Another gestational diabetes question

[Wherehasitgone]

Currently on a blood sugar monitoring trial. Day 5, all but two readings have been stable and think that those two were due to residue on my hands anyway!

But just out of curiosity - how exact are you with testing times? I’m supposed to test one hour after I’ve finished eating. Sometimes this isn’t exact and it’s more like 1 hour 15 mins or so. Would this massively effect my results? Worried I might end up ‘missing’ my diagnosis of that makes sense! Would 15 mins really make a huge difference?!

I guess it depends on how close your reading is under.. for example I have tested 1 hour 15 mins after and have just been under 7.8.. I then ate the same thing next day and tested exactly 1 hour later and was 8.0 which is over. So it can drop quite quickly .. but if your reading was 5.something 1 hour 15 after a meal it is very unlikely it would have been over 7.8 15 mins earlier if that makes sense!

@Nicola2182 yes my reading was 5.3 after dinner this evening so it’s likely I would have still been within normal range? That’s a relief. Not sure how quickly the levels drop!

Ah yeah I'd say you would definitely be within the range! That's a good post reading, I wish mine would be that low 😂

Ideally you should stick to the hour as close as possible.

If you got 5.3 after 1hr 15 then there’s a few possible scenarios:

• you don’t have GD
• you have GD but you ‘spiked and crashed’ (which can happen with a high carb or high sugar meal)
• you have GD but ate a lot of protein and hardly any carbs or sugar

@Teakind I had a vegetable pie with sweet potato wedges on the side, not sure how carby that is?! I did however devour 3x chocolate bars and a bag of crisps for lunch yesterday (I know I know I’m an animal!) but my reading after one hour was 7.2. I know it’s the carbs that are most risky though!

@Nicola2182 oh bless you! I’m desperate not to have it as planning a home birth and I just know they won’t let me proceed 😭 Baby is a normal size (scanned a few days ago) so hopefully all is ok. I feel your pain though it is so stressful!

Just be prepared to argue your case. I was monitored for two weeks, all readings within range and they still pushed for an induction . So if you want a home birth be prepared for them not to just accept the readings

@Daisy4569 that is crazy! Definitely will not be letting that happen.

I have GD and its diet controlled. I set an alarm for exactly 1 hour after the last mouthful. I do this pretty religiously.

Tbh I don't understand if you have suspected GD why you would even chose to eat those sorts of meals... have they told you to carry on as normal?

You should really aim to eat fat and protein with every meal.
If you do want to knowing you have GD then Next time you eat 3 x chocolate bars and crisps take a reading at 30 mins and 1 hour as that it will show if you are spiking and crashing.

@Totalwasteofpaper yes they’ve told me to carry on as normal because otherwise how would they diagnose me? The only reason they are testing me is because I had one occasion of glucose in my urine. There are no other signs/symptoms etc.

@Wherehasitgone that meal is basically all carbs, especially if you had gravy too. If you have GD, that meal wouldn’t be tolerated at all.

Why are you monitoring? Have they given you any advice on what to eat?

7.2 is high, although not at the cut off many hospitals follow. How many weeks are you?

[quote Wherehasitgone]@Totalwasteofpaper yes they’ve told me to carry on as normal because otherwise how would they diagnose me? The only reason they are testing me is because I had one occasion of glucose in my urine. There are no other signs/symptoms etc.[/quote]
Yeah in that case if you are eating super carby meals (both your examples are carb heavy)

I would either test earlier than the hour (45/50 mins) or test at 30 past and the hour.
Because basically you want to catch the spike.
No spike = no problem

Just to add I had GD with my third pregnancy. My reading were like this at first and I was convinced I had been misdiagnosed. It didn't last though! My readings got worse the further along I got and eventually I ended up on metformin. So just because your readings are ok now doesn't mean you're not diabetic.

@whoami24601 that’s good to know. I really hope I don’t have it as I know that’s bye bye homebirth obviously the most important thing is a healthy baby but my last birth traumatised me. I have one more week of monitoring before they will diagnose me or tell me everything’s fine. I’m coming up to 32 weeks now so it’s at least not that long to curb my diet! Did the metformin make you feel sick?

@Teakind no gravy or anything! But not very protein heavy I know. Also I thought sweet potato was ok as opposed to regular potato! They’ve asked me to monitor as I had some sugar in my urine. Not sure why they opted for the two week monitoring over the GTT, possibly because I was 31 weeks?! Not entirely sure. She basically gave me the monitor and said don’t change your diet because otherwise we might miss the diagnosis. It’s a bit long winded isn’t it! I think most trusts just diagnose from the get go from GTT. Wish I had just requested that as now I feel like I’m in this weird limbo!

@Totalwasteofpaper will definitely try that schedule of testing. I’m going to run out of strips hopefully the GP has my prescription ready next week. I just want to know if I have it or not!