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Gestational Diabetes - Medications
SYMPTOMS & TREATMENTS
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- Symptoms
- What Happens
- What Increases Your Risk
- When to Call a Doctor
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Most women can treat gestational diabetes by changing the way they eat and exercising more often. If these changes do not keep your blood sugar level within a target range, you may need to take insulin. You may also need to take insulin if your doctor thinks that your baby is getting too large.
If you need to take insulin, your doctor will teach you how to give yourself an insulin shot. For more information, see:
Medication Choices
What to Think About
Insulin is the primary medicine used to treat gestational diabetes. Insulin is only used if you cannot control your blood sugar level by eating well and exercising regularly.
How much insulin you need depends on how much you weigh and on how close you are to your due date. Some women need more insulin as they get closer to their delivery date because the placenta makes more and more hormones that make it harder and harder for insulin to do its job. In rare cases, a woman with gestational diabetes has to stay in the hospital for a short time to get her blood sugar level within a target range.
There are pills called glyburide and metformin used for type 2 diabetes that some doctors are using to treat women who have gestational diabetes.
| By: | Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: March 7, 2011 |
| Medical Review: | Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine Alan C. Dalkin, MD - Endocrinology | |
© 1995-2011 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
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