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My Glucola Reaction. Me - 0, Glucola - 1. Update: I failed! :/

lovemichelleleahlovemichelleleah member
edited September 2015 in December 2015 Moms
I finally took my glucose tolerance test today after reading about everyone else's experiences with it over the past month. I know, I know.. over-posted about topic but you may find some humor in my embarrassment! Here's my reaction:

I asked the doctor for an alternative at my last appointment because I was afraid of throwing up (I've forever had a really sensitive stomach, I was the kid who would always threw up on their desk in elementary school just to give you an idea haha) but he said no. Grr.

I drank the glucola.. gross, but I was determined to make it through! My very last sip I started feeling very nauseous, no big deal, I know lots of ladies don't feel good after drinking it so I just took it easy until my appointment. Then the disgusting fruit punch glucola flavored heartburn arrived and I just generally didn't feel well. Of course DF thought I was just being a baby (or a hypochondriac since he likes to tease me), he told me I would be fine (he later felt bad about that statement!)

I arrived in the lab room at my appointment and the nurse asked me if i'm okay before proceeding to draw my blood.. I replied "yes I just don't like having my blood drawn :/" so she continued. Literally as soon as she stuck the needle in my arm I instantly became EXTREMELY dizzy, sweaty and nauseous, never in my life have I felt like that so suddenly! She kept telling me to keep taking slow deep breaths and was literally coaching me through breathing because I started hyperventilating, I'm pretty sure her encouragement is the only thing that kept me from completely blacking out! I told her I was going to pass out or throw up because I wasn't even sure which one I needed to do at that moment and with no one else around to grab a trash can for me she insisted she was almost done and to just keep taking deep breaths.

Literally the MOMENT she pulled the needle out of my arm I projectile vomitted all over myself and the floor of the room. Throw up on my shirt, pants, in my hair.. even up my NOSE. So. Embarrassing.

Luckily they were very understanding and just happy that they got the blood they needed before I crashed and burned so I wouldn't need to retest. But oh my gosh, I felt horrible. Even though I warned my doctor I was probably going to get sick, I wasn't expecting THAT. He should've been the one cleaning it up for not just letting me use jelly beans, not those poor nurses! Hahaha.

Fingers crossed I don't fail because yeah, I physically don't think I could make it through the 3 hour test! I'll find out by Wednesday!

Anyone else have any embarrassing glucola stories? Am I the only person to throw up everywhere?!

Also curious if anyone knows what causes those kind of reactions? That did NOT feel normal or healthy for me at all, I imagine that's similar to how you feel just before dying but luckily I felt better after getting it out of my system, no actual death required lol. I think I will be way more insistent on an alternative if I ever need to take the test again.

Update: I just got the call that I failed the 1 hour.. by ONE POINT. I got 141 and the cut off is 140. So frustrating. I let the nurse on the phone know about my reaction and told her I'm sure it was just the drink since I've never felt like that before. I asked about alternatives such as jelly beans or a specific meal. I told her I would do the 3 hour test, but I will not drink the glucola again. If my OB doesn't allow the alternative this time even after my reaction she said they may have me monitor it at home for a week, or go ahead and monitor it 4 times a day and follow the GD diet (which seems a little ridiculous for a 1 point failure but idk), or maybe just random checks at my appointments since I only failed by 1 point. I'm waiting on her to call back so we will see. :/
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Re: My Glucola Reaction. Me - 0, Glucola - 1. Update: I failed! :/

  • sassypants13sassypants13 member
    I projectile vomitted the 3hr drink all over the waiting room and had to retest. Thankfully passed. Not fun and yes, it was a terrible feeling!
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  • lovemichelleleahlovemichelleleah member
    sassypants13 said:

    I projectile vomitted the 3hr drink all over the waiting room and had to retest. Thankfully passed. Not fun and yes, it was a terrible feeling!

