Annoying Highs in 2nd Trimester

Pregnancy
1

Hi All,

I am now at 22 weeks and things had been going great. I don't think I've ever before been congratulated for being a good diabetic. Last A1C was 5.3 : ), I didn't know they could go that low! Anyways the last few weeks have been very frustrating. I went from not having hardly any numbers over 150, to being in the 150's to low 200's almost once every day after a meal. Although I never seem to stay there for long (usually a fast peak where I only stay high for 30 min or so), I would LOVE to figure out how to stop this. I have tried protein and fats to slow down carbs,  less carbs, and taking my insulin before eating. Sometimes these seem to work, other times they don't.

I have also had periodic highs in the middle of the night which have never been an issue before, these last for longer and often need multiple corrections to bring them down. As far as I can tell there doesn't seem to be much of a pattern to when/why these are occuring.It will happen one night, then I will hang out around 95 the entire time the next  two nights.

I've gotten a few ideas from my diabetic care team - hormones and too much fat with my meals (doesn't seem to always fit the pattern, but maybe sometimes?) Was wondering what ideas you might have, or if you've experienced something similar and what worked for you.

 

 

2

This is pretty common.  Your insulin needs start increasing in the 2nd trimester.  By your 3rd trimester you'll be shocked at how much insulin you'll take.

A couple things that helped me:

Bolus about 10 minutes before eating.  Then an hour after eating test again and use your bolus wizard/calculator to take a correction bolus.  It will keep your post meal numbers down.

I also couldn't handle any high carb or high fat meals for dinner.  At lunch it was no problem, but dinner took forever to digest and caused delayed highs.  

You're smart to be cautious about increasing your basal.  I would only do so after having a high for 2 days in a row that wasn't linked ot what I ate.  Basal goes up partly because you're gaining baby weight and partly from the hormones like progesterone that inhibit insulin.  

Try to find a moms-to-be exercise class.  They're usually mellow classes like yoga and water aerobics.  You'll see a noticeable insulin sensitivity with exercise.  

Sounds like you're doing a really good job!  For the rest of the pregnancy be ready to make almost daily insulin changes.  You'll get the hang of it before too long.