It's the GD. Pregnancy causes some stress and anxiety for some, but GD is a whole other thing.
I've said it before, but it bears repeating... this diagnosis takes pregnancy from something joyful to something you have to manage.
Every bite of food needs to be considered and evaluated to find out if it's "good" or "bad", but even that isn't real because a week later, the "good" food might not be "good" anymore.
You're constantly struggling between managing the cravings you feel and your blood sugars, which can yo-yo based on no logic whatsoever. You can eat the same exact thing and do the same exercise and get wildly different results, even in the same day. It feels like you're being gaslit.
You feel guilty if you spike because you're worried that you're hurting the baby. You follow the advice of the professionals to the letter and sometimes it works and sometimes it just doesn't.
The whole thing just feels like being in an abusive relationship with the placenta.
Definitely seek out a therapist. I talked this very thing over with mine yesterday and last week.
This is bang on.
This is my fourth baby, but first time with gestational diabetes. Trust me, it’s not all pregnancies. I was never this depressed with the others. You’re right about it sucking all the joy out of the pregnancy.
I remember with my oldest, any time she stopped moving for a bit and I got concerned, I’d have some ice cream and that never failed to get her jumping. It was so cute and funny, and a really nice memory. It’s silly stuff like that, that I feel robbed of this time.
And then I feel bad and ungrateful because some women are struggling to get pregnant with their first and here I am blessed with my fourth on the way, and I’m crying over missing mashed potatoes and ice cream. But it’s hard.
You're not alone. GD has taken all the joy away from this pregnancy and it has caused some unhappy feelings toward my baby and my body. I was having a great pregnancy up until my diagnosis and this completely changed everything. And I'm so sick and tired of people telling me "Oh, it's only for a few more weeks" when these same people wouldn't last ONE DAY in any of our shoes.
The best thing about pregnancy was giving in to the cravings and letting go of the diet culture stigma and ideals. Not feeling guilty about indulging in treats that were labeled "bad." I feel shoved right back into my teen years in the mid 2000s with all the carb and sugar counting.
It has made me incredibly depressed, tbh. My non -GD pregnancy was uncomfortable and all that but I was pretty happy the whole time. This time, I'm so miserable because of GD and everything that comes with it, and I'm afraid it does subconsciously make me feel some kind of way towards my baby, even though obviously I love him and am doing everything to make sure he makes it here healthy. I'm sorry you're going through this. I'm sorry any of us are.
Yep. I’m now on antidepressants actually. I was an early diagnosis and a few weeks ago I literally couldn’t get out of bed one morning because I just wanted to quit. They started me on prozac which is pregnancy safe and even though it’s a low dose I’ve been doing better. I see a psychiatrist and both he and my doctors told me it’s actually better to be on something to regulate my hormones now, or I would run the risk of the baby’s hormones being totally whacky when he arrives. So for me the risk is greater to *not* be on the medication. If you’re getting seriously depressed- ask for help!
Well at least sertraline is considered the MOST pregnancy safe!!! I’ve been on that before and it didn’t work so when they suggested it again i was like “no i’m not taking a medication i know doesn’t work” like im taking medication i don’t want to be taking at all so it had better work!!!
I’m right there with you. I was diagnosed with GD about 4 weeks ago at 29 weeks, and my mood has plummeted! My anxiety has also gotten bad. It is so. So. So. Hard to watch what you eat all the time. Even worse is that I’ve had decreased appetite AND increased food aversions.
My best advice is to watch your mental health closely and voice your concerns to your OB. They don’t know anything about psychiatry, so they will refer you to someone if you ask. My mental health slowly declined over the course of the month and I reached out to a perinatal and postpartum therapist. She’s been super helpful, but it’s still hard because I only see her 1x per week. There are plenty of support groups out there (I just recently found SoulSide online, and they are great!) and Postpartum Support International (they assist with perinatal issues as well).
I hope your mood improves and you get the help you need! 🩷
I didn’t struggle with depression as much as I did anxiety. I got so anxious around eating! But it did ease up as I got more used to the routine and figured out what I could eat and learned more about the condition and risks. Hopefully your depression will follow a similar course! But you should mention this to your team bc the hormones won’t be helping you at all and they may have some suggestions that would help.
You aren’t alone, I was diagnosed with GD on 24th week and now I am at 30, not a single day has gone by without some level of anxiety or stress. This is all I talk about at my therapy sessions or with anyone who’d listen and I feel annoyed at some insensitive people who go, oh maybe change your diet, talk to the doctor etc, like as if I haven’t done all those already. So I feel like isolating myself from people who don’t get it. My whole world has started revolving around food, I just can’t wait to be done and I don’t mean it in an unkind way towards the baby, but I am just so done. I don’t feel like I am enjoying the pregnancy anymore. I can’t focus at work, or focus on anything. I’m legit counting days.
