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Help!!

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J

jomillis

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Parent of person with diabetes
Hi everyone already a member,

My name is Jo and my 9 year old daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 in April. The hospital were initially really supportive but since May have only had 3 monthly appointments at clinic with one meeting with Dietician. At first was completely devastated as I'm sure you can all relate to. Then went through the Honeymoon period and thought this is'nt too bad! Now back to reality, Bethany is coming home starving and then suffering really high Blood sugar when testing before dinner. Any suggestions on filling, low sugar snacks? :confused:😱
 
It does sound odd that you can be famished and then have a high sugar, but this is often a sign of a bounce where the liver delivers a sugar rush for want of a better way of putting it. So hunger is one sign of lows that you could look out for.

Best of luck!
 
Sorry... Missed the bit about snacks.

Cheese, ham and eggs seem a hit with a lot of people on here. Basically anything that's not really healthy which is a pain in the posterior. Other than that, veg and things that not many 9 year olds like. Probably not what you want to hear but alas...

The only other way is to have a needle with foods that count. Again not what any 9 or 29 year old would want to hear.

One last suggestion would be to ask about dropping insulin doses a bit to hopefully avoid the lows in the first place and lessen the hunger in the first place.
 
Hi Jo

It is such a shock when your little one is dxd and then when you go to 3 monthly appointments you can feel cut off. Can you still phone your DSN for advice? I very often email ours. Have you tried joining the Children With Diabetes email group? It is very very helpful and you'll never feel cut off again!! http://childrenwithdiabetes.com/ If you go on the website the will be a link to click on on join the group.

What insulin regime is your daughter on? What are her lunchtime readings like? If her tea time readings are high then her lunchtime or even breakfast insulin may need adjusting.

As for low carb snacks, Katie has: cheese, any meat, nuts - all quite high fat through - feel like sometimes we can't win!!
 
Hello and welcome to the forum.🙂


www.childrenwithdiabetesuk.org

There are four hundred families on the above list who have a child with type 1 diabetes. Lots of us parents on here are also members of the above. Look to the left of the site and click on 'email lists' and register. Everyone is lovely and you will get lots of great support and advice. What regime is your daughter on - it sounds as if the insulin dose needs adjusting.🙂Bev
 
Hi Jo sorry I cant help on this one but just wanted to welcome you to the forum, we have a fantastic set of parents on here who will be able to help you out, there brillaint and very friendly.
 
Thank You!

Hi to everyone who has replied and thanks!
Bethany is on Novorapid on a sliding scale and Lantus. Her lunchtime readings are normally between 5.5 and 9.4 in which case she would have between .5 and 3.5 units.
I can still speak to my Diabetes Nurse but not very easily as she only works 3 days a week. I'm definatley going to register on the children with Diabetes site, which will help both myself and Bethany feel less isolated. It's just so hard when you think it's all under control and then it's not!!
Thanks again though to all of you that have replied!
 
Katie is also on Novorapid and Lantus. Do you carb count her meals? Her lunch time readings are good so i don't know why she would be going high at tea time. Maybe her Lantus needs adjusting or even the time you give it. I am really no expert! Do you check her bloods when she gets home from school when she is really hungry? If you do join the email group , you'll find loads of people that are much more knowledgable than me!
 
No, I don't carb count yet. They mention it everytime we go to clinic and we were supposed to start a course with the Dietician in the summer but have not heard anything. No, I don't test her when she comes home from school, perhaps I should?!
 
Hi Jo,

Welcome to the forum 🙂 You've come to the right place for support!

Diabetes can be so overwhelming at first, you might not know where to start. Don't worry - just take things a bit at a time. Don't be hard on yourself - caring for a child with diabetes is very hard work, and you're doing a great job already by being so committed to it. I have great respect for the parents on the forum, it must be so difficult.

If you don't feel that you're getting enough support from the clinic, don't hesitate to let them know you'd like more input. And I would definitely push for the carb counting course - this will really help to determine doses and improve flexibility with meals.

Unfortunately, hunger can be a sign of either low or high blood sugar. Everyone's different - I get intense hunger when I'm hypo, but also get "the munchies" when I'm high (up to a point - beyond a certain number I just feel rubbish!). Really the only way to know is to test - so I would suggest testing Bethany when she comes home from to school to identify if it's high/low blood sugar causing the hunger, or if she's just hungry!
 
I agree with Emma - ask your clinic for more help and input. If the carb counting course is a long way off, you don't necessarily need to wait. A lot of people start carb counting without going on a course. i just bought a couple of books ( Collins Gem carb counter, Map fat and calorie counter and Carbs and Cals) and also some Salter 1400 nutritional scales. I also asked for loads of advice on the email group. Our DSN gave me ratios to start with which we used for a few days before we realised that they didn't suit Katie and so we tweked them ourselves. I still have to tweak them every so often. Please keep asking for advice. x
 
I have heard of these courses for counting up your foods content but I've got to say I'm surprised if not shocked that newly diagnosed folk - child OR adult - aren't taught this from the off. It's damn near essential for any T1 to get things on a nice even keel.
Have you had a butchers on the interwobble for courses or the like. I know there's a few you can get for ipods and phones. One I would recommend to anyone is the DAFNE app. I think they're working on an android version now as well as others. As a bonus you can log all your testing, insulin doses andgives a nice round up of averages, stats and so on.

I've moved from pen to pump now so the logging isn't quite the same and I really miss using that side of it. But I wouldn't be without the carb advisor as a new diabetic. With time it comes almost like breathing but I know that when I was a nipper and a nurse told my mam "it's dead easy" she was far from amused. Yep, easy after 20 years maybe. Yet still mistakes happen.

It's important you get the info you need so as said, don't feel any shame in asking. And if you don't get the help myther mytherand myther again.

I'll add the link to the relevant thread on DAFNE forums when I get to a real computer. All the best!
 
just to encourage you along

Hi Jo we're in Manchester too and just wanted to encourage you along. I know that feeling of having to find your own way, in october I was thinking I was treading water with it all (JP was diagnosed in March last yr) but then today we had an appointment at clinic and I felt really into the whole diabetes thing alot more and not so new to it.

Have you been given the yellow sheet of snacks with carbs less than 10g - the dietitian gav eit to us today (think we've had it before!) she thought we should not let JP eat so many wotsits, skips and quavers and more plaon breadsticks - haha he's not so easily going to switch!

Hope your year has got off to an ok start,

Rachel
 
Hi Jo,
when Bede was first diagnosed, he ate and ate and ATE! I am talking about 3 huge bowls of porridge for breakfast, I took him a HUGE lunch to school every day, then he would eat another meal when he got home, then dinner and often a snack with his lantus in the evening. Eventually his appetite subsided but lately he has been coming home from school to eat a meal, then have dinner as usual. I made pizza tonight and he ate 16 slices plus a danish.
Byron is 14 and eats like a young man his age but more so!! Their appetites wax and wane and I put it down to hormone surges, growth, sport. The positive about eating so much (provided it is nutritious and healthy) is that their bodies are growing and repairing.
Sometimes, injections are difficult and painful. Waking Bede up in the night is difficult for him, and he is upset by blood tests when he is sleeping. They have each gone through tough days and days of denial of their condition.
As for snack, we stock up on cereal bars, chips, crackers, cheese, small packets of raisins, yoghurt pots, and I bake constantly so that I have good food for them to eat.
I hope this helps.🙂
 
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