Type 1 Type 1 and pregnant and struggling!

[Alexm5079]

Hello everyone! Im looking for some much needed guidance.
I am a type 1 diabetic (10yrs) inject novo rapid 3 xs a day and levemir at night. I know how to carb count and use an accu chek aviva expert also.
I do already have a 2 year old boy, and off topic if anyone wants feedback he was born 9lbs15oz very healthy and my diabetes didnt affect him when born. My hba1c was 7% and i got it down to 5.7%.
Back on topic. Im now 5 weeks, and im having the same issues as before. Ive been told that my fasting bg should be less than 6, and that i should check 1 hour post meal and it should be less than 8! The issue im having (as before) is that my sugar level 1 hour post meal would be say 9.7 and then 2 hours post meal a 2.7 reading or less. I cant seem to get my sugar level as they require it, without ending up having 3 hypos or more a day. This happened last time and i ended up putting if 4 stone! Probably due to the amount of lucozade, sugar tablets and biscuits i had to consume lol. I dont want to go down that road again, its making me ill and i dont want to be huge again. I usually have a muller light for breakfast which has less than 20g if carbs, 2 hours post im having a 4.2 reading. I then have a snack sliced ham or something. Check my level before lunch and its say 8.7 i inject 1 hour later it could be 10, 2 hours later its 2.5, its up and down like this all of the time. Its harder to tell if im hypoing due to the hormones which is why its going so low before i notice. Did anyone have this issue? Any feedback is greatly appreciated. By the way, i have spoken to my nurse and all she had to say was "you had this problem last time didnt you" at this point im more concerned my baby will develop properly. Thanks guys x

 

[K8tie_x]

I honestly don't know how people get their 1 hour post meals in range without being low within 2 hours. I was the exact same and I think it's inevitable to be low if your insulin doesn't peak till 2 to 2 and a half hours.
I struggled with this hugely and ended up using a 2 hour post meals range but ill admit I hardly tested it then and based my control on the next pre meal reading. I found tgey weren't as pushy with the post meal levels with my second as they were with my first.
I think the only way to manage it would be to go VERY low carb so you are injecting very little insulin so there's not much active insulin between 1-2 hours. I'm sorry I'm not very helpful but I struggled jyst like you and found it impossible, fingers crossed someone else may have sone more helpful advice x

 

[Alexm5079]

Thanks for your reply. I had thought to continue a low carb diet my control seems to be better that way. It is hard ive tried to work off the basis of what my 2 hour post is and make sure that it is less than 10. So were you having alot of hypos daily? What sort of things did you eat to help? Any further info would be awesome x

 

[Clacey]

Totally recognise this! When I was pregnant my target was <7.5 1 hour after eating. Doing this you are always going to have a hypo 2 hrs after every meal unless you implement a serious snacking regime.... Which is what I did... A biscuit and a (decaf!) coffee mid-morning, a small banana a few hrs after lunch and I'd have a small pudding a couple of hrs after dinner. In the main that did the trick. Having the odd fruit pastille or 3 helped keep me bobbing along with hypoing toooo much. But I still had lots of hypos (ie daily) but as I was testing so much and because I expected them, and also because I kept good awareness I rarely went below 3 (which sort of felt like a good thing at the time!) and never went completely out of it. Also I reduced my meal sizes a bit as I knew I'd be eating again soon anyway.

Anyway - I'm thinking about getting pregnant again ... But somehow having a 2 year old makes getting my hba1c sorted a complete impossibility! I was 5.2 during my last pregnancy - but have been struggling to get below 7 for the last 6 months.

I did think about going low carb last time - but I have a lot of love for potatoes and pasta so found it difficult. I did avoid complete carb fests tho (so no pizza with garlic bread for 9 months....)

Oh - one other thing - I found getting my sugars down after breakfast was really difficult - so i started doing my injection half an hour before eating which really helped.

Anyway - I'm not sure any of what I have said would be recommended by a DSN but it worked for me at the time... It was hard though - I didn't realise how stressful it was on both me and my husband until we got the all clear at the 20 week scan - it felt like someone took a massive concrete block off my shoulders that I hadn't even realised was there.

Just need to do it again now whilst a two year old attacks me with a foam sword and generally wreaks havoc.

 

[Clacey]

One other thing... If u are 4.2 2 hours after a meal and then you snack on sliced ham then you shouldn't go up to 10 before lunch? That's too high for hardly any carbs eaten?

I'm not sure I've read yr post correctly on that bit - but you might need to check with yr DSN that yr levimir is ok? Could need increasing....?

 

[Clacey]

Ok - one other thing then I'll go away....

I'm sure my nurse told me that pregnancy hormones make yr blood sugars go up but not down? I would be interested to know if that is correct or not?

 

[Alexm5079]

Thanks so much. Ill give that a go, funilly enough i have been having a digestive after checking my levels. I also have a 2 yr old and didn't pre plan this one and my hba1c is 7.4 currently. Im not worried because it was 7 last time. It is hard work and being pregnant gives you that motivation to knuckle down more. I am thinking low carb starting tomorrow or else ill be getting massive and lots of hypos too.

Did you find that you ballooned up due to the increase in insulin during the last trimester? Or is that just me lol.

Im stressing a bit with already having a 2 year old, and now another one on the way :$

Thanks for your feedback though its nice to speak with others in my situation x

 

[Clacey]

No real ballooning - I had a mahoosive bump sticking straight out front but not much anywhere else. Probably due to the daily vomiting that I did for the full 9 months - that was fun! Vomit on the bus, at work, in the street....

You've got to love pregnancy :***:

 

[Alexm5079]

Sorry ive only just read your other posts. I think my sugar levels rose to 10 because i wws having coffee with milk? And the hormones of pregnancy just affect my hypo awareness. Where as normally I would notice at 4ish its getting to 3 before I feel anything. Im unsure y your sugars would go up during pregnancy? The only difference i noticed was insulin sensitvity changed as i progressed, maybe thats what she was referring too?