I’ve just discovered this site and would love to connect with some more people who can relate to T1D! My husband and I got married last year and have been discussing having kids, but so far no luck. My A1C is too high right now (9), but I just ordered a DexCom4 and I’m hoping that when it arrives I can finally get in better control. I’m starting to get scared, though. I haven’t really ever had normal cycles, and I doubt I’m ovulating because I’ve only had 2 real (and HORRIBLE) periods and some light spotting in the last 10 months since I went off birth control. The last time I met with my OB/GYN she told me to try this new medication after I’d had my next period and then call her (which could be who knows when?). She gave me this horrified look when I admitted my A1C was as high as it is right now, and I got the feeling after that she pretty much dismissed me…
Anybody have any experience with irregular periods & high A1Cs, and if you’ve ever been successful at getting them back down into a normal range, does it help? I wouldn’t want to conceive with my A1C where it is now anyway, but I have no idea how much damage I’ve already done and if I can ever recover from it as far as fertility is concerned. My hubby and I haven’t been actively trying yet (due to my numbers), but we’d like to try soon. I’m 30 now and I’d hate to have to worry about a high risk pregnancy with age compounding with high risk pregnancy in T1D.
**PS - I know there is another group about Diabetes & infertility, but it hasn’t been all that active in a couple of years so I thought I’d try this one.
First of all you are already on the right path by trying to get your a1c under control so kudos. I’m not sure if your a1c would be affecting your period or not. I had been on birth control pills since the age of 15 (30 now) and by 25 I wasn’t having periods at all…ever. When we started TTC my a1c was 8.9 or so , so I worked my butt of by testing every few hours, and through the night and really making sure to carb count properly. Within a month or so I was down to 7.4! My end gave us the go ahead to start trying so I went ahead and went off BC. My first period started 57 days later and took a while to regulate. If you want you can start recording your temperatures to see how your cycle works. There are number of apps that are good. I used Fertility Friend. It took 2 years to get pregnant and we ended up needing fertility treatments due to my husbands sperm being lazy little swimmers, but first cycle was successful and I’m now 20 weeks!
The other thing to keep in mind about being 30 (which I am) is that apparently our healthy age to get pregnant is before 35. This was according to my team of doctors. That was the only reason we got into the fertility clinic so quickly. Just focus, get your sugars down and see what happens.
I never had regular cycles, beginning in 8th grade with my first period. I was diagnosed with T1 at the age of 2, so not sure if the irregular cycles were because of the diabetes or some other thing. At the age of 23 I spoke with my doc about my irregular cycles and she said that as long as I had 4 a year, I was fine. At the age of 24, I had only had 3 cycles, but my now-husband proposed, so rather than investigating the cause of only 3 periods in 12 months, I went on the pill. I was on BC from when I was 24.5 to 26.5, which is when I had two consecutive A1c’s under 7, and my medical team gave me the go-ahead that I could go off BC and begin TTC. Unfortunately, my cycle never came back, even with the great control. When I was 5w late, and negative tests, I was referred to an OB. We did 4 cycles of clomid, but didn’t ovulate on any of them. I then switched to an RE. We did one cycle of clomid, at the highest dose, and did not grow any follicles. We then did one cycle of femara and did not grow any follicles. Follistim with IUI worked for us. We’ve done 6 cycles with injectables and IUI, conceived 4 times, and have two living children at home.
Thanks to you both for such great responses! I got my Dexcom G4 last night and I’m really excited about it. Despite a couple of hiccups with the first sensor being bad and then he dreaded (???) after my shower this morning, I think I’m going to like this thing. I’m so glad to hear that with positive A1Cs and additional fertility help, there is still hope!
@AUGold325 I am in a really similar place! I got married at 26, had a miscarriage at 27, had my son at 28 and now going on 32 and not able to conceive again, had another miscarriage last May. Endo said that my last miscarriage was because of high bg but my A1C was 7.0 and now at 7.1 with irregular periods-he has not been that helpful but he did give me the go ahead to try for a baby. It’s been one year since the miscarriage so I have an appt with an RE in a few weeks. I just started on the Dexcom 2 months ago and it has helped me feel more in control and more accountable.
