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6 year old just diagnosed Type 1 - refusing finger prick tests and injections

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IgglePiggle

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hello there,
My beautiful daughter has just been diagnosed with Type 1 ,,,,, she is really struggling as am I. She becomes extremely distressed with the finger prick test and then the insulin injection. Earlier, after an hour, I literally had to hold her down to inject her as I knew her blood levels were going too high. She was hysterical .... does anyone have any ideas as to how to go forward. I know it's early days but I can't bear to see her like this although I know it's a necessity that both are required,
My husband has been a type 1 for 27 years since the age of 17, so I have known diabetes for over 20 years but ... it is something else when it's your daughter.
Any help you can offer will be appreciated .. I have tried reasoning (not sure that works with a 6 year old), bribery/rewards but she is just so frightened .. as any child would be.
Thank you,:(
 
Hi IgglePiggle, welcome to the forum 🙂 Very sorry to hear about your daughter's diagnosis :( I'm afraid I can't offer any advice from personal experience, but hopefully some of the parents will be able to give you some tips. Has she got a Rufus bear? You can get one free from JDRF - this might help as I know it has helped others. You might also like to join the Children with Diabetes group. They operate an email list, so you could ask your questions on that as well as here - many parents are members of both.
 
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Poor kid, and poor you!

Do you actually know they don't hurt? What I mean is, physically know, have you loaded up a needle (having removed the cartridge LOL) and stuck the needle in yourself? (or just the needle without the pen of course) I mean if it does hurt then she is actually sadly the author of her own misfortune - I was 22 when I was diagnosed and jabbing a syringe into a sweaty leg with sweaty hands certainly does hurt - but when you are physically scared, even though you have logic and rationale to assist you, it doesn't! - well it's pretty hard to NOT get clammy, frankly!

And to help her, what does your DSN/clinic say? The paediatric teams usually have brilliant ways of dealing with such things. Plus they often have child psychologists on hand (they should all have em shortly if not already anyway)

And what about getting her to meet other diabetic kiddies? - perhaps via JDRF or any of the things DUK do for kiddies locally or nationally - family weekends etc. If she sees other kids round her age having their jabs and not creating a fuss, perhaps even doing it or part of it themselves (under strict supervision at that age, obviously! - I don't know what age they normally start?) I'm sure that would help.

Hope you can find some sort of solution very soon.
 
So sorry to hear of your struggles IgglePiggle. Unfortunately my lad was much older (15) at diagnosis so I didn't have to go through this. It must be so distressing. He did have a massive needle phobia before this, but had to just get on with it. I was so amazed how at the second injection he just took the pen they offered him and did it. Even big 'proper' blood tests now he just gets on with. One very proud Mum!

As someone else said, I as a mum did try a needle in my tummy to see what it's like, and I have to say it was painless. The finger pricker though, is a different matter. That does hurt, but maybe part of that is the anticipation of the dreaded 'click'. My son has always said that is far more painful than the actual injection. Could you perhaps do this in front of her a few times? Does she ever see her daddy test and inject? Could they possibly do it together sometimes? Make a game out of it, who can do it the quickest etc? Who knows, at that age, a bit of kidology may work!

I would suggest you contact your DSN first thing Monday morning. If you can't get hold of her, try one of the other numbers on your contact list. We were given a whole string of contact numbers, so hopefully you have the same. This is something that needs nipping in the bud if at all possible and as it's something your dear daughter has to deal with on a daily basis now, the sooner things get started the sooner she will accept things. They must have seen this all before and hopefully have some good coping strategies for her.

I really do feel for you. It's such a shock at the start for everyone, and to then go through this trauma must be doubly heartbreaking, especially as you know you are going to have to go through the same rigmarole every few hours.

Do call out for some help though. The teams are wonderful and very supportive. Its such early days, you need every bit of help you can get.

Good luck, hope you work out a solution very soon.

Tina
 
Hi...I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this. I was 11 months old when diagnosed & even in my early years, I dreaded the finger pricks far more than the injections. Mind you, we're talking about either just using a lancet or thd dreaded autolet! These days there's a world of difference but even so some devices are better than others - I'm pretty sure I remember another mum posting about how her daughter's device came with a box of all sorts of different coloured lancets, which helped take attention off the impending ouch & gave thd kid back an element of control & choice - definitely worth looking into!

