Wondering if there are parents on here who have had their child diagnosed with Diabetes that could tell me what prompted them to have their child tested....I had gestational type 1 diabetes while pregnant with her. I was extremely careful about my diet. My husband was diagnosed with diabetes two years ago and has been able to get it under control with oral meds, diet and exercise(they wanted to put him on insulin immediately) . I was diagnosed with insulin resistance and placed on Metformin a couple years after having our daughter. Both of my grandmothers passed away due to complication of diabetes.
So....our daughter's eating habits over this last summer became crazy. Her appetite seems never ending...she is not overweight, in fact it used to be difficult to get her to eat. Yesterday we tested her sugar and it was 352....I looked at my husband with panic in my eyes...he is a Paramedic. He says..."have her go wash her hands really good and we will do it again. Awwww....it was 189, still not great but so much better. She had eaten lunch an hour prior. So this morning I took a fasting and it was 107...going to take it again in about twenty minutes...that will be two hours after her breakfast.
Any ideas? Am I being paranoid.....going to call her pediatrician tomorrow and ask for a A1C test....
if you think she fits any of the symptoms of T1, then it's not being paranoid to get her tested especially based on your family's history. better safe than sorry when it comes to kids.
Thank you for responding =). I did just take it again and it was 99....so think I will take it tonight after dinner and see....still calling her doc in the morning and asking for the test. Better safe than sorry is absolutely right!!!
I would strongly suggest contacting her doctor. Hannah's blood sugar at dx was 461, 2 hours after eating. However, she was still producing enough insulin that her sugars went down after not eating for 9 hours.
Excessive thirst, and always eating were the two big clues for me. I am talking about probably 8-10 of the BIG gatoraide bottles of water from about 6 pm until 9:30 PM. She had a gatoraide bottle that she would just keep filling up at the sink. Sometimes she would just fill it, guzzle it, and fill it again. LOTS of water. She was also hungry, too. I could make dinner for the 2 of us, and she would be ready to eat another entire meal an hour later.
One of the things that I learned was a sign was her breath. It was HORRIBLE. I would always be telling her to brush her teeth, even if she did just 10 minutes before. Now that she is on her insulin, and now a pump, that has gone away. She was diagnosed a year ago in August, and it was amazing how much different her breath was after she got on insulin and her sugars started to stay down.
Congrats on being on top of things, so you can, if it happens, catch it early. Hopefully it is just a growth spurt or something like that, but if it is Diabetes, you have caught it early!
Did you mean to say insulin dependent gestational diabetes (because type 1 is autoimmune)? You don't become type 1 just because you take insulin. I've not ever heard of a type 1 diabetic taking metformin due to insulin resistance. Any type 1's on here ever take metformin? If so, maybe you can relate to this post and also educate one of your fellow type 1's. I have, however, heard of type 2 diabetics needing to take metformin.
Also, your daughter's appetite? As in, you're thinking you need to worry about her getting type 1 because she's eating more than she used to? This again seems to point toward type 2 diabetes.You don't get type 1 diabetes from eating too much. When I was diagnosed, I was rail thin. I think many other people on here can testify that you don't get our disease from being over eaters.
Are you aware that there are different types of diabetes and that this forum is for an autoimmune disorder called Type 1? Also, can you add some details to your concerns, as I don't quite follow which exact type you are referring to.
Thanks Melanie...Sheradyn's appetite has increased so much. She gets thirst mostly at night. Oh, and her behavior has become questionable...from ornery to sensitive quickly. And growth spurt would be great but from a 7 to a 10 in three months seems extreme to me. Haven't noticed her breath being too bad...maybe we will get lucky and just be told our eating habits over the summer could have been much better and she is in a mass growth spurt. All the same she definitely needs to be watched closely with our family history....I will report back what the doc says. Thanks again for replying...=)
My bad....I did mean insulin dependent gestational diabetes. And yes, now, I am T2 on Metformin. Still concerned about our daughter with the family history and thought this forum would be a good place to get more information.
...and I am aware you do not get it from eating too much...however, increased appetite, increased thirst are things to consider with her family history. Her great grandmothers on my side and both of her great grandfathers on her dads side all had T1 and all passed away due to complications from such. Just a very concerned parent...hoping I am paranoid.
There is never any harm in getting a test taken to check on ones child. The fact that your family has a history of diabetes in it, is even more of an incentive to keep an eye on your daughter. I would talk to your doctor though to see if the a1c is the right test. If you are feeling that she may be hitting an onset of type 1 the numbers of her sugar may yet have influenced her a1c in a dramatic way.
