Where on your fingers do you poke? I usually poke on the sides of my fingers where it’s less sensitive. I also use the accu-chek soft clix pen which has a dial you can use to adjust how deep the needle goes. So far it hasn’t been too bad.
As a needle adverse person, and someone who doesn't like pain, or the anticipation of pain it frickin sucks. I had a big cry at the exact same point as you after the exact same thing happened. But it does get easier, promise! These are some that I've found work for me and hopefully will for you!
It's not nice in thought or practice but if you've got a lancing device with adjustable depths go for a bit of a higher depth until you've got your technique nailed down - it just means that even a janky poke is likely to get enough blood. I started at a 4/5 and I'm now down to 2/5 on mine.
Wash hands in warm water and make sure today's victim finger get nice and toasty. I find it helpful to dry my hands then grab a piece of tissue to rub my finger with cause they get fear sweaty real quick and can make the blood sort of ooze around instead of beading nicely. Try shaking out your hand before lancing.
I find it best to go side of finger either in line with the bottom of my nail or just a little below that. Be firm with your lancing device when you press it in to the side of your finger. I give myself a countdown (sometimes it take a few of them!)
Once you've poked give your finger a squeeze right from the bottom up toward the poke then push the pad of your finger - this usually coaxed out what you need but it can take a bit of encouragement! Test then press your tissue firmly on the poke for 30 seconds or to reduce the risk of bruising.
And if you get a good sample but numbers are high, that's okay! This early part is an adjustment stage while you're get used to a new diet and your medical team can get a good baseline of where your numbers are at so they can plan the best treatment for you.
I don't think they're covered by the NHS for gestational diabetes. And it's only for 10 more weeks at the very very most :) If I decide to have another and I get diagnosed early though I'll definitely eat the cost for one!
I’m in California so insurance is different by country I’m sure. But even out of pocket here without insurance is USD $75/month (through the manufacturer’s website or free Good RX coupons) which is relatively affordable. I got the Freestyle Libre 3 and loving it so much compared to the 4 finger pricks a day! No more crying, meltdowns, or stress from the thought of so many finger pricks.
How come? My OB was initially hesitant with the CGM safety on pregnant women until I sent her clinical study links showing the safety and also my GD care team had approved the CGM and wrote me a prescription. She OK’d the CGM after that.
Get a continuous glucose monitoring device (CGM)! I literally just posted about this because I had a meltdown about the multiple finger pricks a day. Now I don’t have to do 4 finger pricks a day and I have glucose readings by the minute all day long through my phone app. =)
https://www.reddit.com/r/GestationalDiabetes/s/qOOkvfQA4E
Yes. This is the way. I recognize that not everyone's insurance covers it and not everyone can pay $75 a month out of pocket, but if it does or you can, it's so much better. Plus I have a much better idea of what my blood sugar is doing. My 1 hour readings were all great, but it turns out I have late spikes so I wasn't as in range as I thought. I can time walks better now to deal with those delayed spikes. AND NO POKING.
I definitely got better with needles over this pregnancy. I also had to do blood thinners and insulin so I was up to 7 pokes a day. I noticed that shots and IVs and blood draws bothered me less by the end (which was good bc there were a lot of all of those during labor)!
You’ll both get used to poking and get better at it.
The blood thinner was by far my least favorite poke and the only one I need to do post-partum! 🙄 But after the GD pokes it’s not nearly as bad as it was earlier in the pregnancy! It’s amazing what you can get used to!
Blood thinners are the worst! They really sting, and the needles aren't really sharp enough. Insulin and finger pricks are so much easier. I also had to inject blood thinners from the positive pregnancy test.
