Support and help with Gestational Diabetes?

[Crapweasel]

Failed the "Lucozade test" last week, I've now been told that my GTT has also come back high and have therefore been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes.

Having failed the Lucozade test but passed GTT during my last pregancy I was really hoping to dodge that particular bullet again. Oh well....

Did some searching in the archives and found this fab old thread with lots of support and tips on diet etc. Any current sufferers (or experienced old timers) fancy joining a similar thread for 2010?

I have a diabetic clinic appt on Tues (where I understand I'll get a finger prick testing kit and see a dietician) so I'll report back then.

I'm 29 weeks by the way.

[burmesegrumbler]

Thanks Crapweasel, Choc & Marmite,

Had the sweep, not painful, midwife said there wasn't much she could do, I'm 4cm and fully effaced, but did what she could - I just have a stubborn baby - looks like she has now chosen her name; Constance the closest to stubborn we could get!

Good news is she is indeed fully engaged, didn't seem in the slightest bit bothered by the sweep. MW says she will talk to the consultant tomorrow and see if I agree to go in for a a couple of hours of daily monitoring, if they will agree to give me a few more days for the spontaneous labour I have been waiting - not that patiently for!

She says induction won't work as I have already done my bit, it's up tot he baby now, so they would have to ARM, then give me just two hours to start contractions - if not I would be put on a synthetic oxytocin drip - which in her view will have no effect if the baby isn't ready and I will end up with an ECS ten hours later if not sooner, so she is going to fight for those extra days for me. I count myself so lucky to have her on my side. DH is getting a little nervous as he knows there is an increased risk of still birth with long gestations and with his brother losing his baby at full term less than a year ago, I can't really push this to beyond 42 weeks or he will find it too stressful, so lets hope I can push induction/ARM to Friday/Sat and hope she arrives spontaneously sooner!

I have spent the afternoon walking, eating pineapple, drinking RLT, doing the deed and popping out for a curry....not all at the same time.........

Fingers crossed!

[ChocolateCalculator]

Burmese your little one really does have her own ideas about when she's coming doesn't she?

I can't believe you're 4cm and still nothings happening at least your midwife is supportive, sounds like you've got a good one there.

I'm exhausted just from hearing about your efforts to get things moving!

[RubyReins]

Wow Burmese! You must be so fed up now. That's great that you have a supportive midwife. 4 cm is well on the way so hopefully the wee tyke will spring into action soon. Sending you more labour vibes!

I had a mammoth monitoring session at the hospital yesterday. The assessment unit has the same triage as the labour ward so it was fascinating on the people watching front; women clutching the reception desk with a luggage laden panic stricken man in tow!

The session was good too. The heart trace is "beautiful" apparently and the baby is very active (which I could have told them!). I had a scan which was lovely; LO was sucking his or her thumb The sonographer told me that the baby has a "lovely face" which although lovely to hear was a bit odd! The fluid levels are good, LO's size is good, my BP is good and my sugar levels are almot all within target. I saw the nicest of the consultants I have seen thus far and she has now agreed to no induction until 40 weeks. She did say that I was right to challenge last week's doctor as she had given some odd advice. So I left feeling very happy!

Interestingly, when I was gossiping with the midwives at the hospital it emerged that many practitioners don't believe that GD exists at all; they think that it is the upper level of normality and many women are being needlessly medicated and treated. This was obviously not the official party line but it was interesting to hear. Their view was that babies are getting bigger because we are getting bigger. Another thing that I thought interesting too is that the diagnosis levels for GD have just been lowered in the last few weeks. So what was a normal response to the GTT will not necessarily be viewed as normal now. I wasn't told the sugar levels to aim for now as I am in the previous cohort where the "old" guidelines still apply. If anything this thread and future ones will probably be pretty busy soon if that's the case!

Hope you're all well and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you Burmese!

[burmesegrumbler]

Hey Ruby,

Sounds like things are going in the right direction for you, glad the monitoring went well!

