Hi, Everyone~
We’re having our first sick day with vomiting since Elisabeth has been diagnosed and I’m wondering if anyone has advice for me? I’ve put in a call to the Endo & the Pediatrician, but have not heard back from either yet. She has yet to eat today and is only drinking water and a bit of apple juice. I am checking her BG hourly and she is stable at around 140. I’ve decreased her basals by 50% and that seems to have helped. She has a low temp. of around 100.4 and I tried to give her tylenol, but she vomited it right back up. My husband has gone to the store for tylenol suppositories and Pedialyte (which she hates). She hasn’t urinated since this AM, so not sure if I should be worried about this. She has napped all morning…she had H1N1 flu shot a month or so ago and this is her first time being sick with vomiting. Is there anything else I should be doing? thanks in advance~ Jessica
Lots of fluids and check for Ketones every couple of hours! Even with low BG she can develop them when sick (my daughter ended up in the ER last year because she could not keep anything down and developed moderate Ketones - her BG was too low to give her insulin to correct them and we couldn’t get it up because she couldn’t keep anything down). Hope this passes quickly for your daughter 
It’s tough when they’re sick. We just went through the same with Abbie. Her BG was fine, but since she wasn’t eating, we cut back her insulin and her ketones shot up. So check your daughters ketones when you can. You’ll probably need to get some sugar into her – soda etc. If she has ketones–she’ll need insulin. If she can’t keep anything down, our endo recommended giving a mini dose of glucagon by injection.
Good luck!
Camomile tea is soothing, and non carbs…hot or cold is fine, jello is always a good source of protein and carbs, as with the other replies, you may need to keep an eye on the ketones, when she does urinate. My daughter has gone through the flu a few times, the most important is the hydration, she has been hospitalized twice from flu, but she now knows that the the liquids will keep her out of the hospital…good luck!
Thanks Olivia & SFMAMA,
You’re right, I should be checking her ketones, but she’s not urinating, so not sure how to check? Her BG is now 167 due to some of the tylenol I guess. I’m not sure how much tylenol is in her system since she vomited immediately after I gave it to her. I want to give her a suppository if she needs it, but don’t want to overdose. I hope the Dr. calls soon.
thanks!
Jessica
Thanks, Connie. I am glad she is drinking water. Just spoke with the Endo who advised me further, so hoping we can get the fever down and she can hold things in her stomach.
Make sure she is getting fluids somehow so she doesn’t get dehydrated; if she can’t keep fluids down sucking on ice chips may help. Have her try to go to the bathroom to test for Ketones because they develop so quickly.
Do you have any way to get a Precision Xtra meter? (4 diabetics in our elem school, and we share supplies when needed.) You can check for ketones in her blood with this meter. Saved us last year when Grace had the stomach bug and couldn’t keep anything down for three days. Since she wasn’t drinking, she wasn’t going to the bathroom and I have no idea what we would’ve done. He BG was in range, but her ketones went high enough that our Endo sent us to the ER for fluids and anti-nausea meds. On this meter, any reading over 0.6 is considered positive, but we didn’t go until she was over 2.
I know this is stressfull, but you’re doing great! Hang in there!
My daughter has had diabetes for over 9 years now and she’s gone to the ER twice for this, she’s had the stomach flu more than twice but it was more severe those times. You’re doing the right things, just be vigilant ,checking sugars and ketones very frequently. You’ll know if you need to take her to the ER, it’s a gut Mama feeling and especially if she’s got mod. to large ketones and has lower #'s and she can’t keep any fluids down. We were given Zofran the two times we went to the ER which is something the doc’s give pregnant woman with severe morning sickness and chemo. patients and it works like a miracle. I don’t know why this is not standard issue for diabetic children to have at home for situations like this. You guys will do fine but these things are scary the 1st time around. For future stomach health probiotics are great to give routinely for good gut health. Best of luck to you!!.
