Type II Diabetes

My doctor has just informed me that I may have Gestational Diabetes and now I am in desperate need of help. I know the basic low sugar rule but could I get specific food ideas that don’t taste like cardboard?? Any help would be great! Thanks!!

Oh boy that’s a hard one! Everyone’s body is different on how they process carbs!

First, find out what your carb number for each meal is. Mine was 15 carbs for breakfast, 15 carbs for snacks, 30 carbs for lunch and 30-45 carbs for dinner.

Check your blood sugars frequently. Try a variety of foods, also try pairing different foods together. One time during my pregnancy I had a huge piece of cake (it was a special occasion) along with a hard boiled egg (sounds wierd) but my bs numbers didn’t spike at all.

~I did well on proteins and lots of veggies (of course). Also, dips and dressings helped with the numbers.
~Beans, legumes, etc. helped
~Cheese and crackers were a miracle worker.
~Hummus with whole wheat pita -great!
~Eating whole fruit did better for me than processed fruit.
~I also found that by switching from regular milk to soy that it helped my bs #’s.
~My nutritionist had me pair up carbs with fats and proteins to help slow the absorbtion so for the only time in my life real butter, oils, greasy foods was a YES!
~Nuts helped me alot for snacks.
~Raisin nut bread did better than regular toast for me.
~Hard boiled eggs, bacon and sausage (although it sounds really bad) was actually really good for the gestational diabetes and I stopped gaining as much weight.
~Also, try whole grain carbs instead of processed carbs. But keep in mind that CARBS are CARBS no matter what, so even the whole grain carbs may make your numbers high. I couldn’t eat any cereal, even high fiber cereal, because my body digested it badly. But for some, the high fiber works.

After you have the baby, you’ll have to learn how to eat all over again (without the fats, etc. that are so yummy) but it’s worth it!

Today my wife went for her 28 week screening, she had blood sugar of 175. They want her to do a second longer test. Has anybody here had gestational diabetes? Or high blood sugar that was later proven to not to be gestational diabetes? Please anyone who has knowledge help me to calm my wife! Thanks.

I had Gestational Diabetes with my second child. The doctor had me check my blood sugar with a meter 4 times a day. Once when I woke up and then after my 3 main meals. He wanted it to be under 100. I had to keep a log and was able to control it with my diet. Very little carbs and sugar. I was really scared at first but it turned out okay. My daughter was perfect and went to 39 weeks, she was 8lbs 4ozs. My first baby I did not have gestational diabetes and she was 8lbs 10ozs!!!
Also taking your blood sugar at home does not hurt as bad as when they poke your finger in the DR.’s office. It is vicious at the doctors but it barely hurts at all when you have the correct equipment.
Good luck!!!

My first born was healthy, as was I. My second born was born with hypoglycemia and had to stay in the NICU for several days before I could take him home. I am now 3 1/2 months pregnant with my third. What would be the chance of me getting the Gestational Diabetes again?

The chances are a lot higher. You are supposed to have the 1 hour glucose test right when you find out your pregnant as opposesd to the standard 24 weeks(I forget when the actual time when every mom is checked). I just had a baby 5 months ago and had gestaional diabetes and this is what they told me at the class they made us take. Start checking your blood sugars now before your next appointment with the doctor.

I will have the normal test for Gestational Diabetes at 28 weeks. how much blood is typically drawn for this test?

2 tubes or something like that .

( small tubes )

It runs in my family. I have insulin resistence and want to prevent Gestational Diabetes. I’m still early in the pregnancy so I want to take charge of this now.

The thing to remember is this- it’s not exclusively lifestyle based. I mean, a lot of women who do eat healthy and don’t gain too much weight end up with it anyway. You might not be able to prevent it, and if you can’t don’t feel bad about yourself. It’s not your fault!

However, everyone else has really great suggestions for keeping your blood sugar in check. Drinking the sugary sodas and things like that doesn’t necessarily cause GD – but it makes the symptoms worse. That’s why often the focus is on controlling it, not necessarily preventing it.

I would focus on exercise, because that alone will help your body become more sensitive to insulin. Additionally, you really want to increase your fiber intake. Studies have shown this to help reduce the risk. Best wishes!

My doctor’s office only did the one hour test and said I have Gestational Diabetes. Since I’ve been testing myself for a couple of days (four times a day) my average is in the 90’s. Do you think it was really fair to diagnose me without giving me the 3 hour test and what can I do about it? I don’t think I have it but they seem to think that one test is enough.

I would call them back and let them know what your readings are showing. Ask to have a 3 hour test to confirm the GD diagnosis. You are their client, and it is your health. You have a right and and responsibility to take charge of your medical care.

Best of luck!!

I only have 14 weeks left in pregnancy and my doctors are saying they want to do the test for Gestational Diabetes. Why it is it important to have this test? The babys body is developed already, so why dont they do this test a lot earlier in pregnancy? What happends if I say no to the test? Anything bad happends?