I think there is a lot of panic about big babies due to the ever worsening western diet, so many folk really do believe they eat healthily, but you only have to look at ingredients in most standard 'healthy looking' foods on sale in the supermarket to see we really don't realise how much rubbish we consume in our 'healthy diets'.
I think the NHS are using GD as a way to scare pregnant women into being more careful about their diet, especially if they have just lowered the targets! I have also heard many obstetricians do not believe in GD, they think there is natural reduced insulin response in the last few weeks of pregnancy that is so common it must be for a good reason - ie the baby needs to put on a little fat! I guess if the insulin response is low pre pregnancy and early pregnancy, the baby may indeed grow too large and I think they are right to be concerned in those cases - but only if the baby is big. If it isn't big, maybe it need the sugar!

It's certainly all very interesting, just annoying that they limit your birth choices even if you baby isn't large and you have your sugars under control!

Having some grumblings today, hoping full on contractions might kick in, off for a massage and a walk now.

MW just rang to say they can push the induction date to Saturday, when I will be 40+14 as long as I go in for a couple of hours daily monitoring at 8.30 every monitoring - fine my be, really hope she wants to come out before Saturday!

[Debs75]

Had my Clinic appt today and apart from the hour long wait before I saw anyone it went well.
Saw the same Physician as last pregnancy who was pleased that I had managed to lose some weight since last time (2 years ago). we talked about my experience with GD last time and she said unless baby grows massively she wouldn't push for an induction. I told her about the gallons of fluid and she said if that happens again and baby is 'normal' sized I should be able to go full-term. Am having a growth scan in 2 weeks so should see if baby is growing as per dates.

On the food front saw the dietician who said from what I like to eat he just wants me to stop pigging out and reduce my portion sizes. which sounds fair as I know I tend to eat too much cereal and I tend not to leave much on my plate. I can eat soft fruit ,yippee, so I can get some strawberries, cheries, raspberries etc which I adore and always crave when pregnant.

Have to do my bloods before meals but not after as my fasting levels are really high. On the GTT my fasting was 7.9 and after it was 12.1 which was shocking considering I had no real symptoms. They want to put me on Metaformin(sp) and if my levels are still high, as early as next week. Insulin is a last resort as I am overweight.

Burmese I think you are right about the scare tactic coupled with our useless diets. from a shopping view you see all this food laid out and there is always more high sugar, high fat stuff then the real healthy stuff so subconsciously you think it is ok to eat them or they wouldn't be sold so freely. The only way to know exactly what you eat is to cook everything from scratch and failing that produce it all yourselves.

I asked the dietician why MW's was so against losing weight when pregnant when it is obvious I have a lot to lose before I get near a size skinny? He said it is because the only research they have is from the war when the Germans captured POW's and starved them. Resulting babies were born malformed and many didn't survive. Some MW's and nurses feel any weight loss is detrimental just based on that section of mothers. He would like to do research on dieting pregnant mothers but he isn't allowed. I gladly volunteered but he said just to keep eating healthily and to see what happened and not to be worried if a MW or nurse commented on my weight loss.

[burmesegrumbler]

Hey Debs,

Glad some yummy fruits are back on board for you! Your diabetic chappy seems very nice compared to most!

Don' feel bad about your weight, best for you to be feeling happy and healthy, you can concern yourself with weight loss afterwards, but to be honest, the diet required to keep GD under control will probably cause some weight loss anyway, hence it's very important to make sure what you do eat is very nutritious indeed, so you and your baby get all the vitamins and minerals you need. Besides GD isn't necessarily a weight related condition - there are lots of slim women at my clinic, I am a size 8 and my pre pregnancy BMI was 22 and I still failed the GTT, so try and put weight issues to the side and see it more as a nutrition thing - how can I get the most out of the calories I can consume and keep my blood sugar from surging and dipping.

