How long is honeymoon period?

Hi! I have a type one daughter she is 4 she was dx a year ago when she was 3. She is currently only on long acting insulin. Doctor says short acting isn’t needed just yet and we are still in the honeymoon phase. With just her long acting insulin her after meal numbers are anywhere from 150-220. But without insulin they tend to go much higher. So my question is how long has everyone honeyphase lasted? I know everyone is different I’m just curious to see.

I was diagnosed at age nine and my honeymoon phase started a month after diagnosis and lasted two or three months. But even during that honeymoon, I needed both long- and short-acting insulin (this being in the R and NPH days). My honeymoon just produced very good control with a high percentage of readings in range (though I still had highs, but less frequent or severe).

Mine was fairly short- maybe a month? The insulin was different back then, but I think I went on a meal-time insulin right away, Regular.

I know children are a bit different than adults, but I would consider 220 after meals to be an undesirable number. I aim for keeping my post-meal levels below 160-180 and ideally below 140. I know children are different though, so perhaps these levels aren’t the best target.

It might be worth asking the doctor at what point he would consider short-acting insulin to be necessary for meals.

Doctor said we caught hers super early and He said he would start short acting insulin when the 200’s became the normal instead of the spikes so to speak. Which they are starting to trend upward more and more to me. But then some days they can be perfect. Her target range is under 180 although the would really like her under 160.

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My daughter was 11 at dx, not in DKA. She had a strong honeymoon for about 15 months. She was never able to come off insulin completely, but for several months she was on very small doses.

Younger kids tend to have shorter honeymoons, as do those dxd in DKA. As always, YDMV.

Thank you for sharing. My little one wasn’t in DKA either when she was dx. She just started being super thirsty and peeing a lot and laying around appeared sick but with no foreseeable cause. Until doctor wanted us to check sugars When checking her sugars they were in the 250-300. She started on 2 units on lantus daily which did fine for a while then her numbers started to climb again and now she is on 4 units and that seems to be ok for now. She has never stopped her insulin. But has never needed short acting as of yet. May 9th made the year mark for us. I was just wondering how long her honey moon could possiable last I know there’s no way to tell just trying see what others have experienced.

Mine was about 1 month.

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My honeymoon phase was about three months, but once it ended it started to rise very high very quickly, in just about two days. Interestingly, the end of the honeymoon came on Christmas morning, and everyone could read on my face that something terrible had happened after I performed my morning test. During the remission period I took one unit of insulin a day just to prevent antibodies being formed to insulin, but I didn’t really need any.

This sometimes happens to me too, sometimes worse, but I’m long past my honeymoon period (and long past 4 yrs old!). I’m not offering any medical advice, but to me if this is the standard response her main meals, it’s time to think about bolus insulin, even in tiny amounts, as @katers87 & @tiaE mentioned. There are half-unit pens available for people with small needs and it’s ok to start conservatively. The longer you can keep the post meal spikes from getting too large, the longer the honeymoon is likely to be.

You seem to be doing all the right things and asking all the right questions – best wishes to both of you!

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Thank you! I think I will bring this up again at our appt next month. I want to keep her smooth sailing for as long as I can. I’ve keep a log of what she ate versus her number so maybe that will help.

When she does eventually have meal time insulin would pump be easier for her over getting multiple shots a day I mean she is 4. ? I don’t know anything about them just trying get some research and personal first hand stories.

The pump v. MDI discussion is both a good one and neverending. I’ve been on the fence since dx. Advantages and disadvantages, and of course things change. Especially from the time you’re 4…

Try not to overthink it or get obsessed, stay healthy (both of you) and deal with what is a 24/7/forever thing in the best light possible. You and eventually she will be an expert with carbs before you know it, and glycemic index and then later hormonal changes and everything else.

That’s true things are constantly changing. For the most part I try and take it one things at a time but I also try to learn as much as I can. I like doing both research and hearing people’s personal experience. I feel over whelmed at time but over all I know in my heart I’m
Doing the best I can for her and her doctor reassured me she is on the right path.

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