Diabetes (Type 1)

[Spence]

Does anyone out there have any personal experience with diabetes. My daughter (7) was diagnosed last August with this disease and since then we have been in a never ending struggle to keep her blood sugar under control. She has been very good about her treatment and doesn't "cheat" with her diet, but we can't seem to get full control of her blood glucose.

Her A1C was 7.5 the first time around, the second it was 8.5. The doctors say that isn't bad for her age, but I know if we can get it under 7 she has less chance of complications later on in life.

Her treatment consists on Humalog before meals and Lantus at night. We check her sugar before meals, 2 hrs after, and at 2:00am. The 2:00am check is to make sure she won't go low. The doctors have said that we can discontinue the 2:00am check, but I am afraid she will bottom out over night so I stay up and check her. (That is why I am on here so much)

My question is when they get older does their glucose levels even out? I would like to eventually be able to go to bed at a decent time. I haven't gotten more then 4 hours sleep in one night since August. Also is there anything you have found to eat as a bedtime snack that will hold them good over night, but not spike their blood sugar over 200?

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

[Eric]

I don't have any experience, but I wish you the best of luck!

[bama_girl]

bless her heart! and yours too!
i don't know much about it at that age but i know a few people who do and i'll see what kind of info i can kick up for ya!

[Spence]

That would be cool. We seem to have it under control for now, but it seems everytime we think we have it figured out the worm turns.

[bama_girl]

a friend of mine says that this site helped her out alot...

http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/index_cwd.htm


good luck with it!

[Spence]

Thanks BG. It is nice to be able to go through and find out that some of the same things we are going through other people have already went through. Also it looks like a good site to find new information.

[Spence]

BG, i just wanted to say thanks again for hooking me up to this site. I can read through the forums and relate to exactly the same things they are talking about.

My biggest problem is I try to micro manage her disease. We have gotten a talking to by the endo a couple of times because of it. I'm trying it their way right now and doing my best to follow their rules. It worked perfectly for about three weeks and then her sugar started going crazy again. I'm hanging in there, though, and trusting that the medical professionals know better.

[bama_girl]

no problem, i have a friend who's daughter has it also. her daughter is in her teens now.
unfortunately, every case is just a little (or a lot) different. you just have to stay on top of it and try really hard to listen to the doctors but as a parent, you are more in tune with your daughter and what is working and what isn't so never hessitate to question and insist on changes when you really believe they are neccessary but keep an open mind and be willing to do what the doctors tell you too.
also be sure that you talk to THE DOCTOR when you call with concerns, don't rely on nurses to act as go betweens. your doctor should not have a problem with this and if he/she does, get a new one. i'm a nurse and i know too many know-it-all-nurses who throw out advice and like to get bossy, that kind of thing is dangerous.....but whattaya gonna do, the world is full of that kind of people.....ok, i'm rambling i think so i'll cut it out now

[bama_girl]

p.s. meant to say in there that once my friend figured out what worked for her daughter things went well for several years, but when she hit puberty, things went a bit haywire and they had to adjust.
best of luck to you and your girl

[Spence]

also be sure that you talk to THE DOCTOR when you call with concerns, don't rely on nurses to act as go betweens. your doctor should not have a problem with this and if he/she does, get a new one. i'm a nurse and i know too many know-it-all-nurses who throw out advice and like to get bossy, that kind of thing is dangerous.....but whattaya gonna do, the world is full of that kind of people.....ok, i'm rambling i think so i'll cut it out now

My wife and sister-in-law are RN's and my other sister-in-law is a midwife and her husband is a practitioner, so we get plenty or help. The endo has been pretty cool about everything. It was just that their carb to insulin ratio wasn't working. After I got my talking to we compromised on the treatment and it is working out. My problem was when she was running really high I gave here an extra shot. It worked, but that isn't how they wanted us to do it.

She was on Humalog and Lantus. My wife wanted the novapen so we changed to that and her blood glucose is crazy again. It seems a common problem with the Novapen is that insulin leaks back out. There were suggestions on how to stop it, but they didn't work. Most who use it and the endo say that if we adjust to how much is leaking out it won't matter. I have a problem with that, though, because how do you really know what you are dosing them? The pen is handy and more discrete in public, but I'm not a fan.

My wife is very good at following the Doc's instructions, me not so much.

[bama_girl]

LISTEN TO YOUR WIFE i'm glad you've got alot of help, i didn't know your situation so i was worried a bit. it's easy to get too much conflicting info when you are outside the medical profession/world....some people tend to think that doctors and nurses know EVERYTHING and that just ain't the case. every case is different especially when it comes to kids.

[Spence]

Just like females to band together.

We aren't in bad shape. I just like it when things are black and white. The grey areas have always been a problem for me.