GD support thread

[USAF_WIFE]

Think I screwed up this morning I had juice and I was told not to have fruit till after 10. On top of that I asked my husband to pour my a half of cup and I told him to measure he seriously poured half a cup of a 16oz cup I am freaking out.

 

[CelticNiamh]

1 slice of bread is not enough food, you should be eating 2 with low fat butter/cheese or egg do not reduce what your eating in the hope you can keep them lower! you might not be getting enough to support you and the baby and you need to eat a certain amount to make sure baby gets all they need

I say you will fter today hope she can help with strips for monitoring your blood sugars as well

I am waiting on my midwife to let me know if my insulin needs adjusting or not

oh what way are you all testing, for any one new to testing just incase you did not know, but you use the side of your fingers and not the pad at the tip as it can the skin can becom harde and there is a lot of nerve endings there which can make it painful

No, I'm not reducing my intake of food to make sure my sugar levels are down, as I normally cannot eat so much in the mornings, so I eat a slice of bread for breakfast with whatever in it, then about an hour and a half later I eat another "snack". Normally after one slice, I'm quite full, it's been like this since I got pregnant, so don't worry it's not because I'm avoiding a high reading. I have also tried to alter different "breakfast foods" to see what readings I get.

I don't think the nurse or my gynae can help me with the extra strips. It seems the way it is in the Netherlands, unless you buy the most expensive health insurance, diabetes testing equipment is normally not included unless you're insulin dependent. I tried calling my insurance company and they were very unhelpful. We shall see though... I will see what the gynae says today.

I prick the side of my finger and not the pad of my finger as I was taught by the normal nurse (when she was teaching me how to prick my finger to collect my blood vials) so it doesn't hurt normally, but when you have to prick 20-30 different holes at max lancet penetration, it starts to hurt! LOL! Sometimes I don't even notice that the lancet's gone through when I test my blood for the normal glucose meter.

Funnily enough, when I went to the hospital to do my GTT test 4 weeks ago, the nurse pricked my finger pad, TWICE! And it hurt so much and she bruised it so much as well as she needed to squeeze enough blood out to fill a smallish vial but she said that my fingers were small, so she pricked 2 holes next to each other that hurt and I can actually still see the scar from the holes she pricked! Nasty experience! Ouch!

Oh that is good that is so annoying about your strips OUCH for your poor finger!!! I am glad when they need blood it is the normal way for me !!! that would really hurt

Think I screwed up this morning I had juice and I was told not to have fruit till after 10. On top of that I asked my husband to pour my a half of cup and I told him to measure he seriously poured half a cup of a 16oz cup I am freaking out.

Do not worry if your high and keeping a diary, just write it in so your team knows

AmeliePoulain that is great bet you are delighted now

 

[Nela]

Oh dear, me again!

I have a question for you ladies, perhaps you can assist me in tweaking this?

For breakfast I had:

- A bowl of greek yogurt with a lil cup of strawberry jam and a small handfull of All Bran cereal in it
- A slice of brown bread with a slice of cheese on it
- and a cup of milk

I just tested my sugar and it's at 4.0 so I definitely need to eat now. I was just wondering if you lovely ladies could figure what I had too much of or not enough of? Still trying to get the hang of this!

Thanks!

I am not sure LOL I know I could not eat that and get a 4 more like a 15 esp with the Jam

I had a bowl of bran flakes and insulin and got a 10 what was your fasting like

Lol, that's the thing though... My numbers were higher without the carbs Now that I have the good carbs in, I am getting the low numbers/nearly hypo numbers. I actually have to test more often now because it seems my hypo is kicking in more than the diabetes, but that is something we expected with my issues with my nervous system. It always likes to make things more complicated Hypo is much easier to treat though so I am not worried. I have myself set on timers now so I have to eat every time the alarm goes off. I also have to eat before bed otherwise my sugar is high in the morning.

However, I spoke to the diabetic nurse yesterday and she is thrilled with my numbers so I was granted another week! If my numbers stay like this, we'll just continue to monitor and hope 3rd trimester doesn't throw me off. At least I feel like I can eat like a normal person again! I can even have mini puddings (kids portions are awesome!) for dessert with some bread and milk for a snack. I found some cookies in the diabetic section as well. I can have 2 with a babybel when my sugars are low and that stabilizes it well. I find it a bit ironic that I need to eat even more than I already did but I'm happy that it's working.

Glad it's working for you! I can imagine that with hypo it does make everything a lot more complicated!

