Significance of Fasting Levels

I was diagnosed with GD at about 30 weeks. I took the one hour test twice because I just couldn't
believe that I could have this thing. I am extremely active (played tennis until the 30th week) and
i am diligent yoga practitioner (although i'm not teaching right now, i am also a certified
instructor) and eat very well.

When i finally took the three hour test I had a fasting level of 98. I began limiting my diet and
exercising more immediatly - once i started testing my daytime levels have been coming up very low -
most of them in 90's, the highest one time was 123. Last night my after dinner was 86 (i did an hour
of vigorous yoga immediatly after dinner.)

The problem is that my morning fasting level just won't go under 90. It's 92, 94, 96, once it was
102, never over 105. My provider is telling me that the fasting levels are the most important and
that I may need insulin or glyburide (too experimental for pregnancy in my opinion) because the
fasting levels are "the most important." She also said that fasting levels are the least likely to
be corrected with diet and exercise and thus i'll probably need medication.

What I don't understand is why a 96 is something requiring medication if you have it first thing in
the morning, but nothing to worry about if you have that reading a couple of hours laster. My levels
are so even all day, between 90 and 110 almost all the time. Isn't this good enough?

hmm...I'm not a doctor, nor have I studied GD, but I've heard that many OB's shoot for really TIGHT
control during pregnancies. As a mere layman I too would have thought that under 100 (fasting) would
be good enough, but you should be asking these questions of your provider. When I was first
diagnosed with DM I was put on 7 units per DAY, regarded as a "maintenance dose". What I got out of
that was severe hypos. I hope that in their quest for tight control they don't "overdo it". Bottom
line, I think you should ask questions of your OB and consider that they know what they are doing!

Good luck!

dave

Freaking Out With GD wrote:

> I was diagnosed with GD at about 30 weeks. I took the one hour test twice because I just couldn't
> believe that I could have this thing. I am extremely active (played tennis until the 30th week)
> and i am diligent yoga practitioner (although i'm not teaching right now, i am also a certified
> instructor) and eat very well.
>
> When i finally took the three hour test I had a fasting level of 98. I began limiting my diet and
> exercising more immediatly - once i started testing my daytime levels have been coming up very low
> - most of them in 90's, the highest one time was 123. Last night my after dinner was 86 (i did an
> hour of vigorous yoga immediatly after dinner.)
>
> The problem is that my morning fasting level just won't go under 90. It's 92, 94, 96, once it was
> 102, never over 105. My provider is telling me that the fasting levels are the most important and
> that I may need insulin or glyburide (too experimental for pregnancy in my opinion) because the
> fasting levels are "the most important." She also said that fasting levels are the least likely to
> be corrected with diet and exercise and thus i'll probably need medication.
>
> What I don't understand is why a 96 is something requiring medication if you have it first thing
> in the morning, but nothing to worry about if you have that reading a couple of hours laster. My
> levels are so even all day, between 90 and 110 almost all the time. Isn't this good enough?

>What I don't understand is why a 96 is something requiring medication if you have it first thing in
>the morning, but nothing to worry about if you have that reading a couple of hours laster.

Keep asking that question. I don't understand either!!

I will say that it is GREAT that you are checking your blood glucose levels at home. You can easily
find out if there is any upward trend.

Maybe your provider expects that your fasting levels will creep up, and that is why she says that
you *may* need insulin. If so, I suggest also that you start very slowly. Hypoglycemia may be more
harmful to the fetus than hyperglycemia. I don't think that has been studied.

BL

"As the waves pass the rock, their shape is changed. There is a hologram of the rock within the wave
that comes forward and crashes on the beach, then there's a reflected wave back." Ralph Abraham

"I'd like to learn to windsurf." BL

Freaking Out With GD wrote:
>
> I was diagnosed with GD at about 30 weeks. (snipped)

The following is a search at Google groups for gestation diabetes which gives past threads on the
topic. http://groups.google.com/groups?q=ge...=Google+Search

Since I know nothing about the topic I direct you there.

