I’m starting this new topic in conjunction with my yesterday’s topic of my 12 year old’s A1C of 5.8
Have any of you parents have had, or has, a non-diabetic teen whose blood sugar levels rose in their pubertal stages and came back to normal after that. I would really appreciate if you could share your experiences. Thanks!
All I know is that my 13 (almost 14 year-old) daughter who has Type 1 began having stubborn highs when she entered puberty. Most parents of children with Type 1 report the same experience, girls more so than boys. I don’t know what my non-Type 1 daughter’s BG levels were during and after puberty because there’s no way I would routinely prick her fingers just to calm my own fears. Instead, I’d have diagnostic testing performed. A non-fasting A1c of 5.8 is nothing I’d worry about. Heck, even a fasting A1c of 5.8 wouldn’t send me running to the pharmacy to get a meter, test strips, and a lancet. I’d ask her pediatrician to do some autoantibody testing and not subject my daughter to repeated fingersticks for what could very well be nothing.
Thank you for your reply. What is making me worried is the fact that she already has one autoimmune disease, and there is well established links that other autoimmune diseases go hand in hand. The fact that she has not gained any weight in the last 6 months has lead me to the quest of a an elevated A1C and diabetic link. Her weight in the last 6 months has fluctuated between 104 pounds and 107 pounds. I can see the fluctuation happen in a single day.
I will talk about the antibody testing with her pediatrician.
this topic contains the full suite of tests to ask for
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Don’t make your worries your daughter’s worries; she is a child for heavens sake! It’s your job to do the worrying, not hers.
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Thank You, MarieB!! I will definitely ask for those tests.
I guess I’m just trying to be proactive here. Its all over the internet that A1C levels of 5.8 is prediabetic. Even on her lab result notes it clearly says its out of range and high.
I’m not trying to make my daughter worry. I have not even talked about the topic of Type 1 diabetes, or anything related to diabetes. I’m reading up the information for myself, and gathering everything I can to figure out if there could be anything possibly wrong that is making her A1C go so high. I’m exactly doing my job. My job is to be armed with knowledge and information so that I dont miss or overlook something as serious as diabetes.
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I agree 100% with what you just said. But pricking your daughter’s fingers numerous times post-prandially to repeatedly check her BG levels will make her worry about whether she might have yet another disease with which to deal. If I were you, I’d put more effort into making sure my daughter took her Levothyroxine every day as prescribed. That’s also your job: not to put a 12 year-old in charge of taking her medication regularly…
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I think you should discuss this with the doctor. Making up your own dosing regimen without knowledge of pharmacology may not be a good idea.
I don’t think is she is rude, rather firm.
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I’m going to preface this by saying I’m going to sound rude, but honestly I’m not trying to.
First, get your daughter’s thyroid medication and levels straightened out. My mom has hypothyroidism, and I developed it at the same age she did. Her needs increased over the years, mine have not. This being said, just because she has the same autoimmune disease you do doesn’t mean the course of her treatment will be the same. If her endo or family doc wants her on 1 .25 pill a day, do it. This may be playing a role in her sleeping patterns, as well as her other biological systems (under treating the thyroid can cause havoc on lipids, sleep patterns, energy, weight, etc). Plus, the doctor can’t effectively treat her if you are not following their treatment plan.
Next, wait three months and have her a1c checked again. I started developing signs of diabetes around 14, but with much, much higher a1c levels. I failed a glucose tolerance test and was told to keep my weight down and eat better (I’m built like my 6’ tall grandmother but didn’t get the height). Finally, at 19 I went into the thing that’s not DKA (which I can’t spell). Later at 22 my autoimmune panel came back clear and my diagnosis was changed to type two, until about 7 months ago when I went into lactic acidosis from metformin and subsequently was changed to type 1 again, which is what it should have been all along (my GAD has always been positive, but my family doctors never ran that test, and I’ve had the world’s longest honeymoon, but with elevated blood sugar for 17 years). This being said, your daughter’s a1c is elevated, and worth following at the doctor, but don’t poke her finger all the time. I’m resentful that my diagnosis was missed in 1993, but I would have been even more pissed if nothing had been wrong and people poked at me all the time. Long story short, run another a1c in three months, if it’s still slightly elevated, do a GTT, and if she fails that, ask for an antibody test.
Also, as a final note, your daughter’s weight is fine. She’s not losing or gaining, so that’s good. She might not gain with the hypothyroidism, and may not lose with a slightly elevated a1c. My weight has never fluctuated much with either, until my blood sugar went crazy (over 800 crazy). This is a big thing, do not be hyper vigilant about her weight, as this leads to so many more problems. I had a binge eating disorder in high school, and all the fuss about my blood sugar made it worse, especially since no one said I had diabetes but told me to eat a certain way.
Just love your kid, and help her get the care she needs from her doctor. She’s most likely fine, and if not, you’ll deal with it then. Just make a deal with her doctor that you’ll continue to follow up. Don’t let your anxiety bleed into her life.
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Does Synthroid even work that way? I have always been told how important the dosing regimen of it is (you know, every day, in the morning, 30min before eating). I’m not being rude, I honestly want to know what your Dr. and pharmacist have said about only taking it three days a week or what research/sources you have about it.
You say you are on a gluten free diet. What does this diet include? Gluten free bread/pasta/crackers/cookies/et.c. are generally high in carbs and have a very high glycemic index. I may be totally wrong here, but a carb heavy/ high glycemic index diet seems like it could cause these little spikes in a non-diabetic.
I wouldn’t worry about her weight, nor would I put any kind of restrictive diet on her. I was a type 1 when I was her age. It was tough when it came to food. I developed a miild eating disorder that I still feel sometimes today as an adult. It didn’t have much to do with weight, but knowing that eating something was going to make me sick (this is before carb counting, things were much different). Therefore, if I ate less, I’d be less sick. It’s also very difficult to have comments and judgments made about the things someone is eating.
My advice would be to get her thyroid straightened out then get her labs drawn again, adding the type 1 tests if you feel that it is necessary. First and foremost, though, you need to get her thyroid medication under control. An untreated under active thyroid can cause health problems down the road.
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Appreciate all your replies. Thanks. Many of you judged me without knowing the whole story, but I guess that’s what happens when I decide to come on a public forum and ask questions.
I have always tried my best as a mother to provide my daughter a healthy and happy life. I care for her and love her deeply to do anything in my limits to keep her healthy and safe. She is my only child and my love for her is unconditional and unlimited. So, I’m not going to affect some rude comments ruin my day.
So, thank you and have a good day. I don’t think I need any further advice from any of you. I would really appreciate if you all stop replying to my post. Thanks.
To the administrator of this forum. I would like to delete this post and all the comments here. Would like to know how to do it. Thanks