Gestational diabetes.... Help!

[39Suzy]

I was diagnosed at 34 weeks this week. I deliver at 39 weeks (elective induction due to previous history).

My previous GTT (because baby was measuring big) was fine.... i eat healthily, only a few pounds overweight at booking in (due to previous pregnancy which was late TFMR 12 weeks earlier) and walk the dog / walk during my commute 5 to 7 hours a week but was retested at this stage due to sugar in my urine (a one off.... not had it since). The day before my diagnosis i had done 4 miles in the Peak District!!

So went in last week and had a thoroughly confusing and useless appointment with a dietitian who advised me to cut out carbs basically (portion of rice or pasta is two tablespoons, portion of fruit is half an apple or 6 blueberries) and no sugar (dont have sugary drinks ever and cake occassionally). My plate should be half salad or veg plus i should be walking for 20 to 30 minutes everytime i eat (some confusion if this was in addition to the above fairly active lifestyle?!). If (ha bloody ha) i got hungry i should snack on houmous, carrot sticks and rice cakes (but no rice???) or nuts and cheese.

Two days in i was so hungry and lethargic i was in tears. I spoke to a friend who advised to still have carbs but spread out through the day and keep it topped up with mixing protein and high fat items too.

Seems to be working (still hungry most the time though) although this morning my reading was 11.1 an hour after breakfast (one piece of seeded brown bread toasted, bacon and mushrooms with about two teaspoons of tomato sauce).... assuming it was the sauce. One hour later it was down to 4.1. Been fine the rest of the day (well so far).

Has anyone got any advice or recipes?

Fed up already of eating sodding houmous (have switched to protein ryvita as an alternate to carrots), nuts and cheese and rice cakes with peanut butter. Lost 2lb this week which cannot be right.

Not a big meat eater, lentils and beans arent really filling me up for long (hungry an hour later) and dont particularly fancy eggs right now.

Hit me with some suggestions 😊

I don’t think your sauce would have spiked it by that much (especially because it fell so quickly afterwards). Are you sure your hands were totally clean when you tested. The machines aren’t completely foolproof so if you get a random reading that high again it might be worth retesting. If you’re getting readings that high they’re going to suggest medication because you do need to be able to eat some calories!

Really? Thanks for that reassurance. The only reason i had the sauce was because i thought it couldn't have made that much difference given what else i was eating.

Had some malt loaf this afternoon (although the dietician told me not to and to.eat dried fruit) as had a look online and lots of people had said it was ok to eat with butter. Also had some tuna and cheese and nuts.... yawn. Reading is 5.9 exactly the same as after lunch 😕 assuming it is the malt loaf?

Ps yes definitely washed the hands

That reading this morning sounds wrong then - if you could tolerate malt loaf ok then sauce should have been fine.

GD is so boring - at least you don’t have too far to go!

I had gestational diabetes and high post breakfast readings. The dietician told me the post breakfast ones are the ones that tend to be higher & to cut out carbs at breakfast. The next appointment they were much improved but the midwife & obstetrician were horrified by the advice the dietician had given. They said baby needs carbs and if having them at breakfast was causing increased blood sugars then metformin could be increased but I shouldn't be reducing carbs to tackle it. So I added a hash brown at breakfast... still don't know who I should be listened to. I gave birth a week later and all was well!

Oh and sauce/condiments are very high in sugar! I cut them out completely. Along with baked beans- even the reduced sugar brand made me spike!

I had trouble with carbs at breakfast. I had to cut them out completely at breakfast. I wasn’t so bad at lunch and dinner and could tolerate small amounts of carbs . It’s trial and error as to what you can and can’t eat and at what time. I also had to eat my evening meal no later than 5pm, otherwise my reading would be high first thing in the morning.

It’s a pain but doable. I got sick of the sight of cheese and eggs though!

