What are the signs and symptoms of gestational diabetes? If you are someone that already has diabetes and is getting treatment for it, you may already know what diabetes conditions feel like. Yet, most women that are just learning about gestational diabetes from their doctors will not have any idea what to expect. In fact, they may be shocked and surprised to learn that they do have gestational diabetes in the first place. That is because the condition does not often show itself in terms of symptoms. Still, knowing what the symptoms are can mean protecting you and your baby from gestational diabetes complications.
Common Symptoms Seen
There are some symptoms that you may experience but may not have attributed it to gestational diabetes as of yet. These include:
- Thirsty that has increased and is constant
- Increased need to urinate (which is often a symptom of pregnancy, too)
- A feeling of being hungry, all the time with an increased hunger pain
- Vision that becomes blurry out of no where
As you can see, some of these symptoms of gestational diabetes are simply the same as those for pregnancy. For this reason, many women do not believe or have any idea that they are suffering from gestational diabetes at all. This is a risky situation and often causes complications when these signs of gestational diabetes are not taken care of. What’s more, if you have any of these signs or symptoms, it does not mean that you have diabetes. Your doctor is the best person to tell you what you are actually facing and how to get help for it.
Gestational Diabetes Testing
For most pregnant women, the first time that they learn of the gestational diabetes that they are facing is when their doctor requires them to have a glucose tolerance test. During this test, the doctor will require that you ingest a large amount of sugary drink. After a specific amount of time, he will test your blood. This test will be used to determine how fast your body has absorbed the glucose from the sugary product. In a person without gestational diabetes, the glucose is readily accepted by the body because it is using insulin correctly. A normal amount of glucose is in the blood stream.
In those that are struggling with gestational diabetes, the glucose amount in the blood remains very high. This is a sign that your body is unable to use its normally produced insulin and the glucose remains in the blood too long. If this were to remain high for an extended period of time, your body would enter a state of shock that is dangerous to both you and your baby. Through testing you, your doctor can determine if you are at risk for diabetes as well as determine if there is a need to pursue additional treatment for diabetes conditions. Gestational diabetes often can be treated easily with diet, exercise and weight loss. For some patients, though, it will be necessary to provide the body with additional insulin. To do this, the individual may need to have injections of insulin.
No matter what your history of diabetes is, if you are pregnant you are at a risk for gestational diabetes. Knowing what the signs and symptoms of diabetes are can help you to overcome this very risky situation. You should follow all of your doctor’s recommendations so that you can avoid any type of complication due to gestational diabetes. Your doctor is likely to give you a gestational diabetes test in your second trimester or the beginning of your third. Ask for your results.