- Messages
- 5
I had gestational diabetes with my daughter who I gave birth to in early May. In September I took a finger prick test one hour afterwards to see how my blood sugar would respond to a pizza (knowing that it would have obviously given me a high reading in pregnancy). I got a high rating of around 10mmol/L. I did some further testing and got pretty high readings one hour eating the usual 'bad for diabetes' foods, i.e. most bread, white pasta, rice etc, and was worried that I had developed type 2 (my husbands was 5.6mmol/L post pizza). I booked an appointment for a OGTT - my HbA1c was 33 which I understand is normal, but my C-Peptide result was 3 which means I may have some degree of insulin resistance.
The nurse told me that, as I am no longer pregnant, I shouldn't worry at all about 1 hour postprandial readings, only 2 hour readings - which are generally fine. I read some research papers, however, that a high 1 hour postprandial reading has shown to be a predictor of prediabetes. So I've been eating a lower carb/low GI diet and I'm the skinniest I've been since I was a teenager (have been around 10 stone at 5'6" since my mid-twenties and am now 9 stone at the age of 37). I've been aiming for a 1 hour postprandial blood sugar reading of below 8mmol/L with the assumption that it will be in range after 2 hours.
Anyway, I have some questions...
Are there any guidelines on what a 1 hour postprandial glucose level should be outside of pregnancy? Am I being overly anxious worrying about the 1 hour number?
My main question is regarding improving/reversing insulin resistance. If I stay slim and generally eat better like I've being doing, does that I mean I may be able to start treating myself to the odd pizza without getting big spikes in my blood sugar? Or are things only improved/reversed when you are constantly eating lower carb/low GI and not giving your blood sugar the chance to spike in the first place?
Is it damaging to allow your blood sugar to spike once in a while? Or is it all about high blood sugar over long periods of time?
I know I'm in a good position compared to others on here trying to control an actual diagnosis, but I find myself getting quite anxious about it at times, mainly because cardiovascular disease runs in the family. I just want to know that I have understood my situation and that I'm doing the right things to prevent problems further down the line.
The nurse told me that, as I am no longer pregnant, I shouldn't worry at all about 1 hour postprandial readings, only 2 hour readings - which are generally fine. I read some research papers, however, that a high 1 hour postprandial reading has shown to be a predictor of prediabetes. So I've been eating a lower carb/low GI diet and I'm the skinniest I've been since I was a teenager (have been around 10 stone at 5'6" since my mid-twenties and am now 9 stone at the age of 37). I've been aiming for a 1 hour postprandial blood sugar reading of below 8mmol/L with the assumption that it will be in range after 2 hours.
Anyway, I have some questions...
Are there any guidelines on what a 1 hour postprandial glucose level should be outside of pregnancy? Am I being overly anxious worrying about the 1 hour number?
My main question is regarding improving/reversing insulin resistance. If I stay slim and generally eat better like I've being doing, does that I mean I may be able to start treating myself to the odd pizza without getting big spikes in my blood sugar? Or are things only improved/reversed when you are constantly eating lower carb/low GI and not giving your blood sugar the chance to spike in the first place?
Is it damaging to allow your blood sugar to spike once in a while? Or is it all about high blood sugar over long periods of time?
I know I'm in a good position compared to others on here trying to control an actual diagnosis, but I find myself getting quite anxious about it at times, mainly because cardiovascular disease runs in the family. I just want to know that I have understood my situation and that I'm doing the right things to prevent problems further down the line.