High-Risk Pregnancy
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GD and will now need insulin. Some questions.
First child and was diagnosed with GD a few weeks ago. I check my blood after every meal and also keep a food journal. After my 1 week followup, they said that I would need to go on insulin if for another week, my wake up blood sugar is higher than 100.
Well, unfortunately, for the past 3 days, it's been 103. I've changed my 9 pm snack around to either have little to no carbs, and the numbers do not change.
Does it hurt to have the shots? What will the shots do to me...will I have more energy now? I have always wondered why I am always sluggish and was just attributing my fatigue to the pregnancy.
Also, i never needed insulin before, so what different would it make if I don't take it..i am not going to go into a coma will I?
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Re: GD and will now need insulin. Some questions.
A. you must eat a carb (15g) and a protein at bed time. Even if it raises your bs you still need this in order to not produce keytones overnight. And sometimes this helps to decrease your overnight numbers since when your body doesn't have enough sugar it breaks itself down and then your sugar numbers go up.
B. The insulin shots don't really hurt. I use a mini needle head and a quick pen insulin thing. You attach the new needle each time (5mm) and then you shoot up. Lol. You dr or nurse will show you where and how and if they are anything like mine they will make you do it before you leave. Also I find that testing my bs with the finger prick is way more painful then the actual insulin injections.
(I like putting it in my upper thigh. easy to get to then my butt, or even my sides in this pregnancy, though my first pg I could and only did the injections in my side)
There are different types of insulin. If the fasting number is what they are worried about, they will probably put you on a long lasting and acting insulin. which works 8-10 hours. It won't put you into a diabetic coma, becuase they will start out on the smallest dose and work up to see what works for you.
No matter what it will be all ok. It is hard to get used to but it's worth it in the end.
If you are told you need insulin it is no big deal. Like pp said the finger pricks are worse then the shot. I also agree with pp about the carbs at bedtime. They are really important. Don't skip it. It is ok if you forget your shot once in a great while, but not on a regular basis. you need to stay healthy. We do all this to also keep our baby healthy. Keeping your GD in check is important because it can cause some issues for the baby like quicker placenta breakdown, high sugar and other complications.
Are you seeing a diabetes educator or nutritionist? They can help you with all this if you are or aren't.
Another way to help w/ your fasting to wake up at 3am, test your sugar & have a snack. The snack could be a cup of milk or juice. Sounds crazy but it's refered to as the dawn phenomenon. What happens is your sugar gets low from not eating for hours so your liver dumps a bunch of sugar into your blood stream to compensate for the low. Than you wake up w/ higher sugar.
Just a sugestion. Speak with your doctor before trying this. Insulin isn't the end of the world either. The needles don't really hurt either. Sometimes you might not even feel it. GL.
Wow! Thanks for all the really great info.
The nutritionist was looking over my previous week's food journal and told me to lower my carbs before bedtime. I have and my number all this week have been 103. I will try to increase them now and also grab a snack on the way back from one of my late night pee breaks.
Thanks again and fingers crossed!