[HollyB]

Hi,

My son Aaron was diagnosed a year and a half ago, at 13, and is turning 15 on Saturday. The puberty thing seemed a non-issue while he was honeymooning but we are seeing it now. His insulin needs have gone steadily up -- he's using about 50 units a day now, sometimes 60, and p***ed because his pump won't hold a full three day supply. But it hasn't been as bad as I've heard some kids go through, not yet anyway.

We have to adjust his doses a lot, and he does sometimes just spike way up for no apparent reason. But luckily he has totally bought into the value of frequent testing so he doesn't stay up there for too long.

I would say the biggest challenge right now is his growth rate and appetite! The kid gets these hunger jags where he could rip through 100 carbs at a go... for snack. Usually hits at bedtime -- he's starving, pacing around the house stuffing food in his mouth. I can only imagine how high he spikes before the insulin brings him back to normal. So then he's going to bed with big wads of insulin still active, which means I am fairly often checking him at about 1 a.m. to make sure everything has settled down safely.

I think so far we've been lucky. He hasn't had D that long so he isn't "burned out" like some teens are, and the pump makes everything much easier. I'm pretty sure we would have major issues without it.