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A and E Yesterday

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
E

elaine1969

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Parent of person with diabetes
I posted last week about Kate's insulin requirements drastically reducing overnight and I was worried that the old problems she was experiencing were coming back. Well the hypos continued all weekend, we kept on reducing her ratios but it was just hypo after hypo. It calmed a little through the day yesterday but an hour after tea she felt terrible. Two treatments of lucozade followed by hypogel followed by her temporarily losing consciousness. I called 999 and we were taken to our local hospital but they were happy to discharge her later in the evening.
Kate had swinging blood sugars for 10 months following diagnosis, she was then prescribed very strong antithistamines for hayfever. As if by magic her diabetes stabilised virtually overnight and it remained stable for 5 months. I was then told I needed to wean her off the antihistamines as it must have been a coincidence and there is no medical explanation for them helping her. That was 2 weeks ago and here we are, insulin requirements changing by as much as 50% from one day to the next.

We were told by the paediatric registrar last night that in his opinion she should start back on them again immediately, that medically there is no explanation but as antihistmines are low risk compared to severe hypos it was worth a try. She started taking antihistamines again when we got home last night, today has been more stable than the last few but it is early days.

Sorry, this turned into an essay but I thought you may be interested to know.
 
I'm very sorry to hear this Elaine, thank goodness she is responding now. I don't know if this has any relevance at all, but aren't antihistamines a type of steroid? It's just that I have been following the thread about Addison's disease where severe hypos can occur that won't come up with carbs so I was wondering if she has been tested for that? Steroid treatment is needed for people with Addison's. Here's the thread:

http://www.diabetessupport.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?t=22933

Hope her levels stabilise, she must feel awful poor soul :(
 
Hi Northerner, Sue mentioned this to me last week but I explained to her that Kate has already being tested. Once I had submitted my own thread I went on to read the one from Twitchy about Addisons. I have to say it all sounds quite familiar. Kate has had hypos in the past which have needed well over 100g carbs to bring her out of. She drops really fast too and when this happens she passes out like she did last night. Reading the other thread it really makes me wonder if there is a possibility of a false test result, it was a junior doctor who performed the test and I remember being quite concerned at the time as she didn't seem to be sure of what she was doing. As far as i am aware antihistamines are different to steriods.
 
I guess it can't hurt to raise the possibility again. It may be a false test result and perhaps it is now dismissed because everyone takes it as valid so they're not looking there again. Another thought (which I'm sure the doctors have already considered) is hyperinsulinism, whereby the pancreas produces erratic, inappropriate surges of insulin that then lead to severe hypos that are difficult to treat.
 
Antihistamines are not steroids 🙂

Glad Kate is ok now 🙂
 
elaine1969 said:
I posted last week about Kate's insulin requirements drastically reducing overnight and I was worried that the old problems she was experiencing were coming back. Well the hypos continued all weekend, we kept on reducing her ratios but it was just hypo after hypo. It calmed a little through the day yesterday but an hour after tea she felt terrible. Two treatments of lucozade followed by hypogel followed by her temporarily losing consciousness. I called 999 and we were taken to our local hospital but they were happy to discharge her later in the evening.
Kate had swinging blood sugars for 10 months following diagnosis, she was then prescribed very strong antithistamines for hayfever. As if by magic her diabetes stabilised virtually overnight and it remained stable for 5 months. I was then told I needed to wean her off the antihistamines as it must have been a coincidence and there is no medical explanation for them helping her. That was 2 weeks ago and here we are, insulin requirements changing by as much as 50% from one day to the next.

We were told by the paediatric registrar last night that in his opinion she should start back on them again immediately, that medically there is no explanation but as antihistmines are low risk compared to severe hypos it was worth a try. She started taking antihistamines again when we got home last night, today has been more stable than the last few but it is early days.

Sorry, this turned into an essay but I thought you may be interested to know.
Click to expand...

What a terrible time you have both been through. I'm glad things have settled and she is more stable now. Maybe you could look on the website to find out the ingredients of the antihisatmines and there qualities, maybe this could help you to fathom this one out. Take care and I truly hope things start to get better. Sheenax
 
Thanks Northerner/Sue.
They mentioned hyperinsulinism last year and her panceas was scanned but found no abnomalities. They explained the only way to be sure was invasive specialised surgery but that because of her age it was virtually impossible for her to have it in addition to diabetes.

Sue, can I just ask, is addisons something you can have for a while with just periodic symptoms to begin with or is it something which takes you rapidly downhill until diagnosis. Kates hypos have always been in clusters which last for about a week??:confused:
 
Thanks Sheena x
 
elaine1969 said:
Thanks Northerner/Sue.
They mentioned hyperinsulinism last year and her panceas was scanned but found no abnomalities. They explained the only way to be sure was invasive specialised surgery but that because of her age it was virtually impossible for her to have it in addition to diabetes.

