Parents

Teen Girl with Type 1 and Food Choices

jeannewiley — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:32:25 GMT

I have a 15-yr-old daughter who was just diagnosed with type 1 in June. We keep finding candy wrappers in her room, pockets and backpack.The school nurse called yesterday because my daughter was almost @500. Two days earlier, the nursed called because she was in the low 40s. My daughter missed school last week because she was 37 in the middle of the night and too tired to go to school the next day and today, she's not going to school and, though her glucose isn't that high, I think she probably consumed non- nutritional foods and is too tired to get up and go.

She'll stay in bed all day on the weekends (when she doesn't have plans) and won't eat.

My daughter is not being honest about the foods she is eating. She also refuses to journal her food intake

She had been seen for an eating disorder at children's in boston before type 1 and still continues to see a therapist.

I think that she needs a group of girls to meet with. She is not honest with adults and she has made her figure a priority over quality of life.

Is there any kind of group of girls that meet and discuss their relationship to food - as type 1 diabetics?

Insulin Resistance in Type Is post surgery

diabeticdancersmom — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:47:14 GMT

I have a questions regarding insulin resistance in type Is. We have had several hospitilizations over the last year and starting this Oct. at least one a week where we are Ketotic, and once time acidotic as well. We are giving huge amounts (26 units) of fast acting insulin every 2hrs. to bring sugars down out of the 500-600s and clear Ketones. Splitting her lantus doses she gets 52 units aday. SHE IS GIVING HER SHOTS, we her parents and school nurse are watching, she is drinking water. All is being observed as it is apparently common for teenagers to not give their injections. Can you tell that ? really offends both she and I. We did have wisdom teeth out approx 3wks ago and had dry sockets, so I am aware of the pain hormones driving sugars out of control, but she is pretty much healed up and pain free. What is driving me crazy is it seems we are just putting a band-aid on a recurrent problem. Is it post surgery resistance, or is this probably that she was resistant prior to the surgery? If so how can we help her get her control back on track so she can have her quality of life back? Any clues suggestions would be mucho appreciated.

support

michelle — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:45:27 GMT

I am the parent of an 8 year old boy who was diagnosed with T1 in March 2009. I was wondering what types of support there are out there for parents and children. I feel like I have finally gotten my son's physical needs taken care of, but sometimes I feel really alone in this. Does anyone have anything that has worked for them?

Thanks,

Michelle

Type 1 daughter college bound

Shelly — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:19:33 GMT

Any tips for a nervous mom whose daughter will be off to college next Fall? Like how do I stop from calling her every night before bedtime questioning what her BG is? I want her to feel like she can do okay on her own, I don't want my worries pushed off on her.

Accutane

Mel — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:31:12 GMT

My son is newly diagnosed...in July. We are trying to find information about Accutane and it's relation to diabetes. Anyone know anything about this.... He is experiencing low blood sugar so is decreasing his insulin... almost seems like he doesn't have type 1. Could there be a misdiagnosis...possibly related to taking the Accutane? Any help appreciated.

ambrotose

Rosie — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:19:55 GMT

Hi all. I'm new to the bboard. I have a 10 year old recently diagnoses with type 1. I was reading about ambrotose. Has anyone looked into using this product? It was recommended by a friend. Becuase we are so new into this, I am concerned to give my daugther anything. Thanks.

Asking for help from other grandparents out there

Joshuagmama — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:16:45 GMT

Hi Folks - My grandson who will be 4 in early Nov. was just diagnosed with Type 1 this past Friday. I live 170 miles away in another part of NYS, so received this bad news on the phone. My first remarks to his mother, my daughter, were of course sympathy and empathy, shock, dismay, lots of on-the-phone crying, etc. you've probably all been through this. How do you other g'parents cope in this situation, and what do you parents want most from your own parents and in-laws? We're all still reeling, as you can imagine, any helpful thoughts are appreciated! (You aunts and uncles, feel free to chime in too)

Joshua's G'mama

Dirty Laundry

Sugar — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:02:51 GMT

Hello All!

This is a fresh discussion for everyone who wants to chat or unload or air out anything on your mind. I for one am curious about how you deal with everyday life.

