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Worried, scared and doctor issues!

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M

Maddison Moore

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi all.

I'm new here. T1 diabetic for 15 years, now 26 years old. It's never been brilliantly controlled but never had any complications.

I recently found out I am pregnant, 6w+4. It was completely unplanned and out of the blue. I'm super worried because my last HBA1c in June was 73 (8.6%) I think which is obviously way too high to be pregnant. All I've managed to do so far is look online and scare myself.

Since finding out I've been trying my hardest for super tight control, albeit having random lows and spikes out of nowhere! I'm even having to test and give myself extra insulin around 3am to stop morning highs. This means testing 10+ times per day!

My doctors are being ridiculously unhelpful and saying that I can't have more testing strips because I have used my "quota". I have been told that I need to see a doctor to be shown "how to test my blood properly, only 4-5 times a day". I nearly cried I was that mad!

I am already so stressed I have damaged my baby! Has anyone else had issues with prescriptions while pregnant?

Sorry for the long post.

Thanks
 
Maddison Moore said:
Hi all.

I'm new here. T1 diabetic for 15 years, now 26 years old. It's never been brilliantly controlled but never had any complications.

I recently found out I am pregnant, 6w+4. It was completely unplanned and out of the blue. I'm super worried because my last HBA1c in June was 73 (8.6%) I think which is obviously way too high to be pregnant. All I've managed to do so far is look online and scare myself.

Since finding out I've been trying my hardest for super tight control, albeit having random lows and spikes out of nowhere! I'm even having to test and give myself extra insulin around 3am to stop morning highs. This means testing 10+ times per day!

My doctors are being ridiculously unhelpful and saying that I can't have more testing strips because I have used my "quota". I have been told that I need to see a doctor to be shown "how to test my blood properly, only 4-5 times a day". I nearly cried I was that mad!

I am already so stressed I have damaged my baby! Has anyone else had issues with prescriptions while pregnant?

Sorry for the long post.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Welcome.
Unfortunately restricting test strips are common. Though when pregnant they should not be doing.
Is your GP usually like this? If so changing Doctors may be needed.
Have you got a hospital based Diabetes nurse, if so contact them, you should also be seen by the specialist Diabetic Pregnancy clinic.
 
I've never had any issues with them before only seems to be now when I really need them!

I had a midwife appointment last week and she referred me to a specialist for an "ASAP" appointment but I've yet to hear anything from them.
 
Maddison Moore said:
I've never had any issues with them before only seems to be now when I really need them!

I had a midwife appointment last week and she referred me to a specialist for an "ASAP" appointment but I've yet to hear anything from them.
Click to expand...
can you ring and see what is happening to your appointment, to that clinic!
 
Welcome to the forum. You have come to the right place for some help from a lot of lovely people who are dealing with Diabetes every day themselves.

Types 2s are often restricted to a few strips per month however If you are Type 1 there should be no restriction on test strips! This is in the NICE guidelines and someone will be along soon who can put the appropriate hyperlink in for you to have a look at that and take along a copy to your GP.

Are you in the care of anyone at the hospital. My understanding is that you will need specialist care whilst you are pregnant, Hw do they expect you to get good control without you being able to do tests.

If you are going high in the early morning it sounds as though it is an issue with your background insulin? Tell us a bit about how you manage your condition.
 
I'll give the hospital a call this afternoon to see what's going on with my appointment.

I currently take 26 units of Levimir on an evening and Novorapid with meals. 2.5u/10g. I've been waking around 3am to test with readings of between 9-11, even though pre bedtime readings are >7. I am also spiking on an evening from around 5pm onwards, where my levels are creeping up even though I haven't eaten since lunch and my 2hour post lunch reading has been within target.
 
Maddison Moore said:
I'll give the hospital a call this afternoon to see what's going on with my appointment.

I currently take 26 units of Levimir on an evening and Novorapid with meals. 2.5u/10g. I've been waking around 3am to test with readings of between 9-11, even though pre bedtime readings are >7. I am also spiking on an evening from around 5pm onwards, where my levels are creeping up even though I haven't eaten since lunch and my 2hour post lunch reading has been within target.
Click to expand...
Pregnancy does affect your requirements and it may change at differn points through the pregnancy.
 