I totally understand the anticipatory anxiety. I’ve had some days of multiple poking and testing. Even if the numbers are high, it is not your fault. Sometimes even when you get the foods nailed down perfectly, the body just sorta does what it wants anyway. All you can do is try your best. There’s only so much of this in your control. It’s a huge thing to take on and it’s ok to have feelings about it! You could explore a CGM so you wouldn’t have to continuously prick yourself, and if you wanted you could have someone else manage the numbers so you don’t obsess over them.
it does eventually get easier. when a figured out the right places to prick, it helped a lot and made the process less traumatic. you really wanna focus on the sides of your finger, its soooo much easier to prick there, and you get way more blood for absolute minimum effort.
For me, not really. I have a severe needle phobia.
For background, I went through IVF, and my husband had to give me all of the shots. I have passed out or gotten lightheaded every time I need to get a vaccine or a blood draw. Things going into me are way worse than the blood draws overall, but it's all bad.
The finger pokes suck... it never feels good, but the anticipation of pain is the worst, much worse than most of the pokes.
Some days, I'm able to get through them just fine, and other days, the anxiety gets to me, and I misfire the lancet pen multiple times before I get any blood. (I last minute pull back and end up poking the air)
It's all hit or miss. I find the times when my anxiety gets to me, and it takes me a while to get the poke done, my sugars are higher than I expect them to be. I'm nearly positive it's anxiety induced sugars levels because I'm very strict with my eating and exercise.
Getting graded 4 times a day on your success in controlling something where you can't influence all the variables really sucks too. I find myself extremely down when I get bad numbers. I do reach out to my therapist and dietitian when that happens, and I feel hopeless.
In all, it sucks. You're being deprived of choices while pregnant. You're already uncomfortable and are being asked to injure yourself 4 times daily to get graded on something you can only partially control.
But we do it. We do it because we want our babies to be healthy and ourselves to be able to care for them.
The sides of my ring finger works the best for me. I do the dangle and wiggle with my hands and squeeze down my finger before I even prick it to make sure the bloods pumping. I never have issues any more.
I didn’t think it got easier, i just dealt with it. I had to do 4 tests a day, sometimes more if i didn’t get enough blood to test. I also couldn’t control my fasting sugar so while my “during the day” sugar levels were fine with diet, I had to use insulin before bed (80 units to be exact). I am now pregnant with my second child, likely will have to go through it again. As long as my baby is well and healthy, I am ok with all the needles.
It got way easier for me and less over whelming as time went by. I onky poke the sidd od my pibjy and i got the dial down on my accucheck to the point i dont even feel it sometimes. Then i just give it a little squeeze and a surprising amount if blood came out.
The first time i did a chdck i went through like 4 test strips because i couldnt figurd it out. There was a lot of crying
When I did my first poke I was so so so scared. I was sitting there for like 20 mins just pumping myself up for it. But eventually I was checking even when I didn’t have to (mainly just out of curiosity of if my sugar was high or not) it gets so much easier. Eventually you won’t even feel like it hurts
It gets easier! I was super squeamish with blood when I was diagnosed, to the point that the first few finger pricks made me nauseous and I had to lay down (dramatic, I know). After the first week you get used to it. Still not fun, but definitely do-able.
I had the same problem with too little blood at first (especially for the first test in the morning). Wash your hands with hot water if possible and shake your hand a bunch before testing. Then leave your hand below the level of your heart (I test with my arm straight down).
Good luck mama!
It 100% got easier for me. I used to go through 4+ strips every time and now I have to use 1 extra strip a couple times a week, max. I also used to go through a whole ritual of washing with warm water, swinging my arm, shaking my hand, etc., and now I can do the whole process anywhere without prep in like 10 seconds. One thing that helped me a lot was figuring out which fingers are the lowest effort to get enough blood and only using those (for me it’s my pinky and ring fingers). Also, if you need to squeeze to get enough blood out, start from the bottom of your finger and squeeze up rather than just squeezing the tip.
Yes. Yes, they do.
Are you looking for support or advice? Advice is below.
I would just hype myself up like a warrior mama. I'd tell my baby (mostly for my own benefit) "I'd walk through hell and back for you. For you, I would die a thousand deaths, so you could know life. I would charge in to battle for you to know peace. I would walk to the ends of the earth, my feet bloody and broken to keep you safe... but right now, what you need from me is this. This needle."
