Gestational diabetes - Advice & Reassurance Pls

[AR23]

Hi,

I am 29 weeks today and a few days ago at my 28 week midwife appointment I found out I have gestational diabetes (my sugar levels were 8.4 and the midwife said the cut off level is 7.8).

So firstly I'm really upset and sad, it came as a bit of a shock as I've just turned 31, I'm slim, exercise regularly and eat quite healthily.

I'm still waiting on receiving my letter for the next steps, which I think are attending a gestational diabetes clinic where I'll be given more information etc.

I'm just looking for advice and some reassurance until then I guess. Called the midwife and she wasn't able to help much as she wasn't a specialist on the area. But from what I know so far, I should avoid white bread, pasta, white rice....desserts, biscuits ad sugary things, and fruits that are quite citric.

Are bananas ok? And porridge?

I had the glucose test done at week 27, got the results at week 28, and today I'm week 29....so it's already been 2 weeks I've had it without me knowing, in which time, I've had the occasional chocolates, cakes etc, so I'm a bit worried. The midwife said it can lead to large babies being born....and effectively high sugar level is like poison.....so I'm really scared now.

Hey ladies,
Happy Christmas Eve to all... I have a question to ask.
Does anyone know anything about protein powder with gd? I used to use it post gym work out and a with a few other things like protein pancakes etc and I'm thinking about using it now for a milkshake (almond milk and stevia sweetened powder with a frozen banana (if I can stomach a banana)) - any thoughts on if this would be ok 1) in pregnancy using protein powder and 2) with gd? Thanks!

@Pip231018
Hey, seen you on the April post. This feed was really good but it's gone a bit quiet recently. Happy to chat/provide support here.
I was diagnosed early at 18 weeks, I have family history too. When I was told I got so upset but now, a couple of months on it's going ok.
You said your first appointment was Friday? They will probably give you a test kit for finger pricking, they usually say to text 4x a day. Did they tell you the results from your lucazade test?

@mintbear Hey, thanks for this. No, they didn’t. Just said my results were a bit high. I am happy to try the diet controlled root as would rather avoid any medical intervention unless it becomes impossible. I watched my sister beat herself up but I really like there was a predisposition, I am disappointed. More than anything, I’m such a busy person I got told at the midwife that I wasn’t taking of myself and in turn the baby so I felt awful. Now I wonder if my lack of routine and long hours have contributed. I did speak to my work to say I can’t continue with this workload but now, I really need to re-evaluate things because this will require more time out and more of a reason to tajes a break. X

@Pip231018
I know some people were put straight on tablets regardless of their results so don't beat yourself up if this is the case. How many weeks are you?

I'm diet controlled which is a good as I was diagnosed early and this is reducing my risk of going onto injections (which I thought to would have inevitable for me).

If you've not already, cut out all white bread and anything obvious - anything with sugar. When I started this I went on a massive sugar crash and I was very moody for about 3 weeks (just a heads up).

That must have been hard to hear in your midwife appointment. If you're getting pressure from work see if you could get a drs note for adjusted duties? Or perhaps on the back of this, you could explain to them that you're now 'high risk' in your pregnancy, will be going to more appointments etc so they need to start lightning the load?

Hi again everyone,

Around what week was everyone told their inducement date? I'm now 35 weeks and have been told I will be induced between week 38 & 39 but haven't been given a specific date yet.

Hey @AR23
I'm far off being given any dates as I'm 25 weeks. I'm interested to hear how you've been getting along with gd in the later part of your pregnancy?

Hi @AR23, my previous hospital scheduled it at 40 weeks. My new one is 40+6 unless there are reasons to move it forward (I think it can be different if you're on insulin). 40+6 is the NICE guidelines for uncomplicated GD pregnancies apparently. It seems really late!

I'm only 26 weeks though, so I'm just going off my notes!

@mintbear Hello!

Okay so I was diagnosed with GD at week 28, and was diet controlled for about 4 days haha which is when I had my first appointment with the diabetic consultant who put me on metformin straight away (my post meal levels were fine diet controlled but my pre-breakfast levels were borderline). So initially I started off taking 500mg of metformin with my evening meal which was aimed to help with my morning pre-breakfast levels.

Few weeks later had another appointment and my case was still the same, so they increased the dose to 1000mg in the evening.