    Well at least I'm not the only one! I honestly thought drinking it was going to be the bad part.. but nooo that part was easy compared to feeling terrible the rest of the day!
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  • redfallonredfallon member
    Were your drinks refrigerated first?

    Jamie


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  • lovemichelleleahlovemichelleleah member
    redfallon said:

    Were your drinks refrigerated first?

    Yes! It had been in the refrigerator since I received it at my last appointment a month ago, I even followed some advice I read and put it in the freezer for a couple of minutes before drinking it so it would be really cold and easier to get down.
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  • amorrow5812amorrow5812 member
    I did basically the same thing but I made it in the trash can in the waiting room. I had to reschedule to take it again but I went super early when they opened. I still failed the test though. I have GD.
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  • lovemichelleleahlovemichelleleah member
    amorrow5812 said:

    I did basically the same thing but I made it in the trash can in the waiting room. I had to reschedule to take it again but I went super early when they opened. I still failed the test though. I have GD.

    I was really concerned by my reaction that I most likely failed but after reading through some posts on here and a couple other message boards I've seen a pretty equal amount of people with bad reactions who both passed and failed. Glad to know that's not an automatic sign of failing, it's crazy how differently every persons body reacts to things!
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  • themarievonthemarievon member
    I have always had issues with my blood glucose being too low -- been dealing with this issue since high school -- I'm 26 now. I took the one hour test at 12 weeks or so and passed out as the nurse was drawing. I then felt miserable for about 24 hours post test (couldn't get off the couch). It was ridiculous -- I felt incredibly nauseous for the better part of the entire experience and then it took them 1 hour 40 mins to actually get my blood work done. I passed -- my blood glucose was 1 point above the low normal range. I refused the re-test that they want us to do at 28 weeks and opted to do spot glucose checks. The NP that I was talking with when I refused was using "scare tactics" and telling me I'm gonna have a huge baby (even though at u/s we were small 33 percentile) and I've measured spot on every appt. Also I was underweight when I got pregnant and while I have gained a bit more than most (25 lbs so far). I am just not sure that the test is truly justified for me -- which I consider myself low risk -- as it was such an awful experience. 
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  • angelicac06angelicac06 member
    Yikes! Hopefully you passed because the 3 hour one is SO much worse! I was fine during the 1 hr drink since I dont get nauseous easily, I even liked the drink. But that 3 hour drink is on another level... I thought I was going to lose it but my fear of redoing it was stronger lol.
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  • lovemichelleleahlovemichelleleah member
    angelicac06 said:

    Yikes! Hopefully you passed because the 3 hour one is SO much worse! I was fine during the 1 hr drink since I dont get nauseous easily, I even liked the drink. But that 3 hour drink is on another level... I thought I was going to lose it but my fear of redoing it was stronger lol.

    I'm terrified of failing because I don't ever want to feel like that again! I think I'm more scared of taking the test again than monitoring my blood sugar at home (which is saying a lot because I HATE needles and can't imagine pricking my finger that many times a day lol). If I end up failing I'm going to try extremely hard for an alternative way to get the 100mg of glucose in me or ask about a different way to test, or even ask to just monitor my blood sugar after meals!
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  • sassypants13sassypants13 member
    My midwife would've let me monitor for 2 weeks instead of the second 3hr test but I wanted it over with. She prescribed a dose of zofran for the morning of the 3hr and that helped me keep it down. Hopefully you won't have to deal with it at all, but know there are options.
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  • hplunkett2883hplunkett2883 member
    I thought I was going to pass out during my first 3 hour test. They put me in an empty room to lay down. The lab tech came to draw my 1 hour lab and as soon as she left I projectile vomited until my stomach turned inside out (or so it felt). During the vomiting I peed on myself. Not a little either. Like full on emptying of the bladder. I made no eye contact with anyone as I passed through the waiting room with soaking wet pants.
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  • Angelface225Angelface225 member
    I started crying hysterically at the 45 minute mark of the 3 hour test. I've always gotten a little weepy when I'm super hungry, but this was a whole other level. I went to sleep in an empty room and managed to make it through, but I'm positive I would've thrown up if I tried to stay sitting up.
    Married September 2013, Excited to welcome Baby Thompson December 2015
     