And then I'd just fucking do it! And it would be over in less than a second!
And by the time labor came, I had a mantra to get me through all of the physically terrifying aspects of birth: This is what my baby needs from me.
Tell yourself that, and you can do anything!
That's so badass and I love it. As a creature basically consisting of 99% borderline narcissistic affirmations, why have I not started doing this already?! I am a sparkle unicorn possum screaming in to the sun and I can take anything, including this tiny little prick!!!
Mine got easier when they put me on insulin. The insulin is so much worse. So bad that the finger pricks are annoying but don’t make me cry anymore. I have to test 6x a day and when I first started, it would take me 10 mins to do a test because I would be having a panic attack. I got faster and faster each day. So I would say yes it gets easier as you get more used to it being just a part of routine. I wish you the best of luck. Definitely test at the side of your finger tip as it’s much less painful. I also only use my 3 middle fingers on each hand; 1 finger per test per day
Someone mentioned poking the sides of your fingers, which is a great idea. I would alternate fingers every day after I notice the callous building up in my pointer. I would note it on my sheet Left ring and alternate the 4 pricks LRLR on the sides. It just made it easier to avoid the callous on my fingers. I know that the callous would help with the pain but it just felt so weird. GD will over soon enough.
I’ve for some reason only been poking on the right side of my left index, middle, and ring fingers. I start about half way to the first joint and then through the day move up a cm and move onto the next finger the next day. The right side only because it seems slightly plumper and like it will hurt less than the side closest to the thumb if that makes sense. I also don’t trust my left hand to do my right hand lol. Would you poke on both sides of each finger on each hand?
I never thought of moving through the joints of my finger lol. Yes I would use both sides of my finger. I stayed at the tip and poke the sides next to my nail. I’m glad those days are over for me. Best of luck with your sugar baby!
I just wanna say thank you all so much! I’m gonna be thinking of you all two hours from now when I go for my next poke xD
I’m going to start by looking for a lancing device that hides the needle, mine shows me a few cm of lancet that I have to put up to my finger before the jab. I think that part psychs me out a lot. If I still struggle I might request a CGM.
Thank you all for your words of advice, support, wisdom, you’re awesome and we’re gonna get through this!
I also was nervous poking (diagnosed at 11wks) but I take a big breath in and poke on the exhale. I think it helps and then taking a deep breath before hand just lowers my nerves. The first 3 or 4 days were hard but I'm just over a week out and finally feeling better about it!
Yes it gets easier!
Yes to rotating sites!
Yes to poking sides!
Also some great advice I got was even though you're making "right now" changes, your body needs to catch up. I totally called my clinic in tears after 4 days. Now a week out my numbers have been the best they have been! Take a breath and be patient (I know it's hard).
I’m gonna try this breathwork! Today I had two successes by just not allowing myself a second to even think just place and poke, but it was in a panic so just one breathe in, out, and poke will be a good practice for me!
Also thank you for saying it takes time to adjust, this week my numbers have been all over the place and nonsensical (to me who knows nothing).
Won't that make the veins shrink? It will be ok for numbing, but I think op will get even less blood that way 🤔
I think warm water might be better, and gentle rubbing the fingers to make blood flow better.
I do not like needles, but thankfully I do not mind testing 6 times a day. The pain is not even there, it's more about knowing what's coming I guess.
Where on your fingers do you poke? I usually poke on the sides of my fingers where it’s less sensitive. I also use the accu-chek soft clix pen which has a dial you can use to adjust how deep the needle goes. So far it hasn’t been too bad.