I tested myself again this morning, 5.3 fasting and 7.4 1 hour after a slice of brown bread with some meaty filling and also a fairly large mug of decaf coffee with only a bit of milk so I guess the meaty filling had "hidden carbs" in it as before I have had a slice of brown bread with hardboiled egg and tomato and it only gave me a reading of 6.8.

Ah well, I guess I really have to take care of my breakfasts! Sigh, also looks like I have to test more often but strips are just so expensive! Will be seeing the gynae this afternoon at 2.30pm and sees what she will say. I still haven't even got assigned a diabetic nurse (probably will be after today!).

As for your breakfast, I wish I could have jam! LOL! I think that would send my readings off the chart!! I don't know how to help you with that, sorry! Perhaps ask your diabetic nurse to see if she can help you out?

Oh dear, me again!

I have a question for you ladies, perhaps you can assist me in tweaking this?

For breakfast I had:

- A bowl of greek yogurt with a lil cup of strawberry jam and a small handfull of All Bran cereal in it
- A slice of brown bread with a slice of cheese on it
- and a cup of milk

I just tested my sugar and it's at 4.0 so I definitely need to eat now. I was just wondering if you lovely ladies could figure what I had too much of or not enough of? Still trying to get the hang of this!

Thanks!

No idea on tha one I'm afraid! You might wanna dicuss it with your diabetic team.

What was your reading before breakfast? How long after breakfast did you test.

I never get a 4.0 BEFORE any meal, let alone after breakfast!! I can only just get away with eating a small amount of cereal at breakfast and thast with the help of Metformin - there is no way I'd have been able to eat all that and still be below 7.8 let alone get 4.0

Sorry no useful help here!

Hmm okay, thanks ladies. I think I will have to ask the team indeed! It is strange isn't it? Goodness, I dunno how to eat anymore My fasting sugar was at 5.5 so just a tad above the target. I do feel that it was a big breakfast and was concerned that I might have overdone it. I have to test 2hrs after meals so it wasn't a one-hour reading but still...

As for the jam, I bought little 20g cups that are said to have 50% less sugar. It's not sweetened with sweeteners, it's real sugar but it comes out to 3g per cup so I figured I would try it.

This is all driving me crazy Thanks so much for everything, it's great to be able to chat with others who are going through the same thing.

Ps: Sephie, I should have my laptop back tomorrow

 

[Sephie]

Thanks CelticNiamh!

I just got back from the gynae and the result of the blood test I did last Thursday showed that I had NO GD. She said that the highest reading I had was at breakfast and it was 6.4 after 1 hour! I was shocked! But I am so pleased that I can be discharged from her and now I can go back to normal care with the midwives. I told her that I bought a meter and the meter said that it was 7.8 at the time of testing (where it said 6.4) and she said that it wasn't as reliable as not all meters are very reliable but it was good that I got one anyway for peace of mind! But she warned me not to test more than once or twice a week or I'll go nuts! So she said that with borderline GTT failures like mine they rather err on the side of caution!

I felt so relieved, but I know that I will probably get GTT in my next pregnancy, but she also said that it might be to do that I failed borderline as my metabolism is very low in the mornings, to avoid fruit before 11am and also to eat more in the daytime that's when my metabolism kicks in full gear! Either way, I am relieved and for myself I will keep to a fairly strict regime and to test myself once in a while! She then measured my belly and said everything was great and the baby even kicked the doppler! LOL! So yay!

But a slight scare was when I came into the my appointment, the nurse said, Ok blood pressure test time! And I was like OMG, what?! So I went in, and the reading was 149/92 and it was so high! So after the appointment, the gynae asked the nurse to redo the reading and it went down to 128/85, then again after another 5 mins when it went down to 121/82 and finally another 5 minutes later and it was 114/81 and she said that was fine... I think I was a little late for the appointment plus the nervousness of the GD home test results would be discussed with the gynae today which might have contributed to the earlier high reading!

Thank you all for all your support messages though! xxx

 

[USAF_WIFE]

Well I freaked out for no reason! Did not convert it but it was 105.

 

[CelticNiamh]

Nela aha now it make more sense, worth mentioning to your GD team though 4 at 2 hours your body kicked in well that can happen me as well at lunch time, I need less insulin and get my best readings then but after lunch they rise on thier own and I needs lots of insulin at dinner time.

