Diabetes: Just how dangerous is it?

[2001louise]

What a lot you and your daughter have to cope with (hugs).

 

The thing about your daughter's sugars going crazy, when she is coming down with something, is very, very common.

 

thanks plain talker, you are very supportive towards my daughter (hugs back), and at the moment she seems to be coming down with everything.

 

she had a go at me the other day as i have told her loads of times she is unique due to her having needles, and now i have told her i have to have injections for my pernicious anemia she wasnt happy, until i told her she was still unique because mummy wasnt special enough for them every day, so she told me as i am self adminstering that she is going to tell me where the needle is going to go.

 

bless

[danniuk2000]

Hi, Sorry to bump this thread but I found myself all teary eyed when reading and felt I had to add to it. My son was diagnosed wirth type 1 diabetes a year ago. He was 8 at the time. Our whole world has changed since then.

Some of the posts on here are really frightening. I can't bare the thought of outliving my son. Although I do know most of the complications involved with Diabetes I found it extremely difficult to see in black and white.

Previous posters are right. Type 1 diabetes does mostly develop in children. My son came home from school on friday and practically spent the weekend asleep. He wouldn't eat, was very lethargic and weak. He dropped a can of Dr Pepper because it was too heavy. By monday morning I noticed a peculiar smell in his bedroom, sort of chemically. We got an emergency appointment at the doctors who immediately sent us to the childrens hospital. When they tested his blood at the hospital it was around 60mmol. It should be around 5. He was hours off being in a coma! Terrible times. We are now learning to deal with his condition but I am afraid for him everyday. My son showed all the signs of Diabetes but I wasn't aware of them so didn't know. Children are precious. Next time your baby is ill just have a double take. It might save their life!

I would love to meet other people in sheffield who have children with diabetes so that I have someone to talk to about it. Pm me if you feel the same x

[Lady Star]

One of my mates husband had it - he didn't take the advice of the drs, lost both legs over the course of three years (from it being initially toes, then feet, then calves, up) and then had three massive heart attacks before his death... It kills you if you don't do exactly what the drs tell you to do, and you really do need the right medications too to ensure a reasonable life and life span...

 

Hope your mate gets seen to properly soon!

[Dozy]

Hi, Sorry to bump this thread but I found myself all teary eyed when reading and felt I had to add to it. My son was diagnosed wirth type 1 diabetes a year ago. He was 8 at the time. Our whole world has changed since then.

Some of the posts on here are really frightening. I can't bare the thought of outliving my son. Although I do know most of the complications involved with Diabetes I found it extremely difficult to see in black and white.

Previous posters are right. Type 1 diabetes does mostly develop in children. My son came home from school on friday and practically spent the weekend asleep. He wouldn't eat, was very lethargic and weak. He dropped a can of Dr Pepper because it was too heavy. By monday morning I noticed a peculiar smell in his bedroom, sort of chemically. We got an emergency appointment at the doctors who immediately sent us to the childrens hospital. When they tested his blood at the hospital it was around 60mmol. It should be around 5. He was hours off being in a coma! Terrible times. We are now learning to deal with his condition but I am afraid for him everyday. My son showed all the signs of Diabetes but I wasn't aware of them so didn't know. Children are precious. Next time your baby is ill just have a double take. It might save their life!

I would love to meet other people in sheffield who have children with diabetes so that I have someone to talk to about it. Pm me if you feel the same x

 

How awful for you - it must be so hard for the whole family. Have you tried this group?

 

I'm sure talking to other parents will help you to come to terms with your son's illness, so good luck in finding some.

[Rupert_Baehr]

Diabetes is a very trying disease and it seems that the disease can vary considerably from person to person. - The underlying problem is the same, but the way that problem affects people varies.

 

I can go for extended periods when my sugars are under control, then all of a sudden they're followed by periods when nothing I do seems to work. Some of the side-effects ('complications of diabetes' - as it says on many death certificates) are pretty final. Heart attack, coma, gangrene, blindness,kidney failure and neuropathy are the 'biggies'.

 

Other side-effects are insidious, but detract from 'quality of life'. If my blood sugars are high then I am lethargic and find it difficult to motivate myself - that in turn, tends to make my blood sugars higher.

 

That 'chemical smell', Danni, was probably ketones on your child's breath. Anytime his sugar levels are above about 14, be aware that he may have a ketone problem. Your doctor/nurse may be able to provide you with ketone testing equipment, but if his blood sugars are high and you are concerned get help immediately - diabetic ketoacidosis is potentially life-threatening. (Your son's glucometer may have a warning buzzer which will tell you to check his ketone levels.)

