What does gestational diabetes feel like?? (Long, sorry!!)

[alkagift]

I've asked my OB's "phone nurse" a question today, and my DH thought that maybe y'all would have some thoughts and experience with this before my next appointment on Monday.

I had a glucose tolerance test at 24 weeks and came out 131, which evidently is fine. At 31 weeks last Friday, I left the office in a rush at 10:30 to go to my endocrinologist (used to be hyperthyroid, still go in for blood tests and am fine, thyroid wise). On the way out I grabbed a Pop-Tart pack from the machine. (I know, I feel guilty about it, but it seemed "breakfasty" at the time). I ate them in the car on the way over. By 12:00 (still waiting for the doctor in the examining room), I thought I was going to faint. Heart running at 100bpm, hot, out of breath, almost dizzy, really wanted to lie down. It eased up for a while and then came back, although not quite as bad, at 12:20, then was gone by 12:30. I told the doctor about it when he came in around 12:40 and he said it sounded like "reactive hyperglycemia" and he ordered some bloodwork. I've been having a much milder experience (heart racing, tired) on and off, primarily in the morning, for about 4 weeks now and my OB said it was probably normal pregnancy stuff but for me to keep an eye on it.

I called the OB's office this morning and the nurse said that she didn't think it was diabetes and it was probably just too many carbs on an empty stomach. Those Pop-Tarts were 75g, and the glucola stuff for the diabetes test is only 50g! I told her about the morning problems and she said that I should just have a high protien, low carb breakfast (peanut butter on wheat toast, eggs) instead of my usual cereal and banana because my body can't handle the carb load after fasting all night. I've never been overweight and I've not had diabetes in my family, so I don't know where this is coming from.

What do you think? Has anyone ever felt this way? Is this normal? I have my 32 week appointment on Monday, and I'll be meeting the practice midwife for the first time--I don't know if I'll be using the midwife or not, or how she might be able to help with this situation.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts,


Allison
Expecting #1 5/27/03

[egoldber]

Allison, I did not have GD, but I used to work for a company that manufactured blood glucose monitoring systems and know a fair bit about diabetes.

Here is some general information about diabetes: http://www.endocrineweb.com/diabetes/diagnosis.html

And here is more specific info about gestational diabetes: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/gest1.htm#2

It doesn't really sound like you have gestational diabetes. If you only had a 131 mg/dL glucose reading after the one hour test, then you are probably fine. But if you have ANY concerns, call your OB/midwife and ask for another test. It is VERY easy to do. Did the bloodwork come back from your endo yet? If so, he undoubtedly included a glucose value in there which should be able to give him a pretty good idea if there is a problem.

HTH,

[blnony]

I had GB with my pregnancy; but I didn't have any feelings like what you described. I actually didn't feel any different; but after I was diagnosed at about 28 wks. I controlled it with diet. I had a strict diabetic diet which is to say I cut out all sugar, and had a very balanced carb/protein diet. Even when my sugars tested high, I didn't have any faint or racing heart symptoms.
This might be something else, and you probably need to monitor you blood pressure as well. You def. should let you health care provider know that you are really concerned about this.

[parkersmama]

I am 34 weeks pregnant right now and I have *exactly* the symptoms that you are describing. I've talked to different doctors in my practice and have been told a couple of different possibilities. One is that what I'm experiencing is a drop in my blood pressure. I have very low BP normally (105/64) although it's often slightly higher at the doctor's office (nervousness, I guess?!). I often experience these symptoms when I get up too fast or make a sudden sharp movement. One day it happened when I was standing up but bending to put my socks on. Another thing I've been told is that it's probably low blood sugar. This is another problem that I've always have but seems to be exacerbated in pregnancy for me. To help, I try to make sure to eat frequent meals that are balanced in protein and carbs. I also try to avoid getting up too quickly and bending over from the waist (try to squat instead). This does seem to help although it hasn't alleviated the problems completely. I can't stand that heart-racing feeling...it's simply alarming! I often feel like I can't catch my breath when this happens which really bothers me a lot. When it's happening, I try to sit still and concentrate on relaxing myself. I breathe as deeply as possible and close my eyes if I can. When the episode passes, I try to find something to eat to normalize my blood sugar a little. I'm not sure that this will help you that much but I certainly can sympathize with your problems! I do agree with the others that this doesn't sound like gestational diabetes. Most of the people I know with GD only experience a few (if any) symptoms and they are usually the thirstiness and frequent urinating. HTH!