Sephie that is great news bet your over the moon I deffo say the high blood pressure was because of nerves

USAF_WIFE that is good hate when that happens

Well I went for a walk with the kids, I completely forgot to eat a snack I was fine on till we were nearly home and I felt really dizzy I got a 2.9 had to get my son to go and get me a sweet drink but I am ok now my bedtime insulin was increased 12 units now hope it works

 

[Ema 8]

hi girls i am new to this thread but i was worried cause i got my sugar and insulin results today, my sugar is fine its 4.6 mmo1/L but my insulin level is high its 14 mU/L ,i am 12 week+1d and taking 500mg METFORMIN but thinking to increase the dose upto 1000mg for few weeks so i can bring back my insulin level down! what do u guys think about it ? any suggestion?

 

[ttcnewb]

I am surprised your on oral medication as I have been told that they don't like to use as it travels placenta to baby where as insulin doesn't. I am not far from you I'm in Geelong. I know other countries still use orals.

 

[DAYDAY24]

Ladies my sugar has been rising the last couple days no matter what I eat

 

[yazoo]

Dayday, have you managed to control your sugars?

I'm frustrated with my dietitian. I saw my OB and endocrinologist and midwifeon Wednesday and they are all happy with my progress. When the endo saw that I had actually lost weight her words were "wonderful". I have no ketones in my urine and everything is going well. I have got the odd high reading but they are not worried.

So the problem is. I have not been able to follow the diet plan the dietitian gave me. She has simply given me too many carbs to eat and when I followed her plan I had a high reading after almost every meal. I rang her and told her this and she basically blamed me and said I must be doing something different to what she said. I wasn't at all. So I decided to follow my own plan and eat little and often as opposed to the large amounts of carbs she wanted me to eat in one sitting. My levels went back down (apart from the odd high one) and it has been going pretty well for me. I have lost weight but the professionals aren't worried. I was overweight to begin with so it was needed anyway I'd say. When I spoke to the endo she said that dietitians give people too much to eat in her opinion and if my plan was working for me and I was functioning normally and not going hungry then to stick with it.

So today I got a call from the dietitian asking how I was getting on. I told her that I was following my own plan and eating small and often and having a minimal amount of carbs first thing in the morning. She wasn't happy at all and made me feel like I was harming the baby despite everyone else being happy with how things are going. She said there is no way that I should be losing weight and its dangerous blah blah blah and that I needed to eat a carb with every single meal. Basically I'm doing it all wrong and the only way I will do it right is if I follow her plan. Gah.

This has turned into a bit of a rant. Sorry ladies. What do you think about this? She has made me question myself now.

 

[USAF_WIFE]

I have not had numbers over 7.0 in the last few days since I have gotten over being sick mostly and morning sugars have not been over 4.8. I had two plates of chinese last night eating out I was scared really bad 6.2 we went to a buffet. I am starting to think that my sugars went nuts during the times I was really sick which I was told stress and sickness do crap to sugars even people without GD. I have still not been diagnosed the numbers will continue to be taken down until the 30th where they either diagnose me or don't.

 

[CelticNiamh]

Dayday, have you managed to control your sugars?

I'm frustrated with my dietitian. I saw my OB and endocrinologist and midwifeon Wednesday and they are all happy with my progress. When the endo saw that I had actually lost weight her words were "wonderful". I have no ketones in my urine and everything is going well. I have got the odd high reading but they are not worried.

So the problem is. I have not been able to follow the diet plan the dietitian gave me. She has simply given me too many carbs to eat and when I followed her plan I had a high reading after almost every meal. I rang her and told her this and she basically blamed me and said I must be doing something different to what she said. I wasn't at all. So I decided to follow my own plan and eat little and often as opposed to the large amounts of carbs she wanted me to eat in one sitting. My levels went back down (apart from the odd high one) and it has been going pretty well for me. I have lost weight but the professionals aren't worried. I was overweight to begin with so it was needed anyway I'd say. When I spoke to the endo she said that dietitians give people too much to eat in her opinion and if my plan was working for me and I was functioning normally and not going hungry then to stick with it.

So today I got a call from the dietitian asking how I was getting on. I told her that I was following my own plan and eating small and often and having a minimal amount of carbs first thing in the morning. She wasn't happy at all and made me feel like I was harming the baby despite everyone else being happy with how things are going. She said there is no way that I should be losing weight and its dangerous blah blah blah and that I needed to eat a carb with every single meal. Basically I'm doing it all wrong and the only way I will do it right is if I follow her plan. Gah.

This has turned into a bit of a rant. Sorry ladies. What do you think about this? She has made me question myself now.

