your numbers, but it may be that you'll have to keep them right down too! Protein will fill you up and keep you going. Don't let yourself get hungry!!! Snack as often as needed, just snack healthy; a boiled egg/vege sticks and a healthy dip/a bit of chicken/cheese/zero sugar oat cakes with some hummus of cottage cheese or something/etc etc! But keep snacks ready in the fridge as much as possible and eat at least every couple of hours all day long to keep the blood sugars level.

Are you doing testing before you eat too? My team has me testing immediately before a meal AND 2 hours after, so I know if it is actually the meal affecting my glucose levels or if it was already sitting high!!

 

[hello_kitty]

They didnt have me test before a meal but I did anyways just to see where my blood sugar was standing. Before I had lunch I checked and it was only 79. Of course it went up 2 hours I ate my lunch.

 

[krissie328]

I find eating more fats and protein with my carbs keeps them lower. It also matters what the carbs are, I cannot eat pasta or rice without a huge spike. Unfortunately it is a lot of trial and error to know what will spike you and I have found that has changed the further along I get.

 

[hello_kitty]

I always eat all of my meals with protein. Its hard for me to cut white rice because thats what I typically eat everyday growing up. I told my educator I can cut the rice but its hard to eliminate it so she said "ok, you can have your rice but limit it to 1 cup" and thats what I did yet its always above the 120 two hours after I eat.

I am so discouraged dont know what I am doing wrong, even without the rice my bs is still not within normal range. I had gs with dd1 and didnt have this problem, I ate within the guidelines and my blood sugar never went past 120 after 2 hours.

 

[jensgt]

Are you doing 1 cup cooked rice or uncooked? I assume it's cooked. Can you change to some kind of brown rice? I eat carbs with every meal but always make sure they are whole wheat carbs and I have not had any issues. Also eat plenty of veggies and fruits. Going to a restaurant and having a noodle dish is definitely going to throw you off as restaurant portions are usually huge. I know it's hard to change but it's only for what...2-3 months? Also seeing as how you are now at a higher risk for Diabetes later in life you probably want to think about not eating white rice every day and broadening your food choices. It's never fun to diet/change food habits but sometimes it's what's best for us.

 

[hello_kitty]

I'm trying to change my eating habits but it's just too hard. I mean I don't overeat not elven the white rice so I don't understand the carbs. With a meal a eat 40g of carbs and drink water plus some sort of protein. I didn't have this problem with my first pregnancy.

Yes the rice is cooked I don't eat the whole cup anyways cuz I always share with my son and only eat what's leftover.

Surprisingly the restaurant food caused me to spike less than the rice. I finished the whole thing and my bs was 136 after 2 hours whereas white rice is giving me numbers in the 140 range. Could it be something else besides the white rice like the food I'm eating?

 

[hello_kitty]

woo hoo blood sugar 116! Probably cuz I didnt eat the whole cup, I only ate 3/4 of the cup since my son ate almost 1/4 of the cup.

 

[flyingduster]

It does sound like its the rice doing it... Cut it back to even less rice, or cut it out if you possibly can?? I finds the dieticians are saying one thing, but my body says another, and I'm gonna listen to my body first!!!! They say I can have xxx amount of carbs, but my body is doing best on next to no carbs, so that is what I'm doing! I'm determined to try my best to control this with diet, which means sacrificing the food I love and am used to and going way off the deep end into unknown waters, but dammit, I'll do it to stay off insulin and have the birth I want!

 

[hello_kitty]

Dont we need some carbs for energy? I can reduce my carbs but I dont think I can cut it out altogether. I'm allowed 40g but reduced it to 30g and my bs has improved.

I honestly feel like I am on a diet for weight loss because I am never full! It makes me so cranky cuz I am always hungry.

 

[flyingduster]

You can still get a level of carbs and fibre through veges that don't turn straight to sugar.
And up the protein!!!! Eat loads of protein both to feel full and for the energy. Eggs, meat, nuts, seeds, and a little cheese too. With every meal and snack, have some form of protein.

