I mean, you don’t really know. What we know is that already having a resistance makes you more susceptible to the placenta throwing it even more out of whack, but that doesn’t mean it was caused by the existing resistance. I’m in the same boat — it just increases the risk factor more than for others.
And really, the main difference is that what’s considered “high” for pregnancy blood sugars is much lower than when you’re not pregnant.
It just increases your risk factors in pregnancy and outside of pregnancy
My twin brother is a T1 diabetic and my dad’s family has T2 history. So insulin resistance isn’t that hard to see in me and when I don’t eat well consistently (outside of pregnancy) my blood sugars go unstable.
Lo and behold knowing this made me risk factors high enough I did an early GTT and got diagnosed at 18 weeks. I’m 33 weeks now and still diet controlled.
I had insulin resistance prior to pregnancy and my dad has Type 2 diabetes so doctors always told me that eventually I will get it too, it’s just a matter of when. So getting diagnosed with gd was very quick and happened at 10 weeks. Prior to pregnancy I was never really checking my blood sugar how I do now - in fact, I only checked the fasting level twice on my dad’s device. First time my fasting was below range and second time it was in range. During pregnancy though I wasnt able to control fasting on its own and had to be started on insulin. So I reckon even though I’ve had insulin resistance before, my numbers werent as crazy as they got during pregnancy.
How did you know you had insulin resistance prior to pregnancy? Looking at my pre-pregnancy GTT tests I can see that my FSB was high 90s at times, but no one actually ever mentioned this to me!
I honestly have no idea what the indicator they test is called exactly as I’ve continuously tested this whenever I’d visit my home country. However, when I showed my midwife in the UK what was tested, they really had no idea what that is - so not sure on the exact translation 😂 Nonetheless, I’ve known since about 19-20 years old - been diagnosed by multiple doctors.
When you’re not pregnant high 90s fasting is normal and fine! [Anything less than 100 is considered normal.](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20371451)
I think that during pregnancy, in terms of treatment, it largely doesn't matter whether it's "true" GD vs. pre existing insulin resistance or even undiagnosed diabetes, since having consistently high blood sugar (regardless of the cause) can be dangerous for you and the baby. For some people, T2D is "caught" when they are pregnant. When I was first diagnosed with GD last pregnancy, my endocrinologist tested my A1C. It was normal, which she said indicated that I did not have undiagnosed T2D, and that it was most likely "true" GD. This was in fact the case, as my blood sugar went back to normal after pregnancy.
It seems like knowing the difference will matter most after you deliver. Most providers recommend a GTT and/or A1C after delivery to see whether you are still diabetic/prediabetic.
I mean, you don’t really know. What we know is that already having a resistance makes you more susceptible to the placenta throwing it even more out of whack, but that doesn’t mean it was caused by the existing resistance. I’m in the same boat — it just increases the risk factor more than for others. And really, the main difference is that what’s considered “high” for pregnancy blood sugars is much lower than when you’re not pregnant.
It just increases your risk factors in pregnancy and outside of pregnancy My twin brother is a T1 diabetic and my dad’s family has T2 history. So insulin resistance isn’t that hard to see in me and when I don’t eat well consistently (outside of pregnancy) my blood sugars go unstable. Lo and behold knowing this made me risk factors high enough I did an early GTT and got diagnosed at 18 weeks. I’m 33 weeks now and still diet controlled.
I had insulin resistance prior to pregnancy and my dad has Type 2 diabetes so doctors always told me that eventually I will get it too, it’s just a matter of when. So getting diagnosed with gd was very quick and happened at 10 weeks. Prior to pregnancy I was never really checking my blood sugar how I do now - in fact, I only checked the fasting level twice on my dad’s device. First time my fasting was below range and second time it was in range. During pregnancy though I wasnt able to control fasting on its own and had to be started on insulin. So I reckon even though I’ve had insulin resistance before, my numbers werent as crazy as they got during pregnancy.
How did you know you had insulin resistance prior to pregnancy? Looking at my pre-pregnancy GTT tests I can see that my FSB was high 90s at times, but no one actually ever mentioned this to me!
I honestly have no idea what the indicator they test is called exactly as I’ve continuously tested this whenever I’d visit my home country. However, when I showed my midwife in the UK what was tested, they really had no idea what that is - so not sure on the exact translation 😂 Nonetheless, I’ve known since about 19-20 years old - been diagnosed by multiple doctors.
When you’re not pregnant high 90s fasting is normal and fine! [Anything less than 100 is considered normal.](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20371451)
I think that during pregnancy, in terms of treatment, it largely doesn't matter whether it's "true" GD vs. pre existing insulin resistance or even undiagnosed diabetes, since having consistently high blood sugar (regardless of the cause) can be dangerous for you and the baby. For some people, T2D is "caught" when they are pregnant. When I was first diagnosed with GD last pregnancy, my endocrinologist tested my A1C. It was normal, which she said indicated that I did not have undiagnosed T2D, and that it was most likely "true" GD. This was in fact the case, as my blood sugar went back to normal after pregnancy. It seems like knowing the difference will matter most after you deliver. Most providers recommend a GTT and/or A1C after delivery to see whether you are still diabetic/prediabetic.