Gestational diabetes high reading

[lavalamp08]

Evening all
I was diagnosed with GD on Wednesday this week, obviously I've been upset about it (feel like a fat pig etc) but today I've had 8.3 reading after my evening meal, I'm gutted. I feel like I've been watching what I'm eating and was hoping to stay under the 'levels'
Does anyone have any tips or foods to try
Thank you

[InappropriateUsername]

What did you eat, did you weigh/measure out the portions? Are you testing once a day or a few times? What was your pre-dinner reading? Try not to stress its trial and error at first and your body may not like something. Did you test again to make sure not error? I can get my bloods down by doing 15 mins moderate pace exercise, usually I walk up and down the stairs. It doesnt matter if you are thin or fat, your body is not producing enough insulin due to pregnancy so makes no sense to blame yourself! Your midwife/nutrionist should advise you on diet as it is different at different stages of pregnancy plus they measure it differently at different hospitals but that said if you had quick release or high sugar dinner that would be the cause. I had 2 beef burgers, 1 wholemeal pitta, cheese, mushrooms and onions for dinner and low reading at 5.8 but I did a lot of walking today so thats why mine was lower than it normally is (around 6.8). Meat, veg and wholemeal carbs are all I eat for dinners I dont have any fruit except at morning snack and lunch when I am most active.

[Dangermouse80]

I had this in all 3 pregnancies. I had to avoid healthy carbs; pasta / rice / jacket potato / all breakfast cereals. Instead I focused on protein; Greek yoghurt / cheese / chicken. I also split my meals so I ate every 3 hours. Exercise: 20 min walk after food all helped. By doing this I even managed a chocolate bar a day. However could not go near fruit without getting a high reading! Hope this helps.

[Vap0]

There is a wonderful group on Facebook called gestational diabetes uk mums. Join it. The advice is far better there than nhs guidelines. Best of luck. I’ve had GD and it’s such a challenge getting those levels under control but once you have mastered the diet you’ll be able to relax a little more. P.s. don’t punish yourself, it’s nothing to do with anything you’ve done, it’s all hormonal and will go away after baby arrives.

[bluechameleon]

What did you eat for dinner? I'm usually fine if I have 1/3 to 1/2 a "normal" portion of good carbs (wholemeal bread, basmati rice, sweet potato) and balance it with plenty of healthy fat and protein. Have a look at the gestational diabetes website if you haven't already - they explain food pairing. But it is all hormonal so you could eat perfectly and still get high readings.

[Lulu2515]

I feel exactly the same- in my first week of trying the gd diet and I've been so careful. Last night I weighed out 200g of a sweet potato and my readings an hour later were 9.3. I was gutted. My readings are all slightly too high including my first morning blood so will call the dietician on Monday but will try more walking at the weekend and see if that helps.

[lavalamp08]

For my tea I only had a packet of cous cous and a tin of mackerel. I've kinda thought of it like I did when I did the slimming world diet and cous cous and mackerel was an easy quick good tea
They've told me to test first thing when I get up and one hour after food and so far tonight's tea reading was the only one over. I have requested to join a few groups on Facebook so I'm itching to get accepted to see what menus / meal ideas other folk have.
I'm not due back to clinic while next Thursday but obviously first few days getting my head round it all is pretty scary.
Thanks for your replies xx

[Intelinside]

Slimming world may not be the best to follow as that's low fat, high carb diet.

[Oblomov18]

You would be better off on low/minimal carb diet. There are loads of good support groups. Old Atkins style. The new Michael Mosley Blood sugar diet.
Use these for ideas.

[lavalamp08]

I'm starting to realise slimming world is not the best plan to follow (I kinda feel like I've lived and breathed that diet for the past 20 years
I will look into those other diet plans you suggested thank you
My reading this morning was 5.6 and should be 5.3, so I've got the face on again. What will happen if my readings continue to be over??

[ferntwist]

The Diet Doctor site is great. //www.dietdoctor.com

[ferntwist]

Good morning OP. Can I ask how many weeks you are and how much you weigh/BMI?
Nuts, cheese and ham slices make an excellent snack.

[wowbutter]

I've read that could cous isn't great, so,thing like quinoa or buckwheat is better.
Also, when you get a high, do you test again after another hour? I always do, and it's always gone down which makes me feel better.

I had undiagnosed GD with my first, and he was fine, massive, but fine. Try not to worry, you are doing your best.
I got a reading of ten the other night!