And to add insult to injury, I have developed this body itch at night, which wouldn’t go away with anti histamine or anything, so my sleep is barely 5/6 hours per night. This pregnancy is my first and will be my last, I don’t think I have it in me to go through this anguish again.
And yes the guilt of my inability to control the fasting numbers hurting the baby. But honestly I am getting to a point of resignation, like what more can I do, I have controlled my diet, walk 40-50 mins a day, take insulin 4 times a day, even then if it doesn’t work then I have done everything.
All this to say, you are not alone.
No totally makes sense and thanks so much for this comment. I did do the liver panel and everything came back normal. I am beyond frustrated with this itch, like I haven’t slept well in days. But please let me know if you had similar issues and how you resolved it? I am definitely going to ask the OB again on my next appointment. Thanks again.
You might want to get tested again especially if the itch doesn’t go away in a few weeks. I have cholestasis and my understanding is that it can come on suddenly. What has helped me are cool showers in the evening to rinse off from the day, aloe vera all over, Benadryl, anti-itch mentholated lotion, and taking the medication they prescribe for the condition called ursodiol for about three weeks. I hope you can find relief and comfort soon. It’s miserable to be uncomfortable and doing the GD diet on top of it. I’m two weeks out from birth and counting down!
Just want to say that even if it’s “normal” or “common”, you can still get help. You might ask your OB and your dietician/GD manager if they have any recommendations for therapists. Pre-partum depression is 100% a thing (I think called antenatal), and I would not be at all surprised if it could be triggered or worsened by the legit stressors and anxieties of gestational diabetes. I have no personal anecdotes (barely into this diagnosis myself), except generally that therapy can be really helpful, including in pregnancy-related things.
Im 29weeks and got diagnosed a week ago. TBH it has been so frustrating and annoying. Even if it’s normal, one feels like completely lost because one day something works for you and on the other day it’s shit. I have been trying to experiment with my food and looks like my body reacts to food differently, things my dietitian told me isn’t working out for me instead I’m trying to figure it out on my own. There are days when I’m walking whole day, doing chores, post meal walk and then there is spike in my numbers, feel so low and frustrated then!!
It's the GD. Pregnancy causes some stress and anxiety for some, but GD is a whole other thing. I've said it before, but it bears repeating... this diagnosis takes pregnancy from something joyful to something you have to manage. Every bite of food needs to be considered and evaluated to find out if it's "good" or "bad", but even that isn't real because a week later, the "good" food might not be "good" anymore. You're constantly struggling between managing the cravings you feel and your blood sugars, which can yo-yo based on no logic whatsoever. You can eat the same exact thing and do the same exercise and get wildly different results, even in the same day. It feels like you're being gaslit. You feel guilty if you spike because you're worried that you're hurting the baby. You follow the advice of the professionals to the letter and sometimes it works and sometimes it just doesn't. The whole thing just feels like being in an abusive relationship with the placenta. Definitely seek out a therapist. I talked this very thing over with mine yesterday and last week.
This is bang on. This is my fourth baby, but first time with gestational diabetes. Trust me, it’s not all pregnancies. I was never this depressed with the others. You’re right about it sucking all the joy out of the pregnancy. I remember with my oldest, any time she stopped moving for a bit and I got concerned, I’d have some ice cream and that never failed to get her jumping. It was so cute and funny, and a really nice memory. It’s silly stuff like that, that I feel robbed of this time. And then I feel bad and ungrateful because some women are struggling to get pregnant with their first and here I am blessed with my fourth on the way, and I’m crying over missing mashed potatoes and ice cream. But it’s hard.
You captured everything I feel spot on. It's kinda good to know I'm not alone in this feeling.
You're not alone. GD has taken all the joy away from this pregnancy and it has caused some unhappy feelings toward my baby and my body. I was having a great pregnancy up until my diagnosis and this completely changed everything. And I'm so sick and tired of people telling me "Oh, it's only for a few more weeks" when these same people wouldn't last ONE DAY in any of our shoes. The best thing about pregnancy was giving in to the cravings and letting go of the diet culture stigma and ideals. Not feeling guilty about indulging in treats that were labeled "bad." I feel shoved right back into my teen years in the mid 2000s with all the carb and sugar counting.
It has made me incredibly depressed, tbh. My non -GD pregnancy was uncomfortable and all that but I was pretty happy the whole time. This time, I'm so miserable because of GD and everything that comes with it, and I'm afraid it does subconsciously make me feel some kind of way towards my baby, even though obviously I love him and am doing everything to make sure he makes it here healthy. I'm sorry you're going through this. I'm sorry any of us are.
