Glucose intolerance test-out of normal range?!

[pitstop16]

Hi, I had the diabetes/glucose intolerance test last week and I've just called my doctors surgery to ask about the results; the receptionist looked at my notes and said I was 'just out of normal range'. She said if there was a problem someone would have rang me...surely that's not a good thing and I should now be monitored/checked again?! Has anyone else experienced something similar?

BTW I'm 28 weeks pregnant, second pregnancy and 35 years old x

This is why receptionists shouldn't give out information over the phone - they're not trained to do it and you're not trained to receive it. Call your midwife and ask them to clarify.

I've not had similar but I do have gestational diabetes - I would be pushing to be seen by the team.

I was just over!

You could offer to monitor your levels for a week -that should help them see either way.

Thanks for the helpful advice SockQueen! Obviously we are not trained, I just came on here to see if anyone else had experienced similar so that I could decide what to do next!

Thanks PeppaPigStinks, it just didn't sound right that I'm 'just out of normal range' but nothing would be done about it! Since spoken to my friend who is a GP and she said usually those results are checked by a doctor and then actioned, so maybe the results had only just come in and not been looked at by anyone

Do you know what your results were? My GP told me mine and said they were borderline normal, but I then had a call from the hospital a week later saying I have GD. Mine were just a few points over.

No, don't know what exact results were but am booked in to see a consultant tomorrow about other issues and she should be able to see the results on the system so hopefully she can advise me further! But thank you for your input, making me think it could be GD and I'd rather know so I can do something about it ASAP!

I had this. And then full blown gestational diabetes within a week.

The receptionist should not be giving out results!
Speak to midwife, at least get it repeated soon!

I'm not trying to be flippant - the receptionist doesn't know what the numbers mean so saying something is "just out of normal" may or may not mean anything significant. If the reference range she has is for fasting glucose levels, and your 2hr one is "out of normal range" then that is not necessarily an issue at all, as the cutoff for that number is higher than the fasting one. I had to have two GTTs and both times was told that I would be called if I had GD, and that no news was good news, rather than having to rely on calling up someone unqualified giving information over the phone without any clue of its significance. Hence why I recommended you speak to someone actually trained in interpreting the results - glad to hear that you're seeing someone tomorrow, and hope it's all ok. Even if it does turn out to be GD, there's loads you can do and lots of resources both for diet management and medication.

She might mean you're just out of normal every day range but being pregnant it's fine. Mine came back 6.8 - which my midwife explained would be high normally but fine for a pregnant lady

Might be worthy posting this in the Facebook group called Gestational Diabetes UK Mums. You have to request to join but there are some amazingly experienced people on there. Good luck.

Dlah, it's the opposite. Mine would be fine if I wasn't pregnant but as I am pregnant it is actually GD. My fasting was 5.3 and my 2 hour glucose reading was 8.1. Normally that would be classified as pre-diabetes, but as I am pregnant the figures indicate gestational diabetes. If your 2 hour post glucose reading was 6.8 that's great as is under 7, so all is good!

Dlah, it's the opposite. Mine would be fine if I wasn't pregnant but as I am pregnant it is actually GD. My fasting was 5.3 and my 2 hour glucose reading was 8.1. Normally that would be classified as pre-diabetes, but as I am pregnant the figures indicate gestational diabetes. If your 2 hour post glucose reading was 6.8 that's great as is under 7, so all is good!

Thank you everyone for taking time to respond

After seeing the consultant today I'm now to monitor my levels 4 times a day for the next 2 weeks and see where we are then!

So not full blown GD yet and hopefully can ward it off with my diet etc!

I'm doing the same. It's quite interesting. I used to eat loads of fruit but it sends my blood glucose through the roof!

That's good pit stop. Having had a previous large baby- most likely due to un detected gd I would definitely err on the side of caution!

Good news pitstop, hope your levels behave themselves!

I found www.gestationaldiabetes.co.uk very helpful for diet info, though you have to pay to get to a lot of the recipes/meal plans. I believe they also have a FB group, though I haven't joined it.

Hi all again,

So 2 days in and each reading is above what it should be so far I purposely haven't adjusted my diet YET as I thought the purpose of the monitoring would be to see how I'm reacting to what I usually eat. So my question is; at what point would they say I have gestational diabetes? As I'm supposed to be monitoring for 2 weeks and I'm sure if I made a few changes I could bring my levels down, but I want it to be known that I do have diabetes (if I do) so that medical staff are aware for any potential future issues.

Hope this makes sense!

What's your resting level and what's your post-eating level? X

Hi

As soon as you have 1 reading over the guidelines they say you have GD. They use the wording borderline which I don't think does anyone any favours, they told me I was borderline which left me in denial, it's better to adjust your diet now as it gets harder to control blood sugar between weeks 32-36. Do join the Gestational Diabetes UK Mums Facebook group, it is excellent for dietary advice and lots of moral support from ladies going through the same thing. The diet advice from hospitals is not great and the quicker you can get your levels under control the better for baby. If I had followed the advice from the hospital I think I would have been medicated far more than I am (on 1 metformin with dinner). Luckily, following the advice from the Facebook group I've only had 1 high after meal reading (

Vap0, my hospital says over 5 for fasting is GD, but mine is usually 5.2 or 5.3. I had read online that that is OK but my hospital want to put me on metformin...

Different hospitals use different levels, the ones our hospital run by are NICE guidelines. If your fasting is usually around 5.2 /5.3 it may be an idea to go on the metformin as it will get harder the further along you get. Have you tried having a high protein snack before bed? That helped me keep my levels below 5.3 until I hit 32 weeks (when things jumped and I needed metformin). I started having a handful of nuts, some people have cheese or some meat which can keep it low.

I haven't! But will do! Thanks for the advice and help. X

I was "just over" the normal range and was immediately treated as having GD both pregnancies. My normal diet sent me over the limits continuously, so I had to drastically change what I was eating. They should give you advice if they want you to change things - I saw a dietitian both times.

My resting level has been 6/6.5 and post meals 7.8 up to 9.8 my hospital's guidelines are fasting less than 5.5 and one hour after food less than 7.8

Then that would deffo be classified as GD, Pitstop, and I am pretty sure they will want you to be experimenting with your meals to work out what will bring your blood sugar levels down to the recommended levels rather than continuing your current diet. It's quite interesting seeing how your blood is affected. Then hopefully you will be able to control it with diet for a while rather than being put straight on drugs. My fasting level is usually 5.2/5.3 but I have managed to keep my post-meal levels to below 6.4 but I think they will put me on metformin soon...

Vap0 - I checked with Facebook and if I join the group it will show in my friend's newsfeed that I have joined as it is a closed group and not a secret group, so although I am really, really keen to, I will wait until I have told people about my pregnancy. X