The best we can put together at this time is that after he eats there is a spike in Blood Glucose. Then a drop. It is the sharp difference between the two that causes the headaches. Particularly if he eats and then exercises which causes a quicker and larger drop anyway.
I dont feel that I am over carbing him per meal.
He is on only 1 unit of long acting lantus. Nothing else. No pump. His numbers have been level.
Any experienced input with this would be appreciated.
More details, please. You say "after he eats there is a spike in BG. Then it drop." But then you say his numbers have been level.?? How high of a spike are you talking about and how much of a drop? If he is spiking significantly it may be time for some mealtime insulin.
It's my guess that the normal rise that one may have after eating is a spike for him. This is my assumption. Or is it the rise and quick fall that does it? Not meaning that it is a big spike. I guess the only way we could know is to check after his meals. I was told that the highest level is two hours after eating. I have also heard of those that check an hour and a half.
But today for example, he ate a 45-50 carb chili - beans then went off to volleyball practice. He was around 120 when he ate. 1:30pm. Then he went off to volleyball at 2:00. At three he was 87 with a headache. So I do not know where he may of gone up to, but he did drop.
There are the occasions of headaches after a meal. There are the occasions of after he exercises. There must be some kind of rise and fall that occurs.
First of all, very sorry to hear of your son's diagnosis. I hope you're getting through this OK. :)
Yes, it could be the fluctuations of blood sugars. I too get headaches with highs and lows or falling - rising quickly. Also, if he was newly diagnosed, was his A1C and numbers really high, is he now experiencing normal glucose levels? This transition to 'normal' numbers can cause headaches. It could also be the lantus or fast acting, maybe? Also, remember too there's a variance of 20%+ in terms of meter accuracy, so maybe that 87 could have been a bit lower earlier.
I definitely find that swings in BGs can be felt "in my head" and big swings cause headaches. I do a fair amount of exercise and can have rapid drops in BGs as a result, and I definitely feel those in my head, kind of a weird sensation. I attribute it to the rapid drop in blood sugar.
It been since mid February, so his numbers are in a good place now. He had massive headaches the week before diagnosis. That is what brought me to having an A1C done. But recently the headaches increased. On Lantus long acting only. No fast acting. His increase in BG's after eating may rise quicker and drop lower? Not sure how to remedy this.
His largest drops are with exercise, therefore it would be expected that he would feel the "aftermath" of those drops. But it's the in-between meal moments when he is not exercising that concerns me.
I was diagnosed at age 14. In a strange twist, I had headaches for several years before I was diagnosed, but after diagnosis they went away, maybe not immediately, but not too long later. Never really understood why.
Certainly headaches are listed as a possible symptom of hypos. But for me, except for the 911-call-and-ER-trip type doozy of a hypo, it is not a common side effect. For me when I was your son's age, the far and away most reliable indicator of hypo, was shaky hands. That was 100% reliable when I was young.
