Monitoring Blood Glucose
An essential part of the treatment for prediabetes is the frequent monitoring of blood glucose levels with a small monitor. The test for blood glucose levels is a simple procedure in which your finger is pricked with a lancet to get a drop of blood. This blood is then put onto a test strip before the strip is slipped into a blood sugar monitor. The monitor examines the drop of blood to determine the amount of sugar in it before showing the result on a screen.
At the beginning of your treatment program, tests have to be carried out more often so that you get a picture of the effects various types of food and activities have on your blood glucose levels. Tests are usually done before and after a meal or an activity. The first test of the day, which is a fasting test, ought to be taken before breakfast. After breakfast, the after-meal tests or postprandial tests are done an hour after beginning the meal, then two hours from the beginning of the meal. These postprandial test are also done for other meals throughout the day. For your daily exercise, tests should be done before and after each activity. A log for the results of all the tests made should be kept to get an understanding of the effects different types of foods and activities have on your blood glucose levels.
Diabetes During Pregnancy: What is Gestational Diabetes? – Video Guide
Testing for Ketones
Your doctor may also recommend that you do ketone testing at home. This test can easily be done by just putting a test strip into your urine. For checking blood ketones, home monitors can be used by patients. The presence of ketones is an indication of high glucose levels with your body unable to make use glucose for energy and is turning to the fat stored in the body for energy. In times of morning sickness, when food is constantly thrown out and the body is not provided with food for energy, resulting in fat having to be turned to for energy. When ketones is present in the blood, you are advised to consult your doctor.
Hardly Any Pain from Lancets
With our present super fine lancets, pain should not be a deterrent to any blood test for either glucose levels or ketones, as there is hardly any pain. However, for those who may be more sensitive, your CDE can always provide suggestions for painless, effective monitoring.
The Need for Insulin
When dietary changes and increased activity fail to get your blood glucose levels back to its normal range, you doctor can advise you to have insulin therapy. Usually, oral medications are not prescribed as they may harm the fetus. Furthermore, there is insufficient research on the matter. However, it is known that insulin does not enter the placenta and so cannot harm the fetus or you.
It is a step in the right direction to approach your health care provider to learn how insulin can be taken and know the symptoms of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). He can assist you in understanding your blood sugar results and adjusting your insulin to suit your situations. You should take your blood sugar log along on visits to your ob-gyn and CDE so that your health-care providers can base their treatments by referring to the results recorded there. Memory alone can, without a log, at the best of times, be faulty.
And you do not have to fault yourself for having to take insulin or consider yourself not proficient at managing your gestational diabetes(GDM). Think of it as a way to ensure the best for the birth of your baby.