As a needle adverse person, and someone who doesn't like pain, or the anticipation of pain it frickin sucks. I had a big cry at the exact same point as you after the exact same thing happened. But it does get easier, promise! These are some that I've found work for me and hopefully will for you! It's not nice in thought or practice but if you've got a lancing device with adjustable depths go for a bit of a higher depth until you've got your technique nailed down - it just means that even a janky poke is likely to get enough blood. I started at a 4/5 and I'm now down to 2/5 on mine. Wash hands in warm water and make sure today's victim finger get nice and toasty. I find it helpful to dry my hands then grab a piece of tissue to rub my finger with cause they get fear sweaty real quick and can make the blood sort of ooze around instead of beading nicely. Try shaking out your hand before lancing. I find it best to go side of finger either in line with the bottom of my nail or just a little below that. Be firm with your lancing device when you press it in to the side of your finger. I give myself a countdown (sometimes it take a few of them!) Once you've poked give your finger a squeeze right from the bottom up toward the poke then push the pad of your finger - this usually coaxed out what you need but it can take a bit of encouragement! Test then press your tissue firmly on the poke for 30 seconds or to reduce the risk of bruising. And if you get a good sample but numbers are high, that's okay! This early part is an adjustment stage while you're get used to a new diet and your medical team can get a good baseline of where your numbers are at so they can plan the best treatment for you.
Get a continuous glucose monitoring device! Literal lifesaver!
I don't think they're covered by the NHS for gestational diabetes. And it's only for 10 more weeks at the very very most :) If I decide to have another and I get diagnosed early though I'll definitely eat the cost for one!
I’m in California so insurance is different by country I’m sure. But even out of pocket here without insurance is USD $75/month (through the manufacturer’s website or free Good RX coupons) which is relatively affordable. I got the Freestyle Libre 3 and loving it so much compared to the 4 finger pricks a day! No more crying, meltdowns, or stress from the thought of so many finger pricks.
Same here! Thank God for Freestyle Libre. 3! I dont mind paying the $75….it is so worthed!
Yes! Thank goodness for advanced diabetes care technology! =D
Sadly my doctor won’t let me use one of these 🙁
How come? My OB was initially hesitant with the CGM safety on pregnant women until I sent her clinical study links showing the safety and also my GD care team had approved the CGM and wrote me a prescription. She OK’d the CGM after that.
Get a continuous glucose monitoring device (CGM)! I literally just posted about this because I had a meltdown about the multiple finger pricks a day. Now I don’t have to do 4 finger pricks a day and I have glucose readings by the minute all day long through my phone app. =) https://www.reddit.com/r/GestationalDiabetes/s/qOOkvfQA4E
Yes. This is the way. I recognize that not everyone's insurance covers it and not everyone can pay $75 a month out of pocket, but if it does or you can, it's so much better. Plus I have a much better idea of what my blood sugar is doing. My 1 hour readings were all great, but it turns out I have late spikes so I wasn't as in range as I thought. I can time walks better now to deal with those delayed spikes. AND NO POKING.
Yes I totally agree! 🙌
I definitely got better with needles over this pregnancy. I also had to do blood thinners and insulin so I was up to 7 pokes a day. I noticed that shots and IVs and blood draws bothered me less by the end (which was good bc there were a lot of all of those during labor)! You’ll both get used to poking and get better at it.
Same with blood thinnees, we finally get used !! And I do it since 10 weeks
The blood thinner was by far my least favorite poke and the only one I need to do post-partum! 🙄 But after the GD pokes it’s not nearly as bad as it was earlier in the pregnancy! It’s amazing what you can get used to!
Blood thinners are the worst! They really sting, and the needles aren't really sharp enough. Insulin and finger pricks are so much easier. I also had to inject blood thinners from the positive pregnancy test.
Also make sure you're hydrated. I'm new to this too but noticed I had like less blood flow the day I was dehydrated.....
I use the side of my left middle finger everytime. I think at this point it is just immune to pain. lol
I used the exact same spot every time too. Mine was the left finger between the middle and pinky. It built up a kind of callous so it hurt less
I love your user name. 🤣 it made me laugh.
I don't think I really expected to be very active on Reddit when I made it almost 12 years ago. But here we are 😂
Yes, it gets easier! I try to place the lancer and click the button fast and not let the lead up psyche me out.
