Prenatal Glucose Testing

It's very hard to ask a pregnant woman to fast. So, most doctors do not have you fast before your glucose test. But, you should stay away from sugars and other forms of carbs. When I took mine, I just drank water and had eggs for breakfast. That way I have something in my stomach, but nothing that would raise my glucose except for that nasty drink. Mine came back fine. Have it done in the morning so you don't have to go all day with just eating protein. Your blood should be drawn exactly 1 hour after finishing the drink for an accurate test.

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Normally the glucose test is done in the morning, when your blood sugar is at a normal level. Eating befor taking the test can increase your results.
Your docotr or lab should have told you not to eat anything before taking the test. I am sorry to hear you have to do the 3 hour test now. Just make sure to double check with your doctor or lab and schedule an appointment in the morning.

I did not fast for mine. I got worried that I was supposed to and called to ask, and they looked at my file and said that she had said not to fast. I asked if there was a difference and she said she thinks that they will base your scores on whichever route you took- fast or no fast. I don't know if that is really how he works or not but just wanted to let you know about my experience. Hope your 3 hour goes much better!

K.
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I'm currently pregnant and when I took mine I was told that I could eat as long as it was strictly protein, no sugars at all, including carbs...(they even told me no gum or mints beforehand). I did mine in the morning and only had a couple eggs before my appointment and everything went fine. This was the case for everyone else I know when they did their's too (at different dr.'s offices too). So it sounds to me that you were given completely different rules than me to follow. Hope this helps! Good luck :)

If I remember right, I was not told to fast for the "quickie" gluclose test, only that I shouldn't start my day with sugar ceral or anything like that. However, if your test was high, for any reason, you should take the 3 hour test. It's to check you and your baby. Don't be stubborn about who messed up and what should have been done (maybe your Dr. didn't want you fasting, but the tech that did the test thought you should have fasted). Just go on and take the 3 hour test. As specific questions to your doctor about if you should fast (I'm almost positive that you are supposed to fast on that one) and do it the way your doctor says. If you want to say something, just double check with your doctor, in a nice way, like "I don't remember you telling me to fast, and that line on the test was scratched out, but the tech said I should have fasted. Would that have messed the test up?" He should have an answer, but really, even if he was supposed to tell you, he's a human, we are all human, we make mistakes, he tells people that maybe 4 times a day and if he forgot on that one day??? Let's be nice.

I was told the same thing when I was pregnant with both my children. Don't fast with the 1 hour test but watch what you eat prior to the test. With both girls I ate a small breakfast of eggs - no sugar or carbs really and then did the test approximately 2 hours after breakfast. The first one came up high and I had to do the 3 hr test which they did have me fast for but the second came up normal. You can always check with you doctor as well. The first test is supposed to be how your body handles glucose normally and is meant to be like eating desert and having the test done. The 3 hour test is almost like a glucose stress test with higher concentration which is why they have you fast. Talk with your doctor - they are correct in telling you not to fast but what you had for lunch may have influenced the results. My doctor told me to have nothing with sugar and little to no carbs before the test.

I had to fast with all of my pregnancies and on the one that I forgot to fast beforehand I failed the test. When I did over after fasting properly, I passed. So I agree with your friend.

VickiS

For the first glucose test it is ok to eat & drink prior. They want to see how your body reacts to the glucose. If the test comes back and concerns your doctor then you will do a fasting test. No one expects a pregnant woman to go a whole day with out eating and would not instruct you to do so. Good luck with your baby!
A.

I don't think that is unusual. I wouldn't fast for my tests either. Like you, mine was elevated and they had me be on a no sugar diet for 3 days and fast and repeat the test. It came out ok but because of the fasting and the stuff they made me drink my sugar crashed so take a peanut butter sandwich or something to put on your stomach right after they do your last blood draw. Good luck.
C.

Congratulations on being a mommy! I would agree, they should tell you to not eat anything to sugary or salty before coming in. This happened to me too my last pregnancy. I ate within 30 mins of my test and it too came back high. I had to complete the 3 hr test, which is misery, for nothing... The testing lab will probably laugh too when you tell then that you ate right before your 1st test. She did when I told her. Hopefully the 3 hour test will prove that everything is fine. However if it proves that you are gest. diabetic its all worth finding out now!! Good luck and God Bless you and your precious gift!

