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Diabetes and Kids

LightBnDr

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Apr 26, 2014
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Anybody here have diabetes? Anybody have kiddos with it? If so what type?

I have a 6 year old that ended up in the hospital on Monday. We were in until yesterday. She was diagnosed with type 1 and I find some very interesting contradictions and interesting opinions from doctors about it as well as our future.

Just curious if anybody here lives with it and what you're experience has been and when you found out?
 
My son was diagnosed at 11 with type 1, it was very scary and he was lucky, his sugar was so high the meter wouldn't read it and he was having serious vision issues and other problems, think he spent 4 days or so in children's hospital, he's 26 now and doesn't do a good job of taking care of his self. You are in for a big learning curve and there's a lot to know. Diet is key and to a young kid it's tough at times. I feel for ya man. Sucks to see ur child with a lifetime disease, there's a lot of newer treatments suck as insulin pumps but I think you have to fall into certain criteria for it and age is probably a big one. As long as they watch the diet and exercise they can live a full normal life


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My son was diagnosed at age 5 now 11. Been on the pump for 5 years . In the beginning I didn't know much about the disease but we are pretty educated now. I let my son do the carb counting and much as possible because it's a big responsibility he will always have to take of.

We got lucky and caught it early. It's scary at times but don't let it over run you . We play ball , go riding and everything everybody else is doin we just carry supplies with us.

If I can help in any way or you have any questions PM me .
 
In my opinion the pump is the way to go. Train her early with good habits and she will be fine. I try to take care of myself but don't do as good as I should. There are camps for kids with diabetes that are awesome and teach the kids a ton. Diet, exercise, and education are key. She can literally do anything she wants as long as she takes care of herself. And since I know you love a good conspiracy theory: Diabetes is cured but big pharmaceutical companies make more money off us needing insulin 24/7/365.

If you go with a pump use the new Medtronic closed loop system. It is amazing.


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Agreed that's what my son has with the sensor it reduces the amount of finger sticks and a1c number has really dropped since he has been on it. For the first year he was on shots .
 
I appreciate you guys sharing your experience. It means a ton and it's definitely what I need.

In our 5 days of being home we have learned so much.

We were sent home from the hospital with a meal plan that put her glucose through the roof after every meal then we sit down and do math to figure out how much insulin to give her without killing her then not to forget to poke a needle into her about 8 times a day including insulin.

Fast forward 5 days and we are on day 3 of zero insulin and normal 6 year old glucose levels after each meal and bedtime

Docs say this is a honeymoon period. Though had I done what they sent us home with, her blood sugar would be at 350+ then here comes insulin from a syringe to bring it down. Then we don't sleep because we are checking her glucose levels just to make sure we don't kill her. Holy frik!!

So we modified our diet and activity. We eliminated all snacks between meals unless we are vigorously active.

Eliminated playing on an iPhone completely. Made sure she was hungry at every meal and ate until she felt good.

Then magically a dead pancreas starts managing insulin levels again????

All I know is she's feeling better than she ever has and we are gonna keep it up.

Thank you guys for helping me. I appreciate you
 
I've had Type 1 since 1998 when I was 16...now I'm 37. I was on shots until 2008 I believe. I was taking one long acting insulin at bed time and a shot with EVERY meal and snack to correct for the carbs. When I was diagnosed I was really into racing mountain bikes, but I had a long down time for some reason and wasn't riding every day like I had been. One night I was out to dinner with my step dad and started telling him about being thirsty all the time and having to get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. He has a daughter that is also Type 1 so he pretty much knew what was going on. We went to the doc in a box and they walked in and said "Well...looks like you've got diabetes". I **** you not...my step dad damn near took the guys head off for his method of delivery.

