How did you find out your child was Diabetic

[jeggeman31]

About 4 months ago I noticed my 11 year old son peeing alot, drinking alot and complaining of blured vision. The only thing he was not loosing weight and he was not sick. I started to test him with the same meter as I use and had fastings sugars some days 90 and some days 140 to 150. I also checked him after school (4 hours after lunch) and he sometimes was normal and sometimes high. We took him to a ENDO who did a blood draw and said everything was normal and had an A1C of 5.1 and told me it was the meter that was mis reading. Again it is the same meter as I use and don't think that was the case. Anyway I have kept an eye on him over the last 4 months and he still is peeing alot, takes a water bottle to bed with him and drinks in during the night. He came to me this morning out of the blue asking if I would check his fasting sugar and I got a reading of 156. I went around and checked a few places and found a home A1C at walmart. His test came back as 5.6 I know that is good but I think something is going on.


So back to why I am posting this. How did you find out your child was diabetic? Do you think you can catch this to early and slip through the cracks?


I am going to call his DR next week, but wanted to hear from the true pro's in this field

Thanks

[Penny]

Hey Jim! My 10 year old granddaughter asks me to check her BS sometimes. I worry sometimes because she spends so much time with me, she worries too much about being diabetic. I am always telling her to be aware of what she is eating as she has 3 diabetic grandparents, which means she has more than average chance of being diabetic someday. That's beside the point.:) But, everytime I have checked her, wheter fasting or not, she has been a little high.....140 to 160. I asked her doctor about it, and he said children just normally run higher than adults. I did an A1C on her a while back and she was 5.1, so I just check once in awhile, to be sure. She also drink a lot of water, but she has had Strep several times this year, and I wonder if it has something to do with that. I keep meaning to ask my doctor about "the children run higher" thing....doesn't make sense to me. I will when I go this month.

[Stumpkins]

Hi, I was diagnosed at 14, but sadly, at that time, my mother did not know anything about the disease. Somehow, I was/am the only type 1 (or type2) in our entire family history.

I started getting thirsty, and drinking the powdered iced tea...glasses and glasses and glasses of it...and peeing about every 20 min. On top of that, it seemed that the more I ate..the skinnier I got..

At the time I was going through this, I was reading a book, where one of the characters had diabetes..I told my mom I thought I had it..She told me NO...that doesn't run in our family.

About a year later, after going blind (from cataracts) a doctor finally did a blood draw - and whammo - diabetic!

I wish that someone would have been as knowledgeable as you!!

[Finn]

The Baby Sitters Club- that's why I thought I was diabetic. I was 16 and drinking EVERYTHING, about a gallon of milk a day, a pop, between each class. I would get tired from walking up a flight of stairs, I mean exhausted. So I slept alot and also lost alot of weight, about 10 pound/week. It sounds like your son may need his kidney function tested. Then again, it may just be one of the quirks of puberty. Wishing you and your son health! Keep us updated.

[Stumpkins]

OH MY GOD..YES..that was the book(The Baby Sitters Club), Stacey was diabetic... BUT, it was about a year after reading the book that I finally ended up in the hospital!!!

[nantomsuethom]

Thomas was drinking and peeing way more than normal. He would get up 2-3 times a night to get a drink and go to the bathroom. I started to watch closer when he had gone to the bathroom 3 times before we went to church and then (for the first time ever) had to get up from church and go to the bathroom.
He lost about 20lbs but that started about a month and a half before he was diagnosed.
Hopefully everything is ok with your son!

[Mariel's Mom]

Similar to what others have said. Mariel was drinking water all the time - she got hot very easily, she seemed quite pale and lost a little weight. What really got my attention was that she started wetting her bed at night - Which she never did. I finally made an appt with her Doctor to have her urine checked and bingo - instant diagnosis. I'm glad we caught it while she was still walking around and not flat out in the hospital. Symptoms seemed to begin about a month before diagnosis. My doctor told me that when symptoms appear 90% or so of the pancreas's function has already been compromised which is why they tend to quickly go downhill.

Be vigilant - if you are concerned - continue to watch!

[Eri's mom]

With Eri, I started to become concern a couple of weeks b/f Christmas of '99. She could NOT quench her thirst, was always tired, and started w/ wetting the bed as well...and I'm not just talking a little wet...I'm talking through the mattress, boxspring and a puddle on the floor. She was constantly in the bathroom as well, and the weight loss was something else. She lost a LOT of weight(and for a 6 yo, I think they said it was well more than 10% of her body weight, so she looked pathetic)...
My dad is a T2, and he came down after Christmas, right b/f New Years...I asked him to check her sugar and it was HI...he never saw that, so he re-checked, and it was still HI. We had her fast, and the next morning she was something like 598. Sooo, it being New Years Eve, Y2K, we talked to a doc, but they said to wait for her pediatrician...so she was seen on 1/3/00...I got the call while at work(her dad took her in) and he said I had to get home so we could take her to All Children's in Tampa...when I got home, he was in tears and on the phone, I told him it was ok, but I then found out his brother was just dx'd w/ liver cancer(not such a great day)...
We got up to Tampa(about 45 minutes away from where we lived)...and we were there for 4 hours in endocrinology...and they then sent us home. I believe they said her A1c was 17.1...something like that...and that's how it all began.

...now, my youngest, we've been watching her for a few years b/c they "suspect" she is "brewing" it. She's had readings in the 300's(fasting, and yes, hands washed)...and, of course, the A1c's have come back either at 5.4 or 6.1...so they say not to worry, just to keep an eye on her.
I know tomorrow morning I will be testing her BG as part of the monthly thing they told me to do.

Sorry this is so long...
I hope your son is ok!!!

[amccrazgrl]

I was 12 when I was dx'd. I was real tired and thristy and could barley eat. I went from being like 5'2 120lbs to 80 some odd lbs. Then I went to the DR and they checked for everything even asking if I was anerxios(sp?), the last thing they checked was diabetes. HELLO MY MOM HAS IT DUH!!!!
So basically I was just real tired sleeping ALL the time and couldn't eat.

[robinseggs]

Jeggman, it could be that your son is going to be fine. But you are wise to stay on top of his situation. My daughter is type 1 and when diagnosed, she was dehydrated, pale, and throwing up for 3 days. She was in keto-acidosis, a potentially fatal condition. She was helicoptered unconcious to our childrens hospital here. Things got that bad because she was so young, only 10 months old and signs/symptoms were missed. You're lucky your son is old enough to tell you how he feels. Watch for vomiting which is an advanced stage of high blood sugars. Also you can buy keto sticks at any pharmacy and check for ketones in his urine. If he is positive for ketones then he is spilling sugars into his urine which is not good. Good luck and keep us posted!!

Ps..blurred vision, headache, stomach ache and nausea are all symptoms of high blood sugars.....along with the excessive thirst/weight loss...

[Tatermom]

When Taylor drank a liter of water in less than 10 minutes I got a little worried. Then my dh started to comment on how much her spine was poking out, but I figured she was in a growth spurt and weight was just not keeping up with height. When she started wetting the bed, I started googling. Same night she threw up:puke: We lived in Greece at the time and the doc looked at me like I was crazy when I asked her to check out blood sugar but she was convinced it was a kidney infection. Needless to say, Taylor's bs was over 800 and she was dka. ICU for a week then a Medivac to Germany. Good times.

[jeggeman31]

Thanks all for your comments. My wife thinks I am going overboard with this because he got the all clear 6 months ago or so from the endo. We will see what happens