How old is your child? How old were they when they were diagnosed?
How are you coping? Is the whole family involved hands on?
How long did it take for you to find a pattern and keep the numbers consistent? Or haven't you?

We are a young family of four. Logan was diagnosed this past April at age three. We have a two-month-old daughter. We are both actively involved in his care, but it's constantly frustrating. I am the only one who tracks what he eats and what his numbers are on his little log book. Fortunately the meter stores the numbers, but hey, if you're going to check him, fill in what his number was!

Also, I feel my husband checks him too much. Is that possible? I think so. He doesn't always wait the two hours and wonders why his number is high. He checks him sometimes multiple times at night. The poor kid has strawberry patches all over his fingers.

Well, I'm good for now. I really needed a medium where I could just vent.

Transient high blood sugars....

elp — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:55:12 GMT

Hello everyone, I hope you don't mind if I pick your brains over this.

First, my son has not been diagnosed with diabetes.

Three weeks ago, he had an incredibly bad stomach bug (didn't eat lunch or dinner, steady vomiting for 5 hours). He woke up the next morning (6am), and had a bowl of cereal & pedialyte, and when his blood sugar was taken at 10 am, it registered at 179. He also had the acidic smell to his breath (I'm good at picking it out- my sister is a type 1 diabetic) that diabetics get when there are ketones in the urine.

A few hours later (4pm), we had it tested again and it was 186.

After this passed, his blood sugars returned to normal, and the doctor described it as an "extreme metabloic event". The ketone smell was explained as the product of vomiting and fasting.

Flash forward three weeks, and he's sick with a cough (he had a moderately high fever 2 days ago) and his breath was smelling of ketones again this morning. Completely different circumstances- no vomiting, eating more often than usual, and yes, he has been asking for water a lot (woke up last night at 3 am asking for it) BUT, that isn't too unusual to me....he's always been a big fan of water.

We tested his blood sugar this morning and it was 188.

I know this is incredibly un-scientific, but I was hoping that someone can shed some light on what's going on here....and our doc is out of town.

I do understand the basics (fasting vs. non-fasting blood sugar levels, what is required for diagnosis, etc.)

Is it normal for non-diabetics to have transient high blood sugars? Does anyone have a story that is similar to ours? I would appreciate ANY and ALL input.

From a concerned mother.

Diabetes Burnout

Premi — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:21:12 GMT

My son, age 20, is going through serious Diabetes Burnout to the point that he has already been hospitalized twice this calendar year for not taking sufficient care of himself. We, namely his parents and his doctor, are struggling to get him to convert to the Pump but his real problem is his denial and anger associated with his diabetes. This is particularly surprising since he has coped with it quite well since he was diagnosed at age 11. Does anyone have any suggestions about intensive programs/approaches to help him/us out of this difficult situation?

Premi

Positive for auto antibodies but not developed diabetes yet.

mommaangie — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:07:44 GMT

Does anyone know of any treatments or actions we can take to stop our baby from becoming diabetic? She is 4 1/2 and tested positive for 2 out of 4 of the auto antibodies that are associated with type 1 diabetes. The hospital wants her to participate in a study and take oral insulin in a placebo controlled study but I wanted first to get some other input and advice. Any helpers?

A1C and at what age to switch to an adult endocrinologist

mef — Thu, 07 May 2009 22:09:58 GMT

my son is 17 and was diagnosed at 13. his a1c is 10 and he does not stay consistant with writing down numbers etc. he uses the pen and will not consider a pump. every doctor's appt is a lecture which i understand, but sometimes i wonder if he would relate more to someone who will treat like an adult and not a child. any comments or advice?

Daughter's hospitalizations

rorri — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:15:11 GMT

Hi,

I'm new to these boards.
I have a 15 yo daughter who was dx'd when she was 5.
She has been in ICU 4 times this year, which, obviously, is not good.
We almost lost her in January and in February it was actually worse.
They actually Baker Acted her in February using "diabulimia" as the reason.
Here's the thing, she doesn't miss her lantus at all or her humalog.
We want her on the pump but she doesn't want it at all. She still hates the fact that she has diabetes and she never wants anybody to know.

