Gestational Diabetes Symptoms

Diabetes is more complicated in women compared to the same disease in men. They are insignificant, but nonetheless, affect diagnosis and treatment. Women are interested in what the symptoms of diabetes are for themselves, especially their treatment and prevention

The course of the disease is affected by age, stages of the menstrual cycle, menopause, and other individual circumstances of the patient.

Metabolic disorders include:

Type 2 diabetes is very common. About 90% of all patients have this type of diabetes. The disease usually develops over the age of 40, but rarely in young women and even teenage girls. Most patients are overweight. Type 2 diabetes responds well if the patient leads a healthy lifestyle. Patients who ignore the symptoms of diabetes develop serious complications rather than being treated.

Type 1 diabetes often manifests itself during infancy or adolescence. It is a more serious disease than type 2 diabetes. Incurable today. Insulin infusion prolongs the patient's life but does not treat the underlying cause of the condition. Recently, type 1 diabetes has been on the rise among people aged 45-60. In cases like this, it progresses more easily than young people.

Gestational diabetes A woman with type 1 or type 2 diabetes accidentally or deliberately becomes pregnant and gives birth to a baby. Gestational diabetes is classified as a separate type because it requires particularly careful treatment. If diabetes is not properly controlled during pregnancy, there may be fetal malformations.

Gestational diabetes develops during pregnancy, especially starting in the second trimester. The hormonal background in a woman's body changes, causing blood sugar to rise. The disease affects about one in twenty (5%) pregnant women. Blood sugar levels generally return to normal after delivery. However, there is an increased chance of acquiring type 2 diabetes later in life, particularly in middle and old age. There are no obvious symptoms of gestational diabetes. When the fetus turns out to be very large, it does not appear before birth. Therefore, all women in the second half of pregnancy should have a blood test for sugar.

Gestational Diabetes and Gestational Diabetes - Know the Difference! Gestational diabetes is when a woman is diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes before conception. Gestational Diabetes - Increased sugar during pregnancy, before it is normal. Both diseases are treated with diet and insulin injection, but the methods are different, so you need to make a diagnosis accurately. However, diabetes pills during pregnancy are prohibited. Appropriate treatments include diet, insulin injection, and (neat!) Physical activity.

What are diabetes and pre-diabetes?

Type 1 or type 2 diabetes is when a person's blood glucose concentration is elevated. Your blood always has dissolved glucose, which the body uses as energy. However, too much sugar can be harmful to health. From the blood, glucose enters the cells, where it burns as fuel. Insulin is needed for fuel to enter the cells. This is the hormone secreted by the pancreas, namely its beta cells.. From the pancreas, insulin enters the bloodstream, where it does its job, helping cells absorb glucose.

Type 1 diabetes is caused by the pancreas not producing enough insulin. In type 2 diabetes, insulin in the blood is insufficient or high, but the sensitivity of the cells to it decreases. Regardless of the type of diabetes, the blood sugar level is elevated. It can cause serious complications - blindness, kidney failure, infiltration of the foot or leg, and often a heart attack or stroke. In women of reproductive age, diabetes can exacerbate the negative impact of pregnancy.

Prediabetes - A person's blood sugar is elevated, but not high. This is not "complete" diabetes. If pre-diabetes is not controlled, it can eventually develop into type 2 diabetes. However, patients die of a heart attack before the onset of type 2 diabetes. Even if nothing has hurt you yet, take this diagnosis as seriously as possible. Prediabetes will not have devastating consequences if you switch to a healthier lifestyle - change your diet and engage in physical education.

Also, Read Gestational diabetes diet

Symptoms of diabetes in women

Diabetes symptoms in women are comparable to those in males. Vaginal infection (thrush) is the only specific female symptom. Diabetes creates favorable conditions for fungal reproduction in the body. Among other things, pathogenic fungi cause vaginal itching and discharge. Also, in diabetics, thrush is reluctant to treat.

