OK, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in Feb of 2010. My son’s paternal grandmother was also a type 2 diabetic. So it’s on both sides of my son’s family tree.
From time to time, I’ve tested my 11-yo-son’s blood sugar and it was never anything really alarming–in the 110s or the 130s, and close enough after a meal that I could write it off as a post-meal spike. But he complains of not feeling good after meals, and then I tell him “go for a walk, you’ll feel better,” and he feels much better after he gets back. His diet is as high in carbs as the average American diet, although not particularly high in calories. He’s 4’9" tall and weighs 105 lbs, which puts him at a BMI of 22.7 and makes him “overweight” at the 92nd percentile for height. He was always a skinny kid until about age 9 and then without changing his diet or exercise AT ALL, started to gain weight in his stomach.
ANYWAY, getting to the point, I finally got a Bayer A1C meter and tested him and his home A1C was 7.3!
Which is super awful, obviously. I feel like I’ve been slapped repeatedly with a dead fish. I’ve expressed my concerns about my son to his pediatrician from time to time and been blown off with “Type 2 diabetes doesn’t happen until you’re in your twenties,” which is obviously BS. But he’s been our pediatrician for 10 years now. Should I immediately find another doctor? Give the doctor an ultimatum and the A1C results and then see what happens? Try to get my son in with the endocrinologist? Buy him a meter?
Your son needs to be tested and treated by a pediatrician or pediatric endocrinologist who actually understands diabetes.
However, do not assume that he’s T2. He might be in the honeymoon phase of converting to T1.
If he has two fasting BG’s over 126, he’s a diabetic (nothing but water for ten to twelve hours before the test.) He’ll need a bunch more tests to see what kind of diabetic: c-peptide, anti-beta cell antibodies, etc.
An A1C is also diagnostic: his puts his AVERAGE blood glucose at 183.
A normal A1C for adults is 4.5 to 6, tops – I’m not sure about kids but I have no doubt that an average of 183 is NOT normal. He needs further testing and treatment from a doctor who is not in denial.
Interesting story. I recomend you mention this to a doctor who will listen and get his A1C checked. I higly doubt hes type 2, Like Jean says it could be early stages of type 1. Has he had frequent urination, excesive thirst and or weight loss? if yes to anyone you should get him checked immediately. even though they have many similarities type 1 and type 2 have very different roots.
T2 in children isn’t unheard of & it’s a possibility since most T1 kids are thin prior to diagnosis. C-peptide & a GAD antibody panel tests are needed for a proper diagnosis. Non-diabetic kids tend to have lower normal BG than non-diabetic adults. Not unusual for a child’s BG to be in the 70’s.
Not super awful for a kid. Kids often have higher or lower sugar levels and are totally diabetes free - just because of their hormones, activities or lack of them, and of course their less than healthy diet.
The fact that he feels awful could be down to indigestion or something or nothing. Exercise is good and should be encouraged, but not something he does not enjoy or he will be less inclined to do it.
I would change doctors! Different doctors have different opinions and that can be unhelpful. They are human and can get things wrong. A second opinion can never hurt. When you do, take a first of the day wee sample in a clean bottle and insist that they check it for sugar. I was diagnosed as Type 2 simply because of my age but after 2 stays in hospital they asked me why I was not taking my insulin? I said because I was Type 2 and it had not been prescribed. They were stunned and said that I was in fact Type 1 and rampant! Looking back, over the 10 years that I had been ill previously, there were several times when I would have been ketotic.
Especially as there is a risk - previous history in the family and the fact that he has a high BMI and overweight.
Fight his corner for him. He cannot. The quicker he gets a diagnosis, the quicker he can get it sorted!
Thanks, you guys. I have an appt for him with his pediatrician tomorrow, and if I get no joy from him I’ll follow up with a pediatric endocrinologist. I hadn’t even considered the idea of him possibly being type 1 but you are right, he should have a full panel.
