I am so so concerned about hurting my baby and even having a miscarriage because of high blood sugars. I am really really upset today because my glucose is up over 400 and I CANT get it down :( Has anyone been told anything about one or two highs ending a pregnancy if I do better most of the time? What in the world do I do? I can't be perfect all the time but this is terrible.
If you can't get your blood sugar down, call your doctor. If you're pumping, take an injection instead of a bolus and then change your infusion set and site. Check for ketones and take extra insulin as directed by your doctor. Drink lots of water.
And once your blood sugar starts coming down, try to take a deep breath and concentrate on what you can do to prevent a high next time. Talk to your doctor and/or diabetes educator about your concerns.
Hey Rose Joelle - me too. It is so completely nerve wracking to be on guard 24/7; to know that another life depends on my choices; to know that the technology available to me to mimic a fully functioning pancreas falls short of perfection.
I know this is difficult and very scary, but you can do this. You already know what to do to bring down your bg - take another shot of insulin according to your ratio. Don't overdo it (or you'll be on the rebounding roller coaster). It seems like it takes forever, but even short acting insulin takes about 2 hours to peak and 3 or 4 to fully work through your system. High bgs take time and patience to resolve.
If the high bgs are reoccurring, chat with your endo/dr about how to work on control (which is like shooting at a fast moving target while pregnant!). You can do this. You can't change what lead up to the high bg this time. But you can safely bring it down and make the necessary changes to minimize the spike for next time.
Hang in there! You can do this :)
I've had a couple over 350 (and several in the 200s) and felt similarly. Doesn't it feel just terrible? :(
As I understand it, the occasional high isn't a huge concern as long as you're usually in very good control. But my endo also emphasized bringing the high down ASAP.
I do tend to be very aggressive with my highs while pregnant. I'll give myself a dose of insulin to bring it down without regard to "insulin on board," and simply watch it closely to ensure I eat something before I have the chance to go low. It's just a faster way for me to drop back to "normal," at the price of extra attention and an extra snack. (I'd never do this at times when I can't monitor closely, such as before bed.)
Rose Joelle - Try not to stress too much. I know its hard, but do all the things previously mentioned to bring down your BG and focus on how to prevent it from happening again. I had a high BG early on in my pregnancy - baby was born perfect! Hopefully that will make you feel a little better. Best of luck! You can do this!!!! :)
Hi, I also had some very high bgs early on and baby(s) were ok (although I tried super-hard to keep them really good throughout the entire pregnancies).
Yes, just don’t forget that it’s typical for insulin requirements to go up ALOT during pregnancy (mine about tripled) so i believe you don’t need to be worried about needing to take significantly more to keep your bgs down. (And immediadely after delivering the baby I needed to cut back down to my pre- preggo dosages, which I believe is also typical).
Congrats and good luck!
Take a deep breath!! Stress just makes it worse. We’ve all been there…high blood sugars define diabetes. I made myself (and my husband) crazy over those high blood sugars. Especially in the beginning when your emotions are all over the place those high numbers will make you feel awful. Very good advice in the previous posts. I started logging everything about my day (food, exercise, insulin) to isolate what worked and what didn’t. It was so frustrating when foods I could normally eat we’re suddenly completely off limits. I also walked a lot. The little bit of exercise, sometimes only 10-20 minutes, seemed to make the insulin work a little faster/better. I had a lot of completely unexplainable highs during the first couple of weeks (it was one of the ways I suspected I was pregnant), and my 4 month old son is perfectly happy and healthy. They did go away and my numbers went back to normal for several weeks, then just when I thought I had it all figured out insulin resistance started (20wks or so). It’s a really long and difficult road, but it’s worth it.
Thank you all so much. I am doing my best and keeping in close contact with my endo. I totally over corrected today and Im suffering the consequnces this evening but I will just keep fighting. :)
Oh, and yes - totally worth it. I had my first ultrasound yesterday and I could see the little heartbeat even at just six weeks (based on the untrasound Im not as far along as they originally guessed).
Congratulations!! Highs during pregnancy are really scary, especially ones over 300. I didn't find out I was pregnant until 6 weeks, and one night of over 300 and not being able to get it down was what tipped me off and what made me take a test. I had another high of 353 one night in the middle of the night at about 22 weeks and freaked out again. BUT I was reassured that one high every now and then was not a concern, it was only if I stayed high all the time. I'm now 30 weeks and going for weekly NST's and baby is happy, healthy and a normal size and isn't showing any signs of being the baby of a diabetic. It isn't easy, by any means, but staying on top of everything is what counts. Someone on here told me in the beginning and it's been a huge help; don't pay attention to the amount you're bolusing. In the beginning, it seems like you're taking way too much insulin and it's a little freaky, but you just have to keep reminding yourself that it's what is keeping your baby healthy. My meal boluses now are almost half of my total pre-pregnancy daily insulin usage. It was scary at first, but it's what has to be done and it's paying off.
I recently found out that I was pregnant. Last week my blood sugars were climbing and no matter how much insulin I took it just stayed high. I have adjusted my basal rate and finally they are coming down. I too am very worried about what this will do to my baby. I am so scared that I will have a miscarriage. I see my doctor tomorrow so hopefully they can help. It gave me comfort though to see that others are going through the same...
I have been super worried too. I have terrible nausea and throw up frequently too so I actually have home healh IV meds/fluids now. In spite of how sick I have been my OB keeps telling me babies are tough and as long as I am getting the highs down ASAP when they spike, I will be okay. Hang in there!
Hi, I understand how you’re feeling. I had highs that lasted for a few hours and I cried a lot during my pregnancy. The best advise I can give you is to call your doctor to help you adjust your insulin if your attempts at fixing it aren’t working. I use to increase my basal rate and bolus to get my Bg down and sometimes I ended up low like you are today. There may be a chance that you’ll have to cut out some foods while you’re pregnant that’s what I had to do. I cut out cereal and wheat bread in the morning which was so hard and had to give up regular crust pizza and switched to thin. There’s a great book called, Balancing Pregnancy with Pre-Existing Diabetes that helped me a lot. The book has a great chart with the average increases in bgs during pregnancy and shows you around what week it starts. For the most part, the chat was spot on with my pregnancy resistance. I can also tell you that I gave birth to a beautiful healthy 6lb 13oz baby girl and I almost went the full 40 weeks just a couple days before, so don’t worry about people who may scare you about having a big baby or anything else. Just stay vigilant and all will be fine. Good luck, trust me you’re doing great 
I also had a lot of highs right when I found out I was pregnant. It seemed like my doctor was really focused on management of lows between 12-16 weeks (or something, I forget) and then managing the highs until 35/36 weeks (when it started evening out again) but wasn't so concerned with the early highs. It's frustrating because it sounds like you (and I) are very aware and conscientious of our bodies and babies.
I'm sure hormones and stress and excitement are to blame...
Hang in there and good luck!