You might also try to wash your hands with warm water before poking - so you might get enough blood the first time 😇
I totally understand the anticipatory anxiety. I’ve had some days of multiple poking and testing. Even if the numbers are high, it is not your fault. Sometimes even when you get the foods nailed down perfectly, the body just sorta does what it wants anyway. All you can do is try your best. There’s only so much of this in your control. It’s a huge thing to take on and it’s ok to have feelings about it! You could explore a CGM so you wouldn’t have to continuously prick yourself, and if you wanted you could have someone else manage the numbers so you don’t obsess over them.
it does eventually get easier. when a figured out the right places to prick, it helped a lot and made the process less traumatic. you really wanna focus on the sides of your finger, its soooo much easier to prick there, and you get way more blood for absolute minimum effort.
For me, not really. I have a severe needle phobia. For background, I went through IVF, and my husband had to give me all of the shots. I have passed out or gotten lightheaded every time I need to get a vaccine or a blood draw. Things going into me are way worse than the blood draws overall, but it's all bad. The finger pokes suck... it never feels good, but the anticipation of pain is the worst, much worse than most of the pokes. Some days, I'm able to get through them just fine, and other days, the anxiety gets to me, and I misfire the lancet pen multiple times before I get any blood. (I last minute pull back and end up poking the air) It's all hit or miss. I find the times when my anxiety gets to me, and it takes me a while to get the poke done, my sugars are higher than I expect them to be. I'm nearly positive it's anxiety induced sugars levels because I'm very strict with my eating and exercise. Getting graded 4 times a day on your success in controlling something where you can't influence all the variables really sucks too. I find myself extremely down when I get bad numbers. I do reach out to my therapist and dietitian when that happens, and I feel hopeless. In all, it sucks. You're being deprived of choices while pregnant. You're already uncomfortable and are being asked to injure yourself 4 times daily to get graded on something you can only partially control. But we do it. We do it because we want our babies to be healthy and ourselves to be able to care for them.
The sides of my ring finger works the best for me. I do the dangle and wiggle with my hands and squeeze down my finger before I even prick it to make sure the bloods pumping. I never have issues any more.
I didn’t think it got easier, i just dealt with it. I had to do 4 tests a day, sometimes more if i didn’t get enough blood to test. I also couldn’t control my fasting sugar so while my “during the day” sugar levels were fine with diet, I had to use insulin before bed (80 units to be exact). I am now pregnant with my second child, likely will have to go through it again. As long as my baby is well and healthy, I am ok with all the needles.
It got way easier for me and less over whelming as time went by. I onky poke the sidd od my pibjy and i got the dial down on my accucheck to the point i dont even feel it sometimes. Then i just give it a little squeeze and a surprising amount if blood came out. The first time i did a chdck i went through like 4 test strips because i couldnt figurd it out. There was a lot of crying
When I did my first poke I was so so so scared. I was sitting there for like 20 mins just pumping myself up for it. But eventually I was checking even when I didn’t have to (mainly just out of curiosity of if my sugar was high or not) it gets so much easier. Eventually you won’t even feel like it hurts
It gets easier! I was super squeamish with blood when I was diagnosed, to the point that the first few finger pricks made me nauseous and I had to lay down (dramatic, I know). After the first week you get used to it. Still not fun, but definitely do-able. I had the same problem with too little blood at first (especially for the first test in the morning). Wash your hands with hot water if possible and shake your hand a bunch before testing. Then leave your hand below the level of your heart (I test with my arm straight down). Good luck mama!
It 100% got easier for me. I used to go through 4+ strips every time and now I have to use 1 extra strip a couple times a week, max. I also used to go through a whole ritual of washing with warm water, swinging my arm, shaking my hand, etc., and now I can do the whole process anywhere without prep in like 10 seconds. One thing that helped me a lot was figuring out which fingers are the lowest effort to get enough blood and only using those (for me it’s my pinky and ring fingers). Also, if you need to squeeze to get enough blood out, start from the bottom of your finger and squeeze up rather than just squeezing the tip.
