No help here Judie but I wanted to say that I hope they get it all figured out. I recently had a friend who had gestational diabetes and apparently they did caution her that there was a possibility her diabetes would not be resolved after delivery. Hers was, which I think usually happens, but I guess there is the small percentage that continue to have problems.

Going to an endocrinologist is the best thing she can do. Let us know what happens.

tina

Yes, people can develop type 1 diabetes in young adulthood. I have a cousin who did, and there are several professional athletes like Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler. It is an autoimmune disease where a virus attacks the pancreas. Compared to type 2 which is more common and due often to lifestyle and obesity, there is less genetic link, which you would think would be the opposite.

Yes, having gestational diabetes does increase risk of diabetes after pregnancy.

I wish her and all your family members the best in helping her get her diabetes under control.

My daughter's best friend in college had the same very blurred vision at the same age. It was misdiagnosed for some time, and that can be very dangerous. I'm glad your daughter is going to see an endocrinologist soon.
My daughter's friend's mother also is diabetic. As I understand it, there is a strong genetic link in Type 1 diabetes.
I know from that experience that counseling is essential with young girls. They tend to feel invincible and blow off the diet. I know DD's friend had counseling sessions where the speakers were young girls who had not taken it seriously and had permanent damage. Since your daughter is a mother though, that may not be a concern. She is no doubt more mature and serious.

I am so sorry to hear about your daughter. This same thing happened to a good friend's daughter. No family history, the docs' best guess is that it was triggered by a virus. I had never heard of that. The insulin pump has changed her life. A good endocrinologist is essential.

There is a good chance that her diabetes was not gestational, her elevated blood sugars were caused by her undiagnosed Type 1.

With the population of childbearing age being generally healthy, they often times do not get medical care except when pregnant. We often discover BP, blood related diseases, diabetes in patients that otherwise thought they were healthy. Gestational diabetes testing is normally done at 28 weeks but there is a big push to move this testing date up to early pregnancy to catch the rising incidence of type 2 diabetes.

I agree with others that say to find a great endocrinologist and office that your daughter feels comfortable with. Congrats on the grandbaby.

I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter. I was diagnosed in my late 20's with no family history etc. Actually they misdiagnosed me as a type 2 and the endocronologist I first saw went along with that even though I weighed 110 lbs and was 5'7". Not exactly your typical fit for a type2 and he should have done more looking into my issues.

It is likely your daughter was misdiagnosed during her pregnancy and like me she still had some functioning pancreas that allowed her to control things with meds/eating right. It can vary how long it takes the pancreas to stop producing insulin. For me it was over several years. For others it can be much shorter. Her pregnancy probably helped in diagnosing things at an earlier stage vs. her going into ketoacidosis. A very lucky thing imo.

I switchd insurance and finally got a good endocronologist who said there is a blood test to check for specific antibodies and if positive you for sure have type1 diabetes and if negative - you could still have type1 it is just inconclusive. Mine was positive. She did the test because I didn't fit the typical type2 criteria. I wish the first endocrinologist had done this to save me lots of aggrevation. I went on the pump shortly after that and has used it for more than 10 years now. She also said it was likely caused by a virus and my immune system started attacking itself.

Anyways as others said a good Endocrinologist is very important. Somebody who is up on latest technology and recommended treatment methods is important too.

BTW the pump is awesome as far as eating goes. You don't have to necessarily be on a diet other than like any normal person you should eat good and healthy, but if you want to have a few extra cookies - no big deal. You also don't have to eat on a schedule. The only thing you have to be good about is checking your bloodsugar often. I find that a small price to pay vs. having to stick to the old way of treating diabetes which never worked for me as I couldn't feel a low coming on and would pass out as I wanted to have tight control.

That's a good point that she may have already had diabetes and it just happened to get picked up in pregnancy.

It probably was picked up during her pregnancy and wasn't really gestational. She was unable to control it with diet alone and ended up on insulin shots 3 times a day. She was diligent with her care and diet and she did gain an excessive amount of weight and the baby was 8 lbs. full term (not considered large for a diabetic mom).
She just got back from endocrinologist. He's an older doctor and considered the best, but I'm thinking hes near to retirement and maybe we should look into a younger doctor and maybe a female. He just doesn't seem to have the warm caring and understanding that this is traumatic for her.

My daughter was 9 when she was diagnosed. It can be a rollercoaster but the good news is that it can be managed. If she chooses to be, your daughter will end up being very aware of her body, the way different foods affect her, etc. I can honestly say that my daughter is the healthiest of all 4 of my children now that her diabetes is under control.

In addition to our endocrinologist, our family works with a diabetes educator. The one we work with the most is also a type 1 diabetic. It may be an avenue to research and the endocrinologist's office may be able to recommend several.

I am looking forward to the day that she can switch to an insulin pump but the co-pay is not insignificant but will certainly make things simpler.