Pregnancy hormones wreak havoc with diabetic mum's BGs, Maddison - it's quite amazing and you'll have to adjust adjust and adjust through your entire term I'm afraid - it is IMPOSSIBLE to do that successfully without MANY more tests than your ignorant GP seems to think ! This BTW is immaterial of what any lady's A1c is at the start - it's a flippin juggling act for 38 weeks - usually though it goes in semesters roughly - higher for the first 3 months - then lower for the next 3 - then finally wham - even higher than the first 3 !! but never fear cos by that time you'll be accustomed to it being completely off the scale and unreliable. I've never had to go there myself but I have complete admiration for all that do it - and it takes a lot to get respect from me. So (while I can still get my arms round you LOL) {{{Hugs}}}

Please let us know how you get on with the hospital - and that GP!! - because you really can't go on like this on your own and you NEED some expert help. He or she's clearly just been poorly educated about diabetes - but you shouldn't have to bear the result of his shortcomings at all.

I use a group practice and there are at least two who 'specialise' in diabetes and the same 'gynae & preg' - is there another one you could see or does it mean changing practices who could get things moving better?
 
No no no! You need to get an urgent letter from your DSN to the GP confirming your need for frequent testing and insisting they increase the amount of strips provided. There is also this letter from the Dept of Health that you could print out and show:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa.../Safe-care-of-people-with-type-1-diabetes.pdf

The letter tells GPs they must prescribe sufficient strips for clinical need, and obviously being pregnant creates an additional clinical need on top of the usual good diabetes management and avoidance of hypos and DKA!
 
Thanks all for the support. Managed to get my DSN on the phone and she's tweaked my nasal and bolus, assured me not to worry, is going to write to my gp immediately and came me a direct contact number if I needed to talk about anything.

Feeling much better.

Now I've just got to stop stressing about my HBA1c and try and enjoy this pregnancy as much as I can.

Thanks to all for the supportive replies.
 
Hello and welcome
Glad to hear that your DSN is helping you - i can't believe a GP could be that stupid.
As pp have said you'll need to adjust your ratios constantly so you'll def need to test a lot.

During both my pregnancies I was testing 10-14times daily and I was never told by my specialist that I was testing too much. Also, I know it's easier said than done - but honestly try to avoid looking things up online - unless it's evidence based there's a lot of anecdotal horror stories out there. The bottom line is that if you work hard and Control your sugars then you have every chance of having a healthy pregancy and baby. Try to enjoy it - it goes by very quickly ! 😉
Good luck !
 
Thanks Cleo. I will try my hardest to keep that in mind! As a habitual stresser I can see the road being a long one but I want to do what's best for my baby!

I stated on the 5mg folic acid as soon as I found out (about 5 weeks).
 
Hey, I didn't know I was diabetic (long story but it's still to be determined) before I got pregnant and it was found in week 12 with a fasting level of 9 and 2 hour test of 16 and I've just given birth to a healthy little girl so please don't panic! Obviously its best to try and keep BG at a sensible level but don't read google it really does scare you. I found this the best site everyone was so helpful and reassuring.

Prescription wise that's mad I was told to test 7 times a day (before and after every meal and before bed) pregnancy hormones have a weird affect on BG levels so if yo don't test that regularly how can you manage it properly! What you could eat before with your insulin you'll likely have to adjust and the only way you'll know how much is by testing after eating, I'd go back and insist you get the strips to help your control while pregnant.

Good luck with everything and wishing you a happy pregnancy. X
 
Another thought - you won't have time to wait until a DSN tweaks your insulin doses - you will need to be doing it yourself when it needs it!
 
Hi all thought I would check in and update. Unfortunately I started getting stomach cramps last week and a scan showed no heartbeat and no growth from the 7 week scan. Absolutely devestated. I decided to wait it out naturally but a further scan yesterday showed no signs my body was ready to let go yet, the sac and placenta were still growing but no baby. I decided to have d&c today as I don't think I could handle the waiting which they said could be weeks

I'm home from the hospital now, sore and very emotional but ok. Post op BG little high (10s) but told was ok. I am however concerned about my BH levels now, slowly rising since 6pm, now hit 17mmol and I'm panicking. My normal correction doses don't seem to be working and I have no contact with my DSN out of hours. I have tested for ketones which are 0.2 so I'm happy with that but concerned about the long term effects of this high BG :(
 
Sorry to hear this, my friend's daughter had this happen to her last year, she does not have Diabetes so try not to blame yourself. I suspect the rise in BG is partly due to op. Take care and hope your BG is beginning to fall.
 
Morning all. Thanks for the replies.

Currently following sick day rules, still no ketones but still a BG of 17mmol +. So Far I have had 15 corrections units since 10pm last night and no lowering of BG. Stumped and now feeling horribley unwell :(
 
Maddison Moore said:
Morning all. Thanks for the replies.

Currently following sick day rules, still no ketones but still a BG of 17mmol +. So Far I have had 15 corrections units since 10pm last night and no lowering of BG. Stumped and now feeling horribley unwell :(
Click to expand...
Is it possible you have an infection?
 
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