Hello everyone, Ive had T1D for 20 years now and have always had good control over it. My A1C at the moment is 6.0 and im 6 weeks pregnant. I wear a pump and cgm but since the past 3 weeks I cannot get my blood sugar to come down.
Ill eat lower carbs for a meal and my sugar will gradually increase over the next few hours. Im having to correct with extra boluses but it is not working and my sugar is staying between 150 and 190. I understand its likely the hormones causing this, as I’ve never had this issue before, but its kinda freaking me out. My endo says that im doing just fine and to correct when I go high but the insulin just seems to not be working quickly enough.
Im also not eating too many carbs, around 30% carbs from calories, because im afraid my sugar will spike up. That is worrying me as well, if im not eating many carbs, is that bad?
Has anyone else had this issue while pregnant? I need help lol
@Jennimmar I think you are doing awesome. Pardon me for replying I am not qualified to have a baby.
It sounds like you need a higher basal rate. Maybe have a chat with your endocrinologist (because diabetes is still diabetes) about what you are seeing and if a temporary basal rate or a bump in your basal program is needed.
If you are a pro and are used to making your own changes, you could always put a temporary basal increase, (on my pump, an additional 30% would be entered as 130%) and watch what happens for 8 hours.
If you are at target weight, low carb isn’t going to to cause harm, just ketones. If your doctor is screaming for you to put on weight, low carb may not be the best strategy. This is a good question for your ob/gyn as a pregnancy is still a pregnancy.
good luck! congratulations! " A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for" I hope to read about you combing the hair of your grandchildren someday!
Thank you so much Joe for your response. That was very kind! It always helps to feel better when you hear someone elses input and that was very helpful. I think i will increase my basal amounts on my pump, i just felt a bit nervous about going too high since im only on a .5 unit an hour but maybe ill do a temp basal and see if that helps any.
Thanks!
Congratulations Jenni @Jennimmar and I too think you are doing wonderfully; I remember well anticipating the birth of our first and like @Joe, I wasn’t the one qualified to do the difficult part.
Having your HbA1c at 6.0% prior to pregnancy will do much to carry you through the 40 weeks. (BTW, it was an ob/gyn who really got me to work on getting my diabetes in the right place and was an encouragement for me to learn all I could about diabetes.)
In addition to running a higher basal rate on your pump you may want to consider increasing [a smaller denominator] your carb:insulin ratio, and when you know the amount of carb you will be eating, pre-bolus… Probably safer to do one or the other first rather than making two changes simultaneously. Healthy eating, not just lowering carbs, is important for both you and your baby; ask your ob/gyn if s/he thinks you should seek advice of a qualified nutritionist.