Another few weeks later I had a few spikes in my post breakfast levels (about 2 or 3 spikes over one week), so they put me on another 500mg of metformin with my breakfast to help with POST breakfast levels. I still had a few more more spikes, so at the next appointment they increased my morning dose to 1000mg too.

My post meals readings are all fine now (lunch and dinner were never really in an issue tbh) but my fasted levels are still borderline, although not everyday. Sometimes I go through a 4 or 5 day run where the readings are good, but then I have 2-3 days in a row where the levels are around 5.3/5.4.

I just had my most recent appointment with the diabetic team yesterday, but they didn't put me on insulin because these pre breakfast levels are only "just borderline". The diabetic nurse also went out to get another opinion of another consultant who thought the same. They told me that if my levels suddenly start to get high consistently, then I should call them and they'll reassess.

I think I have definitely noticed that sugar levels get harder to manage as you progress in your pregnancy, because I have literally been having the same breakfast ever since I found out but as you can see my levels did start to spike. I'm also a vegetarian, initially I did struggle with food prep and ideas. I FB messaged "Gestational Diabetes" thinking I would be fine as there are loads of beans/pulses and legumes I can eat which are high in protein, but I was told that they are also high in carbs so would need to be paired with fats and other proteins....struggled with that.

Nevertheless I still gave it ago, and most my dinners are an indian curry made from either some sort of green vegetables / or some sort of bean/lentil which I have with either brown rice OR chapatti....and my readings have been absolutely under control. I have just cut down on the carbs because before I used to eat white rice AND chapatti with my curry.

Breakfast was 1 wholemeal granary seeded bread paired with peanut butter or avocado...but lately that's been enough to cause spikes. So I have 1/2 a toast now with peanut butter/avocado and a bit of yoghurt, then when I get hungry after a few hours I can eat the other 1/2 of the bread.

I also do 20-30 min walk after each meal which probably helps.

I was also hvaing 1 glass of milk before bed, but only found out yesterday that could be causing my sugar levels to be borderline in the morning.

Anyway, all in all, it's not so bad now. The weeks are beginning to fly by now so just looking forward to the end result :) Just stay positive and do your best, the diabetic team are really supportive and encouraging.

@Bromeliad ah ok....I think they may change that for you, but maybe they haven't said as it's still quite early. My consultant said that they don't really let ladies go to the full 40 weeks because of risks of gd...and would only really consider it if you were fully diet controlled. But since I am on metformin I will be induced between week 38/39. I'm kinda looking forward to meeting the little one earlier.

@mintbear I'm 27 weeks on Friday. I don't eat that much white bread, I can't even remember when I last had bread. I have been eating a lot of crumpets though (they've been my pregnancy craving). I don't even eat a log of carbs really - just rice. I think it's the hidden carbs that I will have a load of.

That's good to know, I didn't know that you could automatically be put on medication. It really helps to know that that can happen. I didn't think I'd have it despite the family history (wishful thinking?)

My work have said I can get a sick note because they know how much pressure I'm under but my manager says one things and then does another, she is very reliant on me. I'm going to increase my working from home days and after today (a day I never want to repeat) I am seriously considering if it's worth the stress. It's the second time a midwife has told me to do less and I'm beginning to think that they have a very valid point.

Apologies - half of my last post didn't make sense. Well done for making it through. X

@Pip231018 sounds like you're having too much (even for someone who is pregnant) put upon you. My work we're good about it, as in what they said to me but I was still getting loads of work. So saying one thing and doing another. They said I didn't need to formalise things with a drs note but I decided to cover myself and get one. I now feel much more confident with taking time as sick when I need to. My note recommended wfh more too which has made things easier with being sick. I'd defo get on to your doctors and have a conversation, good luck with it all.

I'm not sure on crumpets but I'd imagine they wouldn't be a good thing to eat from a gd pov but everyone's bloods react differently. With rice, basmati is the best option, I wouldn't eat just normal white rice. Also, don't eat white potatoes eg jackets/roast/mash.

Check packets as sugar is in pretty much everything that's been processed. Another tip is to mix and match food - so if you can tolerate some carb, eat protein and fat at the same time and this will reduce your readings.