Briefly list the remaining common symptoms:

Thirst, frequent urination.
Fungal infections of the mouth or feet.
A woman loses indescribable weight (not always!).
Fatigue, vision loss, and memory problems are all misdiagnosed symptoms of aging.

Pigmented spots on the hands and face can sometimes cause a disease in women, which can lead to brittle nails and hair. But the "cosmetic" symptoms of diabetes cannot be considered normal. They are rare. Long before the course of skin, nails, and hair changes, you will feel weakness, chronic fatigue, constant thirst, and other important symptoms.

If a woman is suspected of having diabetes, she should go to the lab for a blood test for glycated hemoglobin. This analysis does not have to be taken on an empty stomach, but you can do it at any time of the day. See also "Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis." It is not recommended to diagnose diabetes with a fasting blood sugar test. He could show for years that everything was fine, but by this time the problems were already developing in full swing. Test for glycated hemoglobin, do not store.

Treatment

Diabetes treatment:
Healthy eating;
Physical activity;
Routine self-monitoring of blood glucose;
Insulin injection - if needed.
The treatment for type 2 diabetes is without hunger, insulin, and hard work.
An excellent treatment for type 1 diabetes is stable sugar, low insulin levels, and prevention of complications.

Details of diabetes treatment for women are described below. Find out how the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menstruation affect your blood sugar, levels, and insulin levels.

Features of type 1 diabetes

Insulin is one of the hormones that cause food to be absorbed. It transports glucose from the blood to the cells and indirectly affects the metabolism of proteins and fats. You may find it helpful to read the article "How Insulin Works and How It Controls Blood Sugar". Some women with type 1 diabetes notice that if you lower your insulin levels, you can lose weight easily. Low insulin - and body weight will quickly decrease by 2-3 kg. However, in such tests, the blood sugar drops. Short-term weight loss is achieved at the expense of creating severe diabetes complications, often irreversible.

Remember that lack of insulin, lack of water and fat is the first thing that leaves the body. Therefore, weight loss will be exponentially faster. However, when a woman returns to normal insulin levels, her weight will return immediately. It usually increases. Complications of advanced diabetes do not disappear. If you control insulin for a long time, it can lead to serious treatment with diabetic ketoacidosis. Unfortunately, lowering insulin levels in order to lose weight is one of the most common psychological problems in diabetics. Often you need the help of a psychologist, sometimes even a psychiatrist.

See also "How to lose weight easily and safely with diabetes and then maintain a normal weight".

What happens if left untreated

Diabetes in women and men, adults, and children is at risk for its complications, leading to disability and early death. The disease is called a "silent killer" because it does not hurt a person at all, although complications already develop in full swing. If you get sick, it will be too late ... Look at the clear list of diabetes complications. Methods of preventing and treating complications are described in detail there. Strengthen the motivation to carefully monitor your glucose metabolism.

Read How to prevent gestational diabetes

In 2007, the European Journal of Heart published the results of a major long-term study of the effects of diabetes on both men and women. Unfortunately, diabetes affects women more than men. The disease reduces the life expectancy of men by an average of 7.5 years and that of women by 8.2 years. Diabetes raises the risk of heart disease by 2-3 times in men and 6 times in women. Also, women have a higher risk of leading to heart attack death.

Depression and diabetes feed on each other and create a vicious cycle that leads to early death. However, depression affects women twice as much as males, and this trend persists among diabetics. In a population with normal carbohydrate metabolism, women are less likely to develop kidney disease. But among diabetics, this benefit of women is lost. Like men, they suffer from kidney failure.

Conclusion: Carefully control your diabetes and take care of yourself. In the article on the tests you need to take, you will find a detailed list of exams. They indicate the frequency at which they should be sent to the laboratory. These are not only blood tests for sugar, but also for cholesterol and other heart risk factors. Hand them over without fail. Also, check your kidney function. Consult with experts if necessary. There should be a good cardiologist, an ophthalmologist in your medical team ... and a nephrologist who will not be injured.

