Teenage son lost lot of weight

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WorriedMum

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hello All
My son Laurence, who is 19, was diagnosed with Type 1 at age nearly 9. My husband and I spent the first year in a state of shock and really overwhelmed by it all.
It happened so suddenly while we were on holiday Laurence kept asking for a glass of water. I just thought he was doing it to get attention and thought it was quite amusing.
When the doctor diagnosed Type 1 I was devastated, we were told to go immediately to hospital where the staff would be waiting in A&E to put him straight on a drip.
He was in hospital for a week!
Life has never been the same since. We haven't done too badly but recently Laurence lost weight, he goes to the gym, and the diabetes nurse said its because we've got poor control and that causes the body fat to get used up followed by the muscles. So we've had a big shock ( even though his HaB1c is 8)
and have decided to carb count for the first time. We always eyeballed the food before.
We've just got the carb counting book with all the pictures in it and checking the carbs on the back of every packet.
It really is such a difficult thing to live with, it is non-stop hard work, every meal time involves working out how much to have and trying to work out what has caused a low or a high. It's never ending and I feel awful for my son. My heart aches for him having to live with this condition.
We always ate so healthily as well, he wasn't into sweets or chocolate or junk food.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum 🙂

I am another Mum of a type 1 boy (diagnosed at the age of 4, and now just turned 13). Everything you say resonates with me, especially the continuing heartache that he has this burden to carry for the rest of his life - if I could swap places with him I would do it in a heartbeat.

It's great that you and he are now carb-counting (I ought to be shocked that your clinic didn't bother teaching you this, but then neither did mine - I had to self-learn just about everything I know about diabetes management and have since moved hospitals for better care!). The carb counting will get quicker and easier after a while, because most people have favourite foods that they eat often, so you and your son will soon remember the carbs for these. The Carbs and Cals book is also available as a smartphone app I believe.

What insulin regimen is your son on?

I hope you don't mind me saying, but your DSN sounds a bit unsupportive if she just informed you out of the blue that your son's control is poor. If it has been poor, why hasn't she been giving advice and support?!! An Hba1c of 8 is higher than recommended (<7.5 for children, <7.0 for adults), but the teenage years are notoriously difficult for diabetes control, with all the hormones etc. as well as the young person managing their condition independently, so I'd say he's doing pretty well in the circumstances, and I'd be surprised if that was a high enough level to cause weight loss.

Has your son considered an insulin pump? He would fit the NICE guidelines for one, and it would improve his diabetes control and quality if life. My son has been on a pump for six years now, and we would never go back to injections. His Hba1c came down from 8.7 pre-pump to 6.9-7.5 nowadays.
 
Hi WorriedMum, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear your son is having difficulties at the moment. I would echo what Redkite says, it is a shame that you are only just being introduced to carb counting as a means of getting tighter control. How is your son't day to day control? Sometimes a fairly decent HbA1c can mask the fact that levels may be often high and low, rather than fairly steady and in range. How does he feel about his diabetes? He does sound as though he likes to keep healthy, so hopefully he is committed to trying his best to control things well.

Do you have a copy of Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas? If not, I would definitely get hold of a copy. Even though you have long experience of diabetes, it may help explain things that have previously been a mystery or difficult to handle.

Please ask anything that you wish, there is a wealth of knowledge and experience here, and we will do our best to help you and your son in any way we can 🙂
 
Hello Redkite
Thanks for your help. He has Novorapid and Glargine. I have been trying to encourage him to have a pump for years but he totally refuses and will not hear of it, any time I mention it he gets so cross with me, doesn't want something attached to him even though it means no injections. He associates a pump with having a disability. I would love him to have it but so far in all these years there is no sign of him wanting it, anyway we would have to be very proficient in carb counting for that.
His diabetes doctors have always said we should carb count but we were happy just to 'eyeball' the food.
Been trying to get him on a FIFI course but he was working and couldn't go but now he has no job at the moment so we're trying to get him on one now.
 
Hello Northerner
Thanks for the welcome.
We have always worked together on his diabetes although teenage moods got in the way a bit, he has never liked me talking too much about diabetes, he does say things like 'I'd rather enjoy my life now and I'll have to die young' which is a terrible thing for a mother to hear.
He does go out a lot at night with friends, goes away on holidays and to festivals. He always asks me how much insulin he should have so that we can decide together. He's more mature now and not so moody. When he started a full time job he hardly needed any insulin for his food, we were amazed. He would get a hypo if he had 2 units for his lunch.
Thanks for the book recommendation
 
Hi WorriedMum- welcome from me too.I have a teenager too-hes 17[ dx 2 yrs].We were taught carb counting from day 1.We've guessed when eating out and dont often get it right [esp thai food etc] weve yet to get to the festival thing- but plans are afoot for a lads hol in the summer- oh joy!.Does your son test regularly and record his readings so that you can see any patterns ....so you can look at the ratios for the meal before etc.The cooking family meals is a headache .. I had many a meltdown in those early days with pasta dishes! it will get easier and digital scales are a godsend.Oh and places like subway/greggs /KFC /Pizza express all have carb lists -handy when out with mates[ also my fitness pal site is useful] welcome again
 
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Thanks

delb t
Thanks for the welcome. We didn't do too badly just by 'eyeballing' the food, if you know what that means, it's just the not being able to build up big muscles at the gym that has given us the shock. A year ago he was developing them fine from his workouts.
We use the Accu-chek Mobile BG meter which gives us readouts on the computer.
 
Laurence's diabetes doctor always said we were doing a fantastic job just 'eyeballing' the food. His Hba1c results were always good. The wake up call has been that he has lost most of the muscle bulk that he's been working on at the gym for the last 2 years, despite working out just as much.
 
WorriedMum said:
Laurence's diabetes doctor always said we were doing a fantastic job just 'eyeballing' the food. His Hba1c results were always good. The wake up call has been that he has lost most of the muscle bulk that he's been working on at the gym for the last 2 years, despite working out just as much.
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I think for bodybuilding, he would require an appropriate diet, ie. more calories in the form of carbs for the energy expended, and more protein (?). The extra carbs would need extra insulin of course. If he exercises with insufficient insulin on board, his BG levels will end up higher, as the body tries to release stored glucose to be used for energy, but this can only be utilised in the presence of insulin. Glucose is stored both in the liver and the muscles, an depending on whether the exercise is aerobic or anaerobic, it will be released from one or the other. If he is losing muscle bulk, chances are he is doing too much exercise (ie expending too much energy) and needs to take in more carbs plus insulin on his gym days. For more info on sports and type 1, take a look at the Runsweet website. Hope this helps 🙂
 
Redkite said:
I think for bodybuilding, he would require an appropriate diet, ie. more calories in the form of carbs for the energy expended, and more protein (?). The extra carbs would need extra insulin of course. If he exercises with insufficient insulin on board, his BG levels will end up higher, as the body tries to release stored glucose to be used for energy, but this can only be utilised in the presence of insulin. Glucose is stored both in the liver and the muscles, an depending on whether the exercise is aerobic or anaerobic, it will be released from one or the other. If he is losing muscle bulk, chances are he is doing too much exercise (ie expending too much energy) and needs to take in more carbs plus insulin on his gym days. For more info on sports and type 1, take a look at the Runsweet website. Hope this helps 🙂
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Thanks for that. It is all so complicated and I consider myself to be quite medically minded.
It's horrible to see him get so despondent, he seems to get over it quite well though.
 
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