I have just been diagnosed with diabetes

[bunny85]

My gp just called me saying my blood tests came back with sugar levels showing too high (13.9) and I'll need a specialist treatment. I'm in shock and extremely upset. I'm 15 weeks. I read it can lead to birth defects...it's my first baby and I'm so scared. What do I do now? Did anyone else have this? Thank you

[scarednoob]

oh no, you must be feeling so confused.

try not to panic and step away from google. lots of people get GD and their babies are just fine. if it had to happen, it is great that they found it so early, as now you can follow the eating plan, get the sugars under control, and feel much better. you will be able to ask your dr and mw lots of questions. one of my friends was diagnosed early and was put on the GD diet. she said she'd never felt so well or healthy!

[Bogwoppit22]

Hi Bunny, first things first. Don't panic. You are not alone. There's a thread on here for Gestational Diabetes www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/2295140-Gestational-diabetes-support-thread which I found rely useful when I was first diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. There's loads of us that have it. Some manage to control by diet, some require some help in control their blood sugars (metformin or insulin) but whichever camp you find yourself in, you will not be the first, and it is totally manageable I promise you. Make a cuppa and have a read through the thread, then get involved. Ask questions, someone WILL have experienced whatever you are experiencing. Lot's of advice on there for diet too, keep it low GI, control those carbs coming in, and don't be too hard on yourself. xx

[Bogwoppit22]

as noob observes, I too have never felt so well or healthy. It's actually a pretty good motivator to eat well, and as a plus one doesn't tend to then pile on the pounds whilst pregnant, which should make it so much easier to shift the baby weight afterwards. Personally I'm going to try sticking to my GDM diet as much a possible even after the birth now :-)

[TarkaTheOtter]

I've had it in both my pregnancies. In my second I was diagnosed at 14weeks.

Was it just a random blood glucose test, a one of fasting test or the glucose tolerance test that you got the reading of 13.9 in? Can you remember what you ate beforehand?

I'll be honest, I think a reading that high that early in pregnancy suggests an issue with blood sugar that pre-existed you being pregnant rather than it being gestational diabetes. That doesn't necessarily mean you have diabetes but it could be pre-diabetes (impaired glucose tolerance).

[TarkaTheOtter]

Sorry if that sounded alarmist. I agree not to worry. It's a lot to take in but it's very manageable.
When you are diagnosed so early they will treat you as if you had pre-existing diabetes so they might give you an extra scan to check babies heart (I think this was around 23 weeks but can't remember for sure).

[bunny85]

Thank you to all of you for the encouraging words.

Tarka, yes all my family have diabetes, I've always tried to be careful with sweets because of that, but personally have never had diabetes (before this pg).

As for the test, in fact I had my blood and urine tests done at my booking in appt 1 month ago and all came back normal! Now I went to my gp complaining on very strong hunger and tiredness all the time, and he ordered another test for blood sugar and thyroid (thankfully thyroid came back ok). So just after 1 month it's now 13.9. I wasn't asked to fast before. I went in right after breakfast which consisted of 5 (!!) toasts with butter. That's the hunger I'm talking about. And I was only 52kg before pg and all my life (57kg now after 15 weeks already!)

[TarkaTheOtter]

Well that should reassure you slightly as 5 toasts will have raised your blood sugar quite a bit.

As an aside, I don't know if there is any evidence for this but I think there is a link between diabetes and craving carbs.

Have they told you what the next steps will be?

[bunny85]

Yes my GP who called me this morning said I'll obviously need to mention this to the mw at my 16 week appt which is luckily soon (on the 15th, so in a bit more than a week). He said to avoid fruit juices and sweets etc until then. So now I figure I can forget about giving birth in a birthing centre in a pool. He said I'll need a specialist care.

But to be honest with you, the worst thing for me is that I can't eat much. I don't know what to do, I've never been so hungry in my life. I wake up at night with stomach cramps.

For sure there's a link, you are right. As a matter of fact, I'm not craving carbs in particular though - just any food really.

You said you had it twice with your both pregnancies, poor you! Was it very hard? Did you have to take metformin/insulin or just managed with diet alone?

[pinkie87]

Should this not have been a fasting blood test?? I'm not sure you can trust that result if you had 5 pieces of toast before the test. Did you tell the doctor that when he rang with the result?

[bunny85]

Pinkie, no, I didn't... He never asked. Nor did he tell me to fast before the test. I'm also wondering that, since as I mentioned earlier the blood test taken just a month ago came back normal... Don't know what to think now!

[pinkie87]

Ring your GP back and tell him. I am not 100% sure but I think you should have fasted before the test, they should have told you that. He will be able to reassure you or re-test if necessary.

[pinkie87]

After some quick googling, it may have been a random glucose test instead of fasting, in which case the result is probably still valid. I would still call and check.

[TarkaTheOtter]

I took metformin in my first and metformin and insulin in my second.

I don't think diabetes (gestational or otherwise) should be diagnosed from just a random blood test according to nice guidelines so they might ask you to do a gtt. 13.9 is pretty conclusive that something is up though so they might just refer you direct to the diabetes specialist midwife/consultant. Once you start monitoring your blood sugar on a regular basis it'll be obvious if you have been misdiagnosed.

I'm trying to be positive but also not sugar coat things. I think (based on my experiences and what I have seen on threads here) that because you have been diagnosed so early that you will probably not be able to diet control alone (because it's only going to get worse as pregnancy progresses). So you will probably need some sort of medication in addition to the diet and that will probably mean induction before/on due date (will be recommended) and that will probably rule out pool/birth centre.

