I am 17 weeks preg and been diagnosed with GD/type 2. They can't deside which as I've been border line from age 9 (31 now) dad is type 2 and mum side is type 1. I'm stressing as my readings are all over the place and as high as 10.7. I've lowered my carbs and on metformin. How long does metformin take to start working. I am low on vit d, can't eat any dairy (even lactose free) or fried/high fat food so I'm so confused what to eat.
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Very confused as what to eat
- Thread starter Jo125
- Start Date
spendercat
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 277
- Location
- City of Lincoln
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
- Dislikes
- Cruelty. I am kind.
I am very sorry no-one answered your post sooner than this. It just seems there are an enormous number of unanswered posts now.
I do not think you need to worry really. The stress is probably sending your readings up all on its own!
I too am milk intolerant and struggle with high fat food. In my first pregnancy (this was 20 some years ago) I ate lots of chocolate biscuits and got gestational diabetes, so I had a rather large baby. In my second pregnancy I followed a gluten free, dairy free diet and was rewarded with a nice 7.5 lb baby - much easier
Also the GD went away and did not come back for 25 years! So here is my best advice:
The low carb diet plus metformin will take a few months to really settle down, although you may well see the numbers start to drop within weeks. Have you tried goats milk products? I do not have any problems with them. Also you can get Alpro products in the supermarket - yoghurt, milk, etcetera. They are low in carbs and dairy free, I eat the plain yoghurt for breakfast because I cannot manage a cooked breakfast. I flavour it with stevia and a little fresh fruit or cocoa powder.
The vitamin D levels are a common problem because we do not get enough sun in this country. You can get vitamin pills from the high street too and maybe you should at this time in your life. The baby needs vitamins and will take them from your body stores, leaving you deficient.
I am sure that you will have been prescribed Folic Acid tablets, probably iron tablets too, but be careful with the iron tablets, they may make you constipated which means they are doing more harm than good. My daughter swears by blackstrap molasses pills with chelated iron, they have really helped her anaemia. I personally take Benfotiamine, which is rather expensive. I take it to avoid neuropathy, but some users say it brings their BG levels down. It does not seem to do that for me, but mine are pretty low anyway, on a low carb diet alone. My BGs were a bit higher than yours when I was diagnosed, and it took 6 months for the low levels to really become consistent for me.
Try to eat normally - old fashioned cooking from scratch without additives. Get your carbs from green veg as far as possible and skip potatoes and bread wherever you can. Do not let yourself be hungry. That is a sure way to end up eating the wrong things. If you must have some kind of bread I believe Bergen bread, from the supermarket, is well tolerated.
Some people aim at fewer than 40 carbs a day, but this is very hard to maintain. There are plenty of people on here who keep really low BGs on 130 carbs a day. So you can experiment to find your comfort level.
Do not worry too much about your baby, plenty of mums, like me, have gone through pregnancy and had babies without ever realising that they had a problem. Incidentally, my first rather chubby baby slimmed herself down nicely and was normal weight in no time. She was and is a bright, healthy, normal person.
I do not think you need to worry really. The stress is probably sending your readings up all on its own!
I too am milk intolerant and struggle with high fat food. In my first pregnancy (this was 20 some years ago) I ate lots of chocolate biscuits and got gestational diabetes, so I had a rather large baby. In my second pregnancy I followed a gluten free, dairy free diet and was rewarded with a nice 7.5 lb baby - much easier
Also the GD went away and did not come back for 25 years! So here is my best advice:The low carb diet plus metformin will take a few months to really settle down, although you may well see the numbers start to drop within weeks. Have you tried goats milk products? I do not have any problems with them. Also you can get Alpro products in the supermarket - yoghurt, milk, etcetera. They are low in carbs and dairy free, I eat the plain yoghurt for breakfast because I cannot manage a cooked breakfast. I flavour it with stevia and a little fresh fruit or cocoa powder.
The vitamin D levels are a common problem because we do not get enough sun in this country. You can get vitamin pills from the high street too and maybe you should at this time in your life. The baby needs vitamins and will take them from your body stores, leaving you deficient.
I am sure that you will have been prescribed Folic Acid tablets, probably iron tablets too, but be careful with the iron tablets, they may make you constipated which means they are doing more harm than good. My daughter swears by blackstrap molasses pills with chelated iron, they have really helped her anaemia. I personally take Benfotiamine, which is rather expensive. I take it to avoid neuropathy, but some users say it brings their BG levels down. It does not seem to do that for me, but mine are pretty low anyway, on a low carb diet alone. My BGs were a bit higher than yours when I was diagnosed, and it took 6 months for the low levels to really become consistent for me.
Try to eat normally - old fashioned cooking from scratch without additives. Get your carbs from green veg as far as possible and skip potatoes and bread wherever you can. Do not let yourself be hungry. That is a sure way to end up eating the wrong things. If you must have some kind of bread I believe Bergen bread, from the supermarket, is well tolerated.
Some people aim at fewer than 40 carbs a day, but this is very hard to maintain. There are plenty of people on here who keep really low BGs on 130 carbs a day. So you can experiment to find your comfort level.
Do not worry too much about your baby, plenty of mums, like me, have gone through pregnancy and had babies without ever realising that they had a problem. Incidentally, my first rather chubby baby slimmed herself down nicely and was normal weight in no time. She was and is a bright, healthy, normal person.
