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Does High Blood Sugars affect Fertility??

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Nicci

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi Everyone,

I am new to this site and am glad I found it. Here goes.........
I have had type one diabetes for 14years it has never ever been controlled well until i fell pregnant with my son in December 2005 for the duration of the pregnacy.

I do not have strict control of my diabetes just now and still have higher than desired some times much higher than desired BS levels.

Anyway the reason I am writing this is because I have been trying for another baby for nearly 2 and a half years so i went to the doctor to get advice or help she took blood tests (a week too early to check ovulation may i add). I confirmed with the doctor that my understanding of Diabetes and pregnancy is that diabetes (poorly controlled or not) does not affect you getting pregnant but poorly controlled diabetes can seriously affect you in keeping the pregnancy and she said that yes I was right.

The blood tests came back and she basically told me that i hadn't ovulated and this was solely due to having too high blood sugars!!:(

So my question is Does my diabetes affect my ovulation?? Can it stop me getting pregnant?:confused:

Sorry i have went on a bit but would really like some advice before seeking a second opinion because it seems that everytime i go to the doctors no matter what is wrong with me it is always my diabetes that gets blamed.

Thanking you all in advance🙂
 
Welcome to the forum 🙂

There is definately a link between high blood sugar levels and infertility.

Elevated blood sugar levels can interfere with ovulation and also affects blood flow to the uterus which makes implantation more difficult.

When blood sugars are elevated it is because there is not enough insulin to meet the needs of the body. Insulin is a hormone and all hormones in the body are linked in various ways. Therefore it makes sense that a disturbance with one hormone can affect other hormone levels including estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. When these hornome levels are unbalanced the result can be infertility.

I would really recommend ensuring that you have good control of your diabetes before trying to conceive as not only is it bad for you to have high blood glucose levels it raised the risk of complications for the unborn baby especially if blood sugar is elevated around the time of conception and in early pregnancy when the major organs begin to develop.

There are many other reasons that may effect ovulation but I wouldn't rule out high blood sugars levels as one of the contributing factors.
 
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Hello

I asked the DSN who runs the pre-pregnancy can pregnancy diabetic clinic about this as we are currently ttc. I was particularly worried about ovulation as I had one of my ovaries removed about 14 years ago. She told me that being diabetic should not affect by possibilities of becoming pregnant, the important thing is your control once pregnant, particularly in the early stages.

What is your Hba1c? Do you have a pre-pregnancy clinic at your hospital, maybe you could ask someone there for a second opinion? They may be able to give you help to get your levels more under control too.
 
Hi Nicci, welcome!

I'm afraid I don't have an answer re fertility & high blood sugars, but I would definitely advise making sure your diabetic care team are aware you are ttc & that you are getting support to get your HbA1c below 7.5% (sorry, not sure what that is in the latest currency!). The early weeks of pregnancy can play havoc with your control, so it makes sense to have a good starting point! 😉 It will also give you a lot more peace of mind during any pregnancy if you know that you've started off well...plus you will need to get the bigger dose of folic acid recommended for diabetics (5 something - sorry, rubbish at units! Think it's mcg?!!)

All the best, good luck! 🙂

Twitchy x
 
Hi, thank you to you all for responding!!!🙂

I have made an appointment with my pre pregnacy diabetic clinic in Febuary and will ask for a second opinion.

I have been on the internet for hours and hours looking into this but cannot find anything to suggest my diabetes is affecting my fertility however i did find that the average numbers of days between women having periods is 28 days where as mine are in averaging between 38 + 43 days which was the reason i went to the doctors in the first place but again was sent away with the "its because you are diabetic" excuse.

Surely this isn't down solely to my diabetes.:confused:

My last Hbac1 result in aug last year was 8% dont know what it is now though. but obviously higher than that if they are too high to conceive.

My biggest worry is getting my blood sugars tightly controlled and still being in the same position in another 2 years because it wasn't my diabetes.
 
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Hiya!

Good idea to speak to the pre conception diabetes clinic - they should be able to give you a straight answer! 🙂 I was wondering...are you aware if you have polycystic ovarie syndrome or something similar? I understand that this (& a whole fistful of other things like underactive thyroid etc) may be associated with diabetes (in that if you have one you're apparently more likely to have another than a "normal" person)....I was wondering if something like that might be more the issue? (I've nearly got a full house - T1, PCOS, underactive thyroid, doh!! But for what it's worth this is my second pregnancy, so it's not necessarily a non starter 🙂 ) Just a thought - might be worth asking about at the clinic.

Best of luck!

Twitchy x
 
Nicci said:
Hi Everyone,

I am new to this site and am glad I found it. Here goes.........
I have had type one diabetes for 14years it has never ever been controlled well until i fell pregnant with my son in December 2005 for the duration of the pregnacy.

I do not have strict control of my diabetes just now and still have higher than desired some times much higher than desired BS levels.

Anyway the reason I am writing this is because I have been trying for another baby for nearly 2 and a half years so i went to the doctor to get advice or help she took blood tests (a week too early to check ovulation may i add). I confirmed with the doctor that my understanding of Diabetes and pregnancy is that diabetes (poorly controlled or not) does not affect you getting pregnant but poorly controlled diabetes can seriously affect you in keeping the pregnancy and she said that yes I was right.

The blood tests came back and she basically told me that i hadn't ovulated and this was solely due to having too high blood sugars!!:(

So my question is Does my diabetes affect my ovulation?? Can it stop me getting pregnant?:confused:

Sorry i have went on a bit but would really like some advice before seeking a second opinion because it seems that everytime i go to the doctors no matter what is wrong with me it is always my diabetes that gets blamed.

Thanking you all in advance🙂
Click to expand...

Hiya,
Were you still having periods? Sorry to ask only I have poorly controlled sugar levels and haven't had a period for two months (last ended on 17th nov). I've taken tests but they have all come back negative. I have been stressed recently so not overly worried, just curious as I too start thinking about a family soon.

Lou xx
 
Hi Nicci

Sorry to hear you are having problems conceiving - I'm currently going through the same thing. I lost 2 little darlings in Aug 07 and am still trying.

I see my diabetic specialist once a month at the moment and we have managed to get my bloods under the tightest of control to give my body and that of a baby the best start as and when of if i get pregnant.

At no point has he told me having bad control will effect my chances.
I'm currently on clomid which is a drug which help ovulation. (I'm on my second set of courses and cannot take long term)

If you don't mind me asking how old are you ? Age plays a bit part in ovulation as to when and how much.

The best bet is to go to the pre conception clinic and then they will know doubt refer you to a gyn to check you tubes for blockages and they can also see if you are or do ovulate (they did with me).

Best of luck and let me know how you get on xx
 
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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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