Prevention

Type 2 diabetes is responsible for 9/10 of all cases of this disease. The good news is that it is not only entirely avoidable. You can guarantee to prevent it if you lead a healthy lifestyle. For this, you do not need to sit on "hungry" foods and get tired of sports training. Find out what a hearty and tasty low carbohydrate diet is, and how to enjoy physical education.

Doctors can tell you that it is 100% impossible to prevent type 2 diabetes if a person's genes fail. However, this is not true. Bad inheritance refers only to the habit of “junk” food and a sedentary lifestyle passed down from parents to children. Hungry foods and hard work don’t really work. You will enjoy a low carbohydrate diet and physical education system, and you will be fully guaranteed that you will not have type 2 diabetes.

Unfortunately, with regard to type 1 diabetes, effective prevention methods are not available today. It is thought that breastfeeding a baby, and not artificially, will reduce the chances of developing type 1 diabetes. But this has not been officially proven. None of the vaccines or pills help properly.

Menstrual Cycle

The menstrual cycle hormonal background of a woman's body varies during different periods of the menstrual cycle. Some hormones increase, while others lower blood sugar in diabetes. Most women with type 1 diabetes or severe type 2 diabetes have high blood sugar levels for several days before the critical days begin. Then, with the onset of menstruation, the sugar returns to normal within 1-2 days. The menstrual cycle has the biggest influence on fasting sugar levels in the morning. Learn how to restore it to normalcy.

All of these resemble a pregnancy situation, which is described in detail below. During the second half of pregnancy, the sugar rises and returns to normal soon after delivery. But, of course, during the menstrual cycle, blood glucose fluctuations are not so strong.

You know when important days are expected. Keep a diary of sugar measurements to find out how it works at different stages of the cycle. After 3 months, if the rotation does not go wrong you will see that the image is the same every time. That is - the situation is stable, you are not very nervous, etc. Try to compensate for the increase in blood sugar caused by your hormones regularly. To do this, on the right days, increase the daily dose of extended insulin by 10-20%. Blood sugar is likely to drop after the onset of menstruation. In response, reduce prolonged insulin or fast insulin levels by 20-30% before meals.

Menopause

Natural menopause occurs when the ovaries of a middle-aged woman gradually produce less estrogen. Menstruation was also paused when the uterus was removed after surgery.. In this case, estrogen production is abruptly stopped. During menstruation, a woman's body weight usually rises. Other symptoms include hot flashes, mood swings, and fatigue. Estrogen increases tissue sensitivity to insulin. When this hormone becomes small, diabetes control becomes complicated.

At the onset of menopause, many insulin-dependent diabetics report that their hypoglycemia is very common and very severe. Particularly unpleasant attacks of hypoglycemia at night. These disorders are caused by fluctuating estrogen levels. Then it is set lower. As a result, insulin efficiency decreases, and its dose should increase.

Fluctuations in blood sugar in women during menstruation are unique. It is impossible to give precise insulin-level recommendations. Measure your sugar frequently with a glucometer, keep records, and analyze. Learn how to accurately calculate insulin levels from your blood glucose meter and the foods you eat. Sugar can cause significant back and forth fluctuations, but this is not a reason to dramatically change the terms of insulin therapy. Proceed smoothly, but systematically - over time everything will be stabilized.

Gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes develops when a woman's blood sugar levels are high throughout her pregnancy. Previously, before carrying the baby, he was normal. Problems with sugar during pregnancy occur in 2-10% of women. If gestational diabetes is not managed properly, it can have serious consequences for the mother, particularly the fetus. On the other hand, this metabolic disorder is most often treated with diet and insulin injections. The important thing is to find it at the right time and then treat it carefully.

You should use the meter several times a day, especially 30-60 minutes after eating. Even if high blood sugar does not cause any symptoms, treat yourself diligently. You don’t want fetal malformations and difficult births, do you? Control your sugar to ensure your baby's normal growth and follow the rules recommended by your doctor. After delivery, sugar will return to normal and the control regime may weaken.