Frank

Freaking Out With GD wrote in message ...
>I was diagnosed with GD at about 30 weeks. I took the one hour test twice because I just couldn't
>believe that I could have this thing. I am extremely active (played tennis until the 30th week) and
>i am diligent yoga practitioner (although i'm not teaching right now, i am also a certified
>instructor) and eat very well.
>
>When i finally took the three hour test I had a fasting level of 98. I began limiting my diet and
>exercising more immediatly - once i started testing my daytime levels have been coming up very low
>- most of them in 90's, the highest one time was 123. Last night my after dinner was 86 (i did an
>hour of vigorous yoga immediatly after dinner.)
>
>The problem is that my morning fasting level just won't go under 90. It's 92, 94, 96, once it was
>102, never over 105. My provider is telling me that the fasting levels are the most important and
>that I may need insulin or glyburide (too experimental for pregnancy in my opinion) because the
>fasting levels are "the most important." She also said that fasting levels are the least likely to
>be corrected with diet and exercise and thus i'll probably need medication.
>
>What I don't understand is why a 96 is something requiring medication if you have it first thing in
>the morning, but nothing to worry about if you have that reading a couple of hours laster. My
>levels are so even all day, between 90 and 110 almost all the time. Isn't this good enough?

For many people, fasting blood sugars are among the lowest of the day. Also, they tend to be a
direct measure of the balance between your level of Insulin Resistance and your ability to
manufacture insulin.

It may be that you are not spiking after meals, but high fasting blood sugars
suggest/indicate/predict spikes for most people.

It might be instructive to take bG readings at one-hour intervals after a meal. You might be spiking
at unexpected times. Many folks routinely spike at one hour. I find that many healthy meals cause me
to spike at 3 or 4 hours.

Be careful when you read our newsgroups. The acceptable blood sugar levels for G.D. women are much
lower than those of non-pregnant diabetics. When one of my friends went through two G.D.
pregnancies, the standing order from her very good, very advanced, very knowledgeable Oby-Gyn was:

"two readings over 120 and you're on insulin for the rest of the pregnancy"

She told my friend that the danger of high bG was miscarraige. Thus, she got a lot of cooperation
from my friend.

My friend got through the first G.D. on diet alone but couldn't avoid insulin for the second.

One trick for minimizing fasting bG is to set your alarm for 3 am, then eat
1/2 cup of nuts. That technique tends to suppress the "Morning Effect/Dawn Effect" which causes bG
to be high in the morning.

A G.D. woman wants "control" over her bG. Glyburide is not that good for pin-point control. Insulin
injections lead to much more controllable blood sugars.

(The glyburide is active for hours; it forces you to make unknown amounts of extra insulin for an
unknown length of time. Injections are known quantities, both as to quantity and duration)

Sorry, bad news: Despite the fact that you are a tennis player (a mark of intelligence,
sophistication and all-around character), the appearance of
G.D. is considered to be somewhat of a "revealing" of the patient's presence in the Standard Type 2
Diabetic Progression**. The higher insulin demands of pregnancy tax the Type 2 Diabetes Progression-
weakened beta cells and thus "reveal" that the patient is in the standard T2 progression
towards full-bore diabetes.

After the pregnancy, you must face the challenge of:

1. Minimizing fat lb,
2. Maximizing muscle lb, and
3. Exercising vigorously every day

in order to "freeze" your position in the Type 2 Diabetes Progression.

This is a condition and progression strongly controlled by genetic factors. You may not have as much
control as you would wish (Tennis by itself should do a lot) but it's worth the effort.

Your risk of future Type 2 diabetes is not a certainty, but if you read enough on T2, you should
come to the conclusion that it's worth possibly "wasting" a lot of dieting and extra exercise in
order to minimize the chance of finishing the Progression. My friend did a lot of work over the last
10 years to lose weight, gain muscle, etc, etc and is currently symptom free.

**More than you really want to know about "The Progression and Natural History of Type 2 Diabetes"

is presented at the URL shown below.