I spent 3-4 days in the hospital for observation and to go through all of the tests and such so they could get a good baseline for my basal rate and such. Like I said...at the time I was 16 and had just began driving and had a number of friends I was use to hanging out with and going to do things with...not to mention mtn. biking regularly...and a job. My parents were soooo nervous about it (can't blame them now that I'm a parent too) that I pretty much was on house arrest for several weeks aside from going to school. It sucked...please dont do that to your kid(s). Nothing worse than being punished for something you have no control over.

I don't mean to be negative, but if I remember correctly the honeymoon period can be short or could last up to and possibly longer than a month where your pancreas is trying to cope. It is however, exactly what it's called...a honeymoon...and doesn't last forever. The hospital wouldn't have kept her if it wasn't for sure.

Best advice...start with shots and get the basic idea set in her head and yours. See how different activities and diets affect things. I'm a firm believer in understanding how this process works before moving on to an insulin pump. The pumps are great...probably one of the best things for T1 diabetics ever. The newer systems have really come a long way too. I just recently got a Dexcom G6 continuous glucose monitor...it's great. I don't like having to wear another piece...but being able to look at my blood sugar at any point during the day really helps keep things in line. For youngsters it would be a life saver for sure...it alarms at levels you set. That really helps ease the concern about going low during the night...or as you get older and start driving. Highs are bad, but lows can creep up on you when you're sitting still and lead to passing out and/or having seizures. None of which are something you want while sleeping or driving.

Please don't hesitate to ask questions here...between myself and the others I'm sure we can help provide clarity and insight on whatever you're dealing with.

Best of luck!


OH YEAH...DON'T LET DIABETES SLOW YOU DOWN! :driving: :****:
 
That being said...I'm curious about her...as well as the others here that have Type 1. How many of you grew up rarely being sick? I mean how many of you never missed a day of school...very rarely have to use sick leave for yourself...etc.
 
clemsonjeep said:
That being said...I'm curious about her...as well as the others here that have Type 1. How many of you grew up rarely being sick? I mean how many of you never missed a day of school...very rarely have to use sick leave for yourself...etc.

I was pretty healthy growing up and get about 2 colds a year. Why??


LightBnDr said:
I appreciate you guys sharing your experience. It means a ton and it's definitely what I need.

In our 5 days of being home we have learned so much.

We were sent home from the hospital with a meal plan that put her glucose through the roof after every meal then we sit down and do math to figure out how much insulin to give her without killing her then not to forget to poke a needle into her about 8 times a day including insulin.

Fast forward 5 days and we are on day 3 of zero insulin and normal 6 year old glucose levels after each meal and bedtime

Docs say this is a honeymoon period. Though had I done what they sent us home with, her blood sugar would be at 350+ then here comes insulin from a syringe to bring it down. Then we don't sleep because we are checking her glucose levels just to make sure we don't kill her. Holy frik!!

So we modified our diet and activity. We eliminated all snacks between meals unless we are vigorously active.

Eliminated playing on an iPhone completely. Made sure she was hungry at every meal and ate until she felt good.

Then magically a dead pancreas starts managing insulin levels again????

All I know is she's feeling better than she ever has and we are gonna keep it up.

Thank you guys for helping me. I appreciate you

I still learn stuff every day. Just when I thought I could manage my "Somogyi Effect" my exercise patterns change and I begin having issues bottoming out 2 hours later. Pizza is a killer for my blood sugar. After 27 years, i still have issues controlling my post meal glucose level when I eat pizza. Low blood sugar is scary, the older I get, the more delirious I get. Those that know me can tell pretty quick when I have started getting low. I get confused and mean. I have been as low as 25, that is bad scary. I was 33 the other morning and routinely get into the 40s. It is not good, but I have been diabetic so long, I sometimes miss the symptoms. She will be fine, just a small challenge that she will overcome!
 
money_pit_yj said:
I was pretty healthy growing up and get about 2 colds a year. Why??

Well "they" say that Type 1 is a reaction where our own immune system is overactive and turns against our pancreatic islet cells. When I was young, I pretty much had perfect attendance from the first day of kindergarten through the last day of high school. Very rarely did I get a cold or anything for that matter. I always looked at it as a blessing, but over the years since I've been diagnosed I've wondered if that had a part in what eventually caused Type 1 for me.

