A1C in 8 year old 5.7

[Chassdance 1]

Hi. I have an 8 year old girl, slender build. She has been having headaches and bellyaches for about 3 months. I randomly checked her fasting blood sugar one morning (I had gestational diabetes, still have machine) her fasting was 107. Her pediatrician recommended an A1c yest, and she is 5.7. We are to continue to log random blood sugars. Anyone else have similar case. I'm scared and worried that she may be developing diabetes.

[samuraiguy 4,973]

Welcome to the forums, I hope everything is well with your daughter, but if it were my child I would request a C-Peptide test as it is more likely she would have diabetes type 1. Unfortunately home meters can be off by as much as 20% and the A!C test by as much as .5 depending on method used to test. The C-Peptide would show if her insulin is lower than normal possibly indicating type 1 diabetes.

[NoraWI 4,809]

A much better way to definitively determine whether your daughter has T1 diabetes is to run antibody tests such as the GAD65. C-peptides can remain in the normal range for a long time even when there is an autoimmune attack on the beta cells. I do hope your daughter is NOT diabetic but if she is, there are several parents at these Forums who can help give you answers to any questions you may have. I wish you the best of outcomes!

[DeusXM 2,075]

Actually, the easiest way of checking for likely T1 is monitoring ketones in urine. High ketone levels in individuals eating normal diets are indicative of insufficient insulin levels, so a ketone check is logically a far quicker and cheaper way of collating evidence. Simply put, there's no way an untreated T1 can have trace or no ketones.

 

Headaches and bellyaches are NOT symptoms of diabetes. A1c tests in children are also unreliable as there seems to be a lot of confusion over what is a 'normal' A1c for children - there is a school of thought which suggests kids may have higher A1cs than adults without actually having anything wrong with them.

[NoraWI 4,809]

Well, LADA (T1.5) does begin at some point and progresses to a diagnosis later in life. It could begin with a low grade autoimmune attack on the pancreas in childhood. I would still suggest a test for an autoimmune attack if you are concerned. Otherwise, ignore the issue until there are some signs other than headache and stomach ache. In an 8 year old these could be signs of stress due to school or peer interactions.