Need help!

Need advice! My 6 yr old daughter has been having blurred vision! Went to eye dr he said nothing wrong with eyes, wanted her to see pediatrician to have sugar checked! Her a1c was 5.4 two weeks ago! Dr said it is normal but she has had high glucose readings ranging from 130 up to 195! I know these readings are high! Dr said to keep a check on it and to go to ER if glucose readings go above 200! What should I do?

Hi,

I would do what he says and make an appointment with an endo. You don't want her going into dka and ending up in hospital.

First, you need to take a deep breath. Think about it. You know the symptoms of diabetes. You aren't going to let this surprise you. And yes, blurred vision can come from high blood sugars, but usually much higher. And yes, your spot readings on your daughter are high, but they are not necessarily out of normal excursions and sometimes readings from kids fingers can just be contaminated. And an eye doctor is trained to suggest diabetes screening for this sort of thing, but that doesn't mean she has it.

Feed your daughter a normal meal, then very carefully wash her hand and test her 2 hours after a meal. Do this a couple times. This will give you a clear idea about how she is doing. If she is markedly high (200 mg/dl) two hours after a meal, then you can put on your concerned parent hat, get freaky and get your daughter to the endo.

I will be praying that your daughter had some candy earlier in the day and her fingers just still had traces.

ps. And don't tell me you won't be following your daughter around watching asking her if she is thirsty and peeing a lot and has the first signs of DKA. You are not going to be caught by surprise.

All of the high readings have been 2hrs after eating with us washing her hands really well and using alcohol wipes right before pricking her finger! I was a gestational diabetic when I was pregnant with her! I have tried to get her an appointment with a pediatric endo but they require a referal from a doctor! Doctor will not give us a referal because her a1c is normal! The doctor also told me not to change her diet! I feel like I should be doing more but don't know what to do at this point! We have a follow up visit with the eye dr in a week! I am hoping the eye dr will give us the referal to the pediatric endo!

can you change her primary care doctor to one that will perhaps give you a referral? the attitude of that doctor is alarming. 195? 200? 5 points difference and he wont give you the referral?
as Brian said, deep breath, etc, but as a parent, i can imagine you must be freaking out. has your daughter had any of the other typical symptoms-thirst, etc?
good luck and i hope your daughter is ok!

She does stay thirsty! I have seen an increase in going to the restroom! She has started laying around and sleeping more than normal! She does not go outside and play with her brother and sister anymore! I know it is not a major drop but she has also lost 2 lbs since May! The dr did not want me to change her diet but she has started to change it on her own! She would normally want candy but she does not want it anymore! I am wondering if she senses that it makes her feel bad when she eats it so she has stopped eating sweets! I am going to talk to the eye dr next week and see what he says to do! I have checked her two times in the past week for ketones in her urine but it has been negative! I am worried that something will happen once school starts back because they will not check her becuase she has not been diagnosed! I hope I can get answers before the start of school on Aug 19th!

I'm glad to hear you have been careful about the readings, but I would tell you that it is still somewhat inconclusive. Below is a chart of the reaction of the blood sugar of non-diabetics to meals. Notice how the readings go all the way up to 160 mg/dl for some patients. Well our meters are not exactly accurate, they are only supposed to be +/-20%. So a reading of 160 mg/dl could be anywhere from 130-190 mg/dl. If your daughter does have a problem, it will be more pronounced and you will catch it and document before she is in any danger. You need to be prudent about this, 2 lbs in weight is almost noise. And you won't generate ketones until your blood sugar is really high. I urge you to take a deep breath. You are alert and aware, but if you look for diabetes behind every rock all you will see is diabetes.

Keep a chart of her pre- and post-prandials. Take it to the eye doctor, take it to your current doctor, take it to the ER if you must. DO it NOW. You do not want to wait until possible DKA. she is showing symptoms, the tiredness, the loss of weight, staying thirsty. Test and log, test and log. Take the evidence with you. Is there a university or teaching hospital near you? You may want to take her there. Present your case as an informed parent with data to support your concerns that your daughter may be diabetic.

God Bless,
Brunetta

I've read more than one study that states that people with zero blood sugar issues (consistently normal fasting numbers, normal A1c's) never, ever go above 120 and never, ever go below 70. They also showed minimal variability in their BG throughout the day while on a Dexcom.

The studies suggested that people who have blood sugars in the 160's after eating high-carb meals just have subclinical diabetes. They claim that truly "normal" or non-diabetic people simply do not have this variability.