Patient's question:
In early September 2010, I went to the hospital because of a fever. The doctor said my thyroid seemed a bit enlarged, so they did various tests and a color Doppler ultrasound. It was diagnosed as hyperthyroidism (it was something like Hashimoto's thyroiditis). Later, I took methimazole, one tablet a day, until around July 2013. Then, because I couldn't get more, I stopped taking it, though I sometimes took it intermittently during that period. There was also something called propranolol hydrochloride, which I took for a few months because I sometimes felt my heart was being pressed (but I stopped it and it never caused heart discomfort again). In October 2013, I got married and planned to have a child, so I had my thyroid function checked. Everything was fine, and after stopping the medication for a month, the check still showed no problems. In December 2013, one test result was slightly high by 0.1, and the doctor said it was okay to have a child and that it wouldn't be a problem. After that, I didn't worry about it anymore.In mid-October 2013, during my pre-marital health check, I accidentally found that my fasting blood sugar was 8.5. I then started dietary control, and in mid-November, my fasting blood sugar was 6.4. In mid-December, it was 8.3. I didn’t take any medication and had my glucose tolerance test at Youfa Hospital in Puyang on January 28, 2014. The results are as shown in the figure, including fasting blood sugar, 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours after eating. The doctor diagnosed me with diabetes and said that diet and exercise could control it, but he also prescribed Ganoderma and Glyburide. If I were to describe my symptoms, the only thing I noticed was that my saliva sometimes felt sticky, and sometimes it felt like my palate was covered with flour. I naturally drank a lot of water before bed (about 1000ml) and urinated 2-3 times before bed (though there was also some psychological influence because I wanted a child). Because of this, I didn’t take any medication and only took the blood sugar-lowering capsules on February 4th and 5th (a total of six capsules). The doctor said that traditional Chinese medicine was fine during pregnancy. On February 12th, my fingertip blood fasting blood sugar was 6.2, and 2 hours after eating was 4.7 (breakfast: one egg, a bowl of congee, and two small steamed buns). The next day at the same time, my fingertip blood fasting blood sugar was 6.2, and 5.9 after eating. On February 16th, 2 hours after lunch was 8.4. On February 17th, fasting blood sugar was 6.4, and 2 hours and 20 minutes after eating was 7.5. On February 20th, fasting blood sugar was 6.5, and 2 hours after eating was 7.1. On March 1st (by this time, I had tested positive for pregnancy, with my last menstrual period on January 26th), 1.5 hours after eating was 7.6. On March 3rd, fasting blood sugar was 8.1, and 2 hours after lunch was 13. On March 5th, 2 hours after breakfast was 5.5, and 2 hours after lunch was 8.2. On March 7th, before dinner (lunch: a bowl of dumplings, slightly more, 5 hours later) was 8.0, and 2 hours after dinner was 11.1. On March 8th, fasting blood sugar was 7.0, and 2 hours after eating was 6.0. On March 10th, 5 hours after lunch (lunch: a bowl of lamb soup and one fried cake) was 4.8. On March 11th, fasting blood sugar was 8.0, and 2 hours after eating was 7.6. On March 13th, fasting blood sugar was 7.3, and 2 hours after eating was 6.3.
I noticed that my fasting blood sugar was high and don’t know what caused it. I don’t usually eat sweets, but because I knew I was pregnant, I occasionally ate an apple, orange, or pineapple, but in small amounts, fearing high blood sugar. For breakfast, I usually drink soy milk with oats and goji berries, or sometimes millet and mung bean porridge. I rarely eat white bread for meals, only occasionally.
Doctor's answer:
Diabetes during pregnancy is best treated with insulin. Thyroid function should be checked more frequently. This may be related to thyroid function if the heart rate is fast or there is discomfort in the heart.