I don’t know!!! Are you on insulin? Do you eat a small amount of carbs at each meal!! Are you eating enough carbs/food to support you and the baby ?
Do you check your ketones at home? Just because they did not show up the day of your appointment does not mean you have not had them if you are losing weight! I had a lot of ketones when I had a check-up with the GP but when I went to the hospital the next day there was none there!

Sorry I am not much help, but I would say you need to eat enough to support baby and you, if your blood sugars rise do not reduce what you’re eating to stop them, it may mean insulin or more insulin to help till after baby is born

 

[yazoo]

I don’t know!!! Are you on insulin? Do you eat a small amount of carbs at each meal!! Are you eating enough carbs/food to support you and the baby ?
Do you check your ketones at home? Just because they did not show up the day of your appointment does not mean you have not had them if you are losing weight! I had a lot of ketones when I had a check-up with the GP but when I went to the hospital the next day there was none there!

Sorry I am not much help, but I would say you need to eat enough to support baby and you, if your blood sugars rise do not reduce what you’re eating to stop them, it may mean insulin or more insulin to help till after baby is born

No I'm not on insulin. I was just diagnosed 3 weeks ago and I am controlling it with diet and exercise for now. At breakfast time I might not have alot of carbs first thing in the morning, I might eat an omelette, or a banana and yoghurt and then an hour or two later I will have some complex carbs like brown bread. If I eat too many carbs first thing in the morning my levels spike but she said today that I HAD to eat cereal or more bread etc at breakfast time. I think I am eating enough carbs to support me and the baby but who knows? I am definitely eating enough protein rich foods, salad and veggies. I think I am eating enough because I don't feel like I am deprived and I get a wide variety of foods and baby is doing well. I know I'm definitely not having the 70g of carbs per meal that the dietitian wants me to have. Instead of having them all in one sitting I space them out throughout the day so they don't affect my levels. Oh I dunno. Its very confusing.

I'm not surprised that I have lost weight since starting this diet because all the crap I used to eat has been cut from my diet (fizzy drinks, chocolate, take away).
I'm not checking my ketones at home. The GP and hospital have been checking them just and I assumed that because there were none in both samples a couple of days apart that it was ok.

 

[midori1999]

I do agree that it is important to ensure you are eating enough carbs. In my last pregnancy between diagnosis and seeing the diabetic team I cut carbs to one slice of seeded toast with breakfast (still having a good breakfast though), a 'half portion' of carbs with lunch and dinner and snacks that were low carb or carb free 9a small bag of unsalted nuts, for example) and I was severely lectured on how harmful this could be for my baby and that enough carbs are needed for good foetal growth, ketones being dangerous etc. Plus, my levels were still over eating like that anyway.

Some people just can't control with diet and exercise. There are no downsides to insulin unless it changes the birth you want and it is much easier to eat when you are on insulin because you stick to the diet and then adjust your insulin as needed to keep your levels under control.

My endo and ob were quite concerned when I told them I had lost weight. I did say I thought it was due to being overweight prior to pregnancy and cutting out junk food, but they said it needed keeping an eye on and wanted me to test for ketones at home.

 

[CelticNiamh]

I don’t know!!! Are you on insulin? Do you eat a small amount of carbs at each meal!! Are you eating enough carbs/food to support you and the baby ?
Do you check your ketones at home? Just because they did not show up the day of your appointment does not mean you have not had them if you are losing weight! I had a lot of ketones when I had a check-up with the GP but when I went to the hospital the next day there was none there!

Sorry I am not much help, but I would say you need to eat enough to support baby and you, if your blood sugars rise do not reduce what you’re eating to stop them, it may mean insulin or more insulin to help till after baby is born

No I'm not on insulin. I was just diagnosed 3 weeks ago and I am controlling it with diet and exercise for now. At breakfast time I might not have alot of carbs first thing in the morning, I might eat an omelette, or a banana and yoghurt and then an hour or two later I will have some complex carbs like brown bread. If I eat too many carbs first thing in the morning my levels spike but she said today that I HAD to eat cereal or more bread etc at breakfast time. I think I am eating enough carbs to support me and the baby but who knows? I am definitely eating enough protein rich foods, salad and veggies. I think I am eating enough because I don't feel like I am deprived and I get a wide variety of foods and baby is doing well. I know I'm definitely not having the 70g of carbs per meal that the dietitian wants me to have. Instead of having them all in one sitting I space them out throughout the day so they don't affect my levels. Oh I dunno. Its very confusing.