Here are some ideas for healthy low carb snacks that might work well for you between meals without pushing your pre meal readings up too much. Snacks will be your friends with GD, little and often seems to be the key (I'm sure I eat more - but spaced out over the day, rather than in three big hits), especially if you are going to reduce portion size of main meals - you will be ravenous for snacks and the baby will kick you to bits if it's hungary too!

Pieces of fresh coconut (M&S sell them at the moment, £1 a pack pre chopped) just a few chunks are really heavy and filling.

Almonds, Cashew Nuts etc

Green & Blacks DARK choc mini bars (the milk and white are full of sugar - but the dark choc - 70% cocoa solids is not as bad) - I buy the tiny bars and have a few chunks with a cup of tea/coffee through the day - not all in one go.

Oatcakes (make sure they have no added sugar) - one or two between meals helps me

Chunks of cheese

Cucumber and carrot chopped into sticks to dip into Humous.

Fresh Pears & Apricots seem to have very low sugar contents.

More generally, cows milk products have a higher natural sugar (lactose) content than sheeps or goats milk products, if you like milky tea/ coffee a few times a day or love yoghurt in the morning, it might we worth looking at alternative lower lactose products.

Switch from white rice to brown basmati rice, cut out all white bread products and look for seedy no added sugar wholemeal breads. I found no difference in readings after eating wholewheat pasta vs white pasta, and the wholewheat stuff is pretty yucky.....

Pulses are a great way to feel full up without eating as much carbs - chick peas, butter beans, lentils etc - I can send you some simple recipe ideas of you let me know which pulses you like!

I woud also try adding a pinch of ground cinnamon to much of your food, I have defo found porridge and hot chocolate without a pinch of cinnamon gives me a higher reading than with....

Try to do something active between meals. Light activity will help to reduce your fasting blood glucose levels. Something as simple as up and down the stairs a few times, a walk to the shops and back, a bit of hoovering or ironing, a few yoga positions or a bit of a boogie to a few songs on the radio,through the day, it all helps!

I am now 40+11 - going in to the hospital for monitoring today, induction date is being moved as long I as go in for daily monitoring. Had major grumblings all day yesterday and through the night, convinced I can feel her tying to scratch her way out! Hoping the contractions get stronger and show a clear pattern soon!

[ChocolateCalculator]

I wrote a big post last night and I've just realised it never appeared- grr, stupid iPod!

Sounds like there have been lots of positive midwife/doctor experiences over the last couple of days, just goes to show how much luck of the draw in who you see impacts on your experience. Debs it's interesting the different views you get on weightloss during pregnancy depending on who you see. I have lost weight during last pregnancy and this one (or more precisely haven't gained much. With DS I weighted half a stone less on leaving hospital than I did when I got pregnant. This time I am 26 weeks and have gained 4lbs). Neither time anyone has been in the slightest bit interested, even though in my opinion it is indicative of the problem of my history of low birth weight babies. I am usually a size 10 and really don't want to be losing weight, but just can't seem to gain weight. This is not a problem I have when I'm not pregnant.

The GD discussion is interesting (and I had lots to say on it last night!). I think I come down somewhere in the midpoint. My own experiences have taught me that it definitely does exist, but it does seem that the tests are picking up those who have normal insulin resistance rather than GD (based on what Burmese has said she can eat I would guess that she doesn't have GD). I have no idea how you balance the test to pick up the genuine cases without too many others being wrongly diagnosed. It does seem regular blood sugar monitoring and testing the impact of different goods shows the difference, but the NHS seems loath to do that (probably to difficult and too expensive). I think the GD tag should be removed if a food diary and BS monitoring shows there is little problem. I also suppose part of the problem is that if you look only at the experiences of people like those on this thread you get a distorted picture. If you're interested enough in your health and diagnosis to join a thread like this you are also probably interested enough to make the reqired dietary changes and consequently we all have good control. There are plenty of people who just won't do that and end up giving into lots of treats (my mum is a type 2 diabetic and drives me mad with her idea of what an 'occasional treat' means- my sister has commented after a weekend away with both of us that you wouldn't believe we were sufffering from the same illness!). It is hard for the doctors in the limited time they have to work out who is managing their GD and therefore the appropriate treatment.

