Gestational Diabetes Support Group - Page 16

[Muj]

Originally Posted by brandyk

most people can eat 2 carbs with lunch, dinner, 1 with breakfast, snacks. i can eat more at breakfast depending on what it is that i eat. just cutting back on carbs is usually not enough.

Wow, the dietitian put me on a diet that gives me 4 carbs with lunch and dinner, 3 with breakfast and 2 with each snack. 15 grams of carb is 1 carb for me, does that look crazy too much? Sometimes I do feel like I could skip a carb here and there but...

Anybody else have similar diets like mine?

[ruthmg]

Does anyone have to take medicine only in the morning? My numbers are great after meals and exercise, but in the 110s when I wake up. (I do an evening snack, and finally got my ketones down). I tried eating an apple and come ricotta cheese when I got up to pee at 1am last night, and my numbers were higher than ever!

I'm going to try some beef jerky tonight to see if that helps, but I'm not holding my breath.

Also, I'm finding that I need to eat basically the same things everyday. There can't be too much variation or my numbers go up. *Sigh* Only 10 more weeks.

[thepeach80]

Yogurt w/ fruit is not a good bedtime snack is it? I had that before bed last night and woke up hungry this morning w/ 104. I'm having a hard time getting myself to eat in the afternoon and I've been letting myself get hungry so I get low and it's taking a while to rebound from that. I was 96 an hr after dinner last night which I know is b/c I let myself get really hungry before dinner. Then I'm full and don't really want to eat a snack before bed, but I managed some yogurt, didn't help I guess.

[brandyk]

Muj - most of us can't eat that many carbs, especially in the morning. Bless you if you can, be prepared to cut it back!

Ruth - I take glyburide am & pm. The PM meds are to keep the fasting #s down.

Peach - Yogurt has lots of sugar. Try getting greek style yogurt, unflavored. Low in carbs, high in protein.

[thepeach80]

Here's a question I haven't seen covered here, but maybe it was. I have major low milk supply, always have, we're now thinking maybe it's b/c of undx PCOS, but that's just a guess. I wanted to get really aggressive this time and start herbs while pg and as soon as baby was born and use a SNS maybe, all that jazz. The problem I'm finding is that most (if not all) herbs for low supply carry a warning for diabetics b/c it may lower blood sugar. That's good right. I think most of them say insulin dependent diabetics, so as of now, that's not me. Would it be o.k. to use them still? I'm wanting to start ASAP and I can't really ask my OB, he won't know I'm sure and will just say no. I'm not sure my bfing medicine specialist can help much either since she's not really my DR and was a ped before, not an OB. Thoughts?

[Sage_SS]

I've had my numbers below 10 once today, and it was 8.9. Other than that I'm reading 10.3 to 10.8. All day. It doesn't matter what I eat. I don't know what to do.

[brandyk]

sage, those numbers ARE high. what did you have to eat today? maybe you're eating some hidden carbs. tomorrow, try eating like you would on atkins or something (or like the 50s). eggs for breakfast, 1 slice toast w/ butter. have a snack in 2-3 hrs (15g carbs). no fruit or milk or pudding or yogurt until lunch. 30g carbs with lunch, 15 or so with snack, 30 with dinner, 15 with snack. eat as much protein and fat as you possibly want.

it's obviously not medical advice, and you should consult your doc, but i'm allowed to take some extra glyburide if my numbers pop too high. my gotta eat but BS is high is a HUGE salad (tons of lettuce), with a nice chunk of protein (meat, cottage cheese, cheese, bacon), and however much full fat salad dressing i want. my #s barely go up. other kinds of fiber don't work for me like lettuce does.

and stop stressing about it. the real problem with GD is the long term stuff. relax, because stress will raise your numbers. so will being sick. we have ALL had days that are "no matter what i eat." you'll get through it i promise.

p.s. peach - i'd be worried that you shouldn't be using those herbs during pregnancy, not about the blood sugar. try cinnamon for natural BS lowering properties. please research each herb in that blend for safety!

[ruthmg]

Hi all - I realized that everything I've posted has been negative, so I wanted to write something positive about having GD.

I'm eating better than I have the rest of my pregnancy - I'm getting a variety of fruits and vegetables while before I was subsisting mostly on carbs and dairy due to nausea and lack of appetite. I have more energy now that I'm following the diet, since my blood sugar levels have evened out (except for morning fasting levels). I'm exercising 3x a day to keep my BS level good during the day (not a lot of exercise, granted, but I'm no longer sitting on the couch all day). I am forced to focus on myself sometimes, instead of putting everyone else first.

So, I guess, in a VERY strange way, GD has made me healthier for the last part of my pregnancy.

[Smirkin]

GD and Raspberry Leaf Tea?

I read online that diabetics (no mention of gestational diabetics) should "be careful" of raspberry leaf tea because it can "drastically" lower blood sugar in some people. This confused me - wouldn't lowering blood sugar be a good thing?? Then after reading that, I was not able to find ANYTHING at all about raspberry leaf tea and gestational diabetes.

Anybody have a doc or midwife who has given advice about raspberry leaf tea and gestational diabetes? I'm going to see my doc tomorrow, but he's a mainstream OB so I was just curious what other docs/midwives have to say about it.

I'm just finishing week 35.

Thanks!

