Gestational diabetes and drop in blood sugar levels?

[Amyem90]

Hi,

Sorry for the long post but hoping some fellow GD sufferers will be able to help a little

I’m currently 34+5 and was diagnosed with GD after the 26 week test. The readings after eating have all been fine managing it through diet, however I was put on metformin about a month ago due to having several fasting readings at 5.4

I went into hospital last week with reduced movements - won’t go into the ins and outs but in the end all was ok and I’ve just been told to keep monitoring the movements closely and go back straight away if any further concerns.

The worry I’m having is that since then my blood readings seem to have dropped. I’ve had a few fasting readings at 4 which is unheard of for me they’ve always been around 4.9-5.2.. in hospital the meals weren’t at all GD friendly - one particular meal was extremely carby but my reading after was only 5.6, yesterday lunch I didn’t have the best meal as I was still feeling rough from just coming out of hospital but my reading after was only 4.6, and we had a takeaway last night for an early valentines meal - a Chinese - I’ve had one before which spiked me massively to 9.3, whereas last night afterwards was only 6.2 which again is very low for me especially after a meal like that.

The movements with baby are still ok and I’m obviously monitoring them constantly, but after entering the dreaded world of google late last night I’m now panicking assuming the worst. My plan was to make sure I’m eating properly and healthily as before and keep an eye on it and as long as baby’s movements are ok just monitor them over the next couple of days and if they don’t pick up contact my diabetes team, or obviously if I have concerns about the baby’s movements go straight back to the AAC again.

I’ve tried taking more frequent blood tests to see if there’s suddenly a spike straight away before dropping, or a spike later on, but no difference. I did read that blood levels can drop around 37 weeks but obviously I’m not that far yet

Does anyone else have experience of this happening? Is it normal or is it something I should be majorly concerned about?

Sorry to hear you are having these concerns, I get it because I have GD, have been in a fair bit for reduced movements and have also worried sometimes when readings are lower than expected.

I don’t know what could be going on, hopefully someone with more expertise will reply, but I think I would contact the diabetes team for advice. Did they scan you in hospital and check the placenta? I know they have told me they get concerned if someone is on insulin and their need for insulin drops a lot but not sure about metformin.

I have noticed that sometimes you can get unexpected low readings if you have a meal that you have had before but, perhaps without really noticing at the time, only eat a much smaller portion...or if you have a carb you have had before but this time something high in fat or protein is eaten at the same time and slows down the release.

Definitely get advice, if you can’t get hold of your team over the weekend the triage people should be able to ask someone for you.

@Inkpaperstars thanks for the reply

Yeah they did, basically I had to be hooked up to the monitors for a while - baby’s heartbeat was fine for about half an hour then just as they were about to take me off it started accelerating and decreasing quite a lot. They kept me on it for another half an hour and throughout that time it was doing the same thing. The doctor came to check it over and said I need to go to the labour ward immediately and if it doesn’t settle down within half an hour they would deliver

Thankfully it did start to settle down after that and then the movements started getting back to normal that night and the next day too. I had a scan the next day and the fluid and placenta was fine, the growth for the baby has started to taper off slightly but the consultant didn’t seem too concerned at the time, just said I need another scan in 2 weeks unless anything else happens in the meantime obviously.

Thanks I’ll give them a call I just didn’t want to bother them unnecessarily when everything else appears to be ok, but then I guess I would never forgive myself if anything went wrong and I hadn’t. I didn’t have GD in my first pregnancy, or any problems at all really so this is all new to me. These babies are such a worry!!

I found towards the end of my pregnancy my blood sugars settled down to a normal level. I worked hard to manage them and found in last few weeks I didn't need to try to manage them for some reason. Nobody was concerned when I told them at my appointment what was happening and suggested it was just one of those things and could only be a good thing.

I'd talk to your team about what's happening, see what there opinion is. X

Oh god, sudden mention of labour ward sounds so stressful!

I totally know what you mean about the worry and the responsibility! Don’t worry about bothering the medical staff though, they have drummed it into me to let that concern go!

Hi Op, have you joined the gestational diabetes U.K group on Facebook? You'll find some really knowledgeable people there who will be able to help.

It's possible your levels are spiking and crashing in time for your test if your meals have been very sugar or carb heavy. Tolerances change towards the end of pregnancy but I read weeks 32-36 are often the trickiest which doesn't match with your results.

Have you contacted your GD consultant or midwife?

@Teakind hi, no I haven’t I didn’t realise there was one to be honest I will have a look, thank you

I did think maybe it could be that so I started to do more frequent tests over the last couple of days, as in just after eating, maybe half an hour after then an hour, then 2 hours, but they just haven’t spiked at all.

They’re really low again this morning both fasting and after breakfast so I’m gonna get in touch with someone today if I can just to be safe

Thanks for your help everyone really appreciated xx

@Amyem90 did you ever find an answer?

@Mimi2022 hi, yeah so I had quite a journey.. there was never any improvement my sugars would just be low all the time regardless of what I ate - still within the limits but just on the lower end

19/2/21 - had an ultrasound and her growth had slowed right down, they said they’d keep an eye on it and wanted me back a week later for another scan

25/2/21 - The next scan showed the growth had just stopped so they raised concerns the placenta may be having problems. They booked me a c section for 9/3/21 when I turned 38 weeks exactly to just get her out, but said they’d continue to scan me and if there was anything else that showed concern they may bring it forward. I had to have scans a few days apart to keep a close eye on her

1/3/21 - Fluid and blood flow through the cord were still fine but my blood pressure was high so had to go to the assessment unit to be monitored and have a blood test to identify the likelihood of getting preeclampsia in the next 7 days before my C-section - that came back fine and baby’s heartbeat was still ok

4/3/21 - still only very slight growth on the ultrasound but blood flow through the cord still ok, the consultant decided to bring forward the date for the C-section to 8/3/21 instead. I had to go into hospital on 6/3/21 for steroid injections to ensure her lungs were fully matured and no fluid on them - I had to stay in hospital from then due to the GD as the injections can cause the sugars to spike apparently, and then I had her by planned C-section on 8/3/21 weighing 6lb 2 😊

It was full on at the time but can’t fault the care they took to make sure she was ok. I was dreading staying in hospital but I had the ward to myself for 2 days and it actually turned into a nice little break 😂 I was also glad for the steroid injections in the end as she did still have some fluid on her lungs when they got her out but luckily they could just remove the remainder quickly

Hope everything is ok for you, I’m sure other people have different experiences or everything just settles down but if you have any concerns I’d definitely raise them just to be safe.. if you have any questions feel free to message xxx