@mintbear Oh yeah, I know crumpets aren't good. I'm gutted about that. Although my sister was told to eat one every night before bed when she had it. I just want to sit down with the nurse and figure it out. I think until I've had it explained to me, I will struggle to find my own path.

I manage a team of 20 in a very chaotic environment. When you leave work, you don't really leave because you're at the end of a phone. I've actually opted to leave 6/7 weeks before my due date because of this and I'm really glad as when the GD gets harder to manage I won't have to worry that I can't go for a walk as I'm back to back for 8 hours. Testing my bloods at work is going to be a real challenge for me. I'm considering taking leave next week so I can just focus on myself and figure out what I need to do to control my bloods and take advice from groups like this.

Thanks for responding, it really helps to hear off someone who knows what to do. X

@LokiCat this is the thread I mentioned. X

@Pip231018 it sounds like you've got a lot on, I hope you manage to get a bit of a breakup get your head around everything.

@Pip231018 good luck for today, hope it goes well. Did you manage to sort something out with your work?

How's everyone getting on with their gd? I'm still in a bit of denial about it. At my last appointment they said I could reduce my finger prick testing to twice a day, which has been great for me. I have needle phobia and it's been so difficult. I just have to keep a very close eye on it.

I did get some protein powder, my fav sweet treat now is frozen strawberries, strawberries and cream protein powder, half an avocado and almond milk - it really fills me up and it's getting some fruit in which I've struggled with being so sick. Reading is always low afterwards. Anyone else got any sweet treat tips?

Hey ladies, how is everyone getting on?

I've not been well over the last few days, today my fasting reading was 5.3 so I tested again and got 5.1. Post breakfast, the same breakfast I've had every day since gd diagnosis was 6.8 (usually around 5.8). 6.8 is a high reading for me.

I'm wondering if it's because I'm under the weather?

@mintbear Hey. Sorry to hear you've not been well.
I've only been doing this for a couple of days but I couldn't say necessarily if you being poorly has impacted your readings. I too have been unwell and I'm on 9 antibiotics a day, my readings were high on Sunday when I started taking the medication. But I'm also finding my feet, so I can't say conclusively if it's the illness or the food.
As you progress through your readings will start getting harder to control, they told me that on Friday and my sister was the same.
I hope you manage to get back on track. X

@mintbear hello dear, how many weeks are you now? My levels started to spike around week 33/34, so they increased my metformin dose and it’s all okay now. My prebreakfast levels have always been just borderline (on and off though), I went on a 6 day continuous run where they were below 5.3, but last two days they have been 5.4 and 5.3.

I wouldn’t worry because you’re post eating levels are still well within limit. At your next appointment they may increase your meds. It also depends on your scans and how baby is growing. And also how often these spikes are happening. So try not to worry.

Thanks @Pip231018 @AR23
I'm nearly 25 weeks, diet controlled at the moment. First growth scan in a few weeks time so we will see what comes of that. Baby is inherently big (90th% at 20 week scan) so it is a little worrying with the gd but I am going to have a c section regardless.

Have you had many growth scans?

@mintbear I found out I had GD after the 28 week glucose test, so I had growth scans at week 30, 32 and have one this week at week 36.

@mintbear if you're ill I shouldn't worry about it too much. It's the first thing they ask me if I've had some weird highs and I've been told to just discard them.

Just got another 5.3, then tested the same drop of blood again and got 4.3. So I pricked then other hand and got 4.8.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened, I'm going to write down the 4.8 but tell them about it- makes no sense!

@mintbear this has happened to me a few times and I mentioned it to the diabetic midwife. She said blood flow to the various fingers flows differently so sometimes there is a small difference when testing between different fingers. I always stick with the first reading and try not to over think it unless if it’s a massive anomaly.

Hey All.
I am a terrible sleeper and I've been awake since 2.30. Over the last hour I've started to feel sick. I notice that in the mornings I really need to eat. Is this normal?

Also, does anyone have any advice for ketones? The past two urine samples have both had them. I am trying my absolute hardest to make sure I eat enough but after dinner I don't feel hungry. Then even after breakfast I have had ketones. I've bought some testing strips so I can check my levels at home as I'm worried. Everyone tells me how bad it is to have ketones but not how to prevent them. Is it a snack before bed? More water? Advice welcome.

Thanks.