To assess your risk for gestational diabetes, answer the following questions:

Are you overweight or medically obese?
Does anyone have type 2 or type 1 diabetes?
Pregnancy over 25?
Had a problem during a previous pregnancy? Gestational diabetes, miscarriage, large fetus weighing 4-4.5 kg or more, unborn child.
Do you have polycystic ovary disease or other diseases caused by insulin resistance?
Are any of the following diagnoses present? Insulin resistance, poor glucose tolerance, or diabetes precocious?
Is "bad" cholesterol growing? high blood pressure? Or are there any other heart risk factors?

If you answered "yes" to at least one question, there is a risk. It is more if there are two or more affirmative responses.

Check your blood sugar between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy, regardless of your responses to the test questions.. Your doctor will lead you to analysis.

To be clear, a fasting blood sugar test may not be the best choice. He can cover up the problem and give a false-positive result. Glycated hemoglobin is a great test to diagnose diabetes ... but not during pregnancy because the events develop so fast. Set aside time for a two-hour glucose tolerance test.

Gestational diabetes is diagnosed when two blood tests for sugar worsen on different days. One time is not enough. If a woman focuses on controlling her sugar, in most cases the pregnancy will be successful. The treatment technique is described in detail in the article "Gestational Diabetes".

After 2010, a diet with moderate control of carbohydrates is officially recommended, up to 80-100 grams per day or 35-45% of caloric intake. Quickly absorbed carbohydrates are completely eliminated. From carbohydrate products to a pregnant woman's diet, there are only vegetables, fruits, and a few grains. Such a diet improves blood sugar and reduces the risk of adverse effects of pregnancy, compared to a "balanced" diet with 45-65% carbohydrates. Source - Book "Diabetes: Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention", ed. II Tedova and M. V. Shestakova, 2011, Chapter 23 “Gestational Diabetes”.

It is not recommended today to follow a low carbohydrate diet (20-40 grams of carbohydrates per day) during pregnancy. However, it is worth going after birth. This is a very important step in preventing the development of type 2 diabetes in middle and old age.

Immediately after birth, your blood sugar is likely to return to normal. There is, however, an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes. Everything written above in the "Block" section is for you. Women with gestational diabetes should undergo a glycated hemoglobin blood test once a year. If you live a healthy lifestyle, you will be able to avoid type 2 diabetes. This illness is not unavoidable.

Type 1 diabetic pregnancy

If you have type 1 diabetes, keep in mind that insulin requirements change at different stages of pregnancy. The total daily dose of insulin during the first, third, and third trimesters of pregnancy is different. Furthermore, the ratio of persistent (basal) and fast (bolus) insulin remains unchanged.

According to the change in insulin requirements, pregnancy is divided into the following periods:

Up to 6 weeks from onset;
7-12 weeks;
II and III three months, until the end of 36 weeks;
From 37 weeks to birth;
2-3 days after birth.

Until the 6th week of pregnancy, everything is as usual. Insulin requirement is present before conception. You don’t even know you are pregnant. Also, by 6 to 12 weeks, the daily dose of insulin usually decreases. Didn’t you see this weirdness? Let’s see why this happens. During this period the activity of the immune system decreases and thus the fetus cannot be rejected. Because of this, autoimmune attacks on pancreatic beta cells are temporarily weakened.

Perhaps the pancreas begins to produce some of its own insulin. As a result, from 6 to 12 weeks of pregnancy, the risk of hypoglycemia increases 3-fold. This is dangerous for the fetus. Feel free to lower your insulin level once the meter shows that your blood sugar is low. For the time being, they should be reduced by 25%, but this is all personal. Keep glucose tablets on hand. Before pregnancy, you need to learn how to use them to prevent and relieve hypoglycemia.

During pregnancy, a woman should control her diabetes more carefully than usual.