Advice about illness please

[Rhubarb]

Hi

This is my first time on the forum and I'm new to all this but here goes..

My son, who is 12, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 5 months ago. We have been managing pretty well so far but just recently he is spending a lot of time in the medical room and hence missing a lot of lessons at school.

We think his honeymoon period ended a few weeks ago as his blood sugars became more unpredictable and we had to modify his ratios. However the past week or so he has been feeling pretty awful even though his blood sugar readings are normal. We have had a cold go through the family this last week but he has only seemed to have mild symptoms. The symptoms he is generally complaining of are feeling 'hypo-ish' and run down.

The school nurse is great and keeps me well informed; she has raised the concerns about the amount of school he is missing. She says he hasn't had a temperature but confirms he looks pretty bad. And I've checked with my son and he is re-testing when he has a blood sugar reading that doesn't feel right and he washes his hands beforehand.

I am at a loss what to do. I have contacted the diabetes nurse who says he could be experiencing rapid drops in blood sugar, which can feel like hypos even though his readings are normal. But it feels like I might be missing something. Is he just getting all the seasonal illnesses that are going round school due to his compromised immune system, and if so should I be keeping him off or seeing the doctor? I don't normally keep my children at home for a cold but I don't know if I should be more lenient with him? Is there any point seeing a gp or would they just refer me to the diabetes clinic?

I have contacted the diabetes nurse again for more advice but thought I would post on here while waiting for him to get back to me.

I would appreciate any experience or advice as I'm feeling a bit out of my depth!

Thanks in advance

 

[Amberzak]

Hi. I can’t give much info as I was diagnosed as an adult. But a couple things. Firstly if my sugars have been running high, when I then get normal sugars it feels like a hypo.

Lots of things make my sugars higher. Illness, stress, weather. It’s winter and I find in the winter im a little more insulin resistant than in the summer.

Also I do feel illnesses more than others.

I hope some parents can come and help.

 

[Copepod]

Welcome to the forum, Rhubarb. I hope your diabetes specialist nurse gets back to you very soon.
Perhaps a few facts might help. Honeymoon periods can last from a few weeks to several months. Generally longer with older children or adults than younger. It's when pancreas continues to produce insulin, usually irratically and unpredictably, so can cause hypoglycaemia. As Amberzak has explained, once a body has got used to higher blood glucose levels, levels that are still above normal can feel hypo. So, doses of insulin have to be increased gradually. Dealing with colds etc is known as Sick Day Rules, so you could search for that online - choose an NHS website, with details for children.

 

[Rhubarb]

Thank you both for your replies. We haven't noticed that his blood sugar has been running high, unless it has happened between testing - but he tests several times a day at school so it wouldn't be for long if it was.

Interesting to hear about seasonal variations - is there anything that -doesn't- affect blood glucose levels?!!

I've had a look at sick day rules (thanks for the tip!). Should I test for ketones every time he is ill or only when blood sugars are high and not responding to insulin? I thought it was the latter but if not then I'll do that tomorrow.

On the plus side, it looks like today's medical room visit may have been unrelated as it wasn't due to the hypo feelings he was having earlier in the week.

Feeling less stressed now anyway!
Thanks