Either way, it is always better to check periodically and keep an eye on your daughter. It is better to worry now than to miss something later on down the line. Also, don't forget your daughter is a child and is still growing. While not an adolescent she is still in the growing stages of her life and may just be craving food to nourish a growth spurt or something else.
Kimberly, you're right about increased appetite, weight loss and thirst all being recognized signs of T1. Mood swings have also been associated with the disease too. Based on your family history, I would do the A1C and then you'll know for sure. I definantly would not wait, b/c with little ones things can go bad really quickly. I have 1st hand experience with that in that we lost our 6 yr old daughter in Feb. to the onset of this disease.
Good luck with the testing and hopefully, she'll be just fine and not T1.
I am so appreciative of you taking the time to reply to my concerns. I did read your story and want to thank you for sharing. I am sure I can't say anything you haven't already heard in regards to your strength and courage to be able to take your tragedy and reach out to all of the parents who are unaware. You truly are an angel. I did enjoy the picture slideshow, your Mary Kathryn .....what a beautiful, happy little girl....=).
I called our daughters ped, he is out for the week, the doctor on call would not order the tests without seeing her first and suggested that we wait for her doc to come back next week. (Shaking my head). I am now just going to call an endocrinologist and set up an appointment.
In the meantime you can keep testing blood glucose to confirm if you need to go to the hospital before a doctor can see you. You can also test for ketones in the urine (I call them dipsticks/Ketostix, you can get them at any local pharmacy). DKA is a big deal. Don't worry so much about getting a blood test that might not be required...you are just being a good parent (worrying is in the job description).
Thanks Eric...that is our plan...and we do have the Ketostix (we, both her parents, are diabetic).
This is interesting....googled pediatric endocrinologist and guess who is the top one in our area....=)....our pediatrician....=). Ironic story....when Sheradyn was two I had been asking her pediatrician about testing her for diabetes because of family history and was poo poo'd one too many times by her so we switched to another pediatrician ...the one we have now. He is a great doctor, saved Sheradyn once after she was mis-diagnosed by other doctors.
I didn't read anyone elses's responses so I'm not sure if you already got this, but you might want to check her for hyperglycemia as well, which is kind of like diabetes only the blood sugar usually only goes high sometimes and does not tend to go low. I believe that with hyperglycemia, you are not insulin dependant. You are definitely not being paranoid, but if her blood sugars are irregular like that and you have a family history of diabetes, you should not even hesitate to get her checked to see what's going on. You don't want to wait until it's too late and her sugar goes too high and you don't catch it in time. I'm certainly not saying that you would let that happen, I just have a soft spot when it comes to children and diabetes. I was diagnosed when I was 7 and I'm sure my mother was just horrified and scared (She's a very paranoid mother haha).
I am hoping and praying that all outcomes related to all forms of this disease are the absolute best that they can possibly be for both you and your family. My heart is with you.
Thank you all for replying!!! You all have been very helpful and I appreciate it more than you know. I was able to get our daughter in to see the on call doctor yesterday and they just called with the A1C results. She scored 5.1, Depending on what I read while researching, that is ideal to on the high end of normal....so many different opinions. Her hemoglobin was 12.7.... the test was not performed fasting. Bottomline...we need to really watch her diet (nutritional intake) and activity levels. The doctor suggested retesting every three months just to keep on top of it due to family history.
I do believe that she may have diabetes.. i know that i was tested because i was constantly going to the bathroom. but the sugar is suppose to be lower than 120 and higher than about 80 to be considered normal for a non diabetic.. and yes you should wait about 2-3 hours after eating before testing.. but being tested by a doctor, and having ketones checked would be a good idea
Just putting this out there, when I was diagnosed my appetite was HUGE, yet I lost 30 pounds. Thats what happens when you get ketones as well. Your body empties sugar into the urine and eats up the extra fat you have.
Did you mean to say insulin dependent gestational diabetes (because type 1 is autoimmune)? You don't become type 1 just because you take insulin. I've not ever heard of a type 1 diabetic taking metformin due to insulin resistance. Any type 1's on here ever take metformin? If so, maybe you can relate to this post and also educate one of your fellow type 1's. I have, however, heard of type 2 diabetics needing to take metformin.
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I have had type 1 for about 30 years and have been taking metformin for about 10 years.