[brandyk]

Ruth - what a great attitude!

smirkin - if you use the RRL, use it when you would want your BS lowered (after eating), rather than before. also for diabetics that use insulin, that's usually pretty precisely calibrated. you wouldn't want to cause hypoglycemia. that's the concern.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, i woke up in the middle of the night with a bad case. I just sat there eating my way thru the kitchen. I didn't really eat dinner last night (I've been sick and haven't felt like eating) and didn't even think of cutting back my glyburide. So yeah, stuff like that totally can happen. be careful!

[Sage_SS]

what is happening? I checked my blood sugar about 30 mins ago and it was 8.6. About 15 mins later I started shaking REALLY badly so I checked it again and it was 5.5. Within about 5 mins I started feeling like I was on fire, I checked again and it was 5.

I'm sweating, really badly. As in its pouring down my body. What is going on??

[Sage_SS]

what is going on??? I ate a pb&j sandwich. Made with whole grain, low carb weight watchers bread, low carb peanut butter and splenda jam.

I'm at 11.3 now.

[Swandira]

Sage --

Are you on insulin now? I've heard that insulin sometimes has an adjustment period while they're finding your dosage, and you wind up going from hypo to hyperglycemic. I'm sorry you're having a hard time.

In other news, I accidentally discovered today that plain water is like pure insulin to me. Since I crossed the 32-week line, my post-meal numbers have been creeping up into the 100s and even sometimes 110s, even at a 2-hour test. Not bad, I know, but I was a little concerned that if they went up much more I might have to take meds to control it and thus lose some birthing options that are currently still available to me. Then this morning, right before my test I was at Target, and I stood in the checkout line for a while and noticed I was a little thirsty and got myself a bottled water, instead of the diet soda or sugar-free iced tea I've been favoring lately. (Not sure what made me do it, but I'm glad!) I drank the whole 20 ounces of water on the way home, came in, tested my glucose, and it was 65! Finding that a little lower than is strictly necessary, I ate four carbs at lunch and drank a tall glass of water, and my test was 85 after that. Much better than the 100s, I think.

So maybe not enough water can increase your insulin resistance? Or maybe it's the lack of artificial sweeteners.

Nealy
mama to T, 5; L, 2; and EDD 12/20/08

[avivaelona]

Well artificial sweetners can really increase your insulin resistance so that's possible Nealy. Also diabetes can be worsened by dehydration.

Sage same for you, cut out the splenda. I know it sucks not to have anything sweet but really no aspertame, no splenda... it will help. I believe Stevia does NOT have the same affect. But really just use a tiny bit of regular unsweetned fruit spread (like polaners all fruit if you have that there) and skip the splenda jam.

Sage I don't know what's going on with you, honestly I wouldn't be surprised if your liver and pancrease are having a really horribly hard time keeping up with all the stresses you've had on your body the last few weeks. Eat quickly if your sugar gets that low, try an apple with peanut butter next time instead of the low carb stuff, low carb stuff isn't always that low carb, and obviously your body is not processing any carbs at all well right now. I hope the OB can help you tomorrow.

[lifeguard]

Sage - big hug!! I don't know how far back you read in this thread but you sound exactly like me. For e the glyburide did absolutely nothing & what I ate didn't seem to matter until we got very aggressive with the insulin. I know it is upsetting & frusrating but you will get it figured out.

I had my baby!!! Saturday morning at 5:20am. I will post more details later but we are both doing fine & despite the difficulties I had getting my blood glucose under control he didn't have any of the potential complications from GD.

[avivaelona]

whoo hoo! congrats lifeguard!

[thepeach80]

Congrats! I'm so happy that things turned out well! The next 15 wks can't go by fast enough I don't think...

[MomtoXane]

Lifeguard - Congrats!! I'm so happy you both made it through safely. Hope you get to indulge in some yummy post partum treats!!

Sage - Have you calibrated you meter and double checked your testing methods? Often if I get a number I'm not expecting I take a few deep breaths, wash my hands, and retest. Usually my second result is much closer to normal. I hope things settle down for you!!

This morning is my first visit with the diabetic counselor (under and hour!) and I don't know why I'm so nervous! I know she really isn't going to tell me much I don't already know since I've been through all this before. I'm just anxious to make sure everything is going ok and I'm doing everything right. Update you when I get back!

[superflippy]

Congratulations lifeguard!!! : I'm glad to hear you and your baby are doing well.

Muj, my diet recommendations are 30g for breakfast, 45g for lunch and dinner, and 15g for snacks. So, just a little less than yours. Actually, I've been going a little over for breakfast, closer to 40, but my numbers are still OK.

Sage, I hope everything settles down for you. It can be frustrating when your numbers are jumping around and you're not sure why.

I'd like to see what everyone else is eating for their snacks. I've recently learned that I shouldn't be eating edamame or tofu because it interferes with my thyroid meds, so I'm back to the old reliables.

15g (1 carb exchange) snacks:
- 1/2 an apple and a spoonful of peanut butter
- 1/2 c. plain yogurt with a teaspoon of agave nectar
- 1 slice whole wheat bread with peanut butter and cream cheese
- 2 oz. mixed nuts
- cheese slices on wheat crackers

0g or very low carb snacks:
- a hard boiled egg
- baby carrots with mayo+yogurt dip
- a cheese stick

[MomtoXane]

Susanna - Those are the carb counts I was given, so I hope it works out for me! She told me to go over (closer to 20g) for my bedtime snack to help prevent ketones.

I have a week to try the diet before they put me on insulin!! Thankfully my A1C was only 4.4 and my other tests came back normal. I'm on bi-weekly visits now until the baby comes in Feb!!