Thursday, February 21, 2008

Failure

I'm so bummed. I failed my 1 hour glucose tolerance test to screen for gestational diabetes. Apparantly only about a third of women who fail that test go on to test positive for gestational diabetes. However, in order to be sure they make you go through a horrible test: the 3 hour oral glucose tolerance test. The short story here, is that I DON'T WANT TO DO IT!

Here's the long story. :) The 1 hour test isn't horrible, they make you drink a yucky drink then test your blood an hour later. They don't tell you to fast ahead of time and they give all women the same amount of sugar in this drink. I have a hard time believing that my 5 foot 2 inch small frame metablolizes sugar in the exact same wasy as a 6 foot, 300 pound woman. However, we get the exact same test. And if I had a candy bar right before the test (I didn't, but hypothetically here...) they still would tell me I needed the further test in order to be sure it was the candy bar that caused the level to be high. How is this an accurate test?

I'm just whining in case you couldn't tell. The 3 hour test involves fasting overnight to get a fasting blood sugar level, and spending the next 3 hours of my life at a lab. That is bad enough itself, but they also make you drink a glucose LOADED drink (twice as much sugar as the syrup they made me drink for the 1 hour test) on an EMPTY stomach! The thought of that makes me want to puke. Then you can't have anything else while they test your blood once an hour for 3 hours (thats at least 4 needles yuck) And to make things worse, I really felt awful after the 1 hour test. I stopped at the store on my way home, and by the time I got home, I thought I might pass out. I was shaking like crazy. My sugar level may have been high when they tested, but an hour later, I'm SURE I rebounded back down below normal levels. Urgh. I can only imagine what the 3 hour double the sugar test will do to me.

I work for a doctor, so I was able to get a "free sample" glucose meter. I plan on testing my sugars on my own for the next couple days to see if I can convince myself and my doctor that I don't need the 3 hour test. Wish me luck. Anyone been through it? Is the test as bad as I'm thinking it is? HELP!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I admit, I haven't failed that test yet. I am so sorry you did. Bummer! It's all that Dr. P I tell ya....you need to switch to Diet Coke-just teasin!! Good luck with the fasting; it feels like it's extra hard to fast when you are pregnant too.

Corrine said...

i have had to take the three hour test with my first three babies, the first two came back fine...the third, I was diabetic so they say but once I did my blood testing at home my levels stayed fine...

the fourth when I didn't pass the one hour at 12 weeks, they tested me early because of the last pregnancy I tested positive, they didn't make me do the three hour just had me prick myself...

good luck, and you can bring water to drink :) at least I was able too...bring a good book! And remember to pack a good lunch to eat after you are done.

and by the way I am sorry it is not fun at all! ask for the lime one instead of the orange...