[Jacobismyboy]

Get yourself on the GD uk facebook group. You need to be pairing... that is never eat a naked carb. You need to be eating any carb with some protein and a lot of fat. So sweet potato plus a ton of cheese or cream. Chicken, cheese, nuts and cream are your friends.
The fat slows the sugar absorption and keeps your levels steady. But you really need to understand what you can and can't eat.... so as I said get yourself on the site.
No cereal. No processed sugar but you can eat a few squares of dark chocolate with a baby bell or a handful of nuts.
I did this diet for 33 weeks. Would you believe i didn't put on weight eating like that either? Fats are good... it's sugar that makes you pile it on.

[Jacobismyboy]

Was this morning's high a fasting or after food? Some women can't control the fasting level and need medication no matter what they do. If it was after breakfast what did you eat? Only 1 in 10 women with gd can tolerate cereals. For breakfast I would go for eggs, bacon, sausages etc or greek yogurt (full fat) with some berries.
Bread with burgen linseed bread hinges good readings.
Lidl do a protein roll that can be a really good way if your desperate for bread etc

[clarebear1983]

You haven't given yourself GD, please don't think like that. Its a hormonal problem driven by your placenta, there's nothing you could have eaten or not eaten in your pregnancy that would have made any difference. The amount of people that have said things to me like 'Oh I'm surprised I haven't given myself GD too the amount of crap I eat' is frigging infuriating.

Get on the Gestational diabetes website and join their facebook group. Throw out any advice the NHS gives you on diet, it's very old, very outdated and will land you on a medicated path far sooner than you need to do. Nod and smile at the NHS dietitian. Follow the advice and diet offered by the group above. It's a fab group of really supportive ladies.

I was diagnosed 6 weeks ago and it's already become part of normality. You will eventually find you can eat a lot of what you ate before, just modified. You will get some high readings whilst you figure out what you can and can't tolerate. If you do, walk and lots of water to get them down straight away and make a note of what you had. Learn about food pairing first from the website, this will help you more than anything else in terms of diet.

[butterybollocks]

Ditto the advice above about joining the GD UK Facebook group. It is so useful and I stayed diet controlled using their advice - I'm sure I would have ended up medicated if I'd followed NHS advice. The recipes on their website are great too. There's some lovely treats you can safely have and that made it all much more bearable.
The cous cous has probably given you the high reading.

[MyOtherProfile]

Really recommend the Blood Sugar Diet book. It was about 3 quid in tesco. Ideas for eating low carb plus inspirational stories.

[lavalamp08]

Ferntwist im 28 weeks and my bmi is 34

I've asked to join 3 groups on Facebook just waiting for acceptance, I'm itching to be accepted.

From what I've read from all replies; chicken, nuts, Greek yoghurt, eggs, ham slices

Jacobismyboy my reading this morning was after fasting. I've not had breakfast yet

Food pairings sound quite intriguing especially chocolate and babybels

Thanks again for all your replies, your support is already making me feel better x

[ferntwist]

Lava there is loads of help out there and masses of great food you can have. Hope some of those sites/tips are useful. Good luck!

[ferntwist]

Olives and cheese are a good snack too. Cauliflower cheese is a great filling & warm low carb meal. Also breakfast of bacon, eggs and mushrooms.

[ferntwist]

Chicken with mozzarella melted on top and veggies on the side. A spoonful of peanut butter (sugar free like Wholefoods) is a nice snack.

[Oceangirl82]

Why would you think that was a high reading after an evening meal? If you have gd, after a meal it should be around 7.8.

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

I had GD many years ago when there wasn't as much info around, and no internet. I was advised to eat loads of "healthy" carbs such as brown rice, wholewheat pasta etc. My readings went very high, unsurprisingly. The advice about pairing carbs with fats and protein is sensible, but test and test again after every meal and you should work out what is causing higher readings. Also remember that testing isn't that accurate, there's a 10% error margin so please don't beat yourself up if you're given a target of 7.8 and you end up at 8.1.

I developed polyhydramnios as I couldn't get my readings under control, but ds was fine although big - 10lbs at birth. He's now 19 and has no health issues whatsoever.

[Oblomov18]

Paneer curry with celeriac mash.
Roasted peppers with feta.

[lavalamp08]

Had readings today one hour after dinner 4.4 and after tea 6.1 - happy with these don't you think?