I also had a designated ted that I could vindictively stab with a old syringe lol (in the days before Rufus bear existed!)...helped a bit. Definitely think normalising things as much as poss is the way to go - maybe try 'blood test races' with daddy to see who can check their level fastest / neatest / whatever works for you?

I really feel for you, it must be heartbreaking & these early days must be very tough, but we're here when you need to ask for ideas / let off steam. All the best,

Twitchy xxx
 
Sor sorry to hear that you're having trouble with the injections.
My daughter was 10 at diagnosis and let me inject no problem.
As your hubby is diabetic, hasn't she seen him inject himself? Is there no way they could do it together? Same with the finger prick. I know a father and daughter who compare the results (almost like a competition)

Good luck xx
 
Update from "mum"

Hi there,

Sorry for the late response been a really bad few days. In answer to a few of your questions.
C helps daddy prick his finger all the time, always has done and she has helped to inject him. She has also pricked my finger on so many occasions over the last week and I even let her inject me with some saline .... in the hospital under supervision of the diabetic nurses. She used Lenny the Lion to in inject and we have Terry the Tiger at home that she can practice on also.

It took 90 mins last night and then she finally let me inject her with insulin and she commented that "yes, mummy can do it". But this was over an hour of almost hysterics. Literally, screaming, scratching, fighting ..... I actually don't recognise my little girl any more she is just so, understandably so, angry. Her night time insulin had to be much later than planned so she was shattered and that took another 40 mins. I knew it would be hard but she fights us all the time ........ in the end last night my husband held her leg and injected her which was awful ... although she did then fall straight to sleep.

This morning she woke okay, but obviously tired, and it took around 15 mins of us bribing her that we have to do this ....... she went off to school happily.

At school, she allows the teachers and the diabetic nurse, who is still overseeing, to inject her and she has not issues ... it is only at home. I am guessing this is because we are mummy and daddy. She is just so frightened and I want to make it better but I can't. I stay strong for her and am positive but then cry myself to sleep which may sound pathetic but it is my release. I have a 4 year old son also who is being sidelined and desperate for attention bless him, so I am trying so hard to spend time with him everynight.

I know it's early days .... and I know it will get better but at the moment I just feel so out of control and as if I really can't cope. BTW, I work full time, as does my husband .. so I got home last night at 6pm because the traffic was dreadful. This is not a helpful factor and I need to discuss with my company as I have an hour's commute but I don't have the option to go part time or not work due to our financial commitments.

I know it could be worse ... but at the moment I just don't feel that way.

Thank you for listening to my rant ... again!
x
 
Mum again

And .... C and daddy do finger prick and inject at the same time and then she writes both results in the book but .... last night my husband was hypo (2.3) and so had to concentrate on himself for a while. But it makes no difference to her reaction .. still the hysterics
 
Hello there
So hard for you all :(
15 mins this morning sounds like a bit of an improvement, and if she's letting them do the jabs at school, that is a good sign too ... Just wanted to say that if it continues to be a problem, the docs should provide some extra help. My friend's daughter has an arthritic condition that means daily injections and she was really struggling at first (an hour of tears in the GP surgery, in the end being held down ... horrible). In the end she got some psychological help from a specialist and it made a big difference, so worth enquiring about that if things don't get better. Poor lass, and poor you!
There's so much to take in with a diabetes diagnosis, even when yr kids are OK with it all, so with the added worry it's no wonder that you're feeling so low :(
Hang on to every little step forward, together they add up ... Sympathies over the work commute too. Hopefully yr employers will understand that at least temporarily you need a more flexible set up.
Hugs across the ether, Catherine
 
Hi there,
so sorry to hear about this. My son is also six and has had diabetes since Feb 2011. We didn't have such an extreme reaction as you are going through, although there were plenty of tears. Have you considered emla cream, or maybe get her a 'buzzy' (see http://buzzy4shots.co.uk/). This would help with the pain and would give her another focus. Eventually, her anger will abate and there should be some acceptance. Our son isn't bothered by injections any more, although the finger pricks are still 'ouchy'. Our current battle is with set changes, as he has just started a saline trial with a pump and change is always difficult. Hopefully, when the pump is up and running properly, he will see the benefits of it. Is the pump something you would consider for the future? One set change every few days is better than several injections a day. Good luck.
 
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