ok so my little girl just turned 3. she got really sick monday. vomiting fever but was still drinking and eating some. took her to the doctor they swabbed her for strep and the flu. both negative but her doctor was certain she had the flu so ordered tamiflu for her and orders to keep her comfortable best we could and push fluids use tylenol and motrin for fever. well pharmacy never got tamiflu in bc its to early in the season. anyway fast forward to yesterday. i was checking her sister who is type one. and she ran up to me and wanted me to do her to. she doesnt do it often but when she does i humor her. normally nothing happens. well i went threw whole process of wipeing her finer with swab and checking her. i put meter down and she ran off to play well i went back into kitchen to get supplies cleaned up and reload lancet and the meter showed 291! i almost had a heart attack. so i called her back in sure i didnt clean her finger good. after hand washing. checked again she was 288. ok still didnt panic. even though this was 4:30 and last she ate was 12 and not much then as i said she has been sick. well i wait about hour check her again 258. ok going down. wait another hour check her again she is 280. i got a call into her doctor of course first thing this morning. but i was researching and i know illness can raise blood sugar but i wouldnt think that high. and to stay that high for 3 plus hours. i didnt have ketone strips on hand or i would have checked but i got some this morngin and she only had trace. she seems to act fine for a kid with the flu. she eats and drinks like crazy. and fever has been gone as of this morning. but she still complains her stomach hurts and she feels sick. which again flu bug. i guess what im asking is has anyone else ever had this happen or heard of it when child is non diabetic.
I don’t have experience with kids with type 1, I’m a new LADA. What your describing I would keep a close eye on the blood sugar and try to get into an endocrinologist as soon as possible. I would ask for the antibody test, c-peptide to see if she is starting to develop type 1.
I hope everything is OK but with how fast it can progress in children I’d recommend caution.
I believe this is very serious, but I’m not a doctor. My first thought would be either diabetes, or some acute failure of the pancreas for some reason that may be reversible (i.e. an infection in the organ).
From the symptoms, could be hyperosmolar hyperglycemia, something T2’s can experience with high blood sugars, although usually have to get higher than the 300s.
I’d take her to the ER, now.
i have continued to test her today. she woke up at 79 and since then has been in the 125. so so far her numbers are normal. but i am talking to her doctor about the numbers and i have a call into my other daughters endo just to be safe. i know it can move fast so im keeping an eye on her.
sorry my fault for not mentioning we did go to the er late last night. they ran labs and said everything was fine no risk for dka at the moment. but to most certainly check with her doctor about the numbers. our er is prettymuch useless they have a treat and street approach. i wouldnt have taken her but i know how serious it can get and quickly. but they gave her fluids even though labs showed she wasnt dehydrated. checked her sugar before we left it was 156. which is much better! but still to high for her having not eaten but i guess given the flu. idk im not sure what to make of any of this.
Hopefully, she feels better soon.
Keep us posted!
Sounds like you’re on top of it, keep us posted.
If your pediatrician says sugars like that are possible in a non-diabetic, healthy child, please share that too. It would be new information for me, at least.
Hi, I’m posting here since there has been some recent activity…I hope this is ok! I’m looking for advice and/or opinions on my son’s current situation. He’s 11 yrs. old. Last year was hospitalized 3x. Every time was the same…excessive vomiting that we could not control/stop, finally leading to ER visits, leading to admissions for dehydration, elevated labs, and “moderate” to “high” (40-160) ketones. As far as BG, once I started worrying about the possibility of T1, I checked his fasting every morning and it was consistently between 95-125. Of course, it’s elevated a bit more than that when he’s sick. He is always thirsty and his teacher has actually emailed me just a “FYI” that he goes to the bathroom a lot during his school day. His A1c is 5.4. C-peptide is 0.8. I would love any input. He has been referred to a peds endocrinologist. Thank you!D
I’m not a doctor but this range does not seem like a healthy glucose metabolism to me. In a healthy non-diabetic these numbers are usually in the 70-90 mg/dL range. A 126 mg/dL fasting is often taken as one of the factors to support a diabetes diagnosis.
Make sure this doctor’s office is aware of the fasting numbers you’ve discovered. If your child develops an unusual thirst, frequent urination, and/or vomiting, go immediately to the emergency room. Children can go into diabetic ketoacidosis or DKA quickly. DKA is serious and life threatening. Good for you for being vigilant about your son’s health.
Thank you so much for your thoughts. I will definitely make sure to keep a record of his numbers and take them with us to the appt.