There’s a Facebook support group and website with brilliant GD recipes, gestational diabetes.co.uk. With my GD I reduced carbs and substituted refined carbs with whole grain where possible. The key is to pair your carbs with healthy protein and fats such as peanut butter and cheese to control your numbers. Processed food such as cereal, sauces, baked beans etc would cause a spike depending on your tolerance level.

That is where i am so confused as lots of my carbs (bread at least which is more than a third of daily intake) is already wholemeal or seeded. I make everything from scratch so don't eat anything processed as such out of jars (obviously tomato sauce excluded) like pasta sauce and curries etc. Sounds like it is common to offer no advice as to how to get enough calories to maintain your current lifestyle (just felt like the assumption was that i stuff my face with shit and do no exercise). I am so pissed off feeling hungry constantly.....all i want is a piece of toast or something with substance!!! I agree, it seems ludacris for someone to tell you at 8 months pregnant to stop eating carbs.

Thanks for the FB page, i had a look at that earlier in the week but seems to be a lot of ante natal general posts to get through before you get to any recipes or advice but will keep looking.

I found some red lentil pasta and edamme bean spagetti which actually were ok (made of veg flour, DH reckoned they would be fine and at least if felt like i had eaten something) so will try those again for lunches for work with pesto (from a jar.....can't stand the stuff and normally make my own but the gluten free one is faily calorific with out being too greasy) or normal tomato / veg pasta sauce.

Made a chicken curry last night with cauliflower rice (like cous cous.... tastes of nothing and could eat a gallon and still be starving an hour later) and sugar snap peas. Got some leftovers for the week.

Going to have a go at 'risotto' with it later with some red peppers and onions plus a gallon of cheese and side salad (ot is snowing here and eating sodding salad).

Last night i waited until after my post dinner and had a chocolate rice cake (dietician told me not to eat these... usually would have one in the afternoon maybe which i mentioned in my appt). Made no difference to my pre-bed bloods so going to buy some in as an evening 'sweet' something. Makes no sense whatsoever and feels like i am cheating...

This morning i had three eggs and bacon in a wholewheat wrap (fresh tomatoes chopped instead of sauce) followed by 2 x plain rice cakes with peanut butter as i was ravenous when i got up (walked about 2 to 3 hours yesterday), still feel hungry 😣and i still have to walk the dog!

Going to wait until i have done my bloods then have a banana or something!! Jesus this is grim.

I had brown rice & brown pasta as it's slower release carbs. High protein peanut butter & Apple was a favourite snack & I still have it post birth. As an evening sweet I had 10kcal jelly- can't sell that one as exciting but it was better than nothing!

Remember aswell that it may not be enough to change your diet and medication may be needed just because! That doesn't mean you haven't tried everything you could, it's just the state of your body atm. I also got a book of food/snacks that the dietician had for ideas but the name escapes me atm...

I also had a lot of halloumi & avocado at breakfast!

Do you have to be as restrictive with wholemeal.pastas etc? Dietician said portion was a small teacup (two tablespoons) which just seems not worth the effort!!

I did think about peanut butter on banana or apple (i sometimes eat that anyway) although confusingly she has told me to stop eating fruit as a snack or limit portions to half an apple or six blueberries (seriously, what is the point?). Yep have had a few of the jellies, they are ok actually (although i seem to remember they can have a laxative effect if consumed too much, maybe the sweetener? Which makes me conscious of eating too much artificially sweetened food!).

Hallomi i will have to buy, i used to have it now and again with pork kebabs and pitta (having a day off houmous today !!!). Can't remember the last time i had avocado. I think i like it (definitely like guac so could whizz some of that up for lunches). Thanks ☺

I can only speak for my experience but I had a normal sized portion of brown rice or pasta and my sugars were within limits. I really miss those breakfasts though, no way I can cook something like that with a 5 month old to look after. The pic is before I added carbs back to breakfast again!

Oh and with fruit I was just told to space it out e.g. not straight after a meal or 2 pieces together but they didn't say anything about having half a fruit!