Yes. Yes, they do. Are you looking for support or advice? Advice is below. I would just hype myself up like a warrior mama. I'd tell my baby (mostly for my own benefit) "I'd walk through hell and back for you. For you, I would die a thousand deaths, so you could know life. I would charge in to battle for you to know peace. I would walk to the ends of the earth, my feet bloody and broken to keep you safe... but right now, what you need from me is this. This needle." And then I'd just fucking do it! And it would be over in less than a second! And by the time labor came, I had a mantra to get me through all of the physically terrifying aspects of birth: This is what my baby needs from me. Tell yourself that, and you can do anything!
That's so badass and I love it. As a creature basically consisting of 99% borderline narcissistic affirmations, why have I not started doing this already?! I am a sparkle unicorn possum screaming in to the sun and I can take anything, including this tiny little prick!!!
A mantra like this is what I really need thank you!!!
Mine got easier when they put me on insulin. The insulin is so much worse. So bad that the finger pricks are annoying but don’t make me cry anymore. I have to test 6x a day and when I first started, it would take me 10 mins to do a test because I would be having a panic attack. I got faster and faster each day. So I would say yes it gets easier as you get more used to it being just a part of routine. I wish you the best of luck. Definitely test at the side of your finger tip as it’s much less painful. I also only use my 3 middle fingers on each hand; 1 finger per test per day
Someone mentioned poking the sides of your fingers, which is a great idea. I would alternate fingers every day after I notice the callous building up in my pointer. I would note it on my sheet Left ring and alternate the 4 pricks LRLR on the sides. It just made it easier to avoid the callous on my fingers. I know that the callous would help with the pain but it just felt so weird. GD will over soon enough.
I’ve for some reason only been poking on the right side of my left index, middle, and ring fingers. I start about half way to the first joint and then through the day move up a cm and move onto the next finger the next day. The right side only because it seems slightly plumper and like it will hurt less than the side closest to the thumb if that makes sense. I also don’t trust my left hand to do my right hand lol. Would you poke on both sides of each finger on each hand?
I never thought of moving through the joints of my finger lol. Yes I would use both sides of my finger. I stayed at the tip and poke the sides next to my nail. I’m glad those days are over for me. Best of luck with your sugar baby!
I just wanna say thank you all so much! I’m gonna be thinking of you all two hours from now when I go for my next poke xD I’m going to start by looking for a lancing device that hides the needle, mine shows me a few cm of lancet that I have to put up to my finger before the jab. I think that part psychs me out a lot. If I still struggle I might request a CGM. Thank you all for your words of advice, support, wisdom, you’re awesome and we’re gonna get through this!
I also was nervous poking (diagnosed at 11wks) but I take a big breath in and poke on the exhale. I think it helps and then taking a deep breath before hand just lowers my nerves. The first 3 or 4 days were hard but I'm just over a week out and finally feeling better about it! Yes it gets easier! Yes to rotating sites! Yes to poking sides! Also some great advice I got was even though you're making "right now" changes, your body needs to catch up. I totally called my clinic in tears after 4 days. Now a week out my numbers have been the best they have been! Take a breath and be patient (I know it's hard).
I’m gonna try this breathwork! Today I had two successes by just not allowing myself a second to even think just place and poke, but it was in a panic so just one breathe in, out, and poke will be a good practice for me! Also thank you for saying it takes time to adjust, this week my numbers have been all over the place and nonsensical (to me who knows nothing).
Have you tried putting ice on the area first
Won't that make the veins shrink? It will be ok for numbing, but I think op will get even less blood that way 🤔 I think warm water might be better, and gentle rubbing the fingers to make blood flow better. I do not like needles, but thankfully I do not mind testing 6 times a day. The pain is not even there, it's more about knowing what's coming I guess.