Develop GD after 30 weeks?

[mountainsmum]

Hi,

I seem to be developing gestational diabetes. I'm 32 weeks and I passed the glucose tolerance test at 27 weeks but the midwives at the hospital are now concerned about my sugar levels and have had me testing my blood regularly.
The Ob says to continue as normal for now but will rethink in another two weeks. I will be 34 weeks by then !
After testing my blood sugar for a couple of days it is all over the place and quite frequently in the not good range.
Has anyone else developed gd later on? Any advice?
Not sure I am getting the best care from my ob.

Thanks

[Cordelia]

I haven't had it but I know that GD is often treated by a change in diet alone so maybe just start having a low GI diet. there are heaps of resources on the net.

[cheezelz]

Pregnancy hormones usually really kick in after 28 weeks. So if your body was becoming insulin resistant then it would be more apparent after this time. It just means that your body is releasing hormones that are blocking the insulin that you are naturally making from doing its job. Most of the time this can be combatted by diet and exercise but if not like in my case you may need to go on medication. I have very aggressive GD as diabetes is in my family. I am on tablets with each meal and 2 types of insulin injections at night. Its nothing to be scared of. And there is nothing you could have done to prevent it. Many normal weight, healthy people develop GD.

My tips... Eat regaular meals. Make sure you eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and a snack inbetween. Suagr such as chocolate and non diet drinks can be a real killer so aviod those. But one of the biggest hazards is refined carbs such as rolls, cereal and white bread. If you do a search on bubhub there is heaps of info on other threads of what to eact and proportions. Also sicking to a low GI/atkins type diet (without the fat) can help. Low carbs and high meat/eggs is a great plce to start.

[cheezelz]

Another thing I thought I might add is symptoms if you have a hyper or hypo.

If your sugars get too high you many start to feel light headed, see spots, become dizzy and your body may feel heavy and/or tingly expecially in your arms. Unless you are on meds there is not muach that can be done about this. Just dont eat anymore and if you feel really bad call your midwife. I reccomend my driving either as before I was diagnosed with GD in my forst pregnany I had an accident because I vagued out at the wheel.

If your sugars get too low you could start to get the shakes, start to sweat and generallly feel like sh!t. You will know if this is happening. To combat this drink hlf a glass of normal soft drink or cordial and you also need to eat something sugary like a few biscuits. Dont go over the top and wait a while to notice a difference because it doesnt happen instantly.

[~Emmylou~]

It's not uncommon - GD is a response to increasing pregnancy hormones and as we get into 3rd trimester the output of these is really starting to increase.

I passed my GTT at 28 weeks with DS but I began to show signs of GD around 32 weeks. The only reason I noticed it was because I had insulin dependent GD with my first bub so I continued to randomly monitor myself at home even after I'd passed the test.

It started later and was very borderline the second time, I just changed my diet a bit and I didn't need insulin again.

[sueb31]

I would just add that the vast majority of people don't feel symptoms. The books also say that you don't get hypos unless you are on insulin. To get symptoms from high sugars, it would have to be getting pretty high, which is not usually the case in uncomplicated GD.

As cheezelz said, the diet is a low GI one and you need to watch portion size particularly. There is a big difference to your sugars between eg 1 and 2 slices of bread!

The usual measures are fasting (first thing in the morning) should be below 5.3 and 2 hours after each meal shoudl be less than 6.5. (Although different doctors can have different preferences depending on how tight the control is.

With my first pregnancy I was diagnosed at 31 weeks, after I had the test at 29 weeks.

HTH
Sue

[Alisonp]

I definitely think it is possible to develop GD after 30 weeks. The screening test is after all only good enough to pick up most cases of GD but a few will pass the test at 28 weeks but develop it later on. If you only have a borderline case you probably won't get any symptoms but one thing I noticed is that I get really thirsty if my levels are a bit elevated.

My cutoff points are 5.0 for fasting overnight and then 6.7 @ 2 hours after each main meal. I am on low GI diet control.

You could always start eating low GI just in case. It doesn't have to be too restrictive. Cut out any sugar in drinks, biscuits etc. Change to a low GI breakfast cereal and a burgen style bread. That will make a big difference. Make sure you only have 2 slices of bread at one meal. For me the solution has mainly been eating a lot of salads (including legumes) and increasing the amounts of non-starchy veg with my meals.

Good luck!

[mountainsmum]

Thanks Everyone that helps me get things a bit clearer. I thought it wouldn't hurt to start on the diet anyway seeing as it looks really healthy so I've got a couple of the books.
Thanks again.