Do I have gestational diabetes?

[Elspethelf]

Early in my pregnancy, about 5 weeks, I had an A1C reading of 5.9% and my Dr instructed me that I would have to change my diet and read my blood glucose levels three times daily for the entirety of my pregnancy. She referred me to a GD dietitian. I can’t recall her saying I have GD though.

Shortly after I left on a long overseas vacation and cannot easily contact my Dr.

I’ve been testing my blood glucose three times daily for three weeks (2 hours after breakfast, lunch and dinner) and my average reading is 101. At first I was being careful with my diet but since the readings look good I’ve just started enjoying my holiday and I’m not seeing a difference in numbers.

I did my own research on A1C and found regular aspirin and beta blockers can cause inaccurate A1C - both of which I take.

Does this sound like GD or is my Dr just acting with an abundance of caution? I’m totally onboard with making healthier choices during pregnancy but I also don’t want a crazy restrictive diet if I don’t have to.

I go home Friday next week and have an appointment with her the following Monday, any recommendations on what questions should I be asking?

Has anyone had an experience like this?

Sorry can't really give much advice ! But are you booked in for a gtt around 28 weeks ? How far are you now ? You'll only know for sure after that really

5.9 is considered to be prediabetes so you have a higher chance of getting diabetes which is likely why your doctor has your testing your blood sugars and following a healthy diet. It may be worth testing your sugars one hour after eating to see how they're doing. I'm diabetic in the UK and when pregnant I was advised to check one hour after meals.

You need to have a GTT test to confirm GD or not

I'm very confused by your scores. 101 would be off the charts and unsurvivable.

1.01 would be a Hypo and you'd be in a coma.

So I can only assume you're averaging 10.1

That would be high, and would indicate GD and medication needed. You should have a morning score below 5.2 and a post meal score below 7.3 or thereabouts.

I'd definitely contact the doctor and arrange a GD test / ask on next steps. (Likely Metformin tablets)

I agree with @OnceUponAThread although I think the thresholds I was given for acceptable levels were lower (I think these can vary by trust).
If you are worried about managing your diet with GD, this website (and associated fb page) are amazing.

www.gestationaldiabetes.co.uk

Yes. As @Albgo says it can vary by trust. Although there are guidelines they all follow (which are all lower than 10.1 if that's the score you're getting). Attached a pic of our trust guidelines.

Ahh it was because mine were for 2 hours after eating! Thanks @OnceUponAThread x

@Albgo Yes - would deffo expect lower targets after two hours!

Slightly concerned about OPs 101.

If it was 101 she'd be in hospital - in fact I did not think it's possible so it's either a different measuring scale or OP mistyped.
If it's 10.1 then she probably has GD - when I had my blood sugars done it was 11 and the nurse sent me straight to the diabetic clinic - I did not need to do the GTT as it was already so high. I actually have type 1 diabetes now - I was put on insulin during my pregnancy and it didn't go away after giving birth.

Yes - that's what I said in previous response.

101 - unsurvivable
1.01 - hypo coma
10.1 - likely GD and needs diet management and / or medication

I’m in the USA. We use mg/dL not mmol/L. Sorry all, I didn’t realize there were different measurements. If I am reading this conversion chart right, it would be roughly 5.6 mmol/L.

No, a glucose test is not booked in for me and I’m not sure if my Dr intends to do that.

Ah @Elspethelf - not sure how the system works in the US or what the limits there are.

In the UK, 5.6 would be good for after meals, but high for the fasting pre-breakfast score. So if you were getting that first thing in the morning as well, that would indicate gestational diabetes.

The other thing in the UK is that average scores are irrelevant and it's about individual scores. Averages can be misleading as it doesn't show whether some are regularly out of range.

Unfortunately, I can't help on the ins and outs of US healthcare and I'm not even sure if they do GTT tests in the same way. Sorry!

Thanks @OnceUponAThread! I may take some additional fasting readings so on Monday I can give my Dr a more complete view of what is going on with me.

Ultimately I’ll take whatever medical advice I’m given, it’s just a shame that the only thing I want to eat when pregnant is fruit and white carbs