My 8 year old son was diagnosed t1 last week. We’re just 2 days home from the hospital and he is always starving now. We’re following all the doseages with meals and using Lantus once a day but he seems to always be around 200-250 blood sugar. Could this be from all his snacking even though the snacks have generally been carb free?
Hi I’m alyssa I’m 15, and I was just diagnosed in the 16th of December and I was the same way! I was always hungry and my snacks were always carb free… and I was in 200-300 all day and I went to my endocrinologist today and they said it’s just because of how our body’s are taking the insulin… and it could also be because he needs a change in his insulin to carb ratio, we changed mine from 15 to 1 ratio to 12 to 1 and my blood sugar got down to 179! That’s the lowest I’ve ever been since being diagnosed.
@Lousdad hello Daniel, sorry to hear about your sons recent diagnosis. The doctor will be very conservative at first. Your son will very likely start making insulin again and if he is aggressively using insulin it could cause dangerous low blood sugar. Many people with type 1, after they begin insulin, will make insulin for a little while. This is called Honeymoon.
With kids the doctor will want your average to be higher than normal, to be conservative.
When there is no insulin the body burns far and muscle for energy. Of course he’s starving he is trying to rebuild his stores.
Hope you are both doing well. Please consider buying the book “Think Like a Pancreas “
Good luck!
Hi @Alyssahyatt. Glad to hear you went to see your Endo and your blood sugar is improving. Welcome to TypeOneNation.
Hi Daniel, I’ve the same problem throughout my years being type 1, and my new endo told me that protein does eventually raise blood sugar - I was eating hard boiled eggs, string cheese, lunch meat, etc, and still sticking around 200-250, so I started giving a unit or 2 of insulin after I ate and as long as I wasn’t exercising I didn’t go low. At first I was scared to give insulin for no carb or low carb snack, but if they are high in protein it will eventually raise blood sugar. I hope this helps!
Also, I’m sure your son doesn’t drink coffee yet, but even if I drink a cup of coffee without cream in the morning I give a unit or 2 because the caffeine and my morning insulin resistance will make me go high even though there aren’t any carbs in black coffee.
My son was the same way. My Dr explained that it takes time to get his body adjusted to the insulin and it did take about 6 months for him to even out. The thing that helped me was my diabetic dietician. These people are life savers. They can help you adjust both his insulin and his snacking. Also try a continuous glucose monitor if your insurance allows. They can help give peace of mind. You don’t need a pump to have one either. Hope this helps and hang in there it will get easier
What raises my blood sugar the most, outside of carbs, is cheese. And it raises my BG for hours. Using Lantus once a day needs to be supplemented with short-acting insulin for meals.
Unfortunately it’s just something he’s going to have to get used to. However, it is possible to eat zero carb snacks (Although not as filling). Things like cheese, nuts(not too many) and avacado
Edit: Don’t let him eat too much cheese
Surprisingly, my 4 year old daughter loves seaweed snacks. You can find them in the oriental aisle. They normally satisfy the salty craving and are relatively filling. The best part is hey are 0 carb. Give them a try and your only out $1 if they don’t like them.