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Original poster

Concerned about diabetes in 12 year old and on holiday

136 replies

Brigittebidet · 09/08/2021 18:24

We are away on holiday (UK) and I have suddenly put two and two together with my son and become concerned. He has been tired for about a week and started drinking and peeing a lot more than usual and his breath smells terribly acidic all the time and he’s getting intermittent stomach pains. Can this wait until we get home (next Monday) or what can I do whilst away? He’s not feeling unwell in himself and is feeling OK.

I may of course be over thinking this and it’s just a bug.

OP posts:
Oblomov21 · 11/08/2021 08:32

There already IS a Diabetes section on Mumsnet. Come on over OP, we are very supportive.

I agree with FightingFoo:
"your teenage years as a newly diagnosed T1 is fucking hard. And that's an understatement."

I've been a T1 for 47 years, since aged1. Mine is brittle and hard work to manage. I find diabetes invasive and relentless. It can be hard.

Love and sympathy to you OP after the shock of the diagnosis. Steep learning curve. And there will be times when your dc will be fed up and just wish it would get lost!

Hope you find support on here, locally, on the diabetes website, anywhere that suits you.

Bimblesalong · 11/08/2021 08:44

Waving to the regulars - @Brigittebidet there is tight support from the T1 parent community. You’re not alone with this and I’m not surprised you’ve had a sleepless night. But … you will get your head around it and so will your boy. Treatments these days are brilliant. As another poster said, look at all those t1 Olympic atheletes living full lives. My T1 is having a brilliant time at university and at the weekend spent a day at a water park and then went clubbing. At the water park he left most of his gear in the safe hands of the lifeguard … who is also T1.

Don’t feel like you have to learn it all now. Little by little you’ll get the hang of it. I took a couple of weeks off work, and worked flexibly a little longer as my ds was on injections and was too young to get his head round them. You’ll find what works for your family. Flowers

Bimblesalong · 11/08/2021 08:47

Sorry @Oblomov21that should read from the T1 community.

Hope your son is starting to feel better. You might find that he wants to eat for Britain for a while - a lot of people seem to when they are diagnosed.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Diabetes
willitevergetwarm · 11/08/2021 08:57

Don't wait, you do not want to witness your child going into DKA as I had to, it's the scariest thing I have ever been through and happens so quickly

JingsMahBucket · 11/08/2021 09:04

@WreckTangled

I think the problem with MFP is that a lot of it is American and they count their carbs differently to us (they count fibre in their total carb count whereas we don't)
That’s because fiber sources are still carbs and affect blood sugar quite a bit, whether good or bad depending on the person. It’s better in my opinion to count them. It also helps you grasp if you’re getting enough fiber in your diet because most people don’t.
Original poster
Brigittebidet · 11/08/2021 09:50

Got here and he’s very perky, has done his first prick test in his own and I’ve managed to eat toast - win win. Just waiting to find out the deal with how we transfer home!

And yes in hindsight, I should have driven the 3 hours back down the M5… ah well.

OP posts:
Disneycharacter · 11/08/2021 10:09

A&E immediately. It's life threatening

user1471528245 · 11/08/2021 10:19

When you get to speak to the diabetic team local to you, push for a pump, they make life so much easier, my son has had one for several years, it means they won’t need to keep injecting they just adjust the pump, it’s pager sized and fits in his pocket with a very thin pipe connected to his stomach, it’s a god send for youngster when they are eating 20 times a day, and don’t get hooked up on needing diabetic foods as you really don’t need them to eat anything other than normal food

kurtney · 11/08/2021 10:35

Hi OP, I'm sorry about your son's diagnosis but well done for recognising the signs and acting on them.

My dd has been T1 for nearly 11 years now, she was diagnosed as a baby. It's really tough when they're first diagnosed as there's so much to take in, but I'm hopeful for the future as technology has come on so much, in just the years since my dd has had it.

