3 hour glucose tolerance test during pregnancy

[Guest guest]

Hi Bee,

How are you? This is Neary and I've been on your program since October 2008. I

am 28 years old and still follow your diet as much as I can. I am now 7 months

pregnant and is seeing a midwife. One test I had to do was the O'sullivan test

to test for glucose level for gestational diabetes. I had your eggnog in the

morning and took the sugar drink 3 hours later. I failed it and now they are

making me take the 3 hour Glucose Tolerance Test where I can eat or drink

NOTHING and have to drink that sugar drink every hour for 3 hour. How can I

fail that test? I just thought that was wierd....Maybe my body was in shock due

to the sugar? However,what should I do bee? Its a mandatory test that my

midwife need for hospital policy...Im so stress out. Should I just cheat the

test and have an eggnog in the morning then take the test afterwards? Please

Please help...I don't want to harm my baby with so much sugar...Thank you,

Neary.

[Guest guest]

>

> Hi Bee,

>

> How are you? This is Neary and I've been on your program since October 2008. I

am 28 years old and still follow your diet as much as I can. I am now 7 months

pregnant and is seeing a midwife. One test I had to do was the O'sullivan test

to test for glucose level for gestational diabetes. I had your eggnog in the

morning and took the sugar drink 3 hours later. I failed it and now they are

making me take the 3 hour Glucose Tolerance Test where I can eat or drink

NOTHING and have to drink that sugar drink every hour for 3 hour.

How can I fail that test? I just thought that was wierd....Maybe my body was in

shock due to the sugar? However,what should I do bee? Its a mandatory test

that my midwife need for hospital policy...Im so stress out. Should I just

cheat the test and have an eggnog in the morning then take the test afterwards?

Please Please help...I don't want to harm my baby with so much sugar.

+++Hi Neary. Please do not panic my dear. First, what was your glucose level

test result and the normal range on your test? Also how much sugar drink did you

take 3 hours after eating?

I found out you can sign a form so you do not " have to " take the 3 hour Glucose

Tolerance Test.

Bee

[Guest guest]

>

> Bee,

> I failed the O'sullivans test which should be below 135 but mine was around

160, not that much higher but still i failed. I drank about 3-4 oz of the sugar

drink. My 3hr GTT appointment is this Friday and I live in Charlotte, North

Carolina USA.  If i can sign a form then I will definitely try to give them a

call.

+++Hi Neary,

I suggest you postpone the appointment for another week or more so you have time

to get the correct waiver form required by the hospital. Ask your midwife first

and if she doesn't know about it contact the hospital administration office. If

they claim there is no form, you can get one online. We all must stand up for

our rights.

After eating the blood glucose level may rise temporarily up to 140 mg/dL OR " a

bit more in non-diabetics. " <<<<NOTE

The American Diabetes Association recommends a post-meal glucose level of less

than 180 mg/dl [in diabetics] yet the O'Sullivan test claims it must be below

135mg/dL [in non-diabetics]??? That doesn't make sense.

I suspect the medical industry is using the O'Sullivan Test to justify getting

more pregnant women to take the 3 hour glucose tolerance test because the more

tests they can force on people the more money they make! I would not trust the

test, so you need to sign a waiver.

All the best, Bee

[Guest guest]

Hi Neary,

You might want to consider getting a lawyer draw one up for you.

Group Moderator

>

> Hi Bee,

>

> I didn't take the 3hr GTT and I have an appt. with my midwife this Wednesday

where I will discuss with her about the test.  In the meantime, I've been

trying to find that waiver online because of course the hospital don;t know

about it.  I want to have that waiver form before I see my midwife this

Wednesday just in case she doesn't know about it either and make me do that 3hr

test.  I haven't had any luck finding it online.  Can someone please help

me?  Thank you,  Neary

[Guest guest]

>

> Hi Bee,

>

> I didn't take the 3hr GTT and I have an appt. with my midwife this Wednesday

where I will discuss with her about the test.  In the meantime, I've been trying

to find that waiver online because of course the hospital don;t know about it. 

