• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Diabetes and IVF

Do I go ahead with IVF even though my HBAC1 is 8.3

  • Yes

    Votes: 2 50.0%

  • No

    Votes: 2 50.0%
  • Total voters
    4
D

Diabetec101

Newbie
Messages
4
Hi there,

My husband and I are about to start our IVF treatment and my HBA1C is 8.3 do you think it’s safe for us to conceive with those results. I’m just getting worried, id hate to be responsible for any defect in the baby and I want to make sure a) IVF is successful b) the baby is healthy when conceived.

Support and advice is much appreciated.

Thank you!
Diabetic 101
 
Are you under your local hospital specialist for the diabetes?

If you aren’t you should get you’re GP to refer you to them.

In my personal opinion, they will be the best to advised you. Myself and hubby are hoping to try and have a baby. Unfortunately, my blood sugars are to high currently. My HBA1C is currently 7.3 it was 7.9. I don’t want to alarm you, but my nurses have said that is to high, and the overall HBA1C needs to be consistently between 4.0 - 6.0 approximately.

Hence, my GP referred me to the hospital so I’m under their care. I’ve been seeing them since June, and since then I’ve gone from no insulin to now being on two.....one for when I eat, and the other for overnight. Plus, taking two metformin daily.

Seeking advice from the specialist has to be a good place to start.
 
Thank you Libby for your advice. Yes I have been referred to the pre pregnancy diabetic clinic but they’re so busy and they don’t see me that often unfortunately, it’s so frustrating sometimes. And I get seen by so many different people that every time someone tells me a different thing. But thank you so much for your advice very helpful!

 

Maybe it might be worth you putting them under pressure to see you. Obviously, under the circumstances it’s vial you have all the best advice possible. If you have a phone number for the department, you’d have nothing to loose giving them a ring on Monday and saying you need to see the DN or consultant as a matter of urgency xxx

All the best tho, and please keep us posted x
 

Hello,

Are you type 1? What medication are you on?

I am type 1 and I was referred for IVF too. I was told my hba1c had to be 48mmol or below (6.5). Mine was in the 60’s. I was advised to get it as close to 48 or below. I decided to delay my round of IVF.

A low carb diet, pre-bolusing and a libre has helped me to bring my hba1c to <48. It took me
5 months.

My pre-conception clinic also advised me on targets I should aim for before and after meals. They are pretty tight but aiming for these now means I am almost there for when I do
get pregnant.

I found the NICE guidelines for diabetes and pregnancy useful.
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng3
 
Hi,

Sorry, I’m type 1. I’m on the pump so I use novorapid and even though I love it my hba1c levels were lower when I wasn't using it. Back then I was using novorapid and levemir, but that might be because I was hypoing a lot. However, with the pump I don’t really hypo. Thank you for that website that’s really useful! I hope you’ll hit your targets and get the IVF plan in action, you must be very excited.
 
From your query I can tell this is for your first baby. My hba1c was higher on conceiving my first and second child but no IVF then. When I was doing IVF I wasnt diagnosed but I jump through alot of hoops, similiar to awaiting this imminent bariatric op.
My hba1c has to be not outrageous for the same reason, less chance of infection.
I had infections in both pregnancies but the antibiotics worked so it was sent on its merry way.
If I'd worried about every element in my pregnancies I would have had a rougher time. No stress is the key.
I did do IVF before diagnosis and I understand what is involved, emotionally. My IVF treatment failed after failed various other treatments and medications. It was the last straw when mine failed. I took a break from trying to get pregnant.... then I fell pregnant on metformin. Needing insulin throughout first and second pregnancies.
I think a higher hba1c gave me energy and less hypos. But we are all different.
 
@Diabetec101 - I'd urge you to discuss this with your medical team and particularly the preconception team.
 
ickihun said:
The IVF team won't proceed until all is in place. A safe hba1c will be one of them.
Click to expand...

Not always. The fertility clinic I was with never really asked about my diabetes (they knew I was type1) and referred me to an IVF clinic without checking my control was still i. range.

The IvF clinic (a private unit) Also just assumed my control was good (hence I had been referred). Worrying. Unless I pushed and asked they were just happy to start my round.

It may just be where I am - as care here for diabetics is horrendous.

But yes as the moderator advised it is really important to speak to your diabetes team/specialists.

Good luck.x
 
Yes private clinics have their income to preserve so less strict, I guess. Nhs won't let you proceed if not in range.
 
I have been trying to get my levels down for months and I'm finding it so stressful. Trying to work full time and my beautiful passed away I have been under so much stress. I got my bloods to 48 but now they are saying it should be under that. I'm trying to find the best way to manage everything. Not sure how much more I can take really. What is the best way to get it down?
I exercise, walk the dog, take my metaform and cut down on sugar/carbs. They started me on insulin but what else can I do?
I feel like I'm getting no where and it will never happen
 
Is your insulin units working correctly? When are you back to see insulin prescriber?
 

Gosh Walter, sounds like you've had an awful lot to contend with.

Unfortunately, stress and bereavement can make our sugars run riot, so if your bereavement was relatively recent, this may be in play.

For T2s, our diet tends to be key in how well our sugars respond to things. Annoying, but there we are.

I know you've said you've cut back on the sugar and carbs; did you see a positive impact on your numbers when you did that, on a day to day basis? Maybe there are some tweaks to your way of eating that could be helpful.

I really am so sorry to hear of your loss. You clearly still feel it very keenly.

Walter, to be honest, I think your question might get more responses in a thread of it's own. This thread you have responded to is in the Pregnancy section of the forum, so might not have too many T2s watching it.

If you would like it to be a thread for you, I (or any of the Mods) can move it for you. Just let us know.
 
Walter that sounds tough! I know the struggle but I found that the libre is helping me out atm. Also I’ve started doing an almost no carb diet and it’s working great for me. The good thing about the libre is that I get to experiment so I can see what the different foods are doing to my sugar levels! I also noticed when I’m stressed my blood sugar levels start to rise. It’s easy to say don’t stress and harder to do, I totally understand but I’ve learned with diabetes I have to make sure it’s a priority. You can do the same without a libre you’ll just have to test more than usual when it comes to food. I hope that’s helpful QUOTE="DCUKMod, post: 1902930, member: 345386"]Gosh Walter, sounds like you've had an awful lot to contend with.

Unfortunately, stress and bereavement can make our sugars run riot, so if your bereavement was relatively recent, this may be in play.

For T2s, our diet tends to be key in how well our sugars respond to things. Annoying, but there we are.

I know you've said you've cut back on the sugar and carbs; did you see a positive impact on your numbers when you did that, on a day to day basis? Maybe there are some tweaks to your way of eating that could be helpful.

I really am so sorry to hear of your loss. You clearly still feel it very keenly.

Walter, to be honest, I think your question might get more responses in a thread of it's own. This thread you have responded to is in the Pregnancy section of the forum, so might not have too many T2s watching it.

If you would like it to be a thread for you, I (or any of the Mods) can move it for you. Just let us know.[/QUOTE]
 
I know very little about the dynamics of diabetes, i’m learning as I go along, and cannot offer advice but will say you can always call the baby Elaine ha ha x hope you get the reassurance you need
 
Hi,

I have a friend with type 1 diabetes and is 36. She wants a child via ivf as she currently doesnt have a partner and feels she is running out of time due to her diabetes.
Is there a criteria for someone with diabetes to qualify for ivf ?

Thank you
 
Hi @Emmam100 and welcome to the forum.
You have posted on a thread which is quite old. Please feel free to start a new thread by writing your own post in this sub forum. You may get a better response to your enquiry.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…