For the standard test I didn't fast either time. I think it depends on the doctor. For the 3 hour test, I was scheduled to start it at 8am and was asked to fast.

Good luck!

I'm pregnant with my second right now and wasn't told to fast for either glucose test. Your body should have been able to digest the lunch and sugar. But the test you took is a screening. You'll now take a second test which will be longer and you will fast before it. In all the research I've done before I took the tests, the acceptable range isn't that big, to catch anyone who might be on the edge. So don't worry, just because the screening came back positive doesn't mean you have gestational diabetes, it just means your body didn't process quite as fast as they expected. The 3 hr is conclusive, it'll show yes or no for sure.

Don't worry, your doctor sounds normal, both my doctors (I had a different one for my first then with my current) said I didn't have to fast. Hopefully the next will come back with better results, best of luck to you and your new addition!

i have had three kids, all three i had to fast atleast 6 hours before the test. i got hungry on the last kid and ate some crackers with turkey and cheese, and a snapple and it came back high

For my first pregnancy, I was told to fast. For my second, I wasn't even told that I would be taking the glucose test on that particular day, and I happened to have gone to a "dessert for lunch" party just before my appointment. Needless to say, the results were high and I had to do the 3 hour test. I was quite peeved that I hadn't been warned I was being tested that day.

when I was pg I didn't have to fast either. From what I heard it's a 50/50 thing. Some docs make you fast and others don't. I didn't pass mine either but I did pass the 3 hr with flying colors. Hope you do as well.

Yes you need to fast. Only drink water. Anything that may have sugar in it can stay in your blood and show. Same thing happened to me. I had toast with jelly on it and 4 hours later my sugar was still elevated. I had to do the 3 hour test where you stay at the office and every hour for 3 hours they draw blood and compare the samples.

When I took mine a couple years ago, it didn't say to fast, but I searched on the internet and most responses I saw said that when they didn't fast for the 1 hour test, it was high, but when they came back for the 3 hour test, it was normal. My test was 8:00 am, so I fasted and passed.

Your doctor was correct and your friend is wrong. Fasting is unnecessary for the 1 hr. test (the 3 hr. will require fasting), but what you eat does have an effect on your blood glucose levels. I don't know if your doctor gave you any recommendations on what to eat before the test, but it would be beneficial to you if he did. Anything that is high in carbohydrates (carbs break down into sugars in your body)or sugars like bread, pasta, milk, orange juice, soda, is a big no-no before that test. There are a lot of false positives in the 1 hr. test. Hopefully what you ate for lunch gave you a false positive result and you don't actually have gest. diabetes. In the future if you are pregnant again, I would schedule the 1 hr. glucose test for first thing in the morning and eat something light like a couple of scrambled eggs & a glass of water. I have 3 kids and one of the times I took the 1 hr. I fasted which is very painful when you're hungry and pregnant. You'll find that out when you fast for the 3 hr. test. Also, if you end up not having gest. diabetes and you feel you really are at low risk of ever getting gestational diabetes (you don't gain a big amount of weight in pregnancy, you are not an overweight person, etc.) you could always decline the 1 hr. test if you are pregnant again someday. Hope all this helps! Update when you find out!

My wife just went through this and this is how it works: The one hour test is to check how your body processes sugar on a normal basis; hence, eat like you normally do. The three house test is where they load up your body with a controlled amount of sugar and test how your body reacts to it; that it why you fast on the 3-hr test - to control the testing environment.

I have had 3 of these and usually you fast overnight then go in and they do a blood draw to check your fasting. Drink the stuff and then do another blood draw at 1 hour. Never done it during the day. The three hour is the same process.

Hello! I had to fast for all 4 of mine, but still in my last pregnancy it came back high and I had to do the 3 hour test. I just wanted to add that when you go for the test take a bottle of water with you. It is OK to drink water during the the 3 hours, and it really helped me. The first time I took the 3 hour test I threw it all up after an hour, so had to come back a week later and do it again. The second time I took water and I was fine. I would second the advice about taking a sandwich to eat afterwards. I turned out to have gestational diabetes, which wasn't as bad as I expected, so don't worry too much. Congratulations on your baby!!