She was just in last week for another upper GI and endoscopy bc of GERD and gastroparesis. They now think "hyper sensitive" stomach as well and possibly gall bladder issues. She throws up a lot bc of the pain she is in from her stomach(which has been going on since October of last year) and yet nothing is helping her except for when she had some pain meds that took the pain away completely.(but keeping her on pain meds wouldn't be wise...especially with the stomach issues and also on how addicting they can be).

The thing with her, actually, since January, is that her bgl's will not be above 130 and she still has high ketones. The smell of acidocis on her breath is overwhelming. Then, after her 9pm lantus shot, her bgl will soar...sometimes above 600, others just below it. By the time we have gotten her in the past two times her bi-carb was 7 and then 8. The lowest was less than 2 with a pH of less than 6.7 and her body temp(in Feb) went to 91.2 degrees. She goes so fast it's scary.

She's getting frustrated bc nobody has answers for her. All it takes for her to go into DKA is vomitting and/or diarrhea and it happens so fast...all because of this pain.
She's had xrays, MRI's, cat scans, gastric emptying, bloodwork(obviously)...and still no solid answers.
She's home schooling right now bc she was so sick she missed too much school.

Basically, I am at wit's end here w/ the stress of almost losing her and the fear of it happening again.

Her A1c is DOWN to 10.3(from 15.5). Before puberty she had pretty good A1c's...lowest being 6.1 and the highest being 8.8.

Sorry for rambling!

Insulin Pump choices for a 2 1/2 year old

ajsmama — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:00:28 GMT

Hi, I'm the mother of a recently diagnosed 2 1/2 year old boy. We struggle with injections occasionally and we are very interested in pump therapy. I attended an informational class at my son's diabetes clinic and was given information regarding these three pumps:

Medtronic Paradigm

CozMore pump

OmniPod

The pumps all seem to have their own advantages and disadvantages, all complicated by the fact that my son is so young and curious.

Has anyone with young kids (3 or younger) had any experience with any of the above pumps? We are leaning toward the OmniPod since it is wireless, but are questioning if that is the right choice. Any advice is welcome.

new diagnosis... green mother here!

gracenlaughter — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:16:48 GMT

Hi!

I'm just popping in to say hello, introduce myself, and see what the activity level is like around here.

My daughter is 7 and was just diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes less than a week ago. We are now home from the hospital and adjusting to a new world of carb counting, dose calculations, testing... you all know the drill. I'm finally starting to feel like I might be able to relax soon, now that I have her supplies organized and a bit of a routine starting to bloom. Those first 2 days after getting released from the hospital were the worst for me... I suffer from anxiety issues anyway, which were exacerbated when my son was diagnosed with a chronic cardiac condition 2 1/2 years ago. He had surgery at 5 weeks old, and still takes blood pressure meds. Its emotionally exhausting! I already know from giving him meds for basically his whole life that one dose can blend into the next, and in my mind sometimes I have found myself frantically wondering if I just double dosed him, or if it really has been 8 hours since he had his last dose. WELL... I refuse to live like that, so I have developed some good strategies to compensate for human error (which is more likely when you are exhausted, as I am!) All in all, while diabetes is new to us, chronic health care concerns and mortality issues are NOT. I try to take what life throws at me as an opportunity for discovery, and what I've learned most profoundly is to not take a single day for granted, and to be prepared for things to change on a dime.

Well, I am hopefully that I'll make some connections with other moms who know how it feels to wake up every day and hit the ground running. Namaste!

Need some ideas...Easter Baskets??...10 yr old boy just diagnosed 3/12

kerryc1998 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:52:38 GMT

I am trying to find some ideas for my little man's Easter Basket. He is 10 loves sports, and just diagnosed Type 1. Any thoughts are appreciated. Unfortunatley like most kids he loves candy but we all know how that story goes...

Thanks!

A parent with an 8 year type 1 diabetic

kimmieo — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:45:46 GMT

I just found out at the end for September that my 8 year old is a diabetic. It's been a long road and I get frustrated everyday. I know that she is going to be ok but as a parent I feel like I have done something wrong. I know it's not my fault but I can't help think that it is. I have been trying so hard to not let her see how much I hurt for her. How has everyone else with children who are diabetics deal with this?