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?

Don’t panic just yet! I had a GTT a couple of weeks ago and the monitor said 5.1 fasting number but when the blood went to the lab, it was actually 4.3 and the two hour number was then 6.1 meaning now diabetic!

It may well be that once your bloods are processed properly at the lab, your numbers aren’t so high.

@Cockerwalk i hope so but I must have GD as my readings are high when I monitor my blood sugars at home 🥺

@dreamerkr but that’s what I’m saying: could it be that the monitor is out? If it’s only 5.5 could easily be updated to below 5.3 with a proper lab test?

Same

OP - if you have GD and struggle to maintain your blood sugars with diet (and a believe a high fasting blood sugar reading can indicate that) it’s not your fault and if you need medication to manage then that’s best for the pregnancy and for you. Don’t feel bad or guilty.

Take care xx

You do still need to maintain the diet otherwise you'll just have to keep increasing the insulin/metformin amounts to balance what you are eating.

I actually ended my pregnancy 1 and a half stone lighter than I started it due to having a healthier diet so it's not all bad 😀 of course it all went to shit when I then spent the first 3 months post pregnancy eating flapjacks and brownies.

On Metformin I had the porridge for breast fast, one slice of seed bread at lunch (with cheese or baked beans), then a very few tiny potatoes for tea with lots of salad or veg and some protein. Before going on Metformin I couldn't even manage that amount of carbs without my blood sugar going high. I also had 3 snacks a day - things like Greek yogurt, or nut butter on a rice cake. Bizarrely a two finger dark choc Kit Kat also counted as a snack!
I did end up shrinking and the bump got larger. I was quite slim when I got pregnant and the GD meant I was the same weight as soon as I came home from postnatal. My maternity jeans would no longer stay up as soon as my baby was out! I don't think that helped as I had no fat reserves at all and really struggled with BFing (diabetes is a big risk factor for low supply anyway).

Thank you so much guys ❤️ Were your readings bad with all normal carbs? Rice, potatoes, pasta?

My reading an hour after dinner was 5.9 so that’s so good, even though I had a bit of pasta (normal one, not wholewheat), with fish and veggies. I went for a 15 min walk after dinner so I’m guessing that’s what helped. I’m happy with that 😌

Yep any carbs sent mine up. It was a bit of a problem as before I had GD I'd have things like a pulse based pasta sauce but that became impossible as the pulses are carbs too! I could have them, just in teeny tiny portions.

I used to go for a walk after every meal - it seemed to take so much time every day with the endless preparing meals and snacks and then going for walks after them!

Good to hear @dreamerkr and my midwife said that walking was one of the best exercises you could do to prepare for Labour to strengthen your legs and hips so it's all good.

I did find that all pasta/rice/potato dishes made my sugars high, so I limited them, chose brown rice/wholewheat pasta/sweet potatoes and bulked them out with other veg. If I wanted something like spaghetti bolognese I'd have the meat and sauce and either a small portion of pasta or serve it with green beans instead so I could have a massive plate.

If I wanted a sandwich type meal I'd either have open faced on rye bread or have crackers like ryvita with toppings, my favourite was Longley Farms full fat cottage cheese, that stuff is lush, so much better than supermarket brand cottage cheese, like a whole different food in texture and taste and no more expensive, but can only find it in Asda or Morrisons.

Join the gestational diabetes uk group on fb. It does feel massively restricting at first but once you get the hang of it there's loads you can eat and as someone else said the added bonus was that I lost a lot of weight (well I think I did, I had twins in my gd pregnancy and had gained 24lbs when I found out I had it, then when I had them 9 weeks later I'd only gained 20lb total and my twins weighed 8 and 6lbs) I did end up on insulin in the end and that really helped me keep my sugars in control and allowed me a bit more freedom with eating.

Good luck

Could I ask what monitor you use as keen to buy one?

You need to make sure you eat your evening meal earlier and cut the carbs. You are bound to get high readings if you’re not sticking to the diet!

High blood sugar harms your baby and causes them to prematurely produce their own insulin which then impacts on their blood sugars after delivery so it’s really important. I know it’s hard but it really is crucial that you follow the diet advice.

