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Advice

Q

Qc34x2

Member
Messages
16
Type of diabetes
LADA
Hi

I know ultimately I need to make this decision but I am looking for information. I have been recently diagnosed with lada following gdm in my second pregnancy. I am negative for antibodies but have a low c peptide. Problem is that though I have two wonderful children (and realise I am very lucky) I have always wanted three. However I gather another pregnancy is likely to speed up my journey to insulin dependence. Does having a diabetic mother take a massive toll on children. Would I be being selfish to my existing children? Are the risks to another baby as high as they seem or is that for life long T1's? Thanks
 
That's a deeply personal question. I don't think you should judge yourself as selfish. We are all going to die, some of us just have more insight than others as to when.

I have 3 children and was probably GDM with my 2nd but never diagnosed. I WAS GDM with my third child and then went LADA about a year after having her. I had my children spread apart as bub 3 is with my second husband. Something I found hard to cope with, and you may want to consider, is the stress in dealing with a young child and a teenager and menopause at the same time.

Appropriate medication (not just for diabetes), lots of exercise and good diet is getting me back on track now but there was a very dark time and I worry that I didn't give my family what they needed while I was in this dark place. Diabetics are more prone to depression.

This is not to be doom and gloom, but another factor to consider rather than just the medical. However, conversely, if not having another child would weigh terribly on you, then don't rule it out. But maybe have strategies in place so you are extra committed to self-care.

All pregnancies have risks. At least with GDM you know what they are and will no to get on insulin early during the pregnancy if your blood sugar gets out of control. Good luck in weighing up all the pros and cons.
 

Check out the Pregnancy section here. A pregnancy with Type 1 is hard work but I wouldn't say that the risks to a baby are "high" at all. If an expectant mother controls her blood sugar and stays in range, then that's the most important thing.

Having another child is a personal decision, whether you're diabetic or not, so only you can decide ultimately. If you're just seeking opinions, then personally I'd never let diabetes dictate my life unless there was a medical reason why oregnancy was very dangerous. "Just" Type 1 is fine, in my opinion.

I have 3 children and theyre all fine. Diabetes doesn't affect my ability to be a good mum, and I've never got the impression my children mind about it at all. Moreover, with a cure getting closer and closer, and at worst, much improved treatments, then that should be borne in mind.

I have a pump and feel as normal as any other mum.
 
Thanks very much that is helpful, might I ask are you on insulin now? Have you found the management of your lada to be as restrictive as gdm? I went for a 30-40min walk after every meal and followed a stiff low GI diet. I would say the walking was tricky to fit around family life and that was with only one toddler and my husband (and work!) Think that would be harder with two children. Thank you for the self care tip, I did find my diagnosis very hard (am hoping my children will be grown up however by the time I reach the menopause).
 
Thank you, I will do. Yes just seeking opinions and what type I is like as a mum of more than two children. I find at the moment I am struggling to remember to snack when busy with both (but one is a baby) and worry about what that would be like when I really do need to stick to strict mealtimes to help me regulate my blood glucose. I managed gdm until 36 wks on just diet and exercise which my consultant was surprised by but I was very strict about it. Do you know if there is any evidence that pregnancy speeds up the requirement for insulin long term?
 
Hello Q,

I am LADA and non-insulin dependant. I take Forxiga and victoza which help manage my blood sugar levels.
I find managing LADA easier to deal with than my GDM.

I was insulin dependant with my last pregnancy and my levels kept rising, not responding to diet. I also had a low while pregnant which while a bit daunting was fine. I had explained to my husband what the symptoms looked like and he made me drink some fizzy drink to get my sugars up, even though I had a personality change during the low and was resisting him telling me I was low. He was right of course.

I had a natural delivery. They induced the baby and she was not huge - just a lovely 8lb. Our public system here kept wanting to ceasar me which I was against. I found I was more emotional during this pregnancy.

I'm sure you'll bear in mind that I am much older, my daughter is 5 now and I was 41 when I had her. I feel I would have been much better informed had I known about this forum back then. I would have gone extremely low carb.