 

In normal blood, red blood cells are like squidgy bags carried (along with other cells, plasma and other stuff [i'm not a biologist]) in the blood. When a blood cell is passing through a capillary and it comes to a 'y' fork, it must either go left or right. - The cell is squidgy, so it bends a bit as it goes on one or the other sides of the fork. That's normal blood.

 

If the blood sugar level is high, the red cell gets full and becomes nearly rigid. It doesn't bend easily and it may damage the capillary. If the capillary heals with a scar, then blood may not be able to pass down one side (or perhaps the capillary will fail altogether.)

 

That is bad news! If blood doesn't get to tissues, the tissue cells will die. Many of the 'complications' of diabetes are caused by those over-full non-bendy cells.

 

Diabetics should have a full eye test every year - a test in which the eyes will be dilated, so that the doctor can examine the retinae. (The blood vessels in the retinae are very small and if they are damaged, part or all of the retina can fail.)

 

Nerves die, too - and that seems to happen before serious circulation damage occurs, so the doctor/nurse will check a patient's feet (to see if there are any areas which are losing feeling.) Patients themselves (or if the patient is small, a parent) should check feet regularly looking for damage (particularly cuts.) If there is damage, the foot must be kept clean and dry.

 

If your blood sugar is normal and you cut yourself (minor cut) it will usually heal fairly quickly. - In my case, provided my blood sugar is normal, cuts heal in a day. If your blood sugar is high, the cuts may be very slow to heal. (mine has been high for a while and I've got a tiny nick on a knuckle on my ring finger [really tiny] which has been healing for a week.)

 

Children are made small so they don't have so far to fall. - And most kids seem to be prone to minor cuts and bumps. You can't wrap them up in cotton wool, but check him for minor cuts (and if you find any, clean them and monitor the healing.) Don't let him walk around without shoes on. Make sure his shoes fit properly.

 

I know diabetics who are in their late 60's and 70's and they've probably got a 'way to go' yet. I know of other diabetics who died young. - One in particular -a guy I went to school with - who had bits chopped off (both legs - first the feet, then a bit more of each leg), went blind and died in his early 50s. He ignored what the doctors told him to do and he paid for it.

 

With luck, before your son is middle aged, doctors will be able to cure type 1 diabetes. (There is a lot of work being done on growing pancreatic cells to replace the defective cells in type 1 patients. - The cure isn't there yet, but it is getting very close.)

 

Diabetes treatment has improved dramatically over the past few years. The test kits are much easier to use (and quicker) and for type 1 (and type 2 diabetics on insulin) the modern insulins are far more acceptable to the body than their predecessors and are far more predictable in their effect.

 

The doctor may prescribe 2 kinds of insulin for your son once he's stabilised. One is a long-acting insulin (use it once a day) which sets the base level of blood sugar and the other is a rapid-acting insulin you inject just before meals. Hopefully, your doctor, you and your son will be able to keep his blood sugars very close to normal for most of the time.

 

There are also insulin pumps which can deliver a measured dose automatically. (Your doctor will probably prescribe one of those when (s)he feels it is suited to your son (they are not suitable for everybody.))

 

There will be ups and downs. There may also be times (particularly when his blood sugar is high) when his behaviour is irrational (varies from person to person - if mine goes high, I tend to fall over and go to sleep, but if the patient doesn't go to sleep he may do some very strange things (with an increased risk of accidental injury.)

 

Untreated hyperglycaemia will lead to collapse and (possibly) death.

 

If the diabetic becomes hypoglycaemic and isn't treated then the progression is coma then death. It's a good idea to carry glucose - particularly if you use insulin.

 

It's also important that (where possible) your son minimises the number of diseases he catches. (You can't do much about colds, but as a diabetic, your son should avoid getting flu. - He is in a priority group for a flu shot.) When you get ill, your body increases blood sugar levels to assist the healing process. - That's counter-productive for diabetics:(.

 

It takes while for a patient to adapt to having diabetes, but most people do manage to adapt (and children seem to adapt more readily than some adults - perhaps because they accept that the doctors and nurses really do know what they're talking about!)

 

I'm sure you will want to do the best for your son, but he's still a boy and he will want to do what all the other kids do. - Provided he eats when and what he's supposed to, takes the right amount of insulin and takes (reasonable) care, he can do what all the other kids do, too. (Sport, playing etc.)

 

Diabetes is a real nuisance, but some people manage to live very full lives in spite of it.

 

Best of luck to you both.

 

 

Here are a couple of links you may find useful:

 

British Diabetic Association

American Diabetes Association (may have additional, or more recent information.)

