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So stressed and confused!

KirstyRobbie

Active Member
Messages
44
Location
North Somerset
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Non-insulin injectable medication (incretin mimetics)
Hello so this will be a really long post, but I’m desperate for some help from someone.

So I’m 33, I was first diagnosed with gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with my soon Oct 2015, having a history of diabetes in both sides of the family. They said I maybe pre diabetic type 2, after my son was born I was asked to have annual hba1c tests which was always in the healthy range.

In January 2018 I found out I was pregnant the same time as my hba1c test came back at a reading of 55mmol. So I was put straight on to insulin and seen in a diabetic clinic whilst pregnant, my hba1c was then always around 33mmol whilst under treatment.

I was told after my baby was born I was given metformin to take. Within 2 weeks I came up in a stinging nettle like rash all over my legs and I was told to stop taking them as it was a allergy. As I was breastfeeding I was asked to come back in a few months to see how my sugars were. She told me to stop testing my sugars too. My hba1c was 43mmol then.

2 weeks ago I went to get my bloods tested as asked and the next day I was called to do a fasting blood test , which I had this morning the results were 55mmol from 2 weeks ago and t chlosterol was 5.1, so the nurse said let’s see what the fasting results are, and she will get the diabetic nurse to ring me Wednesday.

The thing is I’m so incredibly stressed now, as I wanted to put this into remission , but obviously with having a new baby it’s been really hard, I’ve been told so much conflicting information the last 3-4 years and I don’t know what I should be doing or how I deal with it. I was told low carb wasn’t suitable for breastfeeding, but I really don’t want o take any medication . I feel like I’ve gone from having loads of medical help as support to now having my baby in August nothing at all.

I was diagnosed with post natal anxiety and have been seeing a therapist but I’m so tired and drained As my toddler and baby don’t sleep, can all of this raise my sugar levels??

Has anyone got any advice or help please?
 
Can't help with the gestational stuff as I have no experience. However, stress can raise your levels and you have shedloads at the moment. Your hormones are going to be all over the place, add no sleep into the mix and no wonder you feel as you do.

I am sure others will be around soon with advice and support.

Hang in there.
 
Hello @KirstyRobbie

I was diagnosed with gestational at 23 weeks, it was a great shock and it was picked up late, no idea of what my HbA1c was then but straight onto insulin until baby was induced at 37 weeks, everything was fine, however I went on to being diagnosed with type 1 about 3 years afterwards after falling very ill one week during a skiing holiday, which is rare with gestational.

The care I got back then was ok, but had no comparison, so did what I was told and fumbled my way through it, I was annoyed it was picked up so late as hadn't given a blood test before then and I wasn't given much advice, the most important thing to me was baby was ok when born. As one mum to another, I would not worry about putting this into remission right now, the priority is getting you and baby through the next few months, without stress, which isn't good for you or your baby. The impact of getting little sleep is big, so anyway possible try and get some sleep, so when little one is napping put your head down, this isn't going to help your anxiety.

I know things feel tough right now but it will get better, try and get some gentle exercise say swimming or walks with little one if you can, that will help with sleep too, but more importantly take good care of yourself and it will help you mentally cope better too, happy to chat on PM too
 
 
Plenty of women eat a nutritious low carb diet whilst pregnant and breast feeding. There’s nothing essential missing from such a diet if well thought out. Why would you need sugar to feed your baby? You need a healthy body and good nutrition as the ideal. I’ve long term fed 3 babies and wouldn’t hesitate personally about low carbing at the same time should my babies and diabetes have happened the other way round. It may not need to be very low carb. Maybe just some smallish tweaks would be enough for now. I guess the alternative would be medication. Depends which situation you feel more strongly about and which you are more convinced by the evidence for and against.

If it’s the same nurse that’s told you not to test I wouldn’t take much she says as gospel. She’s out of the ark and probably knows nothing much about the facts of low carb. And you will need to test whatever she says, at least for a while. How else will you understand what each meal does to your levels, which foods affect you, when an extra walk around the block with the kids in a pram would drop higher numbers, whether you are on the right track without waiting 3, 6, or even 12 months for the next test to find out.

Whilst you are no longer gestational I’d pop into the https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/gestational-diabetes.21/ section of the forum as they’ll be breast feeding mums in there too I suspect.

Stress and lack of sleep undoubtedly can raise bgl and be a cause of anxiety regardless of postnatal status. At least there is some support available for that though. Sadly support for type 2 is very hit and miss. Sometimes virtually none and sometimes very old school ingnoring more recent science and knowledge and minimal appropriate nutritional training.

55 isn’t so high compared to what many in here get diagnosed at and it’s perfectly possible for many people at that level and higher to get non diabetics numbers without medication, just by altering diet to some extent to remove some carbs , or a lot depending on you, and managing other lifestyle factors the best you can eg the stress and sleep elements along with some movement. walking is good doesn’t need to be full on aerobics and I used to take mine out in a double pram to get them asleep and get me some fresh air and then enjoy the following hour resting til someone woke up.
 
Thank you, it’s just so frustrating as this has been going on in both pregnancies and I still feel no further in treatment or advice. I literally hardly ever am sat down in constantly always out and about as I have a very active 3 year old. I don’t feel I have eaten really unhealthy since my baby girl came along, I am careful with carbs and rarely have processed food, I know it sounds nasty but I look at some people who are much larger and don’t do any exercise, eat what they like, and I feel so devastated and to be honest jealousand wonder why they don’t have it. I get anxiety about what people will perceive of my being diabetic and judging me on it, I don’t want my children to be embarrassed or ashamed of me . That’s why I want to do 1000000% to sort it out xx
 
Your reaction isn’t unusual. I had many similar thoughts. It’s part of the process towards acceptance. But this isn’t your fault and any that do judge you are doing so out of ignorance. The press have put it out there that all type 2 are diabetics because they are fat and lazy. This is just not true. As you rightly say there are fat, lazy people out there without diabetes and there are thin active people with it. Pregnancy demands make you more susceptible as you well know and genetics, misleading nutritional advice etc are all factors not considered when these people make judgement. What we are told is healthy often isn’t for a type 2, or one heading that way. Their ignorance is not worthy of your anxiety. They are best ignored or educated, your personal preference will dictate which is best for you. I see no reason why your children would have that level of ignorance with such a caring mum to teach them the right ways.
 