Burmese- hope the monitoring went well.

[burmesegrumbler]

Hey Choc,

Monitoring went very well, baby is happy and active. I have a scan tomorrow to check levels of water are still Ok. Induction date moved to Saturday when I will be 42 weeks. There was a bit of confrontation about this, but armed with my 'small bay' scans and five weeks worth of blood glucose monitoring that show the only thing that raises my levels is stress (funnily enough my breakfast reading today was 7.5, the highest it's been in four weeks - was I perhaps stressed about the induction date move conversation???).

Lot's of BH today, quite painful, but not the real deal yet me thinks.....so hoping she makes an appearance before the weekend, so will keep up the regime of walking, RLT, clary sage etc etc......

I am so surprised they haven't been more proactive with helping you maintain your weight, seems ridiculous that they fuss about weight gain, but pay no attention to your weight loss, especially given your last baby was very small. It must be so hard keeping the blood sugar down, but feeling like you are eating enough for your baby.

I wonder if there is another consultant/dietician who might be more helpful with advise on your diet, I hope so, please ask and let us know how you get on.
xx

[ChocolateCalculator]

Burmese, how is that baby not out yet?!? Glad the monitoring went well. Given how dilated you are I'm sure that even if you do end up being induced it will be fairly easy (I nearly said painless!).

I'm being scanned in a fortnight and if the baby hasn't caught up (unlikely given my bump doesn't seem to have grown, just glad I can feel plenty of movement) then I will be referred back to the consultant and I will be asking lots of questions, believe me.

I don't think it's my diet, I am eating loads of calories and getting obscene amounts of cheese, nuts and cream. Last time I was about the same size at this stage (my husband thinks smaller) and I hadn't yet had my GD diagnosis and was eating tons (especially lots of cake!). Last time I just didn't realise that it wasn't normal and therefore didn't really ask too much. First time round you just assume someone will tell you if there's a problem. When I see the consultant I will be asking if there are any tests which they can do to try and find out why I'm so rubbish at growing babies. Even if I never have another one, I would like to know if there is some underlying problem.

Anyway hope those BHs turn into something.

[mathanxiety]

I was told only low fat dairy products were ok, definitely no cream, ice cream, milkshakes, no full fat cheese, butter.

I was allowed fat free milk, cottage cheese, low fat cheese, and low fat yogurt (plain preferred) only. Lean meats in moderation, or an egg a day were ok, but not fried, just boiled.

No bacon, sausage, chips, crisps, fried food, frankfurters, gravy, cream or roux-based sauces. No fatty meat like chicken thighs or drumsticks.

Carbs only about a cup of pasta or rice, or a medium potato were allowed. However, up to about 6 cups of plain popcorn were ok Fresh fruit just one unit as a snack (i.e. 1 pear, 1 apple, a few pieces of other fruit like grapes or strawberries or blueberries) Beans -- again about a cup. Banana counted as a carb and a fruit. Veggies were recommended, again in moderation, and salad dressing was supposed to be low fat and very sparing.

Exercising after a meal was recommended.

Towards the end I actually felt pretty hungry by bedtime. Had a plain cracker and small glass of fat free milk.

[ChocolateCalculator]

Maths, your diet advice couldn't be more different to mine, and to be honest i can't understand to logic behind the low fat advice other than obviously from a weight management/long term health perspective. Obviously ice cream and milkshalkes would be a disaster because of the sugar, but I can't understand cream, full fat cheese, eggs and bacon. Fat doesn't impact blood sugars and as far as I understand actually slows the passage of food through the stomach so helps to eak out what insulin you do have, certainly I can eat more bread if I pile on the butter and strawberries work for me if I drown them in cream but on their own they spike my sugars.