Yes, very wrong. My dr. was very adamant about making sure I fasted. the nurse even called me the night before I was supposed to come in to remind me to not eat in the morning. Has your dr. done anything else questionable or is this the only thing?

Ask them to redo the 2 hour with fasting. The lunch definitely would affect the test, the exception would be a salad w/o fruit, and less than 2 T of dressing. My daughter has type 1, and anything that she eats with more than ten carbohydrates will affect her numbers quite a bit.

Talk to your doctor about redoing the original test and tell him you were not fasting. I'm a lab tech and you have to be fasting for the test to work properly. If you have it done early in the morning you won't have to miss anything but breakfast and it will not be as bad as having to go til after lunch and have it done.
Good Luck and God Bless you and your new little one.

I have heard of doctors doing it both ways. Mine had me fast but I also had a morning appointment so fasting was realistic. A girlfriend of mine had her appointment in the late afternoon, had eaten all day and her test came back normal. So, I think it is just a doctor's preference. I hope the extended test comes back OK!

The test that you did is called a glucose challenge test. It is adding a lot of glucose in a short period of time and then seeing how your body deals with this change after an hour. Honestly, this is not the most sensitive way to test and determine if you have gestational diabetes. The best test is a test called Hemoglobin A1C which tests how much sugar your red blood cells have been exposed to. This is a better test because it kind of gives an average of how your body has been dealing with what you have been eating for a period of up to 3 months. In addition, it is a simple blood test that takes five minutes tops rather than 3 hours. This is why most diabetes specialists use this at their go to test for determining how stressed someone's blood sugar levels are.
PS. You are pregnant...this is why most doctors won't ask you to fast. It is a bad idea to starve your baby for x amount of hours just to run a simple test.

Non-fasting is normal for a pre-natal test. Most glucose tolerance tests are done with fasting, but I think they realize that this is not always an option for someone who's pregnant. Don't worry, just take the next test and pray the first one was inaccurate!

The doctor should've definitely told you at the office about fasting, and the fasting part shouldn't been crossed off. I know I forget a lot of things after I leave a doctor's office, especially the "big" stuff, I guess because I'm nervous. That's why they give you the paper, I think, so you can remind yourself before the test. I would definitely call your doctor and ask him if he can set up a new glucose test for you, and then if you still have elevated levels, then take the 3 hour test.

The same thing happened to me. I took off work at lunch, had lunch and then went start to my appt. So my results came back high. Then I did the 3 hr test and they came back fine.

hi, i use to work for an ob/gyn and on the 1 hr glucose you don't have to fast, its the 3hr that you do. hope this helps

You don't need to fast before the test. Now, having eaten lunch beforehand may very well have made your blood glucose higher, but your body is supposed to continuously regulate your glucose so it doesn't get too high, even after eating. Its not a bad thing to do the extra test ... its more accurate, and will let you and your doctor know if your body is having trouble regulating your blood sugar.

I had both done (and ended up having gd bu tthat's another story). You fast for the 3 hr test not the 1 hr. I distinctly remember eating breakfast before mine, and was told to do so now that I htink of it. Don't worry.

My test is on Monday in the afternoon. My dr told me I didn't need to fast but to try to avoid overly sugary foods before I come in.

Every Dr. Does thier testing different. I work for 2 OBGYN'S and one of them has you fast the other does not. So it really is up to them how they administer the test. You will definetly fast for your 3 hour. Hope all goes well!

They don't tell you to fast but mine came back high because I drank a caffine free root beer 30 minutes before I went in. And yes mine was high. I went back for the "3 Hour" fasting test which turned out to be 5 hours because the lab was behind and I was well within normal range. Sick to my stomach from lack of food but at happy that I didn't have gestational diabetes.

Congratulations on your first Baby!

They are no longer having you fast, just having you avoid sugary startchy foods before the test and try to eat higher proteins.