Fasting blood glucose level 5.5 in gestational diabetes?

[dreamerkr]

Is this a high fasting blood glucose level in GD? Any tips on how I can bring my fasting level down?

It’s been a couple of years since I had GD but I think it’s meant to be under 5.3. Unless you’re snacking super late at night I don’t think there’s much you can do to alter the fasting level except take medication. When’s your next meeting with your GD midwife to review numbers?

I don’t snack super late at night, but last night I did have dinner super late (around 10pm 😞) if that makes any difference? I actually haven’t had any appointment yet but I started to measure my blood glucose levels already. I’m most likely going to have an appointment next week

It’s slightly high but if it’s a one off I wouldn’t worry too much as the error on the glucose monitor can be 15% or more. If it’s consistently high you might need medication to control it. Experimenting with what and when you eat at night can also change it. Check out the UKGD website for more info - they have a page about fasting levels.

I was recommended to finish dinner before 7:30pm and have a healthy snack around 10pm. A late dinner might have caused a high reading.

Ideally with GD you need to have a good clear 10-12 hrs between last meal and breakfast, look up intermittent fasting.

If yo7 are hungry and need to eat in the evening then go for something like full fat Greek yoghurt, cheese, peanut butter. Basically something big fat, high protein, it will fill you up and won't cause your blood sugar to raise.

When I had GD I looked up low GI foods and recipes, keto and intermittent fasting then built my diet around that.

Ultimately if you are eating well and managing your carbs but still have high fasting results then you will need medication because it's not controllable with diet.

I ended up on insulin despite following all the guidelines to the letter, it wasn't my fault, wasn't in my control, it was just a crappy pancreas because of pregnancy.

Thanks so much guys ❤️

7.9 1 hour after breakfast high too! Tbh I was expecting that because I had 2 slices of brown bread with a tiny bit of egg yolk 😖

Just to reiterate the fasting comment, you need a good fasting period to have a good reading in the morning.

Secondly, I could only manage 1 slice of super seedy bread and only if it was with protein (egg or peanut butter). I do remember sobbing in the kitchen one afternoon because I just wanted a bowl of cereal and couldn't!

@stackhead just one slice of bread with egg or peanut butter? That’s so less 😣 any ideas what I can have with that for breakfast?

You can try adding more protein or fat to balance the carbs so more eggs or even bacon (if you eat it). Cheese and nuts are good too. The exact bread you pick might make a difference too. I typically had 1 piece if wholemeal toast with peanut butter and then some Greek yoghurt with berries and nuts and seeds and usually kept it under. I wouldn’t worry about the occasional reading slightly over target due to errors etc but look at the trend. The UKGD website has a page with loads of ideas for each meal so take a look and see what is most similar to what you normally eat. Also don’t worry if you end up on medication. Metformin allowed me to eat much more than I could have without it.

I was only diagnosed at 37 weeks so I didn't have to to it for long, but I couldn't eat bread as it sent my sugars super high. I had to have mostly protein with a little bit of carbs to keep mine low enough without medication.
Hope you manage to control it and still eat nice food.

Breakfast ideas

Fry up - egg, bacon, sausage, grilled tomato, mushrooms
Omelette - add loads of tasty fillings, veg/cheese/ peppers and chilli/ ham/ chicken
Greek yoghurt with berries
Boiled egg with asparagus for dipping.

If you want bread it should be seeded or rye as those are the lowest GI options.

It’s confusing at first but once you get the hang of it it’s not so bad (apart from not being able to eat all my favourite sugary snacks!). You should never be hungry on the GD diet, just add more natural fats and protein if you are. Also keto recipes can be good for baking etc but your baby needs carbs so don’t follow the keto diet, make sure you eat low GI carbs regularly to avoid ketosis which might be good for weight loss but bad for your baby.

You might not be able to control it with diet alone, I had to go on Metformin to keep mine under control as well as a restricted diet.

I could manage one slice of seedy bread at lunchtime but not at breakfast. The only breakfast that worked for me was plain porridge with nothing on.

I'm veggie and eggs made me throw up when I was pregnant so I struggled with the diet but if you can eat meat and eggs it'll be a lot easier!

I found things like nut butters and Greek yogurt useful.

Thank you so much guys. It’s so difficult 🥺
Do you still have to eat such a restricted diet on metformin? Or what can you eat on it? I’m scared of going on medication (I really don’t want insulin) but I feel like I will have to go onto it.

I don’t know what’s going on, my reading an hour after lunch was 8.9! 🥺 and I ate the exact same thing as yesterday. So tired of this already.

I know it sucks but you haven't done anything wrong to get GD.

Your job right now in the early stages is to monitor your diet and monitor your sugars. Keep a record of everything you eat and the results of your tests.

You may not be able to control your GD with diet, that doesn't mean you've gone wrong it just means your body needs medication to sort this out.

If I remember correctly (been 8 yrs) the days where I started with a high result it was hard to get on top of and it stayed high all day.

So go back to the earlier advice.

Stop eating at 7pm today, if you need food in the evening make it protein/fat.

For the rest of the day be careful of your carb intake, stick to low GI foods and plenty of protein/fat. For main meals I would replace the pasta/rice/potato with green beans/mushrooms/asparagus/broccoli. Really really good roasted with olive oil and garlic or pan fried with a big knob of real butter.

Take a walk after your next meal, just 20 minutes walking can help your body to break down the sugar and bring down your levels. If you don't fancy going out then try a Lesley Sansone walking exercise video on YouTube. If you have young kids invite them to join in and have a bit of fun, if you have older kids or a partner who are full of sass then maybe wait till they're not watching 😂

Tomorrow, nip to the shop and stock up on things like babybel/cheesestring, nuts, green veg, eggs (boil up half a dozen and keep in the fridge for snacking and quick lunch options), cooked chicken legs/wings.

i Had it in all four pregnancies. The only thing that worked for me in my last one was doing an hour’s exercise a day- body pump/ gym and depleting my glycogen stores in my muscles. I carried it on all the at through ( no bloody choice!) until the end. On the plus side, I was the fittest I’ve ever been 😂 as I knew I had no excuses! I know a good nights sleep also brought my levels down but there wasn’t much I could do about that- although that said swimming always meant I sleep ok for pregnancy. Good luck it, it’s a bloody nuisance x

I found a copy of the south beach diet in a charity shop and as it was low carb it gave me loads of ideas.
I was also known to go for a yomp after meals if I’d over done it on the spuds or choc!
but basically you can control what goes in ( low carb/ pair with protein) or how it’s received ( exercise). Weights are useful as you get the afterburn.

Metformin made it easier. Before I started on it I couldn't control blood sugar with diet - I was perpetually hungry and still had too high blood sugar levels. I could eat more on Metformin which meant I was no longer starving all the time!

I couldn’t control it with diet/exercise alone and ended up on insulin for the last few weeks of pregnancy, which ended up being a relief tbh. Disappeared as soon as I gave birth and my annual blood tests have been absolutely fine since.

Thanks a lot guys. Do you still have to keep to such a strict diet on metformin and insulin too? Or is it different?

@RidingMyBike what could you eat on metformin?

I kept to the same diet and exercise routine, but the insulin made it work where it had previously stopped working. It’s not an easy fix but I’d been tearing my hair out trying to work out why something that worked one day didn’t work the next.