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  • kelseyjane2015kelseyjane2015 member
    I had to take a glucose test when I was a kid - probably 12 or 13 and the very same thing happened to me! Afterwards I completely blacked out for a good 20 minutes. I took mine last week, everything was fine - except I failed. We will see how I handle the 3 hour.
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  • ammnam14ammnam14 member
    Oh my. I take mine on Monday and now I'm terrified! I'm also going solo to this appt so hopefully I don't get too sick!
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  • grkgdss00grkgdss00 member
    They definitely aren't pleasant. I actually didn't mind the drink, I thought it was kind of good - but the sugar high with no meal just makes me feel like crap. I just did the 3 hour and it's definitely worse, hoping you pass!
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  • BostonBaby1BostonBaby1 member
    I'm sorry you had such a terrible reaction. Not that it will make you feel better, but things like that happen all the time in medicine. DH is a professional and grabbing the trash basket. ;-)
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  • ammnam14ammnam14 member
    How did you all get the results of your test?
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  • ewhitledgeewhitledge member
    Dizzy/sweaty/nauseous and blackout scream vagal response to me. I see this in my ER all the time, scary but not dangerous aside from falling and hurting yourself :) that drink was brutal though, mine was Orange and I barfed it all the second they finished drawing my blood lol
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  • Gingermom15Gingermom15 member
    Surprisingly I had a pretty tame experience by the sound of everybody else's reaction.
    My OB allows the option to monitor blood sugar via finger pricks before and after every meal as long as baby is measuring on track. Which I did from 24-26 weeks and had good results. Today, at 29 weeks, baby measured 5 days ahead which is abnormal considering he had been on the day or a few behind at each measurement. I only had a bagel for breakfast and nowhere to be, so we went ahead with the glucose drink. I thought for sure it would be awful considering sugar makes me feel horrible, I've never even been able to drink soda without feeling pukey. I got the fruit punch and it just tasted like Hawaiian punch with a pound of extra sugar. Not too bad, but wouldn't want it again. 30 minutes in I was still feeling pretty good, so I let myself relax and as soon as I did the headache churning stomach set in. The lab tech was an angel and drew my blood in the waiting room, thankfully SO was with me so I didn't have to drive. Drank some water, ate some chicken and felt a lot better until a couple hours after being home. It felt like the worst sugar crash I have ever experienced. I don't nap, but I did today for 4 hours and still have this lovely headache. I'm really hoping I passed, I can't even imagine what the 3 hour test would be like.
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  • lovemichelleleahlovemichelleleah member
    I just got my results back and I failed. :/
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  • Gingermom15Gingermom15 member
    lovemichelleleah said:

    I just got my results back and I failed. :/

    Poo :(
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  • lovemichelleleahlovemichelleleah member
    sarahgn said:

    lovemichelleleah said:

    I just got my results back and I failed. :/

    Poo :(
    By ONE POINT. Grrrrr! :(
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  • redfallonredfallon member
    @ammnam14 said:
    How did you all get the results of your test?
    My OB's office has an online portal. Good news comes through the portal; bad news by phone. I got results within 48 hours. I think it was by the next day. I had a 2 hour test.

    Jamie


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  • neanerbeaner4neanerbeaner4 member
    I just had mine today so I won't know if I passed or failed for two days. However, I didn't experience the dizziness you all talked about, I experienced pains elsewhere... leading to diarrhea (TMI, sorry) and I've been feeling terrible ever since. I hope this isn't a sign that I failed. 
    mc April '14, September '14
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  • breezypipbreezypip member
    I just found out I failed my 1-hour test today. Luckily I didn't have the reaction to the test you did, but it definitely made me feel jittery and icky. I'm sorry you had such a rough time! Here's hoping our 3-hour tests go better. I'm not looking forward to that one. I'm absolutely terrified of puking, so I'm a little worried now.
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  • Gingermom15Gingermom15 member
    neanerbeaner4 said:

    I just had mine today so I won't know if I passed or failed for two days. However, I didn't experience the dizziness you all talked about, I experienced pains elsewhere... leading to diarrhea (TMI, sorry) and I've been feeling terrible ever since. I hope this isn't a sign that I failed. 