I imagine your dietician was aiming to promote a healthy long term diet which can be continued after the baby is born and will help manage weight, which is often a factor in GD. I know I wouldn't want to carry on eating the same quantities of full fat dairy products long term as I am now, so a diet as you were recommended is certainly closer to how I will go back to eating (maybe with a bit more cake though!).

I'm not surprised you were starving by the end of the day, what did you find happened to your weight eating like that (or is that too nosy?)?

[mathanxiety]

I can't stand low fat cheese or margarine, and cottage cheese makes me boak, so I just had a smaller amount of real cheese, less butter than I might normally, and had an egg for lunch (boiled though).

I don't think low fat anything results in long term weight loss to be honest and I really hate the taste, seems fake to me. One of the things that really puzzled me about the dietitian's advice was that I could have low fat fruit flavoured yogurt; when I read the ingredients I found the sweetener was aspartame so I avoided that too. I like plain yogurt though, and I put berries in it.

At my last checkup before birth they were a bit concerned that I hadn't gained all the weight I should have (surprise surprise) for the 9th month. But my sugars were perfect all through and I didn't need insulin -- the thoughts of insulin kept me really honest about the diet. I had two more snacks of milk and very plain digestive biscuits and a banana every day to get a bit closer to what I should be gaining without throwing the blood sugar out of whack.

Since DD was born I was a lot more conscious of what I ate though, and managed to lose the tummy flab that was quite stubborn with all previous babies. I kept off stuff like ritz crackers, crisps, chips, developed a taste for dark choc instead of milk, and still only have a little ice cream instead of the full bowl that the DCs might have, small slice of cake or pie, etc. -- they are running it all off after all, and I'm not. I don't eat full fat things in the same quantity as before, but I think a bit of fat is probably better for you than anything fake or overprocessed like low fat cheese, etc.

[ChocolateCalculator]

Maths, I quite agree that most low fat products are grim, I am of the little amounts of proper food too, there is no way I could carry on eating the way I am at the moment long term.

The advice you were given though does sound like they are trying to include a weight management aspect too. I suppose some people (not you!) might think that if a dietician told them to eat plenty of cheese that cheese was a good thing to eat all the time.

[burmesegrumbler]

No idea why this baby is so stubborn, besides possibly taking after me! I'm beginning to think it's phycological now and am going to see a homeopath today for some remedies that will relax me enough to let nature take it's course. I don't feel anxious but I think my sister in laws still birth and my looming induction dates may be having more of an effect than I realise.

Good news todays monitoring went well and even the diabetic consultant says the only thing that makes any difference to my blood sugar is stress, food seems to have no effect, so best for everyone to avoid all my foody advise in that case! Anyone ever heard of stress related diabetes????? I guess when I have the follow up GTT six weeks after the birth I will find out if I have imaginary diabetes or a mild case of glucose intolerance after all.

Obstetrician says as long as the daily monitoring is good I can move my induction to next Tuesday when I will 40 +17, I think that's fair enough and at that point would be worrying about the health of the placenta anyway.

Math Choc is right, does seem like the nutritional advise you have been given is not purely geared towards GD. I was told to avoid low fat products as a) they tend to have higher sugar contents and b) fats help with a less dramatic glucose response. Also sounds like all they want you to eat is meat! Never heard of anyone being told not to eat too much veg (though sensible not to eat too much of the very sweet veg like peas, carrots, beetroot & sweetcorn) but green leafy things are your friends, low sugar an full of iron, folic acid and vtamins! Maybe ask to see a different adviser at your next appointment for an alternative view.

Hope all is well with everyone?

[mathanxiety]

Burmesegrumbler, I suspect my dietitian did her studying at a time (and in the US, too) when low fat was seen as the future, and a cure for everything from heart disease to carbuncles. I can't stand anything that doesn't taste real and was brought up to believe that less processing was always best. So since DD was born I have happily just limited portion size, avoided the empty calorie stuff for the most part, and upped my intake of veg and fruit.

