type 1 and puberty - Diabetes Message Board

sass65 · 01-17-2003, 01:01 AM

Hello all-
I am new here and would like to ask if anyone has had experience with or information about early onset puberty..in combination with type 1 diabetes? My fiances son is 12 yrs old and has type 1 diabetes. He started early puberty around the age of 9yrs with all the classic signs of a boy in his mid teens. The problem we are having to deal with now is high bs readings that don't seem to want to come down no matter what we do as far as diet and exercise are concerned. His endo has increased his insulin a few times in the past 6 months but it doesn't seem to help. All we are hearing from his doctor is don't worry about it, it's just a "growth spurt." That is unacceptable in my opinion considering we are getting numbers 300 and up almost regularly. I am getting really frustrated and would love to hear from anyone who could offer some insight!

Thanks so much...
SASS65

arkie6 · 01-17-2003, 09:59 AM

When you say "diet" what exactly do you mean? I mean exactly what foods is he eating?

Remember that it is not just sugar that significantly raises bloodsugar levels, but also starchy foods like cereal, breads, pasta, potatoes, rice, corn, etc. Virtually all carbohydrates other than fiber end up in the bloodstream as glucose.

An excellent book on diabetes, both Type I and Type II is "Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution". I highly recommend it.

sass65 · 01-17-2003, 02:50 PM

Thank you for your reply...When I say "diet" I'm refering to acceptable foods as outlined by his doctor. I know kids can't always eat perfect, but we have been watching everything very carefully and yet still getting high readings. (We have also been adding more fiber.)It just seems like pulling teeth with his endo to get him to explore the problem further. I always get the impression he feels parents "over react". Thanks for the book tittle, I'll be sure to look it up!

Take care-
SASS65

SamQKitty · 01-17-2003, 07:11 PM

Sass -
You may want to ask your endo about the possiblity of an insulin pump for him. They now put children as young as 2 years old on pumps, and there have been some great successes in stabilizing blood sugars this way. The pump delivers a constant dose of insulin over 24 hours (basal rate), and you can bolus to cover the food you eat.

The pump does, however, require a commitment to learning how to count carbohydrates, as you must figure out the number of carb grams you're eating in order to determine how much to bolus. You don't have to figure in the protein. Don't know if this would be a possibility, but it's certainly something to discuss with the endo.

sass65 · 01-23-2003, 01:44 AM

I would love for him to be able to use the pump...unfortunately his endo says he is not a candidate! Back to the original problem...unregulated bs counts!

tc-
sass65