    I woke up in the middle of my nap with horrible cramping and had the worst diarrhea. I thought for a bit it was preterm labor because it was so bad, then I remembered all the sugar. That wasn't fun. Lol.
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  • ammnam14ammnam14 member
    redfallon said:


    @ammnam14 said:

    How did you all get the results of your test?

    My OB's office has an online portal. Good news comes through the portal; bad news by phone. I got results within 48 hours. I think it was by the next day. I had a 2 hour test.


    Thank you! I have an appt coming up on Friday so I guess I'll just have to wait until then. I wish our office had an online portal, that would make everything so much easier!
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  • Cjaff70Cjaff70 member
    edited September 2015
    Anyway have a good experience with it? I have mine Tuesday and now I'm petrified
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  • breezypipbreezypip member
    @Cjaff70 I wouldn't say my experience was "good", but it wasn't bad. Just felt kind of jittery and a tad queezy right after chugging the drink for the 1-hour. But I went to work right after the test and felt fine the rest of the day.

    I'm just nervous because I hear the 3 hour is way worse. BUT I talked to a friend at work about her experience with the 3 hour and she said it was gross and boring she felt fine.
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  • ammnam14ammnam14 member
    Cjaff70 said:

    Anyway have a good experience with it? I have mine Tuesday and now I'm petrified

    I was also petrified after reading this! I had the test done yesterday and it was actually really pleasant. I had the orange drink and didn't think it tasted weird at all, I kinda liked it! I sat there for a hour and read a book. They drew my blood and sent me on my way. When I got home I made sure to eat protein rich food and drink tons of water to flush it out of my system. I had a sugar crash and got super tired later on that afternoon and took a nap. So, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Who knows though..everyone is different! Good luck!
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  • laurabwalkerlaurabwalker member
    edited September 2015
    @Cjaff70 i did the two hour and was fine. I just got a headache but the drink didn't make me feel sick.
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  • docandyaffadocandyaffa member
    I took the one-hour test a couple of weeks ago. I had five minutes to drink the whole bottle. My SO set a timer and I paced myself and finished in about 4 minutes. I quit drinking soda over a year ago (cold turkey) and do not usually drink sweet drinks. Luckily, I did not have an issue with the "flat orange soda" drink. I also made sure I took the test on the same day as my OB appt. so that I wouldn't be sitting around for an hour worrying about how I was feeling or what the results would be. The worst part of the experience for me was the sugar crash afterwards. I just slept for a couple of hours when I got home. 

    I'm sorry that so many have had such a miserable experience with this test. Good luck and don't forget that we are almost at the finish line:) Once we hold our little ones for the first time, all of the horrible pregnancy memories will fade away. 
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  • nellie627nellie627 member
    I passed the 1 hour with 138 but my doctor requires you to have below 130 so I had to take the 3 hour.
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  • poupoulepoupoule member
    sarahgn said:
    Surprisingly I had a pretty tame experience by the sound of everybody else's reaction. My OB allows the option to monitor blood sugar via finger pricks before and after every meal as long as baby is measuring on track. Which I did from 24-26 weeks and had good results. Today, at 29 weeks, baby measured 5 days ahead which is abnormal considering he had been on the day or a few behind at each measurement. I only had a bagel for breakfast and nowhere to be, so we went ahead with the glucose drink. I thought for sure it would be awful considering sugar makes me feel horrible, I've never even been able to drink soda without feeling pukey. I got the fruit punch and it just tasted like Hawaiian punch with a pound of extra sugar. Not too bad, but wouldn't want it again. 30 minutes in I was still feeling pretty good, so I let myself relax and as soon as I did the headache churning stomach set in. The lab tech was an angel and drew my blood in the waiting room, thankfully SO was with me so I didn't have to drive. Drank some water, ate some chicken and felt a lot better until a couple hours after being home. It felt like the worst sugar crash I have ever experienced. I don't nap, but I did today for 4 hours and still have this lovely headache. I'm really hoping I passed, I can't even imagine what the 3 hour test would be like.
    My OB also allowed me to prick my fingers, but she told me to do it in the third trimester, as it was useless to do it in the 2nd (this conditions starts in the 3rd). My results were totally normal and I did not drink the glucola solution. I am surprised they made you do the pricking so early. They were very specific that even with great numbers in the 2nd trimester, you really needed to do it from week 28 to 30.


