Newbie here !!

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Emi'smum

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Hello !! First time here and on any kind of message board site.

Our adorable 2 year old daughter was diagnosed as type 1 in March. Luckily suspicious symptoms lead to an early diagnosis without her becoming poorly.

We are still trying to get to grips with everything, she has 3 novorapid injections a day and levemir at night. We are so so proud of how she is coping and in fact at times she keeps us right and can even spot her hypo symptoms herself God love her.

We are struggling at the moment however with really erratic blood readings. We always wash her hands pre testing, her diet hasn't changed, it's so frustrating. We spoke to our nurse and she said poss growth spurt etc, just difficult to handle.

I feel like I'm letting her down as I don't fully understand the whys and how's...

Help, advice, General support would be appreciated xx
 
Hi Emi'sMum, welcome to the forum 🙂 Very sorry to hear about your daughter's diagnosis, but it sounds like she is a little star and helping you as much as you are helping her.

There are lots of resources that can help. Has she got a 'Rufus' bear? He comes in the support and information pack for people with a recent diagnosis of type 1 diabetes from JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). I would also recommend getting hold of a copy of Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas, which is by far the best book available on dealing with all aspects of Type 1 diabetes.

You may also be interested in joining Children with Diabetes, which is an organisation of UK parents of Type 1 children who will really understand how you are all feeling and what you are going through. Plus of course, you have our own parents section here to help with any questions you may have.

There are extra challenges with such a young child, such as growth as you suggest, which can make blood sugar control unpredictable at times, but hopefully as you gain experience you will be able to spot patterns more readily and take appropriate action. You should not feel as though you are letting her down, this is a complex condition that can present many puzzles and surprises when you least expect, so just try to learn from each new experience so that it helps inform your actions in the future.

I do hope you find the forum useful. It is full of lots of friendly, experienced people, and it can also be beneficial for you to see the many achievements of our members who were diagnosed at a similar age, but have now grown up not letting diabetes hold them back 🙂

I look forward to hearing more from you 🙂
 
While I am not type 1, a couple of things come to mind and will stand to be corrected.

The first maybe what's called the honeymoon period where the pancreas may still produce some insulin before its stops producing it all together.

The other one that's knocked me and others about is the British summer we have been having, I was getting hypos for no reason as was eating the same food, one day I could be high or normal, then the next time I would have a mild hypo.
 
Hi Emi's mum Welcome to the forum. I was 2 when I was diagnosed 42 years ago🙂. Ive had a fantastic life and done loads of great things. Although not always easy over time you will both find a way to have diabetes in your lives but not let it stop you doing what you want to do. Big hugs 🙂
 
Welcome to the forum Emi's Mum 🙂. My son was diagnosed aged 4, eight years ago now. One of the things I learned early on is that there is no such thing as "stable" where children are concerned. You might get a couple of consecutive days where the BG levels behave themselves, then it will be all change again. The reasons are many, including growth hormones, excitement, unpredictable activity patterns, illness, etc etc. You just have to go with the flow, increasing the insulin when levels seem to be rising, and reducing it when you start getting lows.

Do consider joining CWD, as there are lots of other parents of little ones who can share their experiences with you. 🙂
 
Emi'smum said:
Hello !! First time here and on any kind of message board site.

Our adorable 2 year old daughter was diagnosed as type 1 in March. Luckily suspicious symptoms lead to an early diagnosis without her becoming poorly.

We are still trying to get to grips with everything, she has 3 novorapid injections a day and levemir at night. We are so so proud of how she is coping and in fact at times she keeps us right and can even spot her hypo symptoms herself God love her.

We are struggling at the moment however with really erratic blood readings. We always wash her hands pre testing, her diet hasn't changed, it's so frustrating. We spoke to our nurse and she said poss growth spurt etc, just difficult to handle.

I feel like I'm letting her down as I don't fully understand the whys and how's...

Help, advice, General support would be appreciated xx
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Hi there, we are in the same position with our boy Sam who was diagnosed in May a couple of months before his second birthday. Like you we were lucky to get a diagnosis before he got very poorly, but we are also still getting to know how to adjust to get more consistent blood sugar levels. I've been online and ordered the Ragnar Hanas book today for some advice.

Also like you Sam is coping really well and doesn't mind the injections, he also eats everything he is given ( takes after his mum there,) so we don't have that to worry about either. It's great that your daughter can spot her hypos.

For my husband and I we find we talk about it a lot but are trying to help each other remain calm when things are unpredictable. We are learning every week, this week that if he eats early at lunchtime his levels are high, if he has a nap and eats later they are a lot lower. Batter on fried fish keeps his levels high for ages, we will have a lot of random facts to pass onto him at some point, but at the moment he's busy learning that cows go moo😉

Hope to keep in touch and good luck
 
Well I certainly think he has his priorities right, even if his parents don't at times! LOL

Thing about batter is this - it ain't really the batter, you can count the carbs in that OK - it's the fat it's fried in that slows the absorption of the carbs down and the effects can last for hours and our - too slow for the insulin sometimes.

It happens with all sorts of things that are fairly high carb and have quite a bit of fat too. In fact the Americans of course coined a phrase to describe this phenomenon and it's called "The Pizza Effect'.

Personally, I get it a lot with stuff you eat on top of rice and pasta. I don't actually eat that much pizza for it to bother me itself ! - don't have it often and don't eat much when I do.

There are a few ways to cope with it.

1. Find out just how much of that food your body can cope with bolusing upfront, and stick with that amount

2. Split the bolus - two thirds upfront and the rest an hour/90mins after eating

3. Get a pump and deliver the split bolus to deliver X upfront and drip the rest in spread over the next Y number of hours. A pump is totally brilliant for this, as well as any number of other little probs we might face.
 
Thanks for the good advice about the fatty foods, I had heard similar at diagnosis but this was the first time we'd experienced it as only his second time eating it. I noticed at the time it was pretty much all batter and little fish so this and your advice makes sense 🙂
 
Hi Emi s mam & welcome. Boxes of support heading your way. Just a word of encouragement. I have been T1 since being 3 when england won the world cup (to long ago) It will get a bit better as you learn what works for your little one. Good luck & ask away 😎
 
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