Thanks, i may try and reintroduce some carbs as constantly snacking on stuff (in between taking blood tests!) that have few calories (carrot sticks, rice cakes etc).

Had 2 lots of rice cakes this afternoon (admitedly one was a chocolate one i had with cheese just after post lunch test) and test before dinner (three hours after i ate the chocolate) was 6.8. I genuinely am lost 😔

Just wanted to say that I've had GD 3 times, and whilst there seemed to be some correlation between diet and readings with my first two, there was literally nothing I could do to make sense of what was going on with things the third time. I was fairly well practiced (diagnosed all three times by 12 weeks because of family history) so it wasn't like I didn't know the score.
I just kept telling them I couldn't control it. They kept telling me not to eat cake (SO frustrating since I'm not at all overweight and my food diaries never mentioned cake!). Eventually an actual consultant saw me, and then a professor. They came to the conclusion that I just had naturally high blood sugar. Still had metformin (which is awful at first), but at least people stopped treating me like I was being useless and had no self control!
So keep talking to the nurses, and keep a food diary. Eventually someone (hopefully!) might take the time to listen to what you're saying. In the mean time it sounds like you're trying - and I know it's really not easy! Good luck!

Thanks for the encouragement, i am utterly frustrated... just have not got the headspace or time to deal with it on top of everything else. And sick to the back teeth of being hungry and going to bed with a rumbling stomach 😢

I have made a diary over the weekend and taking it to tomorrows appt.

I couldn't tolerate carbs with GD I didn't eat sugary things made all my curries and pasta sauces from scratch but I was always high. I was given metformin and that helped a lot! I still couldn't have carbs for breakfast though, I ate a lot of omelettes or bacon and tinned toms and mushrooms, as a treat I would have a poached egg with half a round of bread, it was only for a few weeks and then my sugars went back to normal and I didn't have to worry again till my next pregnancy.

It just doesnt seem to make any sense to me.... post dinner reading 6.2 🤷‍♀️
Had a wholemeal wrap in the end with chicken , cauli rice, kidney beans, salad and bit of grated cheese with dollop of chilli mayo. Still bloody hungry and how come its gone down? Grrrrrr

This is going to be a long five weeks...

You may just need to have metformin prescribed. Remember your body has all these hormones racing around that are causing this issue. If you are getting to the point of starving yourself to keep your sugars in check then it isn't being controlled by diet and you should ask your team to consider medication. Good luck with your review today!

Review today started with the 'oh you just havent got the hang of it' til i whipped out my food diary and bashed her around the head.....well not quite but started reeling off what i was eating, the fact that i am am ravenous and that i have lost weight (which they dismissed....).

Looks like i cant tolerate even small amounts, it is causing a spike (half a potato, rye bread this morning). Suggested cutting it out completely and increasing protein... great advice for someone who is not a big meat eater, is currently eating cheese three times a day, already had two eggs for breakfast....

Anyway, conceded that looking at my readings they will give it one more week then medicate.

Made a risotto from a tiny portion of aborio mixed with half a riced cauli, roast red peppers, cannaloni beans a bit of left over chorizo and a mountain of cheese. Was actually ok (and felt like a meal!). Doing bloods in ten mins 😕 not sure how the white rice will go down!

Pre dinner reading 4.7. Post dinner 5.7 whaaattt? grabs chocolate

Just an update in case it helps someone else.... went off to my appointment this week with husband in tow for.moral support!
Had lost 2.5lb, had ketones in urine (body in fat burning mode due to lack of energy) and unable to eat even a small portion of carbs without my blood sugar spiking. Consultant took one look at my readings and put me straight on insulin. Why they let me struggle for two weeks is utterly barbaric 😔

Have been able to have a little bit of rice with my curry and some bread with breakfast for the last week which has made a HUGE difference to my energy and i am not losing weight.