Drinking water during GTT?

[7swans]

I heard back about the 1-hour glucose tolerance test today, and was told that my results were normal. They would not give me an exact number for some reason, I would have to ask my doctor at the next visit. After I hung up I was flipping through the pamphlet and read about the procedure for the 3-hour test (which I won't have to do now) and it mentioned that you have to stay sitting down the entire time and may not eat or drink anything. Is the 1-hour test different in this respect? They had me bring my own blood samples to the lab, and then go back and pick up my WinRho vaccine so since I was walking for about 20-25 minutes at their request, I assume that's fine. I also had about 6oz of water while waiting/walking because I wasn't given any special instructions and it didn't occur to me that it might not be allowed (I didn't eat anything because that seemed rather obvious). Could the water have skewed my results? I will mention it to my OB, but I really don't want to have to do the test again. I feel pretty silly. :/

[HonkyTonka]

I was told to not walk around a lot or drink very much water - it would burn off / dilute the sugar. HTH

[rlandnl]

In my opinion 3 hours is too long to not have anything to drink. I plan on sneaking in my water bottle, i will have a migraine if I don't have anything to drink.

plus i already had a 2 hour test this pregnancy and it made me sick and dizzy and if I hadn't had my water I might have passed out.

[MaterPrimaePuellae]

I definitely would not worry about it! Sure, you could ask you dr. for the specific number (and if it's borderline, you could monitor your own blood sugar for a while if it makes you feel better)-- but the test, IMO, is most useful if it tests how your body functions in real life (that is, moving around, drinking water, etc).

[umsami]

In general for either the one or three hour, they don't want you walking around, drinking water, etc. Walking can lower your blood sugar--as somebody who has been through GD three times, I can tell you that a 20-30 minute walk could lower mine 20-30 points. I don't buy the water argument though. I can drink three gallons of water and it's not going to change my blood sugar one bit. The glucose you ate/drank will still be absorbed, your pancreas will/will not respond appropriately, etc.

My guess is that you really don't have GD. If you think that you might, see if you can borrow a blood glucose monitor and see what your fasting and post-meal numbers are. For an am fasting, if you're below 95, you don't have GD. Two hours after you eat, your numbers should be below 120. If you're seeing numbers higher than these, then you might want to talk to your OB about it.

[jecombs]

When I was pregnant with my DD I had to have the 3 hr GTT. I was allowed to have as much water as I wanted and was allowed to walk around. I actually left the buidling and walked around the neighborhood behind it. I just came back in enough time to get my blood drawn every hour.

Now with my 1 hr I was not supposed to have any water, but they didn't say anything about not walking. So I went outisde and walked around for about 20 min after I drank the glucose drink. I agree with pp, I think that the test is most useful if it mimics how your body functions in real life.

I guess just depends on the policy at the place you have your test.

[nia82]

It's fine.
My sister's and my GTT was completely different. She drank the stuff and was told to go her ways and come back in an hour. We went shopping together and then came back. My test was way different: same amount of glucose, but I was not allowed to move, eat or drink. I asked, no begged to go to the bathroom and I made sure I moved a lot... Making you sit down is not what you do naturally, most people are normally active and hence the result is skewed towards higher glucose levels. I did fine, but still. The normal procedure in Europe was to let mom drink (water though she was told) and not eat (duh), but move freely and normally.
Oh and let me add that my sister was asked to not eat anything before the test, and it was scheduled really early. I was told to eat all I can beforehand. That's insane as it completely changes the outcome. What if I had a nutella bagel with soda for breakfast? My levels would be way higher.

I wonder how my future midwives will handle the test (and I'd prefer eating food with glucose over that YUCKY drink, seriously I wanted to throw up rifht there).

[RedOakMomma]

In many countries walking, drinking, and normal activity is the norm for the glucose test. In fact, when I was looking into it in my last pregnancy, I found that normal activity results in fewer false positives.

No worries on what you did. During my test, I faked out the nurses and went for a long walk, water included. I just don't think the sit-and-drink-sugar test is an accurate representation of how our bodies would deal with sugar.

[7swans]

Thank you for all of the replies, mamas! I feel a bit better knowing that the test guidelines can vary. I will see if I can borrow a glucose monitor to put my mind at ease. My blood sugar levels are usually excellent but I know that many perfectly healthy women develop GD.

I think part of the reason I worry about this stuff so much is that my family doctor made a comment at my first appointment that I would probably end up with pre-e or GD solely because of my weight. I am by no means skinny or fit, but I have been eating pretty well (albeit lots!) and haven't gained any weight so far at 27.5 weeks. I do have a sweet tooth so I feel guilty every time I eat something sugary, even if it's just a bowl of fruit or a smoothie.