I have zero research to back up what I'm saying, but it seems to reason that if you're very resistant to illness that you have a very active immune system which could then lead to going awry and taking out the islet cells.
 
I was under the impression that type 1 is hereditary and nothing ya can do about it, my sons sperm donor was type 1


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Phew what a whirlwind the last week has been. I'm an absolute wreck.

I have learned SOOO much in that time about this disorder that I really wish they wouldn't call it diabetes.

I have always along with the rest of America associate the word diabetes with unhealthy obese people.

What I have learned is that I haven't heard or seen a story yet from a person who wasn't fit and active that got type 1

I have a million questions and I feel super shitty as a Daddy because I want to fix it, give her my pancreas in a second and I can't. I want to prove every doctor wrong. Yet I can't do it so far.

From what we've learned in the past few days is we essentially are starving her body of carbs to keep her numbers down and even then they really aren't great numbers for long.

She is burning fat more than anything else and now her body can't use much of any sugar in her blood.

So here I am just wanting her to eat a meal, pig out on good food, give her insulin so her body can use it while we go play like crazy.

I just feel like ****. She's feeling awesome.

Thank you for all of your stories and sharing your experience it means a ton.
 
Zjman said:
I was under the impression that type 1 is hereditary and nothing ya can do about it, my sons sperm donor was type 1


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About 20 years ago that stat was the norm I believe.

The endocrinologist gave me some real interesting insight. He said it used to that if you had no family member with type 1 your chances were less than 1% of ever getting. If your dad was type 1 and mom was not your chances go up like 17% higher of getting it. If your mom has it but Dad doesn't you still had a single digit chance.

Then he looks at me and says but it's different now. We don't know where it's coming from. We make 3 that week. There were 4 the week before and 3 the week before that!! And only 1 had a history in their family of type 1

The only new thing he said they have found is that it almost always follows a virus or an infection. During that sickness the white blood cells attack the beta cells in the pancreas. Along with whatever you're fighting.

So as simple as a toothache or strep throat or as big as the flu. Even a flu shot.

So the only conclusion I can come to is that if your child got sick specifically with a small or moderate fever and you immediately started checking blood sugar during their sickness you MIGHT be able to catch the beta cells getting hurt and get to endocrinologist ASAP and save the pancreas somehow

Because the reason a type 1 has the exact same symptoms that brought them to the diagnosis is they had unreal amounts of ketones in their blood and urine. On their way to killing you. Ketones only form when glucose can't get to your brain which means you spent a CRAZY amount of time with high blood sugar well above 275-300. So your brain says **** this, we are gonna burn fat instead so the brain doesn't die.

So after enough fat is burned without ANY sugar present ketones form as a bi product.

By then, it's done. The whole time you were out mountain biking, playing soccer, basketball, etc. Then what do you and your parents see?

A kid that's growing, active so he's thirsty and hungry as hell. He or she grows out of their shoes and clothes. Thins out. Has all kinds of energy. . . . . For a while.

But the whole time your pancreas gets behind. Can't keep up and slowly dies. It doesn't happen in a couple days. It can take months and usually does.

My girls are rarely sick. Most of the time it's stuffy nose for a couple days. Never had the flu. We have never taken a flu shot.

My 6 year old got salmonella 6 months ago. Held her tummy every time she ate. Balled up on the couch and had a fever for about ten days. Couple days of runny poo then all better. Back in action. The only thing us or the doc didn't check was blood sugar.

Why would we? Who wants to poke their kid.

Just makes me wonder a lot. I lose sleep over it every night.

Maybe this is the key to keeping new kids from getting it?
 
Yessir...it's a head scratcher for sure. I still remember standing in the kitchen at our house after leaving the doc in the box that first laid the diagnosis on us...I stood there and told my parents "I don't believe a word they're saying, there's no way I have diabetes!"

