How Long to get normal levels/ 3year old

[hkk1970]

Hello, my 3 year little boy was diagnosed in Jan 2012 with type 1 diabetes. All a shock, as you all know , he had a count of 41 when we got to the hospital but fortunately was not ill with it, (this we were very lucky with)

we are currently carb counting , but Im finding it all very difficult, as some days his counts are high and some days they are on the low side. The diabetic team says its just a matter of adjusting his insulin and we will get there in the end, but how long does it usually take for a newly diagnosed child to be within "normal" levels"

I also worry that when he doesnt want to eat all his meal he will have a hypo because I have given him to much insulin in realtion to what I serve out.

We give him 1 unit of levemir at bedtime and this often brings him to below 4 in the morning if we have a lay in...

All a constant worry , any help would be greatly received...Helen



Any advice would be great !

 

[Northerner]

Hi Helen, I'm afraid there is no straight answer to your question as there are so many variables involved, especially in such a young child who is no doubt growing fast. All sorts of things can play a part in what happens to a person's levels, not just the carb content of the food. Activity will play a big part as will all the various hormones, illness, whether the weather is hot or cold, if the child is stressed or excited - the list goes on! All you can do is try your best to take everything into account when calculating doses.

Do you have the book Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents by Ragnar Hanas? There is a wealth of information in there that may help you to fine-tune things. Also, given that he is on only one unit of levemir and this is sometimes leaving him hovering around 4 it would be worth having a word with your DSN about the possibility of an insulin pump. Failing that, perhaps the levemir injection could be moved to the morning so that he is up and about and less likely to fall low in the night. Again, I would ask the DSN about this.

Regarding your worry about giving insulin and then not eating all the food, it might be worth giving either half the insulin up front and the remainder after you know how much has been eaten - yet another question for your busy DSN! 🙂 Of course, a pump would also help with things like this as it wouldn't require extra injections.

 

[Hanmillmum]

Hello and welcome from me, sorry to hear about your little one's diagnosis

Northerner is right, it is very difficult to achieve "normal" levels in such a young child. So many varibles to consider it feels beyond grasp sometimes. It is not entirely safe to have too tight control as it leaves little room for the unplanned and those variables (I think this factor is reflected in NICE guidelines and some of the books regarding a young childs BG and HbA1c readings) It will be harder too with the injection regime where you can't fine tune things because you can't administer insulin in the tiny doses necessary. We had to discontinue the levemir when my daughter was on injections as it sent her too low overnight. This was in the honeymoon period. She is still on relatively tiny amounts overnight on the pump.
Kids are kids, they have bursts of activity and variable appetites, a pump would make adjusting to the variables much easier but it isn't perfect. My expectations of achieving near normal levels are not as high as they used to be which is self preservation, still try my very hardest but don't beat myself up quite as much as some of it is beyond control (growth hormones, illness etc) Things will settle and you will get into a pattern, it will become easier.

Very best wishes and look forward to your posting 🙂

 

[HOBIE]

Hi Helen, sorry to hear about your son. I to was given the big "D" at three years old. Now 48 & have my own 2 kids. Keep at it you will learn every day cos no 2 days are the same. Good luck things are much better these days.

 

[MeanMom]

Hi Helen

Agree with all the above!

Injecting after meals Check with your DSN but ours said this is fine and I do know lots do it especially little ones. my daughter does and our DSN says it is fine. In an ideal word inject some before and some after but most try to avoid too many injections - as long as you dont keep forgetting, or the meal doesn't take ages to eat it is fine and more flexible. We found K was eating mire than she needed to just to 'feed the insulin' so injecting after works for her.
Going low in the morning if you have or can get a half unit pen try that. Or if he doesn't already he could have a small snack at bedtime (with no insulin) What levels does he have at bedtime? If K is below 7 she has an extra (small) cookie/cracker/ or more milk.
Don't panic if things seem a bit 'out of control' - I found this a hard thing to deal with too as I like order and am a control freak/bossy boots. There will be days when you think - 'we've cracked it!' and the next day you will do the same and get a different result It happens to everyone - try not to worry and keep asking questions on here- no body will think they are daft questions -
Good Luck🙂

 

[Ruthie]

Hi!

Sorry to hear about your son. My son was diagnosed in Jan and is 2 1/2. He has a pump and we bolus after his meals as it's so difficult to guarantee what he will eat - this was suggested by our nurse. I also have to have a range of foods available because he is rebelling against food! I can make it up with fruit toast or yogurt

What is good with the pump is that you can adjust the amount of background insulin they receive overnight so for three hours he doesn't receive any insulin. We still get lows in the morning though not as many as at first

It's so hard isn't it, especially as they are too young to reason with.

 

[Ruth Goode]

I'm afraid it will be up and down like a yoyo! Carly will have type 1 nearly 2 years now and I'm still struggling to keep it down or up!! It's just patience we need and take once at a time and do our best, stay strong - patience is golden x