GD- great, now I have a ring around my neck

cindy453

This GD thing just gets better and better. I've developed a weird ring of dark skin around my neck- it looks like I just didn't wash well. It's bad enough my grandma commented on it today! I googled it and apparently it's a sign of having too much insulin in my body... I don't know if it's from the GD or the mega doses of glyburide, but seriously... I did NOT need this.

I had no risk factors for GD, and I have even less risk factors for getting the dark ring- it's most common in people with dark hair or people of color. I'm blond and super pale. Why me? 

Google says that it "generally" goes away after delivery. 

thequeeenbee

Wow! I've never heard of that before! I'm sorry, I hope that it at least lightens up for you a bit, turtlenecks aren't really an option in this weather!

cindy453

I'm a bit worried, it's not super common with gestational diabetes (and like I said, I'm fair skinned and blond... I REALLY don't meet the qualifications), but it is fairly common with a thyroid problem. I hope my thyroid isn't freaking out as well!

I'm on the highest dose of glyburide, maybe that's it? I don't know, it's so weird. I'm worried since I've had so many problems with my numbers it means the GD won't go away after I have the baby  

dennice79

have your doctors ran a hemaglobin A1C? It checks your levels for the last 3 months more accuratly than the test strips.

cindy453

No, they haven't done that test... at this point I've had GD for so long though that I don't think the A1C would tell anything. It would all be from the point when I had GD, kwim? and I KNOW my blood sugars have sucked since then!

I was tested for diabetes within the year before I was pregnant, my levels all came back completely normal- not even in the pre-diabetic range. 

dennice79

it would tell you exactly how bad they have been, instead of assuming there bad because of the test strips.

EliseB0323

I'm not pregnant, but I am diabetic, and I've had the "dirty neck" thing for years. It sounds like you may be insulin resistant, meaning you've got a lot of insulin in your system, but your body isn't using it efficiently, so you blood sugar is higher than it should be. If you still have it after you deliver talk to your doctor about drugs that are insulin sensitizers that can decrease insulin resistance.

skoorbnibor

it is acanthosis nigricans, and it isn't necessarily too much insulin, it is that your body isnt using it well, and it has no where to go...

I think an A1C might offer some answers... it sounds like you might need a long acting insulin?