So it's time for the wonderful Glucose Tolerance Test...

Ok, so I knew right after I had RNY that I wouldn't be able to do the GTT when I got pg.  So I get to the ob/gyn's office today for my 24 wk appt today and they give me the syrupy drink to take home to drink before my next appt.   I remind them that I've had the RNY and can't do it and so the nurse said she'd just let my doc talk to me and I probably could just skip the test.  

So my doc comes in and asks what would happen if I drank this drink.  He has been great so far to work with me in this pg and my last one and normally is a wonderful doctor.  But this thing I don't think he really understood me on.   I told him I have found that I can only usually tolerate up to 18 gms of sugar and then I have really bad diarrhea and that's usually how I dump.  There was also at least one time that I ate some special K protein cereal and I felt like I was going to puke for 20 mins and felt awful.  I can eat some sugar (like 2 Oreos at a time or a small piece of bday cake) but this drink is too much- he said it's 50 gms of sugar in that little bottle!!!    He said it's a different type of sugar in this drink and it's more syrupy and I might be ok.   He said it's ultimately up to me if I want to do it and I really don't want to do it.  I want to have the test done but I don't want to do the sugary drink.  You have to fini**** in 3-5 minutes and then get tested an hour later with a blood draw.   I could be in the bathroom having diarrhea within like 15 minutes of the drink and be miserable for a few hours though! 

I got home and looked in my blue bible (the book my bariatric doc gave me) and it says that as a RNY patient, I am unable to do the GTT because it will probably cause the "dumping syndrome" and provide INACCURATE test results.   I told my doc this at the appointment that it might skew the test results if I do drink this drink and how my body processes sugar might not make the test accurate.  But he didn't think it would.  It also says that the amount they want you to drink in 3-5 minutes is too much for your new stomach to tolerate. 

So I'm going to call the doc's office next week and read the nurse what the booklet says and also bring it to my next appt to show my doctor.  I really want to have this test done and if I do have GD to get on the right diet to control it, but I also don't want to drink this drink and dump.   I don't want to fail the GTT and not really have GD, but it's because my body can't process sugars the way it used to, but I don't have GD!

What test did you do instead of the GTT?  

There are other tests you can do. I know one OB I went to used some jelly beans. Not many. I know I could probably handle that small amount of jelly beans post RNY. Or you can do a postprandial test. Basically you eat a meal and they test your blood glucose 2 hours after. Those are two alternatives that I know of. Ask your Dr. about them.

I have had 2 post op RNY babies with 2 different drs.  One dr.  had me take my sugar levels for 3 days with a glucometer in the morning and 2 hours after each meal.  The other dr. just had me come in and do a fasting sugar and test my A1C 1st thing in the morning.  I basically told them anything over 15 grms I will dump and that I couldnt do it.  I also told them it also wouldn't be accurate as well. 

Debbie

Not only is the GTT not tolerated in RNY patients, it's also probably inacurate given the lack of pyloris.

You need a post-paradinal test.  Fasting blood draw.  Eat a normal breakfast, 2 hours later get a draw.

I DID tell my doc that the test results could be inaccurate because I don't use the pyloric valve now post RNY and he said the test still should work.  I might ask about those other tests you gals mentioned, thanks!

I agree with the others. Do the 2 hour post pardinal test. I had one done at 16 weeks and it was fine. My old OB's nurses staff tried to get me to drink the drink but then they had to track her down to understand why I couldn't. My new OB's office staff are all well aware of altenatives and know I can't drink that stuff...and I don't even dump. 

The 2 hr test. I went in and they drew my blood, I went out and ate a normal breakfast with a little extra carbs and exactly 2 hrs after I was done eating (give or take a min or two) I had my blood drawn again. My results came back fine and I am having it repeated at my next drs appt (26 weeks). The only sucky thing is doing this test is time consuming and waste some of your day unless you work close by...I am lucky my OBs office is in a building in the center of an outdoor shopping mall.

Simone

I wouldn't have it done.  The other ladies have given you great suggestions on alternative tests.   I have the band, so I don't dump, but I did get sick after drinking 50 grams of sugar in 3 minutes.    I had diarrhea the rest of the day.   Not fun!

I called my bariatric doc's office today (they were open on Christmas Eve, can you believe it?!) and they said to have my ob/gyn run a hemoglobin A1C test instead of the GTT.   I'm going to call my ob/gyn next week to talk to them about this.  Anyone had this test done?