I want to have that waiver form before I see my midwife this Wednesday just in

case she doesn't know about it either and make me do that 3hr test.  I haven't

had any luck finding it online.  Can someone please help me?

+++Hi Neary,

Here's a reference that might help you.

Q: Can I refuse the Glucose Tolerance Test?

http://www.drbrewerpregnancydiet.com/id13.html

A: Yes, you can--just as you can decline any test or procedure or medication

that is suggested to you. It is standard procedure for the nurse or midwife or

doctor to simply enter into your chart that you have declined this test, or

whatever they have suggested for you. If your care-giver is reluctant to allow

you to decline this test, you can offer to substitute another, more acceptable

test.

You can also offer to sign a waiver in which you state that you understand what

you are doing and that you release them from any liability. The legal

terminology is something like: " I hold (name) harmless for any consquences which

may result from my decision. " If the care-giver feels strongly enough about

their opinion on whether you should take this test, or whatever they are

suggesting, they can choose to no longer be your care-giver, or you can choose

to find a more flexible care-giver. But it's usually not a good idea to stay

with a care-giver who is not willing to work with you to come to solutions that

you are comfortable with, because then you may find yourself in labor with a

care-giver who is not providing the accepting, peaceful, trustworthy atmosphere

that you need in order to labor well.

The Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) is considered to be the " standard of care " , but

as we have seen in the past 50 years of obstetric precedents, the " standard of

care " is not always the best of care. The obstetric " standards of care " of our

modern mainstream medical system are sometimes based on faulty assumptions,

faulty traditions, faulty belief systems, or faulty research. Some examples of

those " standards of care " which we reject as not being the best of care are

practices such as confining the laboring woman to bed, continual fetal

monitoring during labor, not allowing a laboring woman to eat whatever she wants

to eat; the over-use of pain medications, episiotomies, IVs, C-sections, and

other interventions; the early clamping/cutting of the umbilical cord,

non-religious circumcision, and many other practices which are detailed on the

" Other " page of this website.

The Glucose Tolerance Test has a history of a high level of false-positive or

false-negative results, and it is a very unreliable indicator of whether the

pregnant body is handling blood sugars in a healthy way. So even though it is

the " standard of care " , many of us in the alternative-birthing field do not

consider the GTT to be the best of care.

One reason for this unreliability is that the results of this test are easily

skewed if your body happens to secrete adrenalin around the time that your blood

is drawn. Some types of events that can cause your body to secrete adrenalin

include the fear of needles, concerns about the ramifications of the test

results, fighting traffic on the way to the test (and fears about being late),

and having a fight with your husband or children in the parking lot. And any

time that your body secretes adrenalin, your body will block the secretion of

insulin from your pancreas while increasing the release of stored glycogen from

your liver--thus giving you a higher blood sugar than you would ordinarily have.

This reaction is called the " Fight or Flight " mechanism, and its purpose is to

supply your muscles with high levels of glucose, so that you can protect

yourself from some kind of threat, by using those muscles to fight the threat or

run away from the threat. When you end up not using that glucose to fight or

run, you end up with high blood sugars for the GTT.

NOTE>>>>A more reliable test for checking how your body is handling blood sugars

is the " Hemoglobin A1C " . This test is often used to monitor whether diabetics

are dealing with their blood sugars well. It is also a test that requires no

fasting and no carbohydrate-loading foods or fluids, a part of the GTT which

puts the pregnant body through an unnatural metabolic gymnastics which is not

healthy, in my opinion. The Hemoglobin A1C is also a test which shows what the

blood sugars have been like for the previous 3 months, and not just in the most

recent hour or two or three. It is also a test which is not affected by any

emotional upsets which you may experience in the minutes or hours before your

blood is drawn.

All the best, Bee