struggling . . .

hi there,
I haven't tried to get pregnant, maybe someone else will come along with first hand experience of that... but even without that experience I can imagine you are in a really frustrating situation.

Why does your doctor say not to carry on with the Victoza? I just looked at their site and it says " It is not known" what happens when you take it in pregnancy. It also says that it is not known if Victoza is harmful when taken with insulin - and your doctor seems ok with that side of it. "Not knowing" isn't the same as "will definitely do harm". Have you discussed other possibilities of victoza-like drugs that aren't victoza? I don't know much about it but if it's really working for you, it's worth asking about.

Also, if your readings are below 7 most of the time then you are doing incredibly well, Victoza or no Victoza. Has your doctor explained exactly what the risks are? It's true that there are increased risks in pregnancy if you have high bg, but the risks are still pretty small for all women having babies in the developed world these days (thank goodness). Risk is such a tricky thing because of course you don't want any extra risk for your baby, but at the same time it's worth remembering that our grandmothers were risking far far more when they were having children, even if they weren't diabetic. And they still went ahead!

I'm sorry if this isn't any help. It just seems to me like you are doing really well and doing all the right things, and sometimes it's worth just congratulating yourself and maybe going for 'good enough' instead of targets that are so incredibly tough. I really do wish you the best.

Teresa76 said:

Had my hba1c results back at 6.2% last month. I was really pleased as my doc said i needed to get it under 6.5% cos i want to have a baby.

I take lantus and novorapid and was also taking victoza... he stopped the victoza as it cant be taken in pregnancy and gave me 6 weeks to see how i get on without the victoza before him saying it is ok to go ahead and make baby plans...

and argh!

It seems the victoza worked really well! I have had to more than double my novorapid doses and my BG is still higher than it was.... all my readings are within ok - eg... less than 7 in the morning etc... but i need them better than that if he is to say i can have a baby... Very stressed now... cos i really want him to give me the OK but i know these BG readings arent good enough.

I dont think I am really asking anyone anything... i just needed to share and hoped some fellow diabetics would understand where I am coming from!

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Hi there,

Bless you, i've never been pregnant so i can't directly emphasise with you, but just wanted to offer some support

I know your fretting over your levels, as it's very important for yourself and baby to be that you have very good control before starting to try for a baby.

If the majority of your levels are below 7, that's still pretty good!

Also when you eventually are pregnant it's likely that your insulin requirements are going to change, alot of women say they find their dose requirement shoot up during certain periods over pregnancy. So you could take the positive out of it all as it's giving your practice for adjusting over your pregnancy if you should have the need!

Of course the stopping the victoza was going to have some sort of effect, but you CAN get the control even tighter, adjusting insulin according and counting those carbs!

Take your time, don't worry too much. Keep going at it and i'm sure your Doc will give you the go ahead!

All the best for the future

Please also remember that your doctor cannot dictate to you when you can and cannot have (or at least try for) a baby. I have a couple of friends with much higher Hba1c levels than your who have experienced controlled, trouble free pregnancies and given birth to beautiful and entirely healthy babies. Of course I understand that you want tight control, of course you do, to try and make pregnancy as easy and safe as possible both for you and the baby; but it annoys me when doctors as good as forbid thier patients from doing something when they have no right to do so.

Keep in mind that one of the risks of high BG during pregnancy is that the child is much more likely to develop diabetes later - so maybe the doctor is just trying to give you an achievable target for a reasonably low diabetes risk?

I personally think the doctor is doing a brilliant job for her, i don't think the doctor would or is forbidding her to conceive until she has the perfect BG's i think it's sensible and for the better to aim for the best control you can. It's not always acheiveable of course but what sort of doctor would have the mindframe of saying, ohhh you'll be fine with average BG's.

There are many reasons as to why you should have very good control not only while pregnant but whilst conceiving, you will almost certainly be put on supplements some of which are best taken a while before conception.

I think while lowering the baby's risk of diabetes in later life is important there are far more immediate concerns which I hope will be on the doctors list of concerns which by supporting and pushing Teresa to get very good control are in best interests of both mother and baby.

I saw a documentary about diabetes which showed a woman who was pregnant with very poor control, she was in hospital having blisters the size of of grapes removed from her armpits.

Think of when you have poor control anyway, your body starts to fall apart and imagine this woman pregnant also and the baby is naturally taking alot our of her too.

Please bear in mind this woman, by poor control i mean didn't always take her insulin.

Its up to you Teresa when you decide for yourself with the help of your doctor when the best time to try for a baby, it's true people have had higher HBA1c's than recommended and have had healthy pregancies and babies, but in my personal opinion i would strive to acheive my best for myself and baby. I mean pregnancy looks hard enough without diabetes.

Good luck to you, i wish you excellent BG's and a healthy happy baby