GD ladies?

AimeeL85

Hi ladies - I'm visiting from 2nd Tri because I figured there would be more of you already diagnosed with GD here.  I am 18 weeks today and was diagnosed with it early.  My OB tested me early because they saw on my records from my fertility clinic (4 months before I was pregnant) that my hemoglobin a1c was somewhat elevated (5.8).   This is my second pregnancy and I did not have GD with my first.

Today I had to go take a 2 hour education course on it.  I felt great about the diet and confident I could do it with no problem.  I gained too much weight with my first pregnancy and am hoping this will also help curb weight gain this time around.  Anyway, I met the nutritionist first and they talk about how it's only temporary, won't be bad etc.  Then I met with someone else (who was supposed to go over monitoring) who basically told me for 45 minutes that I don't even really have GD, I'm prediabetic due to that 5.8 hemoglobin level pre-pregnancy, and that I'm doomed to Type 2 diabetes at some point in my life. She went on and on about it and I left a little shell shocked.

I don't know how accurate what she said is. What I read online says that not all prediabetics will develop diabetes if they maintain a healthy weight, eat well and exercise.  I have no family history of diabetes (she insisted someone gave it to me).  I'm just depressed because I felt so confident that I could easily do this, no big deal, because it's only temporary (not that I'd start eating crappy after I give birth), but now I just feel like this is permanent. I don't think it would make sense to follow up with a primary doctor until after the baby is born because test results wouldn't be accurate.

I am also hoping that the hemoglobin level, being that it wasn't very elevated, might not have been a good representation of my normal levels. It measures your average blood sugar over 90 days and at the time it was taken, I had been eating like complete crap for those months (not to mention it was the holidays, but I was eating like crap most days). I wonder if that could have been enough to raise it into the prediabetic range.

I'm not sure what the point of this post is so thank you if you made it this far.  I was just hoping someone might have some insight into some part of this, or a similar experience. I know it's not the typical GD scenario. TIA...

 

 

carladillon

You might get a better response posting on the High Risk board.  Lots of GD ladies there.

Im not familiar with the hemoglobin test.  Did you take the 1 hour/3 hour GTT - or based on the other results did they just refer you for GD?

I will say that IF you do have GD, it does increase your risk for developing Type 2 more so than someone who doesn't.  It's not 100% thing - and if your center was like mine, they should have shown you what steps you could take after the pregnancy to help avoid developing it later.  I think I was told I had a 60% change of getting Type 2 in the next 10-20 years.  But that's also a 40% chance that I won't.  Even more so if I follow the guidelines of following a smart diet, exercising and getting my weight back into the healthy range.

juliane2004

5.8 is a good A1C (hemoglobin A1C). When I was diagnosed as a type 1, I was at 15. I'm now at 7.2.

6.0 or less is considered not diabetic (i.e. outside of pregnancy).

moonrose2715

All the GD ladies are on the high risk board.  It is a great resource to help you through this frustrating diagnosis.

As previously said, 5.8 is not even prediabetic.  It is technically normal, but on the high end of normal.  If it was the holidays and you were eating like crap, that could be explained.  Could you be prediabetic?  Sure.  Even having GD puts you at risk for developing type 2.  But it isn't something worth stressing about now.  For now, treat it as GD and focus on staying healthy for this baby.

I was also diagnosed early due to a borderline A1C (taken at 8 weeks, not prepregnancy)... I think it was 6, though I can't remember exactly now.  My OB said she will not consider me prediabetic because the hormones had already affected my body, and we won't know more until after I deliver.

So try your best to forget about that very stupid practitioner, and avoid them in the future if you can.  Focus on what you can do now, and trust that everything will be fine.  It will for sure help keep your weight in check for this pregnancy, and keep you healthier too!  For more support, definitely check out the high risk board.  Good luck mama!

drmsg

Sounds like you had an overly aggressive diabetic educator. We have one of those in my town and I keep my patients away from them.

You do not have type 2 diabetes, you have a normal HgbA1c! I am not sure if you have gestational diabetes, did you get a glucose tolerance test?

Assuming you have GD this will go away after delivery. GD is caused by  protein called Human Placenta Lactagen (HPL) which is made by the placenta. This protein interacts with insulin receptors and changes the way your body removes sugar from your blood stream. Once  you deliver you will no longer have a placenta and will no longer have HPL. Insulin receptors that are negatively impacted by HPL are the type of receptors that can cause problems down the road. This is why a certain percentage of women with GDM will develop type 2 DM later in life. This percentage is 35 -60% and can the risk can be greatly reduced with diet and exercise.

There seems to be two styles of educating women with GD, the cup half full and cup half empty approach. My style, and the first person you met with is a half full style. You will be cured after you deliver. You can go back eating all your normal stuff after you deliver. Your baby is going to be fine as long as you keep your blood sugars reasonable during pregnancy (which is a lot of work) but you can do it! After you deliver you can reward yourself with cheesecake, doughnuts, and sweet tea if you want. Over your lifetime, it is good if you maintain a healthy weight and exercise, duh, that's true for everyone. But don't let an educator "bully" scare you and make you think you are "doomed" to diabetes, you are not.

Here is more information on Gestational Diabetes