I had some oat cakes/crackers with yogurt for breakfast yesterday. They have NO sugar, and oats are supposed to be an OK grain for diabetics. My blood sugars were fine before breakfast but took until after klunch to come back down to under the requested limits. Granted they didn't spike very HIGH over the limit, but still... And then carrot sticks and store-bought hummus as a snack threw me over again in the afternoon... My body just doesn't want those carbs right now. I am feeling fine having none, so none it is!

 

[hello_kitty]

Checked my bs today after lunch. I was beyond ed exhausted waking up super early and driving back and forth for 1 hr each way to run errands. Ended up grabbing a burger and fries on the way home. Checked it 2 hours later expecting a spike but it was only 109.

 

[jensgt]

I'm glad your number was low after that but...fries? I feel like you need to make a better effort than that. Burger is one thing but have a salad or fruit cup with it. This can be a big issue for you and baby if it is not controlled.

 

[hello_kitty]

It's just so hard! Sometimes I just can't help but cave in to my cravings especially after driving for 2 hours. This gd thing is so frustrating. Sometimes I just want to throw my hands on the air and say I don't care but then I feel bad for my baby. I wish I could be normal. All I've been eating lately is salads, fish, eggs etc. I'm so tired of mot being able to indulge in my cravings which leaves me cranky and depressed.

 

[hello_kitty]

I feel like I'm on some weight loss regime which doesn't sound good when you're 29 weeks pregnant.

 

[flyingduster]

It IS hard work, and I find lunch is THE most frustrating meal!! I was in tears the other day over lunch, I was out and I couldn't think of anything that'd be OK. I really wanted to be able to grab some drive through and be done with it! :-\

Its hard, but its only for a couple more months now. (Hey, I'm only slightly further than you! Hi!) I find I need to plan my meals, or lunches at least! Plan them, heck, prepare them if you can! And then you don't get that frustration thing so much. We can do it!

 

[jensgt]

I was 300+ pounds in Feb 2013. I had to lose 95 pounds to get pregnant. I enjoyed food for a while and then got GD...and I can say I understand that it's not fun...but it's not that hard to not eat french fries. Having a baby is going to be hard...this is just a ~3 month bump in your life you need to get through. You need to scrape up some will power and do what is best for your little one.

If you stop at a drive through...chicken nuggets are very low in carbs...and a side salad or a fruit cup is really good as well. Every day for lunch I have a turkey sandwich, an apple and a yoplait frozen greek yogurt bar...it is heaven compared to the diet I had to be on to lose the weight to get pregnant in the first place. I'm not trying to be a jerk about it...but please listen to the doctors and your diabetes counselor...I am pretty sure french fries are not what they want you to be eating. You REALLY don't want diabetes later in life either.

 

[hello_kitty]

Yea I know fries are not good and guess I can manage without them for the next 2.5 months. Problem is I keep having problems with my morning sugar despite being well rested and eating a proper snack.

Last night I prepared some fish and was kinda craving white rice (thank GOD we ran out). I wanted to cook more rice but mu dh discouraged me from that and said just eat fish instead. So I ate some plain ol fish just a few bites, 2 gulps of milk, and maybe 4 crackers. I read the label that says the crackers have 10g of protein and serving size is 5 crackers but I ate 4. I only drank 2 gulps of milk and a few pieces of fish
I thought that was a pretty good snack and I followed the rules. Couldn't wait to check my bs this morning and it was. ..108.

I don't understand? ?? Whenever I follow the rules my bs is higher than when I'm eating burgers?

 

[flyingduster]

'The rules' don't work for everyone, and you are far better to create your own rules based on how your body responds, not in what the docs say you can have!!! Have a solid protein snack at night, try drinking some green tea at night and in the morning before fasting too many have good success with green tea bringing fasting numbers down!) But it may be that you will need overnight medication to bring your fasting numbers in to line, and that is OK too! Are you on Facebook much? There is a fantastic GD group on there if you want, and I'm sure they can help more too. Xxx. Its rough, but not forever.

 

[jensgt]

What time do you eat your night time snack and what time do you check your fasting in the morning?