But despite going through all that myself and feeling at the time completely distraught that my birth plans had to go out the window I have had two positive birth experiences. If I had another baby now and didn't have GD (unlikely) I think I would be more scared at the prospect of not being induced and going into spontaneous labour!

[scarednoob]

it sounds to me as if they have flagged it as a possibility for more checking? I think that's the point of the urine/blood tests, so that they can see if something needs a closer look...

tarka, how did you get on with metformin? i am worrying about my own upcoming GD test, simply because i am old and fat, and a couple of years ago, a gynae prescribed me metformin to help speedy weight loss. it was bloody agony, i was glued to the toilet for about 3 days!

[bunny85]

Thank you both so much.

Pinky, just called him but he is out for lunch. Will call again later.

Tarka, I'm glad to hear you've had 2 very positive birth experiences despite the diabetes and induction, that's very reassuring. Did you give a vaginal birth with both? I was under impression GB= C-section in most cases. Also having read about induction, I'm petrified how much more painful it sounds compared to the normal labour. Is that true? And finally, did your babies have a higher weight at birth or normal?

I'm sorry for too many question, but you sound really knowledgable and extremely helpful. Thank you in advance.

[TarkaTheOtter]

scarednoob I think there is a different form of metformin you can take with fewer side effects. It's more expensive so you might have to twist their arm. Having said that I've always found that the side effects disappear after a week especially if you build up to full dose gradually.

[bunny85]

Scarednoob, yes that's for sure that they are going to do more tests. What put me in so much panic was just this sky high reading alone, and so early on... As Tarka pointed out, it certainly means something is up...

[scarednoob]

ah thanks! I am hoping I won't need it, but whilst I can't help being old, being fat is all my own fault...

bunny, it may just have been the toast, especially if you had white bread, or it could have been an error on the test. not nice to need more tests, but try and relax until you've had them - it might well be nothing at all! I know that's hard to do. and even if you do have it, tarka's positive stories are far more reassuring than the horror of the internet!

[TarkaTheOtter]

I don't think a c-section is a given at all unless the baby is very, very big. They do like to get the baby out promptly because the placenta degrades a bit quicker if you have high blood sugars so often recommend induction (how early seems to depend on area). I responded well to induction both times and aside from the drip itself needed no further intervention at 38 weeks both times. Neither birth was as active as I'd have chosen given the chance because of all the drips/monitoring but both were pretty short. I had an epidural for the first (and would recommend it) and g+a for the second as left it too late to also for the epidural. I think in some ways it was easier for me to give up on the "natural" birth ideal in advance than for my friends whose complications arise during labour and had to be transferred to hospital/have intervention. They like to keep you in for 24hrs after birth to check babies blood sugars but I was up walking/showered immediately after birth.

[bunny85]

Scarednoob, I also hope you won't need it. Good luck with your upcoming test! Oh yes, it would be great if this test of mine was wrong!.. We shall see..

Tarka, that indeed is very reassuring. As you say, it might help me to start coming to terms with natural-birth-out-of-the-window idea early. Even though that's the only way I've always imagined it...Things never go as planned do they!

[OgreIt]

I had GD in my recent second pregnancy (didn't have it in the first) and just wanted to say that you don't need to be hungry, you can still eat three decent meals plus morning tea, afternoon tea and a snack at night - it just has to be the right foods and in moderation (so, for example, less rice but more meat and low gi veg). As others have said, it may be that diet alone won't be enough to control your levels given how early you've got the diagnosis, but you should still be able to eat a reasonable amount (including some carbs). I found the carb cravings reduced a great deal after a few weeks and I actually think GD was a good wakeup call for me. I came out of the pregnancy weighing less (I wasn't overweight according to bmi to begin with but was gradually gaining as I got older and really stacked on a huge amount of weight in the first half of the pregnancy) and was fitter too (did a lot of walking to help keep blood sugar levels stable). My diet is a lot better now than before. So it's not all bad! I did have a csection but that was due to complications in my last birth rather than GD. At my hospital (not UK) they didn't push for csections where GD was the only reason. My ds2 was born a lot bigger than my ds1 (75th centile compared to 25th) but now at 4 months he's on 90th centile for length (still 75th for weight) so we think it's genetic rather than GD!

[bunny85]

Thank you Ogrelt, lovely to hear how GD has changed your lifestyle and health to better. As you, I've never been overweight (52-53kg) and I'm actually always quite conscious regarding what I eat. It's just this pg has made me starve! I'm also piling on weight.

It's really upsetting I won't be able to control it with diet alone. I really hope whatever medications they give me are harmless to the baby, as that's the only thing I really care for..

[TarkaTheOtter]

Regarding the medicines - metformin is given to women with pcos so lots of women have taken it during pregnancy without harm to baby but I don't think it's officially licensed for pregnant women with GD so other countries don't use it. Insulin is as safe as drugs come.

But I'd still take the metformin if offered as it's much easier to manage. With the insulin you have the risk of hypos. It can be difficult for non-pregnant diabetics to manage their insulin levels and pregnancy makes it so much harder.


I've always had a low bmi but I am "skinny fat" ie I'm tall but have a small frame and little muscle so I expect despite being slender my body fat percentage is quite high. I mainly carry weight on my stomach which is also an indicator I think. Also my dm had GD and now has type 2 so that plays a role.

[bunny85]

You could be describing myself - I'm exactly that, only short (159cm). Same goes about the high amount of fat and mainly around my stomach. And I also have a family history - pretty much everyone in my dad's family had/has diabetes, including himself.

Well I guess I'll have to accept any medicines they give me, as far as I understand the harm from constant high blood glucose is far more serious for the baby than from the medications. Well, just gotta wait to see my mw now..