AHHHHHHHH!!! I am SO frustrated! I am newly diagnosed LADA only in January (so very new to insulin) and I am 15 weeks pregnant. I never had the first trimester lows my insulin doses stayed the same. (Only a tiny dose of 2U Levemir and mealtime humalog.) In just the past 2 weeks I have tripled my insulin to 6 units a day and had to split it because it wasn’t lasting 24 hours a day. 4U 8:00pm 2U 8:00am. I have good bg numbers until after lunchtime and then I am in the high 100s-200 no matter what I do! I am barely eating dinner, taking like 3 units at dinnertime for about 5 carbs and having to correct my bg almost every night before bed. I feel like I am seriously harming my baby and full of guilt. On top of that I also feel like I’m not feeding it enough, well enough carbs at least because my bg is always so darn high! Anybody else experience such a quick jump like this? Should I expect nonstop jumps and changes in my insulin the whole time?? I am losing my mind!!! lol Thanks for reading ladies just had to vent and beg for advice/experience from others who understand.
God Bless,
-Jenn
Unfortunately, this is around the time to start seeing highs. You may have to work with your dr every week changing your dosages. I don’t know very much about LADA and I have a pump, so I can’t help you with your doses. However, I do know that you must test before and 1-2 hours after meals so that your dr can effectively change your doses. It is important that your postprandial glucose is controlled (after meal) since that’s what seems to really affect the development of the baby. It is better to be on a somewhat low-carb diet since your body is becoming more and more insulin resistant, but don’t cut down too much, or you will spill ketones which are not good for the baby. It does require much work to control during pregnancy, and it can be discouraging. Hang in there. Don’t let your endo support discourage you. If they are good, they would make sure to be even more encouraging during this fragile time.
Hi Jenn,
I didn’t triple my insulin in two weeks, but I did have a very sudden onset of insulin resistance. In those weeks, I also could not get my blood sugar below 100 and I spent a lot of time hanging out between 140-180. This was the only time in the pregnancy when that happened.
For me this sudden increase in insulin resistance lasted 2-3 weeks, then my insulin needs increased, but less suddenly. After those 2-3 weeks, I was able to see better numbers, but during the onset of the insulin resistance, it seemed impossible to keep perfect numbers.
Given your recent diagnosis, you have more variables. It could be that your insulin production is decreasing at the same time that your insulin resistance is setting in. But it sounds like you are doing everything right! Just keep increasing that insulin little by little until your numbers are good. If the increases cause lows, but you are still seeing highs in the afternoon, you may try moving the evening dose of Lantus earlier, as many find that Lantus is more effective in the first 6 hours after injecting. So you could move it to an hour earlier each day. It is not important that your two Lantus injections be 12 hours apart (but they should be at least 6 hours apart, I think).
Wishing you better blood sugars, but don’t worry too much, as I think that most of us went through phases like this during the pregnancy!!!
I made it about a week longer before insulin resistance kicked in, but I totally sympathize with you! And I’ve had to up my carbs with the pregnancy because of my aversions have been pretty severe to a lot of my old low-carb staples, so I’m taking even more insulin!
Take care! 
It has to do with hormones. Once your uterus starts producing human placental lactogen - a hormone whose specific job it is to make a pregnant woman insulin resistant - all high breaks loose. My best advice to you is to work with your medical team to continually increase your doses (triple doses are fairly common, actually) and don’t be afraid to eat what you’re supposed to eat and take massive doses to cover it. During the last trimester of my first pregnancy, I would have meals where I was taking 30-35 unit doses and had an insulin to carb ratio of 1 unit for every 3g of carb.
My perinatalogist reminded me that “It’s a good thing. Your uterus is doing what it’s supposed to do. It doesn’t know you’re a diabetic.” I repeated that to myself often.
Thanks, I am currently eating about 40-45 carbs per day and LADA is pretty much just type 1 onset in adulthood. My 1-2 hour pp are horrible!
Thanks Kristin! My insulin production decreasing was also one of my first thoughts combined with pregnancy hormones BAM I am increasing daily lol. Hmmm…didn’t think about taking my humalog earlier in evening good idea I was just considering taking my morning dose later but that would work well! Hoping the jumps slow down as you explained.
YEah thats how I was in the first trimester but now I am pretty much back to my low carb lifestyle especially for right now until I get my bg under control, I think high bg will be more harmful than spilling some ketones.
Wow, yeah I have heard that means you have a healthy pregnancy and it’s a good sign…an annoying one though!lol Wow thats a LOT of insulin AHH!! Did taking that much insulin make you gain a lot of weight during your pregnancy?
You may want to ask about Novolog since more pregnant women prefer that over Humalog. I saw it worked much better for me to where I needed to actually decrease my dosage a little after the switch.
I had the same concerns about the weight gain also. In the morning (I’m the most insulin resistant then) and a few hours at night, I take 1 unit/4 carbs. My measurements vary throughout the day along with my basal rates. I take about 60-85 units/day. I’m towards the end of my pregnancy. I’ve gained 34 lbs so far, some due to my Procardia that I’ve had to increase a few weeks ago. I also exercised regularly and limited my fat intake so that my carbs wouldn’t linger in my system. Even though I’ve gained that much, ppl still comment that it looks like all the weight I gained is “baby.”
I gained 35 lbs with my first pregnancy and walked out of the hospital after my c/s weighing almost 25 lbs less. Lost the last 10 lbs breastfeeding within the first six months. For this pregnancy, I’m starting out 5 lbs lighter, so I pretty much plan on the same weight gain…and I ate constantly from week 4 on. lol
My experience was (almost exactly to the number!!) the same. I gained about 37 pounds during the pregnancy and when I got home from the hospital, I was 10 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight. The rest should come off in the next months (I hope!).
I did not see ANY relationship between when I was increasing my insulin doses and when I gained weight.
My doctor switched me Novolog as well for the pregnancy and said that most patients find that it starts acting more quickly than Humalog. I only noticed a slight difference.
Thanks guys! That makes me feel better!
Did your basal needs and insulin to carb ratios change at the same time? After this first big jump in insulin should i expect it to continue to increase this quickly the rest of my pregnancy or does it slow down?
I think it’s different with each pregnancy, but it is common for the 1st trimester to be easier than the rest of the pregnancy. About the 2nd trimester, you’ll see more of a change in blood sugars, and thus need to be in contact with your dr on a weekly basis to adjust insulin needs. Third trimester, for me, is the toughest.