Signs of diabetes or paranoid mummy?

[lydiathetattooedlady]

I posted a thread in bhaviour about ds see here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/behaviour_development/1296813-please-help-my-little-boy-isnt-himself-and-its-breaking-my-heart

The one thing i didnt mention as i didnt think it was important until my mum mentioning it yesterday is that he is drinking alot. I have started measuring his fluid in take and since 7.45 this morning he has had 2 pionts of fluid already, not including the link he drank out the bowl from his cereal and i have just caught him supping from his sisters cup. During the night he has a drink beforebed and at least two in the night. On its own i know its not a lot but given his change in behaviour (see thread above) and him wetting himself it might add up to something? Also he has very dry skin and eczema. The drinking in no way effects his appetite. When born he was putting on a lb a week and was a very stocky baby following the 75th percentile. No idea what he follows but he's about 26lbs now and he's 2.2 years.

He is booked in to the dr tomorrow to have a wee test as it was suggested maybe a urine infection. When i go tomorrow am i best to get a sample from him before he's had breakfast or let them do it after breakfast?

TIA x

[lydiathetattooedlady]

sorry for the awful typos...far too many to bother correcting now!

[paddyclamp]

Is he tired and lethargic?

When i was diagnosed i was so tired i could barely get off the couch...also i lost loads of weight

[Tidypidy]

ask gp to do simple blood sugar test, if our out of hours gp had done one when we first visited with our son who had same symptoms as yours it might have saved him 2 nights in picu with severe diabetic ketoacidosis. Nearly 2 years on he's doing well, not all children with these symptoms have type 1 diabetes - our son is type 1 - yours may not be but it's a simple test to find out.
Good luck.

[thisisyesterday]

oh i hope spidermama reads this, her little boy was diagnosed with diabetes at around 5ish i seem to remember?

anyway, i would def go and speak to the GP about it. if nothing else at least you will have ruled it out and it will stop you from worrying about it.

does hehave any other symptoms?

[brambleschooks]

Hi my little boy was diagnosed aged seven. He had all the symptoms you describe. He also had very dry skin, which I now realise was linked to his high blood sugar.

I haven't looked at yr other thread yet. My little boy was very lethargic and very whiny. His breath smelled of pear drops and he started bed wetting.

I hope it is a simple infection, but do not delay getting to gp, if it is diabetes it can get very serious if left. If it is, there is a lot of good support out there. Let us know how you get on, will have fingers crossed for you.

[paddyclamp]

if he starts being sick, please take him straight to A&E - don't phone the GP, go straigh there...cos that's what happened to me when i was a kid...the GP faffed about and the diagnosis was delayed...type 1 diabetes wasn't as common in the 80s..and i ended up going into a diabetic coma

[brambleschooks]

Paddy, I just logged back in to say that. If he starts complaining of tummy ache do likewise.

[paddyclamp]

very true brambles...i get tummy ache now when my sugars are v high

[lydiathetattooedlady]

Thank you so much for all your advice! I took him this morning, the gp looked at his willy and says he looks like he's got a yeast infection. She says his foreskin looks too tight which maybe why he has a yeast infection?? Anyway i mentioned the amount of water he's drinking and that coupled with eczema could he have diabetes but she said because he's been a big drinker for a while she doesnt think so as it would be a fast onset of thirst? He's been a big drinker for the last year or so, but a wee sample is being sent off.

Behaviour wise he's very clingy and cries alot, more so than our dd ever did! With regards to lethargic...i wish! A typical night (ie last night) bed at 6.30, awake at 8.30pm (toilet and drink), 10pm (cuddle and drink) crept in to our bed at 3.30 (toilet and drink) 5.30 (drink) up for the day at 6.30. It doesnt sound like diabetes does it?

[lydiathetattooedlady]

I have just remembered, i had a boyfriend at 18 who had type 1 diabetes and he had to be circumcised when we were dating because of frequent yeast infections because of poorly managing his diabetes.
I dont know what to think gah!

[lydiathetattooedlady]

Ive just read your post on my other thread brambles blimey im all confused and anxious now. His wee test will take a week, do you think i should take him back and demand a blood test? I dont know what to think, the one thing that is keeping me calm is that he's always been a big fluid drinker, even when breastfeeding he was non-stop!

[pinkytheshrinky]

NO I don't think it does. Thank God. My DD was diagnosed at 3.5 and the last thing was the drinking to be honest and it was a rapid onset for that. She could go to sleep standing up almost, her behaviour was onstrous and had black rings under her eyes and started to lose weight - she was a chunk before so still registered within the normal range it was not normal for her. Fortunately the penny dropped for me before she became significantly ill and I had some test sticks for wee and it came up black (loads of sugar)

I really hope they get your little boy sorted out and he is back to himself soon. I do think they need to exlain the big drinking though - perhaps a uti?

[pinkytheshrinky]

Surely they would have dipsticked his wee before it was sent off? and this would have a sugar indicator on i think

[pinkytheshrinky]

but agreed yeast infections are exacerbated by a lot of sugar

[lydiathetattooedlady]

He'd just been to the toilet and wouldnt co-operate so have been sent home with a plastic cup and syringe! Can you buy dipsticks from the chemist? i could pick some up with his canesten and test his wee tonight, for peace of mind. To be honest i think my gp thinks im a bit nuts

[discobeaver]

I am type 1, and when my dd started weeing a lot and drinking I thought it could be presenting in her, the docs took a wee sample and sent it off, but I was anxious and just did a blood test on her with my kit. It's got a v soft pricker, put a clean lancet in and turned out she was fine, it was a mild uti.
I dunno why the docs don't just do a blood test there and then, takes less than 30 secs for instant peace of mind.

[lydiathetattooedlady]

ive just brought some wee sticks, so will test it later.
disco im hoping it is the same for my boy!

[pinkytheshrinky]

I agree discobeaver I cannot believe they didn't just quickly do that - It doesn't cost a lot does it?

[brambleschooks]

Hi there, sorry to have worried you. I'm surprised they sent the test off, my gp wee tested there and then. The strips only cost them pennies. Let us know how you get on later. Hope it's just down to the thrush.

What concerns me is the drinking through the night - does your other child do that?

[paddyclamp]

I've never had a yeast infection in my life so i wouldn't panic as far as that's concerned.

Do you know anyone who has diabetes who could do a finger prick test for you...i'm surprized the GP didn't do one of those..why do they faff about when they could put peoples' minds at rest immediately!

[lydiathetattooedlady]

Hi! i tested his wee (twice!!) and the strips didnt change colour so i can breath a sigh of relief!!

bramble no our dd doesnt drink through the night or anywhere near as much during the day as her brother. Is drinking alot a sign of anything else?

At least his wee is being sent off today for tests so i presume anything abnormal will be picked up?!

[brambleschooks]

Phew! So good to hear wee ok! I'd missed a bit about him always being a big drinker. Hope your gp can help with any further answers.