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@KirstyRobbie No one around you is going to judge you or care what health condition you may or may not have, and neither will your children, so please put this to one side.

It already sounds like you're doing so well, so try not to be hard on yourself, put yourself first as it's important to both your baby and daughter that their mum is happy.
 

This might help x
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/when-breastfeeding
 
It is frustrating as heck... Nothing nasty about it, these feelings are perfectly natural. Part of the grief process, believe it or not. And who is to say they don't have it? There's a lot of undiagnosed T2's out there, not to mention people who do know but believe one metformin a day will cure them. I know my husband has a bunch of T2's coming to his shop, and when he tells them how I eat they just laugh it off and have another cookie. Or two. A few don't mind being on insulin, and complications? That's a concern for tomorrow. You never know what's going on with people. Denial is powerful. Kornelis tries to tell them, and sometimes, very rarely, someone listens, but it's usually only when they met me when I was morbidly obese, and have seen me since diagnosis and low carb. In any case, you can actually do low carb, but not keto, while breastfeeding. Hovering around 50 grams of carbs a day should keep you sorted. Check this out: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/when-breastfeeding .

As for being diabetic, and worried about your kids, well... You're their primary source of information. If you tell them you are ashamed of yourself for being diabetic, that's what you feed them. But diabetes is part genetics, part our diet. And if you've eaten the EatWell plate all your life and have never ever done anything "wrong" according to conventional dietary advice, you can still become diabetic, simply because our diet and the advice we get, is high carb/low fat by definition. It has been the same for a couple of decades, and since then, the amount of diabetics in the world has pretty much exploded. So get this, and realise it is an absolute truth: You are genetically prone to get T2. You are incapable of processing carbs out properly. That is a metabolic condition, and NOT something you did to yourself. If the kids ever come home with questions, you tell them that. But also tell them mom didn't sit around; you tackled it. And you are, if you're here and trying to figure out how best to help yourself.

Thing is, barely any of us got any proper help once diagnosed. A couple of minutes with someone who basically had a doom-and-gloom message, because they didn't know any better either, and sending us on our not-so-merry way. Educate yourself and go from there. The site I mentioned earlier is a good source of information, dietdoctor.com. So is Dr. Jason Fung's The Diabetes Code. And a little quick-start guide here, which isn't of the same caliber, but which I wrote and may be helpful: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/

Just remember this... It's none of your doing. You want to tackle this so you can be there for your kids. That makes you a warrior in my book.
Jo
 


Oh wow you’ve actually made me feel all emotional, thank you for making me see it differently xxx I really would do anything at all for my children that’s why I’m so so determined to be as healthy as possible and get myself out of this horrible anxiety and low mood. X
 
The low mood will fade. Keep in mind high bloodsugars affect mood something horrible, so if you're depressed, having moodswings etc, that's not just the diagnosis messing with you, but the high bloodsugars too. Still, diagnosis? I know I cried my eyes out for a long time... That's part of the reason why I started looking for a way to get control of this. (The other part was not tolerating metformin either). I have always had a clinical depression, but oh boy, did it get worse when I found out I had T2. The thing is, once you control it, well... That pretty much turns things around. I have other conditions I can't manage half as well, because I have little say in them. But T2? Easy. Once you know how, keeping bloodsugars in the normal range and keeping complications at bay becomes almost an afterthought. Little under three years ago, I thought that right when I got a grip on my life and I was as happy as I was going to be, I was going to make my husband more of a carer than he already was, and then a young widower. I felt so guilty, so worthless... I'd wake up with tears on my face, I didn't even stop crying when I slept. When I got my second HbA1c after diagnosis, I'd already pushed it down to 42, and I've been in the non-diabetic range, starting from 38 to now, 33, ever since. It makes me feel powerful and in control, and I'm not as afraid as I used to be of what my husband would have to deal with. Better yet, I have a more active life now. We're out and about every weekend, where at first my knees would buckle at home, I could barely walk... Now I walk rather long distances with heavy camera gear. Two weekends back i was walking, carrying gear AND dancing, at a festival. That was unthinkable when I was 35! Just by changing how I eat. I still have a lot of other issues (thyroid, rheumatism, mental blah, etc), but I'm more alive and enjoying myself more than I did say 4 or 5 years back, when I was already a T2 but didn't know it.

There's hope here, truly.
Hugs,
Jo
 
I feel exactly as you do about your diabetes when I see someone with blonde hair.
I had a mane of glossy brunette locks with a tendency to make ringlets - it is rather less glorious now - but it was my genetic legacy. I had fair haired cousins - and they were taller than me as well - oooh was I jealous.
Your inability to deal with carbs is just as much down to your DNA - it really is nothing else.
I ate low carb foods, avoiding dense starches and sugary foods and sailed through my first pregnancy, and the first weeks of breastfeeding, until I incautiously revealed the fact to the midwives - who considered it a form of child abuse. Overnight my firstborn became insatiable, wanting feeding eleven times a day.
It was the increase in the sugar content - we all know that carbs make you hungry.
When I was pregnant again carbs were insisted upon - I developed pre eclampsia - I lied to the doctor and went back to low carb, and the symptoms passed, and my second baby was perfectly content.
 
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