As others have said, push for a pump when things have settled down. My dd has an Omnipod which has been brilliant for her as a teenager. It's just a little pod that she wears on her arm, with no wires attached it and she also has a libre 2, which has been AMAZING. No more, or at least not anywhere near as many, finger prick tests (she just scans it with her phone) and it gives off an alarm when her blood sugar drops or goes high, which has been amazing for sleepless nights as I was still getting up to test her BS in the night.

Good luck to you and your family Thanks

lightswitchmoment · 11/08/2021 14:41

Can I second libre 2, definitely push for that before you leave. Dd hardly ever finger pricks now and the alarm goes off in her phone and mine so I have peace of mind when she's out with friends, swimming, horse riding, school and doing all the normal things teenagers do.

WreckTangled · 11/08/2021 16:39

@lightswitchmoment

Can I second libre 2, definitely push for that before you leave. Dd hardly ever finger pricks now and the alarm goes off in her phone and mine so I have peace of mind when she's out with friends, swimming, horse riding, school and doing all the normal things teenagers do.
I don't think an area you don't live in will prescribe it as it depends on the CCG guidelines etc plus the training you have to have. Definitely worth asking for once home though, I have mine connected to my Fitbit and it vibrates if I start going high or low.
Original poster
Brigittebidet · 11/08/2021 16:47

We are supposed to be going back to home town tonight but the medication is holding everything up. So frustrating. I need to develop patience. I also need to eat but am so screwed up inside.

OP posts:
Mydogsbetterthanyourdog · 11/08/2021 16:57

Please go to a&e. My DC was diagnosed by our gp and was blue lighted to hospital and admitted within 30 mins of gp appt.
It really is that serious

Mydogsbetterthanyourdog · 11/08/2021 16:59

Sorry I didn't see your update.
It's a very steep learning curve to begin with so please be gentle with yourself.

lightswitchmoment · 11/08/2021 17:15

Oh I never thought about you being out of area. Make sure you have the contact numbers for your diabetes team so you can contact them at any time for advice. It does get easier.

DaisyDreaming · 11/08/2021 17:23

You did a great job recognising the signs and getting help

viques · 11/08/2021 17:28

@Brigittebidet

Thank you all so much for all the kindness and reassurance. DH is with him in hospital now and I am going to try and sleep although my head is whirring. It just feels totally life changing and not in a good way! I know it’s controllable and that his life shouldn’t be limited but it’s a lot to get used to.

To the PP who suggested a board for T1 parents on MN - is that a possibility? I feel like that might be quite useful at the moment!

OP ask if you have a paediatric diabetes nurse available in your home area to speak to. Teens need special support to cope with their diabetes, many became fed up with the constant monitoring and start to take “control” of their diabetes in unsafe ways. It is not just a matter of diet and insulin, poorly controlled diabetes affects so many organs in the body , from eyes to feet and everything in between, but for young teens with their immature brains and lack of impulse control the implications are hard to grasp.

We have a coming up for late thirties diabetic in our family who thought he could control his diabetes his own way , eat and drink what he wanted and fiddle about with his medication, in the past he had numerous trips to a and e in his twenties, and he now has problems with walking, with eyesight and a possibly disabling digestive issue caused by his diabetes.

WreckTangled · 11/08/2021 17:39

@Brigittebidet

We are supposed to be going back to home town tonight but the medication is holding everything up. So frustrating. I need to develop patience. I also need to eat but am so screwed up inside.
It'll be ok. Honestly the technology and insulin available plus the knowledge is amazing. Plus we have the NHS (in America people can't afford insulin, it's outrageous how much it costs them). Knowledge is power so hang out in the fb groups for a while and you'll soon pick up the lingo and be aware of all the different things to expect. Another fb group is Let me be 83. Her son is diabetic and plays tennis tournaments all over America.
Fleurty · 12/08/2021 13:58

To the people commenting with 'I'm not diabetic, but...' or 'I know a diabetic who...' please know that as a type 1 diabetic this is one of the hardest parts of my disease that I deal with on a daily basis. Unless you're living with it then you can't even begin to understand it and that is why people get quite irate about these comments. If you are not dealing with it on a daily basis please please refrain from commenting about how you understand either in real life or on the Internet.