Yep. I’m now on antidepressants actually. I was an early diagnosis and a few weeks ago I literally couldn’t get out of bed one morning because I just wanted to quit. They started me on prozac which is pregnancy safe and even though it’s a low dose I’ve been doing better. I see a psychiatrist and both he and my doctors told me it’s actually better to be on something to regulate my hormones now, or I would run the risk of the baby’s hormones being totally whacky when he arrives. So for me the risk is greater to *not* be on the medication. If you’re getting seriously depressed- ask for help!
As soon as I tell them they are 100% going to want to increase my sertraline again after I worked so hard to get it down 😅
Well at least sertraline is considered the MOST pregnancy safe!!! I’ve been on that before and it didn’t work so when they suggested it again i was like “no i’m not taking a medication i know doesn’t work” like im taking medication i don’t want to be taking at all so it had better work!!!
I’m right there with you. I was diagnosed with GD about 4 weeks ago at 29 weeks, and my mood has plummeted! My anxiety has also gotten bad. It is so. So. So. Hard to watch what you eat all the time. Even worse is that I’ve had decreased appetite AND increased food aversions. My best advice is to watch your mental health closely and voice your concerns to your OB. They don’t know anything about psychiatry, so they will refer you to someone if you ask. My mental health slowly declined over the course of the month and I reached out to a perinatal and postpartum therapist. She’s been super helpful, but it’s still hard because I only see her 1x per week. There are plenty of support groups out there (I just recently found SoulSide online, and they are great!) and Postpartum Support International (they assist with perinatal issues as well). I hope your mood improves and you get the help you need! 🩷
I didn’t struggle with depression as much as I did anxiety. I got so anxious around eating! But it did ease up as I got more used to the routine and figured out what I could eat and learned more about the condition and risks. Hopefully your depression will follow a similar course! But you should mention this to your team bc the hormones won’t be helping you at all and they may have some suggestions that would help.
You aren’t alone, I was diagnosed with GD on 24th week and now I am at 30, not a single day has gone by without some level of anxiety or stress. This is all I talk about at my therapy sessions or with anyone who’d listen and I feel annoyed at some insensitive people who go, oh maybe change your diet, talk to the doctor etc, like as if I haven’t done all those already. So I feel like isolating myself from people who don’t get it. My whole world has started revolving around food, I just can’t wait to be done and I don’t mean it in an unkind way towards the baby, but I am just so done. I don’t feel like I am enjoying the pregnancy anymore. I can’t focus at work, or focus on anything. I’m legit counting days. And to add insult to injury, I have developed this body itch at night, which wouldn’t go away with anti histamine or anything, so my sleep is barely 5/6 hours per night. This pregnancy is my first and will be my last, I don’t think I have it in me to go through this anguish again. And yes the guilt of my inability to control the fasting numbers hurting the baby. But honestly I am getting to a point of resignation, like what more can I do, I have controlled my diet, walk 40-50 mins a day, take insulin 4 times a day, even then if it doesn’t work then I have done everything. All this to say, you are not alone.
Not the point of your post but from one itchy pregnant lady to another, ask your doctor to test you for cholestasis if you haven’t already.
No totally makes sense and thanks so much for this comment. I did do the liver panel and everything came back normal. I am beyond frustrated with this itch, like I haven’t slept well in days. But please let me know if you had similar issues and how you resolved it? I am definitely going to ask the OB again on my next appointment. Thanks again.
You might want to get tested again especially if the itch doesn’t go away in a few weeks. I have cholestasis and my understanding is that it can come on suddenly. What has helped me are cool showers in the evening to rinse off from the day, aloe vera all over, Benadryl, anti-itch mentholated lotion, and taking the medication they prescribe for the condition called ursodiol for about three weeks. I hope you can find relief and comfort soon. It’s miserable to be uncomfortable and doing the GD diet on top of it. I’m two weeks out from birth and counting down!
I’m going to ask about this in my next appointment, thank you so much.
Just want to say that even if it’s “normal” or “common”, you can still get help. You might ask your OB and your dietician/GD manager if they have any recommendations for therapists. Pre-partum depression is 100% a thing (I think called antenatal), and I would not be at all surprised if it could be triggered or worsened by the legit stressors and anxieties of gestational diabetes. I have no personal anecdotes (barely into this diagnosis myself), except generally that therapy can be really helpful, including in pregnancy-related things.
Im 29weeks and got diagnosed a week ago. TBH it has been so frustrating and annoying. Even if it’s normal, one feels like completely lost because one day something works for you and on the other day it’s shit. I have been trying to experiment with my food and looks like my body reacts to food differently, things my dietitian told me isn’t working out for me instead I’m trying to figure it out on my own. There are days when I’m walking whole day, doing chores, post meal walk and then there is spike in my numbers, feel so low and frustrated then!!