Hello

[shirley]

I am the Mother of a newly diagnosed, so new that we don't yet know whether he is type 1 or 2. He is 19 but has learning disabilities and is deaf so I am worried about his ability to manage this in the future. Fortunately, he is not needle phobic so no worries there.

We discovered the problem only last week on a routine appointment with the Consultant who he sees regularly. I had identified that he was drinking and weeing in the night and a test was taken. The only advice I have had so far is to keep him off sweets and sugary drinks. I have purchased a monitor to check his levels which started at 14, have reduced on fasting to 12.1 and are now down to 11.4 I realise that I can't cure this but have done a lot of research to try to understand what he should be eating and drinking. One of my concerns is that he is very small and I will want to try to find ways of keeping his weight stable in the future. We have not treated as an emergency but he has his first appointment today. I guess my biggest worry is his ability in the future to manage the balance of food/injecting if this is the outcome.

 

[Northerner]

Hi Shirley, welcome to the forum 🙂 I'm sorry to hear about your son's diagnosis. There is a wide variety of treatments available for Type 2, so if this is confirmed then it may be that he just needs pills to help control his levels. However, Type 1 is always treated with insulin injections or an insulin pump.

All carbohydrates will affect blood sugar levels, so whilst cutting out sweets removes one source, you also need to consider things like potatoes, rice, pasta, bread etc. Using the monitor to test how well he tolerates different types of carbs, and in what portions will help him to retain a flexible and varied diet. Have a read of Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S for a description of how to do this efficiently. Also, I would recommend getting a book about low GI/GL eating - this is a method of selecting and combining food so that it has a slow and steady impact on blood sugar levels. The GL Diet for Dummies is a good introduction.

Let us know how things go with the appointment, and if you have any questions, and we will do our best to help! 🙂

 

[Redkite]

Hi Shirley, welcome to the forum but sorry about the circumstances you find yourselves in.

Has your son been tested for Islet Cell Antibodies? At his age, it is far more likely that he has type 1 (autoimmune) diabetes, although a tiny number of teenagers are diagnosed with type 2. Some medications can cause insulin resistance, I don't know whether he is on any meds? But from what you say (I assume "small" means normal/underweight) type 2 is very unlikely. Hope your doc establishes this very soon, because if it's type 1 he needs to start insulin treatment ASAP. Do ask if you there's anything you want to know 🙂

 

[Hanmillmum]

Hi Shirley and welcome to the forum.

I hope you get some light on the actual diagnosis and treatment plan for your son very soon and this in turn will aide you both in planning what is needed in terms of a routine for him. Perhaps a dietician can help with the weight concerns ?

There is help available in the community should your son need injections and he is not able to administer those himself or needs some supervision/prompting to do it independently etc

Let us know how you get on 🙂

 

[Copepod]

Welcome Shirley

Sorry to hear about your son's (partial) diagnosis. It's early days, so for now, the very simple advice to keep him off sweets and sugary drinks is fine. Later, more precise dietary advice will be needed, perhaps matching insulin with carbohydrate. Things like vibrating mobile phone alarms / text reminders may be appropriate, given his learning disabilities and deafness. When you say very small, do you mean short stature only only short and slight?

How did first appointment go today?