It is really nice to hear from others who are trying to be ready to conceive. I lost a baby due to high blood sugars going on 5 years ago now. It was so traumatizing that I haven’t tried since. My husband and I are working towards it now, I am 31 now. I also got the Dexcom and I love it! I’ve been doing injections for 29 years and I’m starting on a pump next week in preparation for getting pregnant. Needless to say it’s all nerve racking but I have hope that I will have a healthy baby in the next year or two!
Hi!!! I actually had a very similar problem, I was very irregular when I was younger, I even had to have my doctor give me a pill to make my period come at one point because it had been awhile since I’d gotten it. I actually did look into it and found out that uncontrolled diabetes IS a factor in an irregular cycle. I was younger and in college and was not taking the best care of myself like I should have been I got an insulin pump 5 years ago, with a CGM last year - the insulin pump alone improved SO many aspects of my diabetes, my cycle being one. I began to get get my period every Wednesday in the morning it became so incredibly regular! I got the pump to prepare my body for pregnancy and eventually the CGM after I lost a baby (NOT because of the diabetes, but I wanted my body to be as healthy as possible). I am now pregnant with twins! I will tell you, the CGM will frustrate you at times when the numbers might be off and you can’t calibrate, or you get an error or some sort, or if its just beeping at you because your numbers are high/low. But it is so worth the frustration!
As for actually TTC, my doctor told me that the ideal A1C for that is 6ish (but I can’t remember) I was at 7 when I got pregnant because of changes in my diet, but have managed to bring it down to a steady 5.5 throughout my pregnancy. I made changes to my pump settings to alert me of highs at 145 (before, it wouldn’t beep until I was at 200) which I think has really helped keep that A1C at such a low number (while 5.5 is low, its not because I’m running low, it’s the power of the pump and CGM!)
As for your age, I don’t beleive you are considered high risk at 30 (I had just turned 31 when I found out and my age was never discussed as an issue), but you will be for the diabetes, which is actually great because you get to see the babies A LOT more than a “healthy” person.
Sorry for the rant, I hope this helped, it’s a bit all over the place, but if you have any questions, I’ll be following this post!
Hi, I was told by my dr. to get my A1C 7% or under. So I worked really hard to get it under that. My husband and I tried for 2 years, about a year ago my dr. started doing test. We found out that my tubes are damaged not related to diabetes. We looked into IVF and even paid for the seminar, then decide it was not for us. We now have moved onto adoption. The only thing I wish I had done was start the testing while I was trying to get my A1C down.
I’ve usually had pretty good A1Cs, although sometimes I think it’s not really reflective of good control, since it’s an average. Sometimes I’ve had a lot of highs and a lot of lows, which makes for a good average, but not for good control! Anyway, even with good A1Cs I did have trouble with irregular cycles - often 50 or 60 days in between, sometimes as many as 100+! I went to a reproductive endocrinologist (fertility specialist) and was prescribed Letrozole (Femara) to take on days 3-7 of my cycle, which resulted in regular ovulation and normal cycles of 32-33 days. It still took me a long time to conceive (9 months of being on that medication), but at least it was easier to know the right times to TTC and it worked out eventually! Good luck!
I got an insulin pump 5 years ago, with a CGM last year - the insulin pump alone improved SO many aspects of my diabetes, my cycle being one. I began to get get my period every Wednesday in the morning it became so incredibly regular! I got the pump to prepare my body for pregnancy and eventually the CGM after I lost a baby (NOT because of the diabetes, but I wanted my body to be as healthy as possible). I am now pregnant with twins! I will tell you, the CGM will frustrate you at times when the numbers might be off and you can’t calibrate, or you get an error or some sort, or if its just beeping at you because your numbers are high/low. But it is so worth the frustration!