Hey all, my 12 year old son was diagnosed in June of '19 and has had 2 bone fractures since diagnosis. He is currently nursing a hurt wrist, which if history repeats itself, will likely be diagnosed as another bone fracture. He is and always has been very active and rough and tumble and has never had a single bone break/fracture/etc. before diagnosis. Any thoughts on what might be happening here and if the two issues are related? Thanks in advance for your help!
I do not think the diabetes and the fractures are necessarily related yet. There is possibilities after years and bad management of diabetes that you could develop some collateral. From personal experience I suffered from charot feet but it was after almost 10 years of bad management. Maybe puberty and lack of nutrients??
Hi Lucy @lucyinthesky827, 12 year old boys can be subject to fractures - especially as you describe as active, rough & tumble. Our grandson, an active boy and very competitive athlete, who just turned 14 has bad a few fractures.
Your son’s fractures may or may not be related to diabetes, but you should be sure that his endocrinologist is aware. Diabetes has been known to diminish bone density - but this is more common as PWD age; it is also very common in all older humans.
If you are near a university medical college with endocrinologist studies, you may want to talk with the staff and let your son’s condition be known. Over the past 50 or so years, I have “reported my observations” to diabetes research and some of what I’ve reported has become the new standard diabetes teaching.
Interesting question - one I’ve never heard of even wondered about, so thank you.
There are a lot of possible complications related to diabetes but this sounds coincidental to me. He sounds like an average, active boy; and combined with the clumsiness that comes with adjusting to his growing body some injuries are to be expected - hopefully minor ones. Check with your doctor to see if there are any additional issues that are affecting his bones - probably unlikely but it helps to be safe. It may be he’s simply playing too hard for his own good, and supplements combined with strengthening exercises will help.
Hi
This may or may not be helpful… i’m a nurse with a type one son. I was just reading today about the concurrence of celiac disease with type one diabetes. Apparently if they have asymptomatic celiac disease in addition to their diabetes they are at increased risk for osteopenia which is softening of the bones… I don’t know if there’s any chance your son has that but I wonder if they have tested him for that as they usually will (as another autoimmune condition along with thyroid problems) Just another avenue to investigate I guess…
I suspect the 2 are separate. At about 12 my non-diabetic sister broke her forearm 2ce within a 6 month period. Before and after healing she did her best to keep up with me and other brothers in many activities on the farm.
You know that’s is very interesting because my son is type 1 and I’ve actually had the same experience with him prior to being diagnosed he played just has rough as after being diagnosed and he has had 2 bone fractures it’s been his foot/ankle and it’s the exact same bone though and we were shocked both times considering he didn’t have a hard fall or anything but never thought anything of it being related to his diabetes but I suppose it’s possible.