++500 glucose In urine

[Whototalkto1]

Evening!

I home urine test a few times a week due to pre eclampsia in previous pregnancy. This evening I have a reading of ++500 glucose. I have had sugar in urine before on tests. But never that high.

do you think this is a call triage tonight one, or just wait for my midwife app next Thursday?

27+4 weeks pregnant

Thank you. I didn’t realise the impact the GTT could have I just assumed I would need this for diagnosis.

I just know something isn’t right, I can feel if. I felt like a naughty school child when I told her about the urine tests. She was more concerned I needed to see the mental health midwife!!

lucky I got my hands on a blood glucose monitor really… 😢

Yeah the GTT is really just a screening tool @Whototalkto1 - you’re symptomatic and have proven high blood sugar readings so are beyond needing that. I really hope you get some proper care today and glad you have your husband with you to help advocate and provide moral support. Let us know how you get on?

Good luck today op i really hope you get it all sorted today. A complaint is definitely warranted after this.

Wash your hands and repeat.
It's not unusual to have a trace of sugar (from making tea etc) on your fingers and then coming back with a result like that.

my T1 friend who lent me the machine thought this was the mistake I was making with the readings so high. Unfortunately not, always washed and dried.

OP sorry you’re having such a hard time with this. To echo others, you don’t need a GTT, you will definitely need insulin at minimum overnight due to high fastings (metformin can only be used to help the post meal reads). I know the long wait and not being taken seriously is frustrating but there’s a small silver lining in that you’re already started on diet and blood sugar testing so when you see the diabetes midwife you already have the information you need to start on medication. Most people after a positive GTT result will have a wait to see the midwife/diabetes team, and then they’ll be taught to test sugars and do that for several days to get an idea of how things are sitting, and only after that will start medication. So in some ways you’re a little ahead, even though you’ve had to fight. I agree also with others that it warrants a complaint, ridiculous that no one took you seriously. Where I am diabetes screening is routine at 26-28 weeks for all women who accept it, a lower glucose load for “low risk” and the full GTT if higher risk.

update!

I have seen a midwife this morning, who is appalled I haven’t been seen yet. She’s sent me straight to antenatal clinic at the hospital to demand to be seen, I am currently waiting for the diabetic nurse to talk to me (probably bollock me for home testing!) and I have been booked in for a GTT first thing tomorrow, they will not take my home readings.

It's absolutely insane they're making you take a GTT! Red tape rather than patient care, put it alllll in your complaint. I suppose at least it's now being taken seriously.

If the diabetic nurse bollocks you, bollock her right back for not returning your calls!

Diabetic nurse was actually really lovely, and has no record of my referral from triage! Hence no phone call! She apologised for not being there to answer my calls when I rang and said I shouldn’t have been out through as she was in clinic and unavailable anyway.

she also said unfortunately she cannot accept my home readings as I have used a different glucose monitor than they would use, so had booked me in first thing tomorrow for a GTT.

she even said her self it seems daft but she cannot issue anything to me without them again my hospital number

All this will be going in as a complaint to PALS. I have kept a record of everything.

Glad you’re getting sorted now!!

it’s possible they won’t be allowed to prescribe you metformin/insulin without a GTT. If they were low enough to not need medication it might be a different story.

tell your boss you’re preempting a day off sick, you certainly won’t be going back to work after the GTT!

That's at least some progress @Whototalkto1. Good luck tomorrow. I agree with @Sebora - if you're working then take the day off sick as you will want some rest afterwards.

This is basically what she said, looking at numbers I will need medicating which she cannot give me off the readings I have

Thanks for advise RE sick day, I wasn’t sure if id be well enough to go in afterwards

I have had my GTT this morning. Absolutely horrific! The drink was fine, there was 10
of us there and everyone else looked fine but I was getting blurred vision, extreme nausea, light headed. They had to take me back to a bed. How embarrassing!

should have the results come Monday

Dont be embarrassed op they are used to it. When i had my GTT a woman in feont of me passed out cold and no one could rouse her, she had to be taken away in a wheelchairthey said it happens to at least one on each gtt clinic. Hope you get results quickly.

Dont be embarrassed, some of those other women probably aren’t diabetic but we already know you are and you drank pure sugar, you were bound to react. I went from 🫨 to 😴 in less than an hour. I slept the rest of the afternoon cos I felt awful.

Monday they have said they will call
if it comes back I have GD.

This is reassuring. I have slept for 4 hours this afternoon, can’t remember the last time I slept in the day. Woke up for nursery run and feel horrific still

Last update for anyone even remotely interested.

As expected. I have had a call to say I do have GD and my numbers were very high, I have been asked to attend tomorrow to get the ball rolling, testing kit for a week then potentially medicate.

totally expected and in a way a relief and thus explains what I have been feeling SO poorly.

thanks for all your help guys

I’m glad to hear they’re taking it seriously now and I’m sure once you get your blood sugar levels sorted with whatever medication you need you’ll feel a whole lot better very soon.

Best wishes for you and your baby.

Glad you’re getting sorted!

Now they know you have GD, you should have growth scans at 28/32/36 weeks - don’t let them say you don’t need these as you do and they should be arranging it ASAP for you.

also don’t let them bully you into having an early c section or induction purely based on GD. They’ll often scaremonger telling your baby is going to be a fully grown adult and they absolutely must perform a c section or baby will get stuck in labour (shoulder dystocia). Whilst these things are a risk, the growth scans can be highly inaccurate (my 9lbers on the scans turned out to be 6lbers). The NICE guidelines suggest OFFERING an induction at 40+6 to those with GD. I see so many stories of “they won’t let me go past X date”. They can’t force you to do anything, it’s your body and baby. I was booked in for an induction at 39 weeks even though I said I didn’t want one (consultant wasn’t happy when I cancelled it!). Myself and plenty of others have had perfectly normal spontaneous labours and births.

there’s a whole page on the GDUK website about inductions and birth plans etc.

I’m a community midwife and I was reading this absolutely HORRIFIED that the community midwife wasn’t doing anything about it. Actually horrified. That really warrants a complaint to PALS and I’d also ask for the band 7 team leader’s email address to speak to as well. Undiagnosed GDM can be a huge risk factor for stillbirth so she made a big error. Glad you’ve had the test and can now be monitored properly!

Glad you're finally getting the care you deserve. It breaks my heart to think that access to basic healthacre requires women to jump through hoops all while strongly advocating for themselves. Imagine if you hadn't felt strong enough to advocate for yourself and push for care?
When you're feeling better, do consider following up a formal complaint.
For now, get your head around managing GD and welcoming your baby here safely. Feel better soon x

Thank you, I am 29+2 now and I am schedule for a scan at 32 weeks due to low lying placenta.

I am having a section anyway. Due to previous birth complications and potentially my placenta. I wouldn’t under any circumstance be induced again, I have read the horror stories of women pushed into having early sections and inductions due to GD. Horrible!

I am measuring over 2 weeks ahead. I think I’ll ask if they can book me In for can before 32 weeks too for a little peace of mind as my anxiety is now through the ROOF! (Along with my blood sugar!)

Thank you kindly, I am praying I feel better quickly, I feel absolutely shocking!

Oh she was horrible to me, truly horrible. I have a bloody thick skin and despite me being there with numbers off glucose monitors and pictures of ++500 on urine strips she really tore me a new one, made out I was an idiot and then blamed it all on my mental health and said she thinks I need to speak to the MH midwife. I was shell shocked, I didn’t even argue because I was so shocked.

can you advise how best to go ahead with my complaint? I’m seriously worried she will do this to other women