[rinnie]

My aunti had diabtetes from the age of 3, at 20 her kidney's failed. she had a transplant and was mostly fine for the next ten years. Two day's after the 10th aniversary of her op her kidney's failed again. From then on she got illness after illness, the meds for one thing threw off the meds for diabetes, she lost toe's, went into coma's and had a devastating infection in her brain that gave her the symptoms strokes often do. She was stuck with a tube in ther throat (we just called it a tracki, i have no clue of the full spelling) which in the end caused her vocal cords to fuse together so she would need yet another op to seperate them. She fell out of bed in hosp and broke her leg, yet another set back. For almost 4 years she was in an out of hospital, for 6 months after the infection in her brain. The whole time she became more deprssed, her two young sons and husband struggling without her. She was 36 when she died from 4 massive heart attacks within a few short hours (5 years ago last this past may) her sons were just 5 and 6 at the time.

Iam not saying she was a perfect patient, in her teen years she was not so good to her body (tho what would have been more then acceptable to someone without diabetes)but in at least the last 10 yrs of her life she did all she could, even when her diebetes was "under control" it was always there threatening her, she would have to check her sugars every day. I remember her hypers and hypo's, she would go vacant at first and then could seem quite agressive, say harsh things. These were warning sign's and then she would just say, I need sugar if we were out anywere. I was quite young but very close to her, she was 15 years older then me.

 

I felt the need to post this as some have said things along the lines of if people are sensible and do as the dr's say then they will probably be ok. Not all that have the worst outcome act like slobs or ignore important advice, some are just unlucky and I guess as it's differant for each person that has diabetes then it comes in differnt strengths or levels of aggresiveness.

[Ha3el]

I think it can depend on whether its type 1 (insulin dependant) or type two which can be managed a little more with diet etc.

 

A lad who was in my class at school fell into a diabetic coma and died at the age of about 16, so yeah it can be pretty serious. He was insulin dependant.

[Daven]

Hi, Sorry to bump this thread but I found myself all teary eyed when reading and felt I had to add to it. My son was diagnosed wirth type 1 diabetes a year ago. He was 8 at the time. Our whole world has changed since then.

Some of the posts on here are really frightening. I can't bare the thought of outliving my son. Although I do know most of the complications involved with Diabetes I found it extremely difficult to see in black and white.

Previous posters are right. Type 1 diabetes does mostly develop in children. My son came home from school on friday and practically spent the weekend asleep. He wouldn't eat, was very lethargic and weak. He dropped a can of Dr Pepper because it was too heavy. By monday morning I noticed a peculiar smell in his bedroom, sort of chemically. We got an emergency appointment at the doctors who immediately sent us to the childrens hospital. When they tested his blood at the hospital it was around 60mmol. It should be around 5. He was hours off being in a coma! Terrible times. We are now learning to deal with his condition but I am afraid for him everyday. My son showed all the signs of Diabetes but I wasn't aware of them so didn't know. Children are precious. Next time your baby is ill just have a double take. It might save their life!

I would love to meet other people in sheffield who have children with diabetes so that I have someone to talk to about it. Pm me if you feel the same x

 

Do you see a Diabetes Specialist Nurse ? She/he could be your support through this difficult time and help you to get in touch with other parents/children going through the same problems as you.

Type 1 diabetes can be very well controlled with insulin and your young 'un can live a full and active life. Good control of blood sugars is the key though and this is sometimes easier said than done.

Adolescence and teenage years is often the most difficult time as at that age they will rebel against the forced lifestyle that they have to live and will probably resent you for trying to keep them safe and well!

Have you been in touch with the charity Diabetes UK - they have all sorts of support systems that may be useful to the family.

All the best ! X

[danniuk2000]

Yeah, there is a dedicated diabetes team in Sheffield that look after us. And they're brilliant. I have my sons diabetes under control and he is relatively normal, Whatever that is. He does have that rebellious streak that is just starting to rear it's ugly head!!! I find it difficult to talk to health professionals as they always look deeper into things and really I'd like to just be able to moan and see what other peoples experiences are x

[Daven]

Yeah, there is a dedicated diabetes team in Sheffield that look after us. And they're brilliant. I have my sons diabetes under control and he is relatively normal, Whatever that is. He does have that rebellious streak that is just starting to rear it's ugly head!!! I find it difficult to talk to health professionals as they always look deeper into things and really I'd like to just be able to moan and see what other peoples experiences are x

 

Why not speak to your DNS and ask them if they can put you in touch with other parents who are going through similar problems. There may be a self help group for you and your son to join so you can share experiences.