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Low carbing whilst pregnant

jhinkson1

jhinkson1

Active Member
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38
I'm starting to think this is the only way to get stable glucose readings.
I don't mean extreme low carbing because i don't think that would be great for the baby but trying to lower my carb intake.
My dietian has asked me to carb count but i've had higher readings now for the past few days and i've just gone back to increasing my novorapid which will give me hypos but i just feel that going low is better than being high?
Ive also been asked to take 2 units of levemir in the morning to try and lower post glucose reading but i dont understand how this will help?
Im really resistant to lower my carbs but it seems like the only way :(

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If I was you if really try with the carb counting its brilliant once you master it and find the right ratios to be on. Has she given you a starting point of 1:1 with the carb counting for your ratio so for every 10 grams of carbs that will be 1 carbohydrate portion so 1 gram of unit. If you find your still sky high 2 hours after maybe try 2:1 ratio, so if you have a slice of toast at 15g of carbs that'd be 1.5 carb portions so you'd need 3 units of insulin. Once you find your ratio rates you will be great and it will really help through the rest of your pregnancy too as you can just keep upping your ratios rather than guesswork with units.
With my first pregnancy I started off on a 2:1 ratio and by the end I was on a 7:1!! Importantly though you may need different ratios throughout the day I've always found I need more with breakfast or anything I eat before 12.

You could even work backwards and try to use the carbs and insulin units you had yesterday to judge what ratio you need for today and give that a try. I know it's difficult when your pregnant starting a new idea but I know it's going to be beneficial in the whole of the pregnancy for you and it allows you to eat different things and changing your insulin to meet your needs.

I'm 29 weeks and have found I've hit a point where I'm needing to thinking low carb from now on, it's so hard though when I'm feeling light headed and dizzy this past week (return if first trimester symptoms) and the only thing that makes it go us the carbs :(
 
Thats very useful, thanks :) if i was testing 2 hours after meals it would be great, so carb counting does work in that sense. They are insisting with the 1 hour post testing though so unless i reduce carbs there's no hope. I love carbs too though, but i'm thinking i've got 6 and a half months left, and it would cause me less stress.

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:( it annoys me how they expect you to get it down after an hour when your insulin is still effective after 4 it's just inevitable your going to be hypo, so hard isn't it I felt the exact same with my first but they let me say 2 hours post meal now which is alot better but I find even after a 2 hour good reading after 4 hours I can be low even though I've checked my basals are stable. Like you say it's not forever there's light at the end of the tunnel
 
I found that if i got my bg anywhere near target after 1 hour i would have lots of hypos for the following few hours, so i ended up having very small meals, like eat half a sandwich (about 15g carbs) but take insulin for 50g of carbs. Then your blood glucose should be back to target within an hour, at which point you eat the other half of your sandwich, then an hour after that eat the remaining carbs that you injected for. Basically, no meals but constant snacking. Good luck with your pregnancy x
 
Thats exactly what happens to me. I get in target and then i'll get hypos. That seems like a good idea, so you carb count but eat your meal in divided times. The only difficulty being when your at work you have to always be eating!

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