One additional thought. Home blood glucose meters are not scientifically precise. If the meter you used to test your son was consistently 20% high, then the numbers you report for fasting are not concerning. Best to get a lab result.
I would be interested in the post-meal numbers after your son eats a typical meal. Fasting numbers measure one aspect of glucose metabolism but after-meal glucose measurements illustrate another important performance aspect. If it were me, I’d get a mealtime glucose followed by a one and two hour measurement. If you could do this for three meals, say breakfast, lunch, and dinner, that would add good data for you.
I will start checking at those times as well! Thank you for the thoughtful suggestions.
Are you sure? My endo, and the lab that analyzes my samples, states a 60-100 range as normal.
Different labs use different “normal” fasting ranges. I don’t think the range that I cited is too much different than the wider one your lab uses.
Hi seen this post just thought I would chime in. Hope all is well with both little ones. My daugher is type one she is 4. As stated different doctors have different ranges. We were told most non diabetic kids have a range of 70-120. We aim to keep my daughter as close to normal range as pissiable her current target range is 70-150. And they aim to keep her closer to the 120. I will say if you feel something isn’t right trust your self. It took 3 months of pushing to get my daughter dx after everything being passed off as a virus. I wish I had known then the things I know now. Don’t be afraid to voice your concerns and don’t be afraid to ask for testing. A simple A1c can be helpful. We kept a log of my child’s sugars when we thought it might be diabetes that’s how we and the doctors figured it out. She was stil making some of her own insulin so we were lucky and caught it early. So most of her fasting labs were normal. But her after meals were crazy high. Prayers for all!
If you can get a blood test for GAD65 or IA-2 antibodies they are much more certain signs of auto immune type 1. If they are present its likely the body is in the process of attacking the beta cells.
An endocrinologist would be best since they will understand this. A lot of primary doctors are not aware of these details.
Thank you all for replying. He tested negative for the islet antibodies. GAD have not come back yet. He’s had fastings all over… anywhere from high 80’s (no concern there) to 184. He is sick when we have gotten these highs, and the Drs tell us he’s only high due to dehydration. And this last time he went into the hospital, his ketones were 160, the darkest marker on the side of the bottle, but again they told us it’s just due to dehydration. Do y’all think his ketones would run that high only due to being dehydrated? In my mind, SOMETHING is causing the vomiting in the first place.
Sorry took so long to post again it has been a VERY long week. Doctor tested out little ones A1C and ordered the antibodies test. A1c was 4.9 so no concern there and we haven’t seen another high yet. So doctor not really sure what to make of it but he wants to keep a close watch and repeat the a1c in 3 months to be safe. Also has us checking her for time beings nothing to crazy just her fasting and maybe after a big meal. Urine was clean when he ran it. He suspects it was a fluke from being sick and little dehydrated maybe but he still not ok with them running that high. My other daughters endo agreed and if there is any change or a1c goes up or we get more high reading they will see her ASAP. Thanks for all the advice.
I discount the A1c for diagnostic purposes.
The antibodies are the tests you want. There are a number of antibody tests. Do you know which specific ones were run? This is the proper approach in my opinion.
In terms of checking BG, I would be more interested in what a BG reading was 2 hours after a meal with a decent amount of carbs as opposed to fasting BG. Again just my opinion.
I agree with your approach to check with two doctors.
Sorry I’m late to the thread… but I read all the responses, and I didn’t see some important information; hopefully, you’ll find it helpful. The BG (Blood Glucose) ranges cited as targets by others are for older teens and adults; young children experience MUCH HIGHER BG levels than adults should; small children are in a state of constant growth, and that requires fuel - and glucose is a major fuel.
In children 5 and under, the “normal” range is about 100 to 200 mg/dl, and it may spike for brief periods even higher; from about 5 to 11, normal is 70 to 150 mg/dl; 12 and up is pretty much the same as for adults (70 to 120 mg/dl), but during puberty, it may spike up to 150 without issues. It is, of course, important to talk to your own doc about this - but it is quite normal for little ones to have much higher BG levels than adults, due to ongoing growth.
Also - the low end of the cited ranges (70) is often too low; personally, I start getting shakey in the low 80’s, and will treat at that point. While 70 is the “cutpoint” for hypoglycaemia - our functionality begins getting impaired at some point higher than that.
Hi samiam.
I know this a quite a while old, but I’m wondering how your little one went?? Your story is almost identical to my 5 year. Wanted to see how your little one is going now?