My personal belief that what speeds up insulin dependence is not pregnancy. I have now excellent BSs with what is minimal medication. What I do think hurts diabetics is stress. I think there is a lot that exposure to cortisol and adrenalin over long periods of time does that triggers the trip from pre-diabetes to LADA.
 
Thank you that is really helpful. Are the drugs you are on helping to preserve your remaining beta cells then as some stuff I am reading suggests that going to insulin straight away may help to do that. Have been reading the experiences of living with Type I and it has frightened me. Also worried about the stress of going back to work as interestingly my levels were harder to control at work when I had gdm.
 
I have not had any pregnancies, so I can't comment on that I'm afraid, but you can read up on the drugs here:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-medication/forxiga-dapagliflozin.html
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-medication/diabetes-and-victoza.html

My specialist wanted to prescribe me victoza, but this was after I'd been taking gliclazide for a while. Gliclazide forces the beta-cells to produce extra insulin. I was required to go off the basal insulin in order to take victoza which was something I was absolutely not willing to do, as I could tell that my body's insulin production had plummeted dramatically for a while.

Victoza is only useful if you still have adequate beta-cell functioning left (which is why it's technically only for type 2 diabetics, not type 1). Forxiga will also not cut it if your insulin production is too low. It's speculated that overworking the remaining beta-cells indeed speeds up the transition to insulin dependency, and anecdotal stories on the forum seem to confirm it. I believe it was true for me.

"Have been reading the experiences of living with Type I and it has frightened me."

What about it frightens you? If you are honest, log diligently and are careful with finding your insulin ratio, then there's very little that can go wrong. Living with insulin dependency isn't easy because you have to consider a lot of factors, but it becomes second nature very quickly. Everyone's experience is different though, so what others are going through isn't necessarily what you will go through. I personally have absolutely no issues with insulin dependency whatsoever. I just do what I need to do. I take precautions, I test often, I adjust, and make use of the resources available to me. (I'm very fond of my diabetes phone app because it automates a lot of the process for me.)

I don't stress about it because there's no point. I do what I can do, and that's good enough and all I can ask from myself. It's when you are negligent or in denial that situations become horror stories. It's when you don't give diabetes the space in your life that it needs that it becomes a real tedious struggle.

Just take it one step at a time and stay informed. Knowledge gives you the power to make the right decisions for yourself.
 

If you were on a MDI regime you would have flexibility and wouldn't need to stick to regular meal times. You could even miss meals if you had to.

I haven't seen any evidence either way about pregnancy. If you were on insulin, then I can't see why pregnancy would hurt your own insulin producing cells. I've had three children and have had diabetes 23 years and my insulin needs haven't increased hugely after each pregnancy. My consultant thinks I might still be making tiny amounts of insulin myself as my doses are low. Even if I'm not, the pregnancies haven't hurt me.

You've asked about insulin preserving beta cells for longer. I am not a scientist or a medical person at all, but if I were to have LADA I would personally prefer insulin to drugs and I would want to,start it sooner rather than later. Just my opinion.
 
Hi Q, sorry for not replying sooner. Life (and mothering) has been busy!

There are a lot of people on the forum who believe going on insulin early is the best treatment and I put a lot of stock in this forum.

My personal experience with my endocrinologist is that my BS levels are not high enough to warrant insulin. He feels if I lose more weight I will be off forxiga and just remain on victoza. His opinion and research is that victoza gives the beta cells a "rest" and encourages the beta cells to regenerate. This is controversial. Interestingly, my endo came to medicine through a chemistry degree first which I appreciate as he does not prescribe from a text book. He looks at clinical effects and research as well as results in his patients.

In no way am I invalidating the personal experiences of others on this forum. This is just my experience and more information for you to put in the mixing pot.

Try not to be scared of insulin. I will get to that point someday. I am more scared of not looking after myself and losing my eyesight. I inject victoza once a day and I injected insulin when pregnant. It's not something you'd do if you didn't have to but it is not the most horrible thing in this life.
 
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