I'm not surprised that I have lost weight since starting this diet because all the crap I used to eat has been cut from my diet (fizzy drinks, chocolate, take away).
I'm not checking my ketones at home. The GP and hospital have been checking them just and I assumed that because there were none in both samples a couple of days apart that it was ok.

Ok so I assume after your breakfast you check your blood sugars and get a nice reading! But then have carbs in a snack which you I assume do not check blood sugars before or after? So in a way you’re probably still going high but not at meal times! now may be someone else who is an expert will correct me if I am wrong (((Please do))) so all looks good when you show your numbers to Endo but your blood sugars could be going high at other times and no one would know on less they decided to do a HbA1c test which they do not tend to do when diet controlled well my clinic do not any way!! Maybe it might be different for you

My diet seems the same as what you were given carbs at each meal but I avoid carbs at snack time.

From my Diabetitic notes:
Carbohydrates provide us with most of our energy, carbohydrate foods do turn in to sugar after you eat them, but it is important that theres foods are eaten in the same quantity and at regular times throughout the day . This will help keep the amount of sugar in your blood steady and energy levels up.
Chose high fibre,wholegrain options as they release the energy (sugar) more slowly. High Fibre, whole grains also contain more vitamins and minerals, can help prevent constipation and keep hunger at bay!

I know the temptation is there to reduce or cut carbs out to keep blood sugars low!!! but this is not good for you or baby, the diet given is to help us function and make sure baby is getting all he or she needs to grow healthy. if you follow the diet and are getting regular exercise and your blood sugars go high, you may need insulin!! ( YOU have not failed it is not your fault ) it is all down to hormones.

I am on insulin and have had insulin dependent GD 3 other times so far followed the diet but sugars rise any way and then needed insulin, all my babies have been healthy and my GD went as soon as I gave birth
I always eat a smaller breakfast
2 slices of wholemeal bread about 50g with low fat butter
Or breakfast cereals,
All bran 40grams with some milk
If I am exercising straight after breakfast I have some low fat cheese or an egg with my toast .Then I have a piece of fruit or a low fat yogurt for my snack. Midmorning
Hope that helps and probably not what you wanted to hear, sorry

As for ketones yep they can show one day and not the next all depends on how much fluids your taking in to flush them out as far as I am aware once your loseing weight you produce them so they would be there but its good your getting rid of them, I always had problem with them if I had to go in fasting to the hospital although once I was kept in because I had a lot of them and was put on a drip to flush them out

 

[Nela]

I have to agree. When I was first diagnosed, my dietician told me to eat more bread, pasta, etc. She did not mean in one sitting, but more often throughout the day. For the first few days, my sugar was testing high at the littlest thing so I got scared and decided not to add the carbs. This didn't help. I finally read more about it and decided to try the same (or about the same) amount of carbs at each meal and snack. Immediately, my sugar started coming down. It sounds odd and it might feel like it goes against our intuition, but it really does seem to trigger the insulin to produce in a more consistent way. Today, I ran out of brown bread so my sugar is high again. I truly believe it's making a ton of difference in my levels.

 

[nickynora]

Well I had my first growth scan today!

Baby is now measuring on average 2 weeks ahead (over the 90th centile) but baby is all in proportion - I knewshe wouldnt be small as my lb was 10lb 6oz at birth!!

They said my blood sugars are good and within range (since starting metformin at breakfast!) But they want slightly tighter control now they know she already going to be a fair size, so now on another 500mg metformin at evening meal

Now need to be 5.5 or less before meals and below 7.5 an hr after - most of which I am anyways

Back in 4 weeks for another scan and to discuss delivery

 

[nickynora]

Confused!!

I just done my post breakfast reading and got 8.3 (had 1 shredded wheat + cup of tea, dont normal have tea till later!) I can usually tolerate shredded wheat ok, will the tea really make that much difference??

I tested again after 5 mins as seemed high and I got 7.4!!

Am panicking as they should be ok, esp now my metformin has been upped, shouldn't they??

 

[yazoo]

Thanks for all the advice ladies. Niamh they check my Hba1c at every clinic appointment. It was 4.7 3 weeks ago and I will find out Wednesday's level on Monday when the nurse rings me. I am going to talk to the nurse in more detail and see what she says because I am getting different advice from all directions. I assumed it was best to follow the advice of the OB and endo. Thanks for listening.

 

[yazoo]

Oh I forgot to say. I check my levels after the snacks too to make sure they are ok.