Well, having had GD twice now, I believe the tests are important. It’s caused by the placenta messing up your bodies natural ability to produce insulin to break down and digest sugars properly, and this often doesn’t occur until the hormones start to change again in the 3rd trimester to prepare for post partum period.
The 1st test is the one hour, if you fail that, you go back for a 3 hour, same procedure. Since I had it before, I was tested at 6 weeks this time, and am on a diet, medication, and I see the doctor every 2 weeks.
As a previous poster said, one of the main things to watch for is a big baby. GD babies born vaginally often end up with broken arms, or shattered shoulders/collarbones, or get stuck in the birth canal. You can also not produce enough amniotic fluid for them to live in, so there can be problems caused by that. The most dangerous thing to watch for, is the fact that having gestational, or regular diabetes can cause your placenta to start to disintergrate early, which can result in stillbirth if not carefully monitored. GD often culminates in a c-section, though not always.
The first test is very easy, you just get up in the morning(fasting is usually but not always recommended), go to the lab, drink a small bottle of sugary tasting orange or lime soda(it’s not a pop really) and get blood drawn exactly 1 hour later. With all the risks that GD raises, I recommend getting the test so you can be prepared. It’s a simple thing to do to make sure you get the proper care and that your baby lives to meet you once s/hes born. Other than being bigger or possibly needing oxygen/sugar, GD babies are usually remarkably healthy if proper care is taken.

I hear all these remedies for type 2 diabetes but none for Gestational Diabetes. I tried asking this question in the pregnancy section but no one answered. Any information would be helpful and appreciated. I’m seeing a dr and dietician and doing all i can to keep blood sugar down but it’s not working as well as i’d like.

‘Judge Judy’ Thats the most nonsense I have ever heard, even SkepDoc has his limit of talking nonsense. Chromium is in fact an essential mineral, which is exactly that ‘essential’, and can only be obtained from diet.

It is absolutely paramount that you control your blood sugar levels, by following the reccommendations below, but before you read those, you need to have an understanding of why they are reccommended.

If there is too much sugar circulating in the bloodstream that is not immediately being utilised as energy by cells, it will not only acidify the bloodstream, microorganisms will have a picnic and proliferate. This is the reason why diabetics are prone to so many infections {like Candidiasis}, sometimes to th point whereby their limbs must be amputated due to fermentation and decay of flesh, by harmful microorgansisms.

The brain is the only part of the body that cannot adapt well to- or compensate for – erratic changes in blood glucose{a type of sugar} levels. This is the reason why symptoms of blood sugar disorders are as varied as the many functions of the brain, which is invovlved in every sensory, motor, perceptual, cognitive and emotional function in the system. If he brain is not ‘fed’ properly , it is easy for it to become emotionally, physiologically, biologically and physically unstable, leading to mental illness like ‘the common cold’ of psychiatry, or clinical depression to be exact.

Diabetics usually have nutritional dificiencies, most notably ‘Vitamin B-3 and the minerals Chromium and Vanadium’ {Source 1}. Whether or not these nutritional dificiencies contributed to causing diabetes or is a result of diabetes, this is the common medical dillema of the cause and effect debate. Anyhow, leave that to the debaters, in either case, what needs to be done is to supplement a good high-strength multivitamin and multi-mineral {preferably in a amin acid chelated form, as it is more bioavailable {in english…easier for the body to absorb and use}}, ‘Mineral’ is a good brand, which can be purchased cheap on ebay or organicpharmacy.org, and ‘Higher Nautre – Advanced Nutrition Complex’ brand for the multi-vitamin.

Optimal Diet for Diabetics

High in Animal Protein – which will nourish them without straining the pancreas.

Herbs like Neem, Stevia, Licorice, have been shown to balance blood-sugar levels.

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Suggestions

The following reccommendations will help:

- Replace table sugar with Xylitol, this has a Gylceamic Index value of 8, whereas Sugar has a GI of 64!

- Cinnamon – this spice has been shown to reduce blood-sugar levels, consume a spoonful with meals.

- Bitter Melon, this is officially used in the Phillipines Health Care System, and is prescribed by doctors there, to regulate blood-sugar levels. You can make a delicious indian dish from this, by boiling and stuffing with mince meat.

- Eat lots of Oats – they contain beta-glucan which is a powerful anti-diabetic nutrient

- Chromium – this works with insulin to help it bind to hormone receptor sites on the plasma membranes of cells. Chromium also helps prevent the shape of insulin being deformed, and chromium also is in the make-up of the insulin receptors on cell membranes. 400-600mcg of Chromium per day

Hope this helps.

Today, I went to have my glucose screening test done along with my 27th week check up and saw that I gained about 10 lbs in a month! I was horrified and cannot figure out what would cause such a thing since I don’t eat much junk food and try to eat smaller, more frequent meals. So far, I have gained 15 lbs this pregnancy, my doctor thinks it could be Gestational Diabetes, I cannot help but be scared to death about this, I have the feeling that I am not trying hard enough to maintain a healthy baby. Does anyone have any advice or input about the relation of the two?
Also, the heart rate of my baby was 170, probably from the flat orange soda glucose liquid, but I am very concerned about all of it.
All other tests during pregnancy have been normal, and I am Rh Negative. Diabetes does not run in my family, and no one else had gestational while pregnant. Thanks

There’s more relation to preeclampsia and large weight gain, but right now you’re doing fine!

Gaining weight is just a part of pregnancy. While it’s scary to think about, your body is doing what it should be doing. Your doctor is monitoring SO many aspects of your health (getting tired of peeing in the cup yet?) and if your doctor isn’t worried, you shouldn’t be.

And the heartrate is fine.

i am 35 weeks pregnant and just found out i have Gestational Diabetes. At my last doctors apt the baby was 4 pounds and they estimated at the time of deliver he would be 7 1/2 pounds so everything was looking perfect. Now with the new of having diabetes, im curious if they will induce me. Is it common to be induced if you have gestational diabetes or do they normally go full term?

My dr will let you go full term if the baby doesnt get too big for you to deliver safely. He monitors the size weekly starting at about 36 weeks.