To the person who said their friends son was diagnosed at 13 and has been 'fine' since, just because a diabetic hasn't been admitted to hospital doesn't mean they're not dealing with it daily. Please don't say this to your friend or her son.

OP push for a insulin pump. It will be a steep learning curve but it's so much easier these days with the technology that's available.

Topsy1976 · 12/08/2021 15:58

I have found that reducing carbs really helps my management.

There's a lot of GPs/doctors that say 'oh just carry on as normal and take insulin for carbs', but it's so imprecise that it's easy to make errors if you have a lot of carbs.

Mostly because carbs are all different in how they impact (white bread vs brown bread etc). These errors are smaller if your carbs are smaller and your insulin smaller. It's just trying to reduce the amount of carbs rather than avoid completely - ie cauli rice vs normal rice sometimes.

Have a look at Dr Bernstein when you have time. And good luck with it!

WreckTangled · 12/08/2021 16:09

@Topsy1976

I have found that reducing carbs really helps my management.

There's a lot of GPs/doctors that say 'oh just carry on as normal and take insulin for carbs', but it's so imprecise that it's easy to make errors if you have a lot of carbs.

Mostly because carbs are all different in how they impact (white bread vs brown bread etc). These errors are smaller if your carbs are smaller and your insulin smaller. It's just trying to reduce the amount of carbs rather than avoid completely - ie cauli rice vs normal rice sometimes.

Have a look at Dr Bernstein when you have time. And good luck with it!

🙌🏼 there's low carb versions of EVERYTHING. There'll always be people who say 'eat what you like and cover with insulin' and if that works for you then great, but low carb should always be given as an option. A very good option if you want to achieve normal glucose. I do it most of the time and feel a million times better for it. Someone without diabetes will never understand how utterly exhausted and unwell blood sugar rollercoasters make you feel. (Low carb is different to keto, you don't have to be militant about it).
kurtney · 12/08/2021 19:42

We have a coming up for late thirties diabetic in our family who thought he could control his diabetes his own way , eat and drink what he wanted and fiddle about with his medication, in the past he had numerous trips to a and e in his twenties, and he now has problems with walking, with eyesight and a possibly disabling digestive issue caused by his diabetes

I know you probably mean well, but the OP's son has only just been diagnosed. When my dd was diagnosed, people saying stuff like this absolutely frightened the life out of me (even though I know what you've said is correct). I could barely sleep as it was, and being newly diagnosed (and a toddler) meant dd's BS was all the place.

Op and her son should get her head round what's in front of them at the minute, rather than worrying about what's going to happen 20 or 30 years down the line. It's overwhelming enough as it is, without having to listen to scare stories. If her Paediatric Diabetes dept is anything like ours (and ours is excellent, btw), her son will be carefully monitored and given lots of advice for things like you've mentioned and pointed in the direction of support groups.

Original poster
Brigittebidet · 12/08/2021 20:19

@kurtney - thank you! You are absolutely right - it did terrify me. I am not sleeping but have managed to eat today so we’re getting there.

It’s all feeling a bit more manageable at the moment as we have seen the diabetes team here and are heading home tomorrow.

OP posts:
WreckTangled · 12/08/2021 20:32

That's good, it must be more reassuring to have some contacts close to home and know who your 'team' are. My team are fantastic and I can email them anytime and usually get a reply within the hour, honestly I can't speak highly enough of them they are always there for me. Also I've have type one for 22 years and don't have any nasty complications. As I've said it's so much (I don't want to say easier but can't think of another word!) easier to keep good control with all the technology available to us now that those complications are no longer inevitable.

Tinkerbellfluffyboots79 · 12/08/2021 20:36

Glad you’re getting home op, paeds diabetes teams are usually really on it with newly diagnosed and have access to other support - dieticians and psychology so you’ll be well looked after. Try not to read too much out with what you’re given by the team as it gets confusing due to the sheer amount of information given initially.

Hope things go well at home, there’s always someone at the end of the phone for advice.

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