Understanding Gestational Diabetes: Symptoms, Causes, Diet and More

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), it particularly develops in pregnant women who do not have any medical history of diabetes prior to pregnancy. The signs and symptoms that associate with gestational diabetes include the following:

  1. Increased thirst
  2. Frequent or increased urination
  3. Fatigue
  4. Blurred vision
  5. Weight loss accompanying increased appetite
  6. Nausea and vomiting
  7. Yeast infections

Yet, for a majority of pregnant women, there are no recognizable symptoms for gestational diabetes and for this very reason screening tests are the foremost recommendations for all pregnant women. Gestational diabetes just like the other types of diabetes affects the utilization of glucose by body cells. Seeking medical help if a woman develops gestational diabetes she might need to visit a doctor more often than usual. However, the doctor will check every woman once she is pregnant to rule out gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes leads to high blood sugar levels in a woman that can affect the baby’s health and mother’s health as well. The symptoms of gestational diabetes are most likely to develop during the last trimester of pregnancy and need immediate medical help. Blood sugar usually comes back to normal after the delivery. But if you are experiencing gestational diabetes, then you might be at increasing risk of having type 2 diabetes. You will be required to be tested for the variations in blood glucose more often. Many pregnant ladies do not experience symptoms or signs of gestational diabetes.

In fact, the only thing to know is having a blood glucose test, normally given around the 24 to 28 gestation weeks. A few ladies might notice some symptoms and signs of gestational diabetes, consisting:

  • Fatigue: pregnant ladies are tired, after all it is too much work to support and grow a baby. Therefore, gestational diabetes might provide you the feeling of even more tiredness than usual.
  • Increasing thirst: Drinking above normal and having the feeling like you are thirsty always might be a symptom of gestational diabetes.
  • Dry mouth: A dry or patchy mouth other than consuming a lot might be a symptom of gestational diabetes.

Diabetes might occur while pregnancy normally goes away just after the delivery, but that might not always be the case. For having genuine gestational diabetes it must be cured immediately after the birth of the baby, since the resistance of insulin is taken by hormonal changes and metabolic variations in pregnancy.  Therefore, sometimes when we are diagnosing a woman having gestational diabetes during pregnancy, it is typically that she is having pre-gestational diabetes that we are diagnosing while pregnant. Pre-gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that occurs before pregnancy, consisting of type 2 and type 1 diabetes, as well as other more rare kinds of diabetes such as  Cystic Fibrosis or medicine-inducing diabetes. Pre-gestational diabetes cannot be resolved post-delivery. If you are experiencing pre-gestational diabetes that is diagnosed while pregnant, your doctor will tell you a treatment plan. This might consist of lifestyle and diet modifications and utilization of oral medication or insulin. (21, 22, 23)