I have been T1 since I was 1 year old. I am now 24 and want to get pregnant. My A1C was 7.0 at my last visit. I've been on the pump for 5 years, I was on the CGM, my insurance changed and now I am getting a new one in a few days, I haven't had the CGM for a few moths but I'm testing about 8 or so times a day. My fasting is usually around 68 and I rarely go above 185. My doctor just says "tell me as soon as you get pregnant" but doesn't say anything more. She has said that 7.0 isn't great but it's not the worst and that I can have a healthy pregnancy. Does having T1 cause fertility problems/problems becoming pregnant? I know if you don't have good control that causes problems once you have beome pregnant but does T1 in general cause fertility problems? Any good reccomendations or tips?
I just found out today I am pregnant! I am 26 and have had diabetes 18 years. My A1C was around 6.1 so the doctor said I was fine, and call her when it happened so I did. She also referred me to a fertility specialist and a high risk ob/gyn. I had consultations with both of them. After extensive testing at the fertility doctor, they said that everything regarding getting pregnant- my blood work and ultrasounds were perfectly normal. I found out 15 years ago I had PCOS and I thought that would be a major obstacle to conceiving . The only extra drug I was taking was metformin due to insulin resistance. Luckily, and surprisingly, it only took two months for me to get pregnant! I am also on the pump and cgm and I test around 15 times a day. So to answer your question, I don't think the diabetes has anything to do with your ability to conceive. Good luck!
I have been reading on line and it's making me nervous about getting pregnant. I have gone to a Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor and she just said I need to get my A1C down but didn't say down to what (when I ask to what she avoids the actual answer and says to get it down). I know as close to 6 is a general rule, my major concern is that my A1C is not going to be low enough and I will have complications. I have been trying so hard to get it lower than 7 and I can't seem to get it lower, I have been eating well and taking vitamins. I was feeling low today and tested immediately and it was 28! I want everything to be perfect before I am pregnant but with limited information from my doctors I feel like I am making my own diagnosis/decisions and I feel like it's not going to be good enough. On one hand I want to be pregnant and on the other I feel like I should wait, if I wait how long do I have to wait to get a straight answer from a doctor?! It's so frustrating that every doctor I go to won't give me a direct answer. Do you know how "risky" it is to get pregnant with an A1C of 7?
So Happy for you! Do you know how far along you are?
I don't know how risky it is to have a A1C higher than 7, but I have heard of people whose blood sugar was not under perfect control and had healthy babies, although I am not advocating that! I am not very far along, my missed period was only 3 days ago. The endocrinologist I see is Dr. Majd Hakim at Frederick Internal Medicine and the high risk ob/gyn is Dr. Wayne Kramer, who has offices in Rockville and Frederick. I don't know any other type 1's in the area, or at all for that matter, so I would definitely love to chat with you! Good luck with everything!
Every time I talk to my doctor they tell me my bloodwork is definitely not in line with having a child...my last A1c was 8.1....which was a hundred times better then the A1c's I was purposely giving myself 3 years back.....and that took 3 years to fix! How is everyone able to get their sugars down to a 6.1...what is the secret?!?! lol....my doctor stated he wanted my A1c no higher then 6.5 before having children....I test multiple times a day, always giving myself the correct dosages...they wanted me on metformin (1- 500mg) at night for the insulin resistance, but I vomited everytime I took it because it made me soooooo sick....I have a mini med and a few years back had the sensor--- but I had so many issues with it, I have yet to go back to it...anyone use it? its been 3 years since I used it, maybe things have changed....but does it help get those sugars down?
and I wrote on a recent post about a book, that has definitely made a big help, and i already changed alot about my sugars just by reading it----makes me more hopeful for children in the future!
