Pregnant wife struggling with GD

[LordJoker 1]

My wife and I recently found that she has gestational diabetes and have been given insulin to combat it. However my wife is really struggling with it, she is tired all the time, has pain in her back and lower regions, and it makes her feel sick and not quite with it. She is 27 weeks today, but she feels that the baby is moving in to place ready for arrival. Does anyone have any advice on how to make her feel more comfortable? I am quite worried about her as it has really knocked her, and the worse she feels the more she worries about the baby.

[JohnSchroeder 1,268]

Well, just sticking to diabetes.... do you know what her blood sugars are running?  Being tired all the time is a symptom of high blood sugar.  Of course, she might just not be getting enough sleep.

[adiantum 35,320]

Fatigue &  foggy brain is a symptom of high blood glucose  but could also be other things.

 

Being on insulin , I hope she has a blood glucose meter & tests often especially when she feels different or unwell.

 

Was she recommended to reduce her carb intake & avoid bread,rice pasta, sweets etc?

[LordJoker 1]

Her blood sugars are generally pretty high,she is getting sleep but obviously not enough as the baby doesn't like her sleeping in certain position.

 

She does test her blood regularly as the doctors said, but they have not told her to cut anything out yet. Do you think that could help?

[LordJoker 1]

Appatently she was told by the doctor to make sure she has carbs with every meal while on the insulin.

[adiantum 35,320]

what you call high might be different to what I'd call it.

 

Its been many years since I had GD but even then it was  without insulin..& still I dont use it nor other meds, so dont feel right about making suggestions.

 

I think you should contact her doctor & ask them what is her desired blood glucose..............highest & lowest

[mystiquarte 1,017]

Hi LordJoker congratulations on yours and your wife's pregnancy...
pregnancy is uncomfortable and there are all sorts of aches and pains that come along with it...I was about 26 weeks pregnant when my son turned into the birth position, it's very common in first pregnancies, not so much in subsequent pregnancies.  Your wife is growing a baby inside her and her body is having to adjust as the baby gets bigger and bigger, which from 28 weeks it will the first trimester your baby develops it has every organ of a newborn baby just needs maturity, the second trimester is when these newly formed organs gain maturity and the last trimester your baby gains fat stores and readies itself for birth...how does a pregnant women become more comfortable?  your wife might find it relaxing to swim in your local pool, I know I did the weight of my growing son took it's toll on my body but relaxing in the water was wonderful as it takes the stress out of your body...your weightless.  I am sure all of your concerns would have being answered by the midwife/obgyn assigned to your wife....are you seeing a health professional for antenatal care?

As for insulin it shouldn't make her sick, could it be heartburn or some morning sickness?  it's not uncommon to have both as you near the end of your pregnancy.  Maybe she should be assessed to see if there isn't something else causing these issue's, you may find it reassuring to go along with her and support her then you'll hear first hand what is happening for your wife.

[Bascula 236]

Please have her be in touch with her doctor if she's feeling this way.  I would also be interested in her numbers.

Please be sure she is drinking enough water, lack of water can cause pregnancy aches and pains too.

[JohnSchroeder 1,268]

Get back to us on a few things... what specifically her blood sugars are, and what kind of insulin she is taking and when.

 

The whole point of taking insulin is to lower your blood sugar.  Eating carbs raises your blood sugar.  So the doctor saying to make sure you eat carbs with every meal (without any direction as to how much carbs) is just two factors working against each other.

 

I strongly suspect she is tired and not quite with it due to high blood sugar.  The insulin is meant to control that, but each unit of insulin can only counter-act so many carbs.

[LordJoker 1]

Thank you for all of the replies guys, I really do appreciate it. I will get back to you on the blood sugar levels and type of insulin as soon as I find it out, she is asleep right now thankfully. She has barely slept the last few days so I don't want to disturb her.

[Kit 27,391]

I can understand your concern.

 

As for target goals, my doctor once mentioned to me what she recommends for her GD patients.

 

70-100 pre meals and fasting

70-120 2 hours post meals.

 

Re having to eat carbs with every meal, that's a bit of a gross and vague over simplification from the doctor and it really makes me wince.  It also puts a lot of stress on the mother to be.

 

So, insulin directly lower blood glucose levels.

Because the doctor is too lazy or is unable to teach his\her p[ateints on how to properly dose insulin, they give vague advise of making her eat carbs ta every meal in a general hope that it will prevent lows.

 

Now as she is pregnant, lows are a concern and you want to be careful.  The big thing is for her to keep testing herself frequently, especially before and after meals.  before the meal will give a base line.  2 hours after will give an idea of how that meal affected her BG numbers with her current method of treatment.

 

I'm also betting that she's on a slow acting insulin (lantus or similar).  I'd be shocked that vague of advice given with a fast acting insulin.

 

Anyway, slow acting insulin (in very very basic terms) steadily lowers your BG levels over the course of 24 hours.  This is very over simplified, but it helps to understand the basic idea.  So a dose of X units of a slow acting insulin once a day will lower your BG level by Y every hour.

 

Now your body actually has 2 sources of glucose.  From the foods you eat and from your liver.  Our livers store glucose and release it back into our systems as a steady source of energy.  Its how we can go all night without eating and still be able to get up in the morning and function.

 

Slow acting insulin is meant to cover the glucose coming from your liver, not meals.  So what happens when they try to cover meals and background with slow insulin is that you end up with a lot of highs and lows.  And to avoid the lows, they make you eat more carbs during meals, or more meals over the course of a day, just generally assuring that you run high most of the time.

 

So, what can she do to improve this situation.

 

1)  Start keeping track of her BG levels along with her carb intake.  What we want to try to do is minimize her spikes, without her going low. 

 

2)  While I would hesitate advising someone to increase their insulin dose without some type of training on how to approach it, I have no problems recommending that she drop her dose if decreasing her carb intake can help get rid of spikes. 

 

But right now the main thing is to get more information on what is happening.  And that's going to take a lot of BG testing along with logs of food intake to get a better picture on what is happening and how best to approach it.