GD? Should I wait for 6 weeks??

[Jane1972]

Hello everyone

I really hope someone might be able to help me.

I have a BMI of 35 I am ashamed to say as I had lost a lot to have IVF but found to get through morning sickness I had to snack often.

Anyway had my scan on monday 22wks & the abdominal circumference was 174.0m 95 centile, the sonographer asked if I had a GTT booked as was a sigh of GD, I have but not till 28wks. I phoned MW at hospital & she said to keep it at that date as is the best time to test as no other risk factors.

My husband went out & got my a glucose monitor to re assure me but I dont understand what the measurements mean. Last night 2 hours after food it was 8.7 & when I woke up before eating or drinking was 6.4 are these normal?

Sorry its such a long thread any advice would be great thanks in advance
Jane

 

[kirmal12]

With your results it's looking like you have GD I'm afraid, don't worry though once you have been diagnosed you will get alot of help. I have GD, i got it late in pregnancy (35 weeks), i am controlling mine with diet which is easier than i thought.

I've been told my fasting levels should be between 4.0 and 5.5 (first thing in the morning before food)

And 1 hour hour after food no higher than 7.8.

Don't worry though, and don't beat yourself up too much about your BMI, mines only 26 and i still got GD. Any other questions feel free to ask

kirstyxx36+5

 

[Jane1972]

Thank you so much kirsty for your kind reply & advice. I spoke to my practice nurse on friday who was lovely also she has booked me in for a test on tuesday & gave me a script for the test strips to keep checking my levels.

 

[kirmal12]

that's good news then, i hope your test goes OK. Try not to worry, easier said than done i know.

kirstyxx

 

[purplerat]

I know a little about Blood Sugar Levels as I have to check my son's with a monitor everyday.

I think the average person should lie between 4 and 7, though anything up to 10 can be normal.

Not 100% sure though, the best person to ask would be GP or Midwife.

My son was on the 95th Centile throughout my pregnancy and I had the GTT twice and it came back fine.

My son has something called Hyper Insulinism, (opposite to diabetes) and I think that I was probably boarderline GD but undiagnosed and this could have contributed to my son's condition.

Hoping you don't have GD and your baby is just a biggun!

x

 

[Jane1972]

I know a little about Blood Sugar Levels as I have to check my son's with a monitor everyday.

I think the average person should lie between 4 and 7, though anything up to 10 can be normal.

Not 100% sure though, the best person to ask would be GP or Midwife.

My son was on the 95th Centile throughout my pregnancy and I had the GTT twice and it came back fine.

My son has something called Hyper Insulinism, (opposite to diabetes) and I think that I was probably boarderline GD but undiagnosed and this could have contributed to my son's condition.

Hoping you don't have GD and your baby is just a biggun!

x

Thanks hun had the GTT at gps yesterday get results friday (although i'm sure if there was a problem I would already heard as at the hospital your told in an hour)

Bless you having to test your son every day that must be hard.

 

[kirmal12]

I know a little about Blood Sugar Levels as I have to check my son's with a monitor everyday.

I think the average person should lie between 4 and 7, though anything up to 10 can be normal.

Not 100% sure though, the best person to ask would be GP or Midwife.

My son was on the 95th Centile throughout my pregnancy and I had the GTT twice and it came back fine.

My son has something called Hyper Insulinism, (opposite to diabetes) and I think that I was probably boarderline GD but undiagnosed and this could have contributed to my son's condition.

Hoping you don't have GD and your baby is just a biggun!

x

I'm not a medic in any shape or form, when my diabetes consultant was talking to me about GD he stated there is no link whatsoever with mums having GD and then baby's going on to get diabetes themselves. Of course babies can get diabetes but they could get it anyway.

So i really don't think it was your (possible) GD that caused your sons condition. Unless you have been told otherwise?

Kirstyxx

 

[Mazmos]

Hi Hun,

I have GD, and am injecting insulin, as diet alone was not controlling sugars.
The consultant gave me the limits of what sugars should be as follows:
Before meal - 3.5 to 5.9
1 hour after meal - no higher than 7.8
From your readings, I would say you have GD too.
My sugars are slowly coming down after using insulin, but are still in the high 8's to 9's an hour after breakfast every day, so will most likely have to increase insulin when I next see consultant on Tuesday. They can also be high before bedtime, so I will probably have to inject then too
It's not that bad using insulin, so if they do say you have to go on it, don't be worried
Hope it all goes well

Maz xx

 

[Rach27]

I have GD and a BMI of 20 so don't you worry! I was diagnosed at 30 weeks and have so far been able to control it with diet. The hardest part for me is keeping the sugar below the limits (5.8 fasting and 7.8 an hour after meals) AND getting enough calories!

A plus side to GD is you tend to get more scans!! Hope everything works out for you xx

 

[LankyDoodle]

They don't calculate your BMI based on pregnancy weight in any case, it's based on pre-pregnancy weight for obvious reasons.

My mum is diabetic and so I have monitored my own blood sugar for a long time, as it can be something that runs in families. 6.4 is a raised fasting blood sugar and falls into the pre-diabetic category (you have low, normal, pre-diabetic and diabetic). Anything above 7 for a fasting sugar would signal them to think you had diabetes. A fasting sugar should be between about 4.2 and 5.7 (in European units). 2 hours after eating, your blood sugar should be below 7.8 but can depend on what you have eaten - mine tends to vary between 6 and 7. Anything between 7.8 and 11 would be considered pre-diabetic and anything above that would again signal them to diagnose diabetes.

