Medication For Gestational Diabetes

If you have gestational diabetes and you have not been able to control it with the advised changes to your diet and exercise regime then you will be prescribed medication. This prescription is usually given to you a couple of weeks after diagnosis but the timing can vary according to your blood glucose levels. You could also be given medication if an ultrasound scan reveals that your baby is large for his gestational age. The medicines available include insulin, oral hypoglycaemic agents (metformin or glibenclamide) and rapid-acting insulin analogues (aspart or lispro). The choice of medication prescribed to you really depends on what you feel is right for you and what will be most efficient in controlling your blood glucose levels. After the birth of your baby, medication for gestational diabetes will cease immediately. If your body does not respond to insulin (insulin resistant), then you may require insulin injections to make sure that your body contains enough effective insulin to lower your blood glucose levels. Insulin has to be injected because if it is ingested it would just be digested by the enzymes in your stomach and would be ineffective. If you do need injections you will be taught how to inject yourself and how to store your medicine and dispose of needles appropriately. In terms of which type of insulin you will be prescribed there are several types. You could be prescribed regular insulin which is usually injected before you eat a meal and lasts about eight hours. There are also rapid-acting insulin analogues (aspart or lispro) and these are injected before or after you eat food, they work quickly but do not last so long. These medications are safe to use during your pregnancy but you will need to remain under close scrutiny of your doctor so that he can monitor your blood glucose levels throughout your pregnancy. If you are using insulin to control your condition you will need to check your blood glucose levels before you go to sleep at night, first thing in the morning because you will not have eaten for about eight hours and also an hour after every meal. Hypoglycaemia is a condition when your blood glucose falls too low. You can be prescribed hypoglycaemic agents as well as or instead of insulin. In pregnancy the two oral hypoglycaemic agents that can be prescribed are metformin and glibenclamide (from week eleven of pregnancy). There are known side effects to these two medicines including vomiting, nausea and diarrhoea. If you use glibenclamide you can be at risk of developing hypoglycaemia as you can be if you use insulin. With metformin this does not seem to normally happen. It is always best to read the information that comes with your medicine to check for all known side effects. By Eirian Hallinan