I come to you all, the experts for your thoughts/suggestions. As you know my mom had type 1 diabetes and I work for the UDOH Diabetes Prevention and Control Program so I know the signs and symptoms of diabetes. My son Talon is 23 months old and has been experiencing chronic diarrhea for over 4 months now. He is not losing weight really but has been experiencing other symptoms. He has leg aches to the point that we took him to instacare thinking he broke something, nothing. He is consistantly thirsty and not eating much these days. Toddler or diabetes?? I have asked his peds doctor about diabetes and because he is not lossing weight she is not concerned. He has been tested for celiac disease and many blood tests have been performed, nothing. I think its time we test his blood sugars.
The symptoms of Type 1 are rapid weight loss, drinking lots, urinating lots, and eating lots. You only mentioned one thing on that list, and two of those you said your son is doing the opposite (not losing weight, not eating much). I don't think leg aches is usually a symptom of Type 1, but I've heard people mention leg cramps in connection to their electrolytes being messed up from DKA, but by that point all the other symptoms would be pretty bad as well.
I don't think there is any harm in getting a blood sugar test if you're worried, but to me that doesn't sound like diabetes. Also, four months is a long time for symptoms of Type 1 to persist—usually it's closer to weeks before DKA sets in for kids, especially for toddlers.
Good luck! I hope you figure out what it is soon.
It is surprising that among all of the blood tests they haven't done a basic metabolic panel including sodium, potassium, chloride, BUN, creatinine, CO2, and glucose, especially in the presence of chronic diarrhea. Maybe you could request this?
I would go to WallyWorld and buy a meter and start testing yourself Most meters come with 10 strips and cost about $15-$20. I would think the $20 is worth the peace of mind.
I was rushing out the door when I typed this discussion. I would like to take some time to say, I do have access to a bg machine as I am a health educator for diabetes. It is out of pure FEAR that I haven't tested my son along with other emotions and doubt. So my plan is to test my son...with that said it is hard to tell in a toddler that is not potty trained if he is urinating frequently. With the diarrhea issues I am consistantly changing diapers. He is always tired but its cause he plays hard, or is it? He doesn't seem to have the fruit like smell on his breath. As for drinking, YES the boy drinks a TON but then again he plays hard.
I want to thank you all, thank you for your suggestions and ideas. I plan to test him. We have a upper GI tomorrow and it will be interesting to hear what we find...I will keep you all informed! Thanks for making me feel welcome and not stupid!
Frequent diarrhea can cause electrolyte imbalances and that most certainly could explain the leg cramps. From what you are describing it sounds unlikely esp for this long of a time frame that it would D. I think sometimes the closer we are to it, and Im not saying this to criticize, but its like when I was in nursing school learning all about different diseases, the more you are around it the more you start seeing the symptoms.
I used to work in GI, and it was not uncommon at all to see patients with chronic diarrhea and then just like that it resolves itself, as quickly as it came on. I'd say also as someone mentioned above they most like have ordered a CMP or BMP which are blood tests that check electrolytes and other substances such as glucose in blood. I think it is wise to get him evaluated for his chronic diarrhea and as others fave suggested if it puts your mind at ease then I would certainly do a finger stick. But based on your description, I'd say the most likely scenario is your son has just picked up a really nasty GI bug. Is he on frequent antibiotics for things like ear aches? The use of frequent antibiotics for things like ear aches or children who get frequent sore throats can sometimes cause a condition called C-diff, which the big symptom is frequent diarrhea.
While I think it is wise to have him evaluated, I think its a good possiblity it is not D. Good luck, please keep us updated.
Christy, THANK YOU! Yes, so the story keeps building. Talon had ear infection after ear infection for almost 11 months!! We scheduled ear tubes after the fourth ear infects however had to cancel half a dozen times due to RSV and fever (they wont but them under on an elevated temp). So he was consistantly on antibiotics, 11 MONTHS! We would push yogurt, electrolytes through gaterade and other liquids but I bet it wasn't enough. We will continue with the GI and I will let you know. xoxo, seriously!
while C-diff certainly isn't plesant I really hope that turns out to be all it is. Ask your GI doctor to do some stool studies to test for it. Funny enough though, the fix is um...MORE antibiotics. But esp knowing more about the situation that sounds very likely to me. It's likely if he's having frequent diarrhea the extra thirst is probably due to some mild dehydration in addition to just being an active toddler. xoxoxo
Have you entered him in to the Trial Net study? www.diabetestrialnet.org Maybe this testing will put your mind at ease or at least let you know his potential risk.
If his intestinal flora has been effected by antibiotics (good chance!), yogurt won't help. Very little active in pasteurized yogurt, despite the marketing. Speak with his doctor about probiotic capsules. The good ones are expensive & worth it. Here's info on what to look for http://probiotics.mercola.com/probiotics.html.
Yes the good probiotics can help as well. They may have samples at the doctors office you can try to see if you see any improvement using them. Never hurts to ask.
Hi, hoping everything went well with your son at his appointment.
Celiac disease however we are testing him for c-diff. The endoscopy picked up on a mild case of celiac. I talked to the specialist about c-diff and he said while my son doesn't have the symptoms that come with it (cramping, blood in stools) that it is worth checking into it. Just waiting to gather a sample.
His BG were fine!!
That is good. Sorry about the Celiacs though. There is a Facebook group called Gluten Freely (they have a website also) that people post recipes on. You can get a feel for what is good & what isn't. There is also a Celiacs group here.
Sorry to hear about him having Celiac as well. That one is a hard one, but there are a lot of really good web sites out there. Glad his BG was fine though, that has to be a big relief. Good luck.