Sue, can I just ask, is addisons something you can have for a while with just periodic symptoms to begin with or is it something which takes you rapidly downhill until diagnosis. Kates hypos have always been in clusters which last for about a week??:confused:
Click to expand...

Hiya,
In most cases Addison's is slow onset and you hardly notice a problem. Tiredness and a foggy brain were the start of things for me. Then the hypo's started and over a year or two just got worse and worse. I would have good spells then it was back to going downhill again. My ex gp just kept telling me to control my diabetes or it was my imagination 😡 I would try and stand up then fall over as bp was so low.
It got to the stage near the end where I didn't use any insulin for a couple of days and still going hypo. Now for a long term type 1 I knew I wasn't cured.
The last episode I had to consume almost 500 carbs over a 5 hour period and could still only manage a blood sugar of 5 mmol/l 😱 No idea why but someone then twigged that perhaps I did have a problem. Then instead of sorting out the problem they tried to prove I hadn't got addison's as it's so rare.
Thank God I now have a fantastic GP and consultant who are more than helpful. Life is now back to normal and has been for a few years now.

Just because Kate had a clear test last year doesn't mean it is still clear as things do change in a year. So any concerns ask for her to be checked again.
 
Hi, just to say I hope things settle back down again for your daughter and you, sounds like you have had a terrible time, must have been really scary! Hopefully you can get to the bottom of it very soon 🙂 x
 
I hope things settle for Kate. It sounds no fun atall. I hope things get sorted soon and things even out.
 
Northerner said:
I'm very sorry to hear this Elaine, thank goodness she is responding now. I don't know if this has any relevance at all, but aren't antihistamines a type of steroid? It's just that I have been following the thread about Addison's disease where severe hypos can occur that won't come up with carbs so I was wondering if she has been tested for that? Steroid treatment is needed for people with Addison's. Here's the thread:

http://www.diabetessupport.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?t=22933

Hope her levels stabilise, she must feel awful poor soul :(
Click to expand...

No, antihistamines are NOT a type of steroid. What both categories of drugs have in common is that both reduce swelling, but antihistamines reduce swelling caused by allergice reactions, while steroids reduce swelling due to inflammation.

Regardless of the cause, hope Kate begins to feel like she's winning, soon.
 
Copepod said:
No, antihistamines are NOT a type of steroid. What both categories of drugs have in common is that both reduce swelling, but antihistamines reduce swelling caused by allergice reactions, while steroids reduce swelling due to inflammation.

Regardless of the cause, hope Kate begins to feel like she's winning, soon.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification Copepod 🙂
 
So sorry to hear Kate ended up in hospital with all those hypos. Glad she's back home now.

What a strange story about the antihistamines. But if it works......🙂
 
Hi Elaine - looking at your daughters age and your comment that they tend to come in clusters lasting a week - could their be a menstrual connection (you have probably already considered it - but putting it out there just in case).

Whatever the cause keep plugging away - I would hope that the Drs will do all the tests they can to get to the bottom of things.
 
Thanks everyone, she is in school today. It is one of those days where I dash to walk the dog and then sit in the house and wait for the dreaded call from school. She got to lunch time at least so looking good so far !!

Sue, thanks for the info on Addisons, I will try my best to put it to the back of my mind for now, I can't stand the thought of her having to deal with that too for the rest of her life. If this unsettled period continues once the ant-histamines are back in her system I will ask about it then.
 
just my twopenceworth (and may have been suggested already) but could she be going through the honeymoon period?

seems to fit....

hope she gets sorted out soon, bless her.
 
What a nightmare for you both- I'm so sorry. I hope she has a better day today and the anti hystamins do the trick even if the docs don't understand why.

Just a thought about the Addisons - just because it's rare in someone her age doesnt mean it's impossible - eye problems are rare (in this country) in newly diagnosed Children with Diabetes and our clinic didn't believe my K 's needed to be investigated - I insisted and turns out she has cataracts:( Hope your Katie doesn't have Addisons but rare doesn't mean impossible.

Well done Katie for going to school and I hope the tablets do the trick
(((hugs)))
 
Thanks Meanmom, god thats terrible, cataracts at 12 years old, I presume they can treat it with lasers but what a thing to have to go through in addition to everything else.
Sending hugs back your way too xx
 
imtrying said:
just my twopenceworth (and may have been suggested already) but could she be going through the honeymoon period?

seems to fit....

hope she gets sorted out soon, bless her.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion, it was all put down to the honeymoon period last year, insulin has been withdrawn about 5 times so far but she even managed to hypo with no insulin in her system at all. Insulin had risen over the last few months to about 1.2 units/kg so I got the impression that pointed to the end of the honeymoon phase but I don't think they really know what it is anymore or what to do about it. Hopefully these antihistamines will work again and we won't have to worry about it for a while at least. x
 
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