Our daughter is 7 and was diagnosed about 2 months ago. She has the flu and her blood sugar is constantly dropping (around 65-80). We have been in contact with the on call endocrine team and they are saying to push sugar/carbs, which we have been trying. However she keeps vomiting everything up.
We are trying sprite, crackers, coke, Gatorade. Anyone else have other ideas that we can try? Even is it’s too late to try this time, there will always be another time she’s sick.
Thanks in advance!
I had this struggle myself when my T1d Child was sick with the flu and another time with strep throat. I found that since he couldn’t hold anything down the best things were popcicles and the dum dum lollipops. I hope this helps! Fighting low blood sugars when your child is sick is one of the scariest things!
Try jello. My mom used that when I was younger. Easy to choke down and hopefully keep down.
I’m guessing she isn’t on a pump yet? I’d ask the endo about decreasing the Lantis (or which ever long acting insulin you use for the basal). Good luck! Poor baby!
I agree with Jenmcswane.
Once you and your daughter have gotten more experienced with type 1, you’ll find that insulin dosages are just rough estimates at best. Everything that happens in a day could change your body’s insulin needs, the carb ratio, correction ratio, or basal amount.
I think basal is the metric that always needed the most fiddling with for me. When I was on Lantus before I got my pump, I would usually take between 12 - 16 units depending on how active I thought I would be the next day. On weekends, for example, I needed less basal due to less stress and activity. Now that I have a pump and CGM, I’ve discovered that in a “normal” day, my basal needs at night are three times my basal rate during the middle of the day, so in a 24 hour window my basal rate changes by 300%.
Most people get higher blood sugars and therefor theoretically need higher basal rates when sick. But not everybody is the same, it sounds like your daughter needs less basal, but if you aren’t yet comfortable adjusting rates, then you should ask the doctor.