I'm new to this site and...well reaching out to other diabetics. I have read about different people and their situations. It's encouraging to know that no matter how many good days or bad days that people can get through it and lead healthy lives. With that said do you mind me asking why you purposely had high blood sugars? I have had issuse with the pump and have figured out why and I have been working on fixing them. My blood sugars are 68-72 fasting, 78-120 1-2 hours after I eat and 120-140 before bed but my A1C is still 7. I am testing even more now, about 10-12 times a day and I have seen in the afternoon/right before dinner I spike from 120 around 4:30 to 203 around 6:00p.m. so I have increased my basil rate. So long story short, I am trying my best and testing, if my sugars are "in control" but my A1C is still "elevated" is being pregnant still a "risk"? I don't mean to be using the quotes so much but this seems to be very different from one doctor to the next. I also read your post about the book being helpful, thats so great that you could make some positive changes! I had the minimed CGM and DID NOT like it at all, the CGM from Dexcom seems to work much better for me than any other one. It's so helpful in monitoring highs, lows or anticipating one. I highly recommend it!
My A!C was also so high a few years ago. In college, it got up to around 14. I did this because I wanted to get skinny and I got to about 85 pounds and now I'm almost 160, so the tighter control really adds on the pounds for me. I learned the hard way this is not the healthiest option! I have been taking Metformin for over a year and a half, and that is only way I would have a period or ovulate, my last endo warned me some people get pregnant on it right away, and I did. (Thank goodness!) I am taking 2000mg, and for the first few weeks I really did feel terrible. I eventually adjusted to it. If you think you can push through and suffer for a while, it might be worth it. I went on the sensor about 2 years ago, and after a while it was really messing me up- also the MiniMed one. I think the key is to constantly calibrate it, not just once every 12 hours. I went back on it a few months ago and it is really helping me out this time around. I like it because it wakes me up a lot when I am low and don't know it. Good luck with your baby trying!
I am using the MM CGM and I love it, my A1C before was 8.0 so Im interested to see what it will be this next time after using the sensor because I really feel like its making a big difference. Besides the weight gain because of having good control ;) Isn't it crazy that over the years we have learned to use our high blood sugars as a "diet" ! In high school I remember playing that game..."ok, I have 3wks before the dance, i should be able to drop 10lbs real quick" I also was able to get my A1C up there a few times. I knew I had hit rock bottom when I was admitted for DKA and the doctor walked in and told my mom I had gotten the award for one of the highest A1C he had ever seen ( I think it was like 16). Glad to be past those days :)
Hi, sorry I havent replied right away, I tried from my cell phone but it never went through :-(
I, like Kelly, was in a stage in highschool, where I purposely kept my sugars atleast above 400, to lose weight...I ate whatever, whenever and peed like crazy, and my weight stayed at 120....which is not my ideal weight for my body (healthy...despite all that BMI crap... for me is 140-150)... My A1c for almost three years was a constant 14....I got lucky though, and still have zero damage to my kidneys or eyes, and that is pure luck, because otherwise, my body should have hated me...my weight now is 190, which is far heavier then I ever thought I would be...but its because I am still eating the same crap I ate in highschool but being better with my insulin....i need to learn how to eat better....but I learned my lesson when I got out of highschool, which was in 2005, and have since been trying (MY HARDEST) to get my A1c's down...my last one was an 8.1...and I admit I was super stressed because I had a wedding coming up 2 months after that blood work, and my body was just completely rundown...now that the wedding is over with (thank GOODNESS, because I never want to plan a wedding again hahaha) I am focusing efforts on getting my body prepared for possible children in the future. I go for my next blood work in January, and recently spoke to a regional director for mini med to see if my insurance will approve me for the sensor again, and maybe hop on that for a while and see where I am going wrong....my biggest problem...which I have since I was diagnosed, is that my body from 2pm till 6pm--- no matter what I eat or dont eat--- my sugars will be over 200...and that was on shots and then being on the pump for 6 years, its still the same! I had insulin resistance, where they put me on 1-500mg pill of metformin at night....well that didnt go very well, because I vomited for hours after taking it...I took it two weeks solid, called the doctor, she said try it for two more weeks to see if my body would adjust, and it never did...my body HATED it! Just like birth control pills...I had a horrible expereince with every different type of pill, and now I have been on the nuva ring, and my sugars are much happier with it lol...