Shakes Before and After Eating

Definitely contact your doctor but in the meantime don't go longer than about 2 hours without eating. Doesn't have to be full meals. Eat a handful of almonds, have some cheese and grapes, apple with peanut butter and skim milk, cottage cheese and fruit, a yogurt with some granola and wheat germ mixed in, keep things like Luna bars with you. It doesn't necessarily mean you have GD but you need to get checked out and you need to make sure you are eating enough and enough of the right things. You need lots of protein, good fats, fiber to help keep your blood sugars stable.

1 mom found this helpful

Did the doctor give you some kind of sheet to tell you how to eat? My husband is diabetic and I can tell you how he eats, but I don't know if it is different for a pregnant woman. Ideally he should eat 5 times a day, spaced.

Actually this is how all of us should eat. Just watch portions.
Breakfast, about 2 hours later snack, a couple of hours later lunch, a mid afternoon snack, dinner. Try to eat meals 4-6 hours apart and snacks at least 2 hours from a meal.

Then there is a distribution of carbs, fats, protein. Choose healthy carbs and don't worry about sugar. It's all about carbs.

We Aim for this distribution at each meal/snack:
40-45% of your calories should be Complex Carbohydrates. Pick low glycemic carbs with lots of fiber like whole grains, beans and plant based phytonutrients found in fresh fruits and vegetables.
25-30% of your calories should come from lean protein foods like soy, low or nonfat dairy, fish rich in omega 3 fatty acids and lean poultry.
25-30% of your calories should come from healthy fats like olives, nuts. avocados and seeds. Just be careful about your portions.

1 mom found this helpful

Also make sure your blood pressure is in check - could be preggo induced hypertension.

I think i was tested before 32 weeks but i don't recall...you need to get to your doctor and get tested!

That is something that should have been diagnosed around 22-24 weeks of pregnancy. I thought all pregnant women got tested for that. It did turn out for me that I did have gestational diabetes but I never had the shakes or blurred vision. I would definantly call the doctors office and talk to them and see what they say. This does not sound good. If you wear glasses currently it may not be abnormal for you to have vision changes during pregnancy. Make sure to eat every four hours. Do not wait long periods of time to eat. You should eat 3 regular meals and 3 snacks during the day.It may be that you are not eating frequently enough. when you are pregnant and in general this is how you should eat to keep blood sugar levels normal and to keep metabolism normal. Good luck

I have low blood sugar, hypoglycemia, and get the shakes really bad if I don't eat protein every two hours. It can take a while after eating to feel better. The key is preventing the shakes to begin with. I would first call your doctor, but while waiting to hear back, try eating protein snacks frequently. Good choices include cheese, milk, peanut butter, nuts/trail mix, protein bars.

Hope you start to feel better!

The shakes are more often associated with low blood sugar (the opposite of diabetes). I got this when I was pregnant and had no appetite, but needed to eat. Things that will help are to eat complex carbohydrates in place of the refined sugars (more veggies and whole grains and less sugar and white rice/pasta/bread)

Hi, S.;

Are you taking vitamins with iron?

You can test your urine with the strips that you can buy from the drug store, I think. You can tell if you are spilling sugar that way. does the Doc check your urine every time you go for a check up?

Just wan to know. D.

32 weeks seems late like you should have already been tested. But I think my GD came on late too. You need to call your doc and get into the lab - its important to know for the baby + delivery. For me, I had to eat protein with every carb - but don't just try cutting carbs bc they are important. It's a balancing act. Start the day - whole wheat toast with peanut butter or even better, an egg. Eat AT LEAST every 4 hours - smaller portions. Think of your metabolism as a tight rope - your job is to keep a steady, constant straight line between insulin and glucose (sugar). Good Luck. Oh and if u get an IV in delivery - make sure its NOT lactated ringers, if it is, ask why?

I get the shakes when I haven't eaten in a while (even when I'm not pregnant, but especially when I'm pregnant). Try to keep something in your stomach at all times, high-protein with a little sugar (but NOT high-fructose corn syrup, you want sucrose as well) will be best. Keep things like yogurt, protein bars, whey protein powder you can just dump in some milk...stuff like that. If you can maintain your blood sugar you'll feel better. Stay away from too much starch and stick to whole-grains when you have them.

That definitely sounds like a sugar-related issue to me. I never had to deal w/ GD myself, but do have a couple friends who have. You may want to include an extra snack or so in between meals and eat as balanced as possible. Feel better!