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  • BostonBaby1BostonBaby1 member
    I'm surprised that nobody has correlated the taste to Orange crush. It tastes exactly like orange crush but just with more sugar.
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  • lovemichelleleahlovemichelleleah member
    BostonBaby1 said:

    I'm surprised that nobody has correlated the taste to Orange crush. It tastes exactly like orange crush but just with more sugar.

    I wonder if it tastes any better than the fruit punch flavor, not that the taste was even the worst part for me haha. But I'll definitely be avoiding fruit punch flavored anything like it's the plague from now on! I was given a choice between the 2 flavors and went with fruit punch because I occassionally drink orange fanta and didn't want to ruin it forever.
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  • Gingermom15Gingermom15 member
    poupoule said:


    sarahgn said:

    Surprisingly I had a pretty tame experience by the sound of everybody else's reaction.
    My OB allows the option to monitor blood sugar via finger pricks before and after every meal as long as baby is measuring on track. Which I did from 24-26 weeks and had good results. Today, at 29 weeks, baby measured 5 days ahead which is abnormal considering he had been on the day or a few behind at each measurement. I only had a bagel for breakfast and nowhere to be, so we went ahead with the glucose drink. I thought for sure it would be awful considering sugar makes me feel horrible, I've never even been able to drink soda without feeling pukey. I got the fruit punch and it just tasted like Hawaiian punch with a pound of extra sugar. Not too bad, but wouldn't want it again. 30 minutes in I was still feeling pretty good, so I let myself relax and as soon as I did the headache churning stomach set in. The lab tech was an angel and drew my blood in the waiting room, thankfully SO was with me so I didn't have to drive. Drank some water, ate some chicken and felt a lot better until a couple hours after being home. It felt like the worst sugar crash I have ever experienced. I don't nap, but I did today for 4 hours and still have this lovely headache. I'm really hoping I passed, I can't even imagine what the 3 hour test would be like.

    My OB also allowed me to prick my fingers, but she told me to do it in the third trimester, as it was useless to do it in the 2nd (this conditions starts in the 3rd). My results were totally normal and I did not drink the glucola solution. I am surprised they made you do the pricking so early. They were very specific that even with great numbers in the 2nd trimester, you really needed to do it from week 28 to 30.




    I never put any thought into the timing, honestly. I probably should have. I'll remember that for any possible future pregnancies :)
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  • Gingermom15Gingermom15 member
    Passed with a 108. Probably the first time my blood sugar has been that high lol.
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  • LMJLLMJL member
    @ammnam14 - my office doesn't tell you anything if you pass, only if you fail. So it's a no news is good news kind of thing there. I assume I passed b/c I never heard anything & it's been almost 2 weeks.
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  • attaliariveraattaliarivera member
    When I did my 3hr test I felt horrible, my heart was pounding fast I had this weird feeling in my stomach, I cried and literally thought I was having a panic attack, luckily my bf was with me to help me take my mind off of how I was feeling and lucky for me I didn't throw up.
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