It looks like we may have to go to the ER, waiting for the Endo to call back. Her ketones are Lg (just ripped open her pull-up that she wet and stuck the ketone stick in it, instantly lg.) She’s sleeping now and cranky when I try to wake her up to drink fluids…hoping/praying we don’t have to go to the ER, but will do what I have to. thanks everyone…
You will do just fine if you go to the ER, they will just put an IV in with fluids and something to stop vomiting and it’ll clear the ketones pretty quick and she’ll feel much better when hydrated. How old is she? If your ped. endo is taking 2 hours to call you back when your daughter is sick like this you may want to switch Dr.'s, especially if she’s fairly new to diabetes. I will say a prayer for you and your daughter!
The first major illness after they get diagnosed is always the hardest. I remember feeling so helpless and like I didn’t know what to do. Hang in there; you are doing a great job and it does get easier with time (and great advice on this site)! If you don’t hear from endo soon I would just go to ER especially if you have already given insulin and Ketones aren’t any better.
Hi, Ana~
Thanks for your comment. We’ve been to the ER a few times, which is why I’m not eager to go, it’s usually hard to find a vein, Elisabeth’s screaming, etc. I spoke with the Endo around 1:30pm and just now left her a message re: the large ketones. I believe she’s in transit, so hoping to hear from her soon. She’s had diabetes 3 years, just not the flu in addition to diabetes.
Thanks!
Thanks for your encouragement! We’ve actually had a few major illnesses since diagnosis, but never vomiting. That’s a large part of why I’m reluctant to go to the ER as we’ve had some hard experiences in the past 2 years…I’m hoping to keep her out of the ER for as long as possible since she had so much trauma. But of course, with large ketones, I will go and do what’s necessary.
I’m so sorry you’ve had bad experiences at the ER… that doesn’t help! That’s good your Dr. is communicating with you. You might try using a warm pack on her arm, sometimes that helps in finding a vein. Some days are like this with diabetes, sounds like you are doing a good job. We have promised a treat for my daughter when she had to have an IV, and that worked for her, but that maybe doesn’t work for every child. My daughter looks forward to blood draws if she thinks she can get a Build-A-Bear out of it, just some ideas. My thoughts are with you!
I thought she was newly diagnosed The vomiting is a nightmare for these kiddos. Like one of the other posters mentioned, we were also given the magic pill (it dissolves on tongue) to stop the vomiting along with an IV when Maddie was in ER. I now have a supply of Zofran and have given it to her one other time so she could keep fluids down and stay hydrated- it made management so much easier the second time she was hit with a nasty gastro flu.
Hello Olivia,
I didn’t know about the Zofran, I’ve made note of that and will see if I can get a few for when we have these situations. Thanks for the tip. Elisabeth is 4 and has had diabetes since she was 15 months, this Feb. will be her 3rd anniversary, May will be 3 years on the pump. It’s amazing that we’ve come so far and been through so much, I’m very thankful that she’s doing so well.
Thanks for all the support everyone, I don’t feel as nervous knowing I have a lot of Diabetic Mamas who have been through it before!
How is She? This is scary!! I’m so sorry. I went through this will Ella a while back and same thing. We had 98 for a BG but very large ketones. I couldn’t get her to pee, but pressed the strip into her pull up after a while and she had very large ketones. We gave her lots of insulin to treat the ketones, the endo called in a suppository to stop the vomiting, and we gave juice and candy to keep her BG up while treating the ketones. Good luck and my feeling is stay out the ER if at all possible. Get her to stop throwing up, hydrate, treat ketones, and lastly worry about BG.
God bless
Erin
Hi, Erin,
I’m so thankful, I think she’s turning a corner. She hasn’t vomited since noon, is drinking more water and more Pedialyte. Her BG is still stable. Just spoke with the Endo and she said anyone who doesn’t eat is going to have large ketones but that it’s good her sugars are within range. She wants me to start giving juice with the pedialyte and cover the juice with insulin. She perked up a bit and is now napping again, almost time for her next tylenol suppository. Praying her next diaper will be less ketones…a tip I learned from a nurse at a hospital is to put cotton swabs into their diaper. Then you can squeeze the swab onto the strip if they’re still in diapers. All this medical stuff makes me wish I’d gone to nursing school…but, I’m learning on the fly!
thanks for the note! God bless you all as well~
Jessica
I so remember the days of the “cottontail bottom” praying she’d pee on it so I could check ketones! My daughter was diagnosed at 10 months, and life was rough for awhile… God is good though and hears our prayers! So glad she’s doing better!