My just potty trained two year old had three “pee” accidents today, and it got me thinking a little bit. She had just went to the potty within a half hour of having two of the accidents, and she went way more the last few days than she had been going previously. She is nearly three, and has been so good about making it to the bathroom - it is unusual for her to have these accidents. After the third accident, I decided to do a quick finger stick (I don’t randomly test my children) and she popped up 200! It had been about three hours since we ate. I checked her an hour and a half later, and she was 137, so I am not too concerned, but still…
I am going to do a fasting check on her tomorrow, and if it is elevated, give her pediatrician a call. Am I just a paranoid Type 1 mom, or do you think these could be the early warning signs of diabetes rearing its ugly head?
You are a paranoid type 1 mom, but that is ok, that is your job. Now look, you know a child can have all kinds of things on their fingers and that can cause a bad reading on a meter, but as Joe notes a true 200 reading is high. You would be doing the right thing the get in to see the pediatrician.
It may end up being nothing and everybody could tease you about your paranoid delusions. But on the other hand, if it is D, you would beat yourself up if you ignored this sign and had to make a late night trip to the ER.
A fasting number will be more reliable. I once tested my now 12 year old and it was high, I was freaking out. Waited for quite a while then tested again, she was ok. She’s still diabetes free, as are my other 2 kiddos.
Emmy’s fasting this morning was 113, so I think we are all good for now - must have just been one of those things. I am still gonna keep a good eye on her, though - I just don’t think she is acting quite right. It is so hard to know what is right at this age, though, as they are growing and changing so much!
Fasting of 113 is still high…you should take her and get her screened asap. If she is indeed diabetic, you might be able to enroll her in a good clinical trial or take steps to start controlling her bg right now so that the honeymoon phase will last longer.
Fastings are often the last to go, even in T1’s… honestly I would push for you to take her to the doctor regardless. You’re concerned enough to post, IMO that’s reason enough to bring it to the attention of your pediatrician.
If you don’t want to bother your pedi with it just yet or you are concerned about being a labeled hypocondriac, there is always TrialNet - your daughter can be tested for the T1 antibodies for free, and if negative, that could be very reassuring. If positive, they will also pay for additional testing (GTT, and HLA typing)… however with a family history of T1 you should have no problem having those tests run through your regular doctor and covered by insurance.
That said, I have tested my kids and occasionally gotten some freakish readings (nothing over 200, but a few in the 160-180 range)… to date, none are diabetic, and typically when I do check them, they have #'s in the 80’s. A 113 fasting seems suspiciously high to me.
Thanks for all the replies and support. I am calling the clinic tomorrow morning to get her an appointment to go in. I wasn’t going to check her again after the 113 this morning, but she has been running to the potty all day and had another accident about two hours after dinner tonight - I checked her then and she was only 128, not horrible, but something has got to be making the poor child pee every hour. I am hoping it is just a urinary tract infection and not the big D, but who knows?
It is so weird to me, if I get a 128 I am pleased, but if it’s my non-D daughter, I am really worried. I am not sure at what point I should even be concerned, with one so little. I was diagnosed at 11 years old, and that was a lot of years ago. Its hard for me to believe 128 would be causing her to pee this frequently, but maybe that number affects such a little body differently…
Emmy’s appointment was today - they drew three tubes of blood, did a urinalysis, and sent us on our way. They are supposed to call me if a bladder infection shows up in the urine, and we are to follow up Monday for the blood results. The doc (not her usual ped) says he thinks that she is either in the beginning stages of Type 1 or has increased glucose tolerance, which I thought was kind of the same thing? He is waiting for the results of an A1c to come back on her to make the final diagnosis, which I thought was kind of strange, but what can I say?
Lets just say we have to use a military health clinic, and I don’t always hold the docs there in the highest regard. You have a run of the mill illness, they are great - something a little more in depth can get a little sticky, though…
Not paranoid. I periodically check my older son’s fasting BG for exactly that reason - if it’s going to come, better to catch it early. Can you get her to an endocrinologist?
Had Emmy’s follow up appointment today - the Dr didn’t tell me what blood work was ordered, but that it came back fine. All the original doc talked about was ordering an A1C, but I am assuming since they took three vials of blood they tested for other things. She didn’t even want to discuss the unusual high blood sugars - she just told me that Emmy was probably peeing so much because she was not emptying her bladder and was rushing, so she had to go back numerous times. She insinuated that I gave her too much juice and soda, although I stressed that she drinks mainly water with the occasional juice box as a treat.
She also told me that diabetes in young children doesn’t show up as peeing excessively, that one day they just wake up super sick and that is it. I was diagnosed at 11, so I don’t have any experience with 2 year olds and diabetes, but that just didn’t make sense to me. I would think there would have to be some kind of build up to DKA as their little pancreases gave out, and it wouldn’t be a sudden onslaught of diabetes in every case.
I am just glad whatever blood work they did came out fine. I am going to try not to worry. But it seems like there must be a reason my child is running above average blood sugars and peeing a ton. They really made me feel terrible for even suggesting it might be diabetes and having her checked out.
Hi Melinda,
Just tested my 5 year old with the Bayer A1C test http://www.a1cnow.com/ 5.4 put my mind at rest. 29 dollars it gives you 2 tests in a package. Walgreens and CVS have them… faster than waiting for a Dr to run tests. I keep one on hand for myself to check between Dr’s visits.
>> She also told me that diabetes in young children doesn’t show up as peeing excessively, that one day they just wake up super sick and that is it. <<
Say what? Excuse me? That’s not true in every case. I’ve had friends who were parents of type 1 kids who were dx’ed at about the same age as Emmy is – or younger – and they’ve told me about sopping wet diapers that were rung out to get urine samples to test for glucose and ketones. I’m sure there are children who are dx’ed before the onset of polyuria, but there are also children who show the signs diabetes quite clearly. Shame on that doctor for making an overgeneralization like that.
Shame on them too for making you feel terrible for having her checked out. YOU tested her and you noticed a high bg and apparent corresponding symptoms. You have diabetes yourself. You had every right to be concerned! You also have the right to know exactly which tests were ordered and the exact results of those tests. The docs should not have treated you the way they did.