The veg they cautioned about were those you mentioned peas, carrots, beet, sweetcorn but salads, anything leafy, broccoli, etc. were all given the green light.

I think the one useful thing I came away with was the idea of what a healthy portion size looked like, as well as the wake up call that I could have an impact on my own health through simple choices.

I think there's a link to stress and blood sugar -- it's part of the fight or flight response; epinephrine and cortisol are produced while you're under stress, either physical or emotional, and one of their functions is to raise blood sugar, since you can't either fight or flee without the energy boost of the extra blood sugar. The regulation of the sugar levels goes out of whack in diabetes, whether gestational or type 1 or 2. With gd it may be just a case of general metabolic changes that return to normal after birth.

Good luck in the coming week -- hope it all goes well.

[burmesegrumbler]

Very interesting Math, thanks for that. Could explain my GD as I was working on a very stressful project right up until 39 weeks and had to sack and replace a key member of staff before going on mat leave - not a nice thing to have to do!

Went to the homeopath, she has given me something to help 'let go' it's not a labour stimulant, it's an anxiety releaser.......will let you know if it works!

[mathanxiety]

Yikes. That's a lot on your plate.

I was under quite a lot of relationship related stress during my pregnancy, and I have wondered if that contributed to the gd, as there was no family history of any kind of diabetes, and I had never had it before for any pregnancy, nor was I in any way overweight (BMI low to medium always, after being very low 18ish up to my first pregnancy) But I was older, late 30s at the time.

[ChocolateCalculator]

Portion size has probably been my biggest learning point from the GD experience, I have started weighing out all my portions and have realised how much I was putting on my plate. DH has cut his portions right down too, probably as a result of seeing our dinners laid out side by side. I think I will carry on weighing pasta and rice after the baby is born as I don't want our portions to start creeping up again.

The hardest thing I found last time was not to go crazy with the sweet stuff after the baby was born, as I have a very sweet tooth and was always starving while breastfeeding. I think this time I might make the rule that I can eat as much cake as I want as long as I've made it myself. I imagine a 19 month old and a newborn may mean my baking opportunities are limited and this will stop me pigging out!

Burmese glad to hear that induction is being handled sensibly, the odds are on you having the baby by Tuesday anyway. I'm off on holiday tomorrow so will be looking for your news when I get back.

[RubyReins]

Hmm. I wonder. I've been preparing for heavy duty exams over the last five months and just finished them three weeks ago... I got myself in quite a state about them too. Maybe there's something in this stress theory. I'm not typical for GD either other than having PCOS. Not overweight, health freak diet and no family history. Sugar levels, although medicated are now in the threes at all times with a smattering of twos. In the two weeks before my last exam they were in the eights with medication and my diet hasn't changed. Stressful job too although I am pretty much phoning it in now! I wonder if that has had a contributory factor. Interesting!

Good grief Burmese! This baby is fair clinging on! I have high hopes for the homeopathic remedy - let us know how you get on.

Good luck and have another dose of labour vibes!

[Debs75]

In my previos pregnancies I have lost a significant amount of weight in 2 and ballooned in the other so I would be pleased if the GD diet allowed me to lose some excess weight. I am reducing my carb portions and eating more veg, spaced out through the day, and soft fruits. I have found oatcakes and cottage cheese to be my saviour for a snack and I have dirched the chocolate, it is just not worth the headaches.
Will try coconut though as I love coconut.
Am against most low fat/low sugar products. To make a low fat spread taste nice it needs sweetening, and then it still tastes like plastic. I try and aim for the small amount of the good stuff, and sometimes I do succeed. I am at that stage now where baby is moving things around so I can't finish a meal in one go. I have to have a min or twos rest a couple of times so I am not eating a full plate like before.

Burmese Heaping on a huge dose of labour vibes. Your baby is clearly very happy where she is.