I regularly get comments from people while I'm out to eat or at a work conference when I've got a plate full of carb-rich foods saying "you shouldn't eat that...you're diabetic". I try to tell em they're wrong and explain why, but it's obvious they don't get it. So I just enjoy every carb in front of me and dose up on insulin.

Bottom line...her body isn't any different than anyone else's when it comes to what she can eat. She just has to be mindful of what it is she's eating with an idea of her activity level for the foreseeable future and adjust accordingly.
 
Zjman said:
I was under the impression that type 1 is hereditary and nothing ya can do about it, my sons sperm donor was type 1


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No one on my side of the family or my wife's side has diabetes and my my son was diagnosed at age 5. So I don't think it hereditary at all.
 
crawler 129 said:
No one on my side of the family or my wife's side has diabetes and my my son was diagnosed at age 5. So I don't think it hereditary at all.

I meant to address this too. No one in my family can recall anyone on either side having any form of diabetes. I just got "lucky" that my step dad was able to recognize the symptoms due to his daughter having it.
 
crawler 129 said:
No one on my side of the family or my wife's side has diabetes and my my son was diagnosed at age 5. So I don't think it hereditary at all.
My son was diagnosed almost 15 years ago so things have changed but at that time that's what they said and it was correct in my situation


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LightBnDr said:
About 20 years ago that stat was the norm I believe.

The endocrinologist gave me some real interesting insight. He said it used to that if you had no family member with type 1 your chances were less than 1% of ever getting. If your dad was type 1 and mom was not your chances go up like 17% higher of getting it. If your mom has it but Dad doesn't you still had a single digit chance.

Then he looks at me and says but it's different now. We don't know where it's coming from. We make 3 that week. There were 4 the week before and 3 the week before that!! And only 1 had a history in their family of type 1

The only new thing he said they have found is that it almost always follows a virus or an infection. During that sickness the white blood cells attack the beta cells in the pancreas. Along with whatever you're fighting.

So as simple as a toothache or strep throat or as big as the flu. Even a flu shot.

So the only conclusion I can come to is that if your child got sick specifically with a small or moderate fever and you immediately started checking blood sugar during their sickness you MIGHT be able to catch the beta cells getting hurt and get to endocrinologist ASAP and save the pancreas somehow

Because the reason a type 1 has the exact same symptoms that brought them to the diagnosis is they had unreal amounts of ketones in their blood and urine. On their way to killing you. Ketones only form when glucose can't get to your brain which means you spent a CRAZY amount of time with high blood sugar well above 275-300. So your brain says **** this, we are gonna burn fat instead so the brain doesn't die.

So after enough fat is burned without ANY sugar present ketones form as a bi product.

By then, it's done. The whole time you were out mountain biking, playing soccer, basketball, etc. Then what do you and your parents see?

A kid that's growing, active so he's thirsty and hungry as hell. He or she grows out of their shoes and clothes. Thins out. Has all kinds of energy. . . . . For a while.

But the whole time your pancreas gets behind. Can't keep up and slowly dies. It doesn't happen in a couple days. It can take months and usually does.

My girls are rarely sick. Most of the time it's stuffy nose for a couple days. Never had the flu. We have never taken a flu shot.

My 6 year old got salmonella 6 months ago. Held her tummy every time she ate. Balled up on the couch and had a fever for about ten days. Couple days of runny poo then all better. Back in action. The only thing us or the doc didn't check was blood sugar.

Why would we? Who wants to poke their kid.

Just makes me wonder a lot. I lose sleep over it every night.

Maybe this is the key to keeping new kids from getting it?
Sounds like your beating yourself up over something you have no control over, you sound like a awesome father who will raise awesome kids, she will adapt fast, she's young and sounds like doesn't have any bad eating habits so you are blessed, yes diabetes is serious but many people lead normal full lives, in a year from now ya will be used to it all and won't worry as much, sounds like you are educating yourself and that's the best ya can do.


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