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What Causes Upper Abdominal Pain And Cramping At 8 Months Pregnancy?

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Posted on Tue, 3 Nov 2015
Question: Hello,

My wife who is 8 months pregnant is having upper abdominal pain/cramping. She describes the pain/discomfort is a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. She further described it as feeling like her stomach was bubbling and that she was a bit nausius. It continued for about 30 minutes but at this point it has mostly gone away. She has gestational diabetes and typically takes 22 clicks of her insulin pen (humalin). Her blood sugar is currently reading 83 (2.5 hours after dinner). 1 hour after eating dinner her blood sugar was 126. She is scared that her current reading is too low for her to take her insulin. She just ate a half banana. She stated that if she wasn't pregnant she was have ignored the symptoms as gas or some sort of general stomach discomfort.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Sameer Kumar (1 hour later)
Brief Answer:
pregnancy with GDM

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks For The Query To Hcm,
At 8 months when the uterus has already risen or grown to the level of the upper abdomen, there occurs slight compression of the stomach walls thereby decreasing the capacity of the stomach in toto and hence bloating and gas formation is common if smaller and frequent meals are not undertaken leading to discomfort which can be perceived as pain.
Your insulin levels must have been fixed after a blood sugar profile so you should continue the same units as the sugar at present is controlled on these units. Ideally fasting sugar on insulin should be maintained less than 92mg/dl and 2 hr levels less than 140mg/dl . So if doesn't get any dizziness or hypoglycaemic symptoms, the dose is still adequate for her.
She has to be on a diabetic diet which i believe her dietician must have advised her already and she has to strictly follow it , calculated depending on her BMI and age.
As long as the baby movements are fine and the recent TG tracing shows reactivity, there is no real need to be worried. You must count at least 10 baby movements daily and if in any case the movements are less then you must visit your obstetrician asap.
Regards
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
Dr.
Dr. Sameer Kumar

OB and GYN Specialist

Practicing since :2002

Answered : 1782 Questions

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What Causes Upper Abdominal Pain And Cramping At 8 Months Pregnancy?

Brief Answer: pregnancy with GDM Detailed Answer: Hello, Thanks For The Query To Hcm, At 8 months when the uterus has already risen or grown to the level of the upper abdomen, there occurs slight compression of the stomach walls thereby decreasing the capacity of the stomach in toto and hence bloating and gas formation is common if smaller and frequent meals are not undertaken leading to discomfort which can be perceived as pain. Your insulin levels must have been fixed after a blood sugar profile so you should continue the same units as the sugar at present is controlled on these units. Ideally fasting sugar on insulin should be maintained less than 92mg/dl and 2 hr levels less than 140mg/dl . So if doesn't get any dizziness or hypoglycaemic symptoms, the dose is still adequate for her. She has to be on a diabetic diet which i believe her dietician must have advised her already and she has to strictly follow it , calculated depending on her BMI and age. As long as the baby movements are fine and the recent TG tracing shows reactivity, there is no real need to be worried. You must count at least 10 baby movements daily and if in any case the movements are less then you must visit your obstetrician asap. Regards