http://www.medscape.com/viewprogram/145

Good Luck
Old Al

"Freaking Out With GD" <alywitt@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:a08d6f57.0309260615.1fa69ef8@posting.google.com...
> I was diagnosed with GD at about 30 weeks. I took the one hour test twice because I just couldn't
> believe that I could have this thing. I am extremely active (played tennis until the 30th week)
> and i am diligent yoga practitioner (although i'm not teaching right now, i am also a certified
> instructor) and eat very well.
>
> When i finally took the three hour test I had a fasting level of 98. I began limiting my diet and
> exercising more immediatly - once i started testing my daytime levels have been coming up very low
> - most of them in 90's, the highest one time was 123. Last night my after dinner was 86 (i did an
> hour of vigorous yoga immediatly after dinner.)
>
> The problem is that my morning fasting level just won't go under 90. It's 92, 94, 96, once it was
> 102, never over 105. My provider is telling me that the fasting levels are the most important and
> that I may need insulin or glyburide (too experimental for pregnancy in my opinion) because the
> fasting levels are "the most important." She also said that fasting levels are the least likely to
> be corrected with diet and exercise and thus i'll probably need medication.
>
> What I don't understand is why a 96 is something requiring medication if you have it first thing
> in the morning, but nothing to worry about if you have that reading a couple of hours laster. My
> levels are so even all day, between 90 and 110 almost all the time. Isn't this good enough?

Things may have changed since I had GD, just over 5 years ago. Back then, my only instuctions were
to stay <110. I had one reading of 110 and was told I would be put on insulin if that happened
again. Luckily for me it didn't. The main problem with high BG is damage to the baby. The most
common damage is high birth weight and/or a big head. I don't know about the comment regarding the
fasting levels. Could be this is something that relates specifically to GD. For the rest of us, it
is the number at two hours after eating that is the most important.

--
Type 2 http://users.bestweb.net/~jbove/

Freaking Out With GD wrote:
> I was diagnosed with GD at about 30 weeks. I took the one hour test twice because I just couldn't
> believe that I could have this thing.
I
> am extremely active (played tennis until the 30th week) and i am diligent yoga practitioner
> (although i'm not teaching right now, i
am
> also a certified instructor) and eat very well.

Means nothing in GD, all the rules change. Plenty of superfit, slim, women who eat good diets
succumb to GD.

> The problem is that my morning fasting level just won't go under 90. It's 92, 94, 96, once it was
> 102, never over 105. My provider is telling me that the fasting levels are the most important and
> that I may need insulin or glyburide (too experimental for pregnancy in my opinion) because the
> fasting levels are "the most important." She
also
> said that fasting levels are the least likely to be corrected with diet and exercise and thus i'll
> probably need medication.

Yes, that is very true, a long acting insulin at bedtime might be all the insulin you need for this
pregnancy.

> What I don't understand is why a 96 is something requiring
medication
> if you have it first thing in the morning, but nothing to worry
about
> if you have that reading a couple of hours laster. My levels are so even all day, between 90 and
> 110 almost all the time. Isn't this
good
> enough?

GD blood glucose levels are to be lower than those they advocate for true DM. There is not enough
known about the defects high bg's cause so they err on the side of caution. The worrisome time for
birth defects caused by high bg is the first 12 weeks. If they are high in the last weeks you are
more likely to have a large baby with some immaturities. It is doubtful by your tests that you were
high in those early weeks but for future pregnancies the GD can appear sooner and worse. Regular
testing forever is a good regime. GD can be a precursor of the true type 2. After the birth it will
be in your best interests to stay fit, eat well and keep weight down. Good luck with your bubby.
BTW, a lot of babies born to GD mums have quite low blood glucose levels at birth and are more prone
to be jaundiced, nothing that the staff can't handle though.

"Freaking Out With GD" <alywitt@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:a08d6f57.0309260615.1fa69ef8@posting.google.com...
> I was diagnosed with GD at about 30 weeks. I took the one hour test twice because I just couldn't
> believe that I could have this thing. I am extremely active (played tennis until the 30th week)
> and i am diligent yoga practitioner (although i'm not teaching right now, i am also a certified
> instructor) and eat very well.
>
> When i finally took the three hour test I had a fasting level of 98. I began limiting my diet and
> exercising more immediatly - once i started testing my daytime levels have been coming up very low
> - most of them in 90's, the highest one time was 123. Last night my after dinner was 86 (i did an
> hour of vigorous yoga immediatly after dinner.)
>
> The problem is that my morning fasting level just won't go under 90. It's 92, 94, 96, once it was
> 102, never over 105. My provider is telling me that the fasting levels are the most important and
> that I may need insulin or glyburide (too experimental for pregnancy in my opinion) because the
> fasting levels are "the most important." She also said that fasting levels are the least likely to
> be corrected with diet and exercise and thus i'll probably need medication.
>
> What I don't understand is why a 96 is something requiring medication if you have it first thing
> in the morning, but nothing to worry about if you have that reading a couple of hours laster. My
> levels are so even all day, between 90 and 110 almost all the time. Isn't this good enough?