[aendr]

Hello, may I join?
I'm 28 weeks and had my GTT on Wednesday, with a result of 5.9 fasting and 7.8 after that lovely sugary drink . So I got to spend all morning up at the hospital and got given a glucose monitor and told that if I don't keep it below the standard values I'll go on tablets on Monday. However, I didn't get to see a dietician at all due to half term, so the information I have is a single page of paper and a page in a booklet which essentially say the same things very vaguely. Helpful, that. Things like this thread will have to do till next Friday, when I'm hoping the dietician will actually be there!

(envy emoticon used because there isn't a nausea one, and is nice and green and reminds me of nausea)

[burmesegrumbler]

Hey Ladies,

Thanks for all the positive thoughts! Have decided to stick to the induction tomorrow, just back from a lovely dinner with DH, our last evening of freedom!

Welcome Aendr,

7.8 afterwards is within the normal range in the NICE & WHO guidelines, it's your before level that is ever so slightly raised - I personally would ask to the test again, I'm convinced if I had taken the test on a day when I was less stressed I would have come back with a normal result. Having said that, your insulin response will worsen as the weeks go by and you are already borderline, its part and parcel of pregnancy for glucose tolerance to drop off towards the third trimester, so do take all the nutritional advise you can get - mainly don't eat 'empty calories' everything you eat should have good nutrition, so that your baby doesn't grow too large/fat, or suffer from it's own impaired insulin response when born - usually too low which can be very dangerous. Avoid cakes, biscuits, ice cream, sweets, fizzy drinks and eat real fruit rather than drinking juice. Chose wholemeal/wholegraon over white in bread, rice etc.

Good luck with your dietician next week, google the NICE guidelines in the meantime, as some hospitals have even stricter targets than the NICE & WHO guidelines state, best to go in informed - I posted a link a while back on this thread, scroll through and you should find it.

[aendr]

burmesegrumbler thanks for the welcome, and good luck tomorrow.

I appear to have managed to typo - I meant 8.8 post glucose, not 7.8 (must have had the thresholds for "failing" the GTT in my head - 6.1 and 7.8).

I've had a good first two meals of keeping my blood sugars below the required levels, but we're having a very rare trip to the theatre tomorrow (DS1 (19 months)'s granny is babysitting) and dinner out so I'm a little worried about food options for that.

I read this entire thread yesterday (after getting the GTT result and having the appointments booked for today), and followed your link - very useful, thank you. Just need to investigate actual food choices/options.

[burmesegrumbler]

Hey Aendr,

8.8 is impaired glucose tolerance, rather than full on diabetes - which they still call gestational diabetes, but good news for you is that you should be able to control readings like that with diet alone and perhaps not require insulin. The other ladies are better placed to offer product advise when it comes to shopping for GD, I haven't really had to do change anything asides, no fruit juice in the morning & try to be stressed. They will be able to help yu in way more detail than I.

I hope you have a lovely evening out tomorrow, a few tips to put your mind at rest:
Keep an eye on the size of the portions
Try not to fill up on bread
Avoid pasta or risotto
Meat, fish and cheese are fine, as are all veggies asides the very obvious sweet tasting ones
If you go for a curry have rice or bread, but not both and avoid chutneys - they are full of sugar.

One of my lowest meal readings ever was after a massive juicy steak at Gaucho, with a few chips, lots of salad and even a glass of red wine - couldn't fit any pudding in, the steak was so massive! Drink lots of water, I'm sure it helps and if you can go for a walk after dinner, a bit of activity will get the blood glucose down! Most of all, enjoy yourself!

x

[Debs75]

They have put me on the tablets. My morning readings are all above 7 and sometimes 8. Have to take a metformin after breakfast and after tea to see if it helps. am on the lowest dose so there is a bit of wriggle rom before insulin.

Am starting to miss the bread atm. When I get really hungry I would just have a small sarnie and would be fine until the next meal but I can't face it now. Need to find something as filling but not carby (I love carbs)
I know apples are meant to be a good fillerupper but DS tends to pinch them all.

Burmese Good luck for today, although by time you read this it could all be over.