Metformin also isn’t without risk to your baby so it’s not the easy fix you think it is. If you need it then the risks have to be managed of course but taking it as a way to avoid sticking to the diet isn’t going to help.

Going for a walk after a meal definitely helps readings too.

Definitely join the Gestational Diabetes UK group as they have the most current advice.

If you record 3 high fasting (>5.3) or post prandial (>7.8) readings, you’re considered to have gestational diabetes. Fasting levels are the hardest to control as it’s due to pregnancy hormones & if you continue to record them, you’ll be given Metformin.

I was on Metformin as I couldn’t control my fasting levels despite perfect diet control. Unfortunately the basic principles of the gestational diabetes diet will continue to apply on medication. ie. meals can’t be based around carbs so breakfast cereal, toast, pasta etc need to be the smaller part of a meal & paired with lots of fat and protein. I cut them out altogether as I couldn’t tolerate them.

Exercise in the early evening helped me to a degree also.

Intermittent fasting doesn’t work with gestational diabetes for most people. A lot of people do better having a small snack late such as cheese & nuts. Most people with uncontrolled gestational diabetes will have a blood sugar low overnight & start dumping glucose in the early morning. Intermittent fasting will exacerbate this but a high fat/protein late snack can help prevent the “dawn phenomenon”.

It’s not all bad though! I had a c-section (for a variety of reasons) but baby recovered fine and passed her sugar tests, and we had no breast feeding issues. She’s gained weight well and never needed formula. If you do need a c-section you get to go first on the day due to needing to fast.

@WonderWoop my trust issued me with an AgaMatrix Wavesense Jazz machine.

I'm only 22 weeks and monitoring myself at home and seem to have it too. I can keep it after meal levels down if I'm very careful but fasting levels are high so looks like I'll need metformin too. It's going to be a long 18 weeks :(

And my baby was fine - I was induced at 38 weeks because of the GD. She had normal blood sugar levels within a day of the birth (had to have one 40ml formula and some glucose then to help her). My milk was severely delayed and didn't come in until 8 weeks but some of that was the birth.

But my blood sugar was back to normal within 24 hours and all my subsequent annual tests have been fine.

You still have to keep to the diet on medication but the meds allow you to eat the (low GI) carbs that your baby needs. You should reduce carbs and make sure they are low GI but don’t eliminate them. Replacing white carbs with brown ones help. I could also tolerate basmati rice which is quite low GI for a white carb. Potatoes were quite a good carb for me as long as the portion wasn’t huge.

Thank you so much guys. Over the last few days I’ve been monitoring my levels and mostly, it’s my fasting levels that are slightly too high (5.5 for yesterday and 5.6 this morning), even though I’m having dinner earlier now and my after dinner reading was great last night. Any ideas how to bring down fasting level?
I already know I’m going to have to go on medication because I’m unable to get my fasting levels under control, and I feel so bad. Will medication be harmful to baby in any way? 🥺

@dreamerkr Don’t worry & don’t blame yourself. Fasting levels are entirely due to pregnancy hormones and by far the hardest to control, you can’t out eat a misbehaving placenta. The only thing that made a difference to my fasting levels was my two weekly office days when I’d walk 7+ km commuting. Not feasible in late pregnancy not least because I’d wake up the next day feeling like I’d been hit by a truck!

Most people find that their readings go down with each meal as the day goes on. I could tolerate things for dinner that I couldn’t consider for breakfast.

Medication will be more beneficial for your baby than uncontrolled diabetes. Left uncontrolled, your baby will produce insulin to counteract the fasting levels and this isn’t good for them, not least because insulin is a growth hormone and will cause their belly to grow too large. It’s much safer for baby to control GD with whatever means necessary.

Don't worry, the medication won't harm your baby. Uncontrolled diabetes would so it's far more important to get it under control.

Thanks so much guys. ❤️

As others have said. Metformin is not without risks to the baby however the risk of uncontrolled diabetes is far far higher and so it’s essential if needed.