Sounds like your a hypochondriac....your levels are normal.

--
Waro

Waro wrote:

> Sounds like your a hypochondriac....your levels are normal.

Sadly you know nothing about gestational diabetes and the strict control that endocrinologists
expect from a pregnant mum. Don't give advice about something you know nothing about.

your message will be lost due to your delivery. You could have explained that you felt their
readings were ok, and left off the demeaning comment. You are gonna be prime plonking material here
if you keep it up.

dave

Waro wrote:

> "Freaking Out With GD" <alywitt@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:a08d6f57.0309260615.1fa69ef8@posting.google.com...
>
>>I was diagnosed with GD at about 30 weeks. I took the one hour test twice because I just couldn't
>>believe that I could have this thing. I am extremely active (played tennis until the 30th week)
>>and i am diligent yoga practitioner (although i'm not teaching right now, i am also a certified
>>instructor) and eat very well.
>>
>>When i finally took the three hour test I had a fasting level of 98. I began limiting my diet and
>>exercising more immediatly - once i started testing my daytime levels have been coming up very low
>>- most of them in 90's, the highest one time was 123. Last night my after dinner was 86 (i did an
>>hour of vigorous yoga immediatly after dinner.)
>>
>>The problem is that my morning fasting level just won't go under 90. It's 92, 94, 96, once it was
>>102, never over 105. My provider is telling me that the fasting levels are the most important and
>>that I may need insulin or glyburide (too experimental for pregnancy in my opinion) because the
>>fasting levels are "the most important." She also said that fasting levels are the least likely to
>>be corrected with diet and exercise and thus i'll probably need medication.
>>
>>What I don't understand is why a 96 is something requiring medication if you have it first thing
>>in the morning, but nothing to worry about if you have that reading a couple of hours laster. My
>>levels are so even all day, between 90 and 110 almost all the time. Isn't this good enough?
>
>
>
> Sounds like your a hypochondriac....your levels are normal.
>
>
> --
> Waro

"Ozgirl" <someone@nothere.com> wrote in message
news:bl588d$8a1uu$1@ID-139901.news.uni-berlin.de...
> Waro wrote:
>
> > Sounds like your a hypochondriac....your levels are normal.
>
> Sadly you know nothing about gestational diabetes and the strict control that endocrinologists
> expect from a pregnant mum. Don't give advice about something you know nothing about.

Don't be sad....I had three children with this. 90 - 100 was normal for me so I was told.

--
Waro

On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 00:29:28 GMT, Bay Area Dave <davea@nospam.com>
wrote:

>your message will be lost due to your delivery. You could have explained that you felt their
>readings were ok, and left off the demeaning comment. You are gonna be prime plonking material here
>if you keep it up.
>
>dave
>
Take your own advice dave.

SM

-----------------------------------------------------------
Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have
-----------------------------------------------------------

You have the nerve to put me in the same category as that jack*ss?? Read all his posts; read all of
mine. Who is the contributor and who is the DS? Gimme a break!

dave

Sleepyman wrote:

> On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 00:29:28 GMT, Bay Area Dave <davea@nospam.com> wrote:
>
>
>>your message will be lost due to your delivery. You could have explained that you felt their
>>readings were ok, and left off the demeaning comment. You are gonna be prime plonking material
>>here if you keep it up.
>>
>>dave
>>
>
> Take your own advice dave.
>
> SM
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have
> -----------------------------------------------------------

You bet your ass I have the nerve. Re read your post pal. It's all about the nasty little comments
you feel it necessary to ad to your posts that are the problem. Who are you to tell anybody else
that "they are going to be prime plonking material around here" You want to start plonking people?
Start with me.

SM

On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 02:01:48 GMT, Bay Area Dave <davea@nospam.com> wrote:

>You have the nerve to put me in the same category as that jack*ss?? Read all his posts; read all of
>mine. Who is the contributor and who is the DS? Gimme a break!
>
>dave
>
>Sleepyman wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 00:29:28 GMT, Bay Area Dave <davea@nospam.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>your message will be lost due to your delivery. You could have explained that you felt their
>>>readings were ok, and left off the demeaning comment. You are gonna be prime plonking material
>>>here if you keep it up.
>>>
>>>dave
>>>
>>
>> Take your own advice dave.
>>
>> SM
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------
>> Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have
>> -----------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------
Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have
-----------------------------------------------------------