GD will not be diagnosed unless your fasting sugar goes above 7 and your 2 hours post-meal sugar going above 11. You will be diagnosed pre-diabetic if further tests show that you do indeed have raised sugars, and will be encouraged to visit diabetic care team and alter your diet in order to prevent GD from occurring, which is worth doing since 50% of GD sufferers go on to develop type 2 diabetes within x number of years (my mum was one of them!).

Althought you have to wait for your GTT test, if I was getting your readings, I'd be worried enough to be seeing my GP to ask for further tests (they can do a random blood glucose blood test - veinous not finger prick or a fasting blood glucose test) while you are awaiting the GTT. The dr may then be able to refer you for advice rather than you waiting to see what the GTT brings back. Once you have raised sugars all you can do is everything in your power to bring them back down (and they are reversible up to a point).

It's worth pointing out that the finger prick method usually gives around a 0.1/0.2 higher reading than if you had blood taken veinously and sent to the lab. This is due to the variables involved, but with you 0.1/0.2 less still puts you in the raised bracket and would still make me want to see someone.

For the record, my fasting sugar is around 5.4 and my 2 hours after food, like I said, is between 6 and 7.

HTH.

 

[purplerat]

I know a little about Blood Sugar Levels as I have to check my son's with a monitor everyday.

I think the average person should lie between 4 and 7, though anything up to 10 can be normal.

Not 100% sure though, the best person to ask would be GP or Midwife.

My son was on the 95th Centile throughout my pregnancy and I had the GTT twice and it came back fine.

My son has something called Hyper Insulinism, (opposite to diabetes) and I think that I was probably boarderline GD but undiagnosed and this could have contributed to my son's condition.

Hoping you don't have GD and your baby is just a biggun!

x

Thanks hun had the GTT at gps yesterday get results friday (although i'm sure if there was a problem I would already heard as at the hospital your told in an hour)

Bless you having to test your son every day that must be hard.

Thanks, yeah it is quite tough, but we are in a routine now so its part of normal life !x

 

[purplerat]

I know a little about Blood Sugar Levels as I have to check my son's with a monitor everyday.

I think the average person should lie between 4 and 7, though anything up to 10 can be normal.

Not 100% sure though, the best person to ask would be GP or Midwife.

My son was on the 95th Centile throughout my pregnancy and I had the GTT twice and it came back fine.

My son has something called Hyper Insulinism, (opposite to diabetes) and I think that I was probably boarderline GD but undiagnosed and this could have contributed to my son's condition.

Hoping you don't have GD and your baby is just a biggun!

x

I'm not a medic in any shape or form, when my diabetes consultant was talking to me about GD he stated there is no link whatsoever with mums having GD and then baby's going on to get diabetes themselves. Of course babies can get diabetes but they could get it anyway.

So i really don't think it was your (possible) GD that caused your sons condition. Unless you have been told otherwise?

Kirstyxx

I have been told it could be why he has an increased insulin level, but they aren't certain! I don't think we will ever fully understand what caused his condtion xx

 

[Tanikit]

Apparently children can get type 2 diabetes which often starts with hyper insulinism until the pancreas can no longer cope and then moves into proper type 2 diabetes - is he on pills?

I am a type 1 diabetic - my sugars were 21.4 when I was first diagnosed and they have been as high as 32.0 - obviously not when pregnant! I find the rules for GD quite strict but I think they do that as usually you have been running with high sugars for a while before they find out and they need to correct quite quickly. Type 1 diabetics struggle like anything with hypoglycaemia (low sugars - mine went to 2.0 and even to 0.8 duirng this pregnancy and I passed out multiple times) during the first trimester and then the insulin resistance sets in and levels rise as does the insulin we take. They try to keep us on an HbA1c of 7.0 (which measn average glucose of 7.0 over 3 months) It is much higher than what a GD would be aiming for and the reason is to prevent the serious low sugars we get.

Basically I guess what I am saying is while you need to do the best you can to get the levels as normal as possible - sometimes it is not possible and sometimes you have to go with the best you can do. The best you can do is usually take your meds correctly, check your sugars as often as possible and eat sensibly and healthily ( a low GI diet is the best) And this is the same advice I would give someone who doesn't have GD too minus perhaps all that checking.

 

[KatieB]

I've just been diagnosed with GD, being 0.6 over the limit (second reading). My midwife has told me the figures I should be looking for are 5 or under for fasting reading and less than 7 one hour after eating x

 

[codegirl]

Apparently children can get type 2 diabetes which often starts with hyper insulinism until the pancreas can no longer cope and then moves into proper type 2 diabetes - is he on pills?

I am a type 1 diabetic - my sugars were 21.4 when I was first diagnosed and they have been as high as 32.0 - obviously not when pregnant! I find the rules for GD quite strict but I think they do that as usually you have been running with high sugars for a while before they find out and they need to correct quite quickly. Type 1 diabetics struggle like anything with hypoglycaemia (low sugars - mine went to 2.0 and even to 0.8 duirng this pregnancy and I passed out multiple times) during the first trimester and then the insulin resistance sets in and levels rise as does the insulin we take. They try to keep us on an HbA1c of 7.0 (which measn average glucose of 7.0 over 3 months) It is much higher than what a GD would be aiming for and the reason is to prevent the serious low sugars we get.

Basically I guess what I am saying is while you need to do the best you can to get the levels as normal as possible - sometimes it is not possible and sometimes you have to go with the best you can do. The best you can do is usually take your meds correctly, check your sugars as often as possible and eat sensibly and healthily ( a low GI diet is the best) And this is the same advice I would give someone who doesn't have GD too minus perhaps all that checking.

My brother was Type 1 and I'm GD and both Mom and I have commented that the GD restrictions are way more strict than his were, but I only have to do it for a short time.