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Children's health

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Original poster

Is the urine glucose test for type 1 diabetes accurate?

18 replies

ginhag · 03/01/2012 14:36

or should I push for blood test for DS? He's nearly 4 and I've noticed him drinking and weeing a lot more recently. On top of that (and the thing I noticed first) was how easily he gets tired... He seems so run down all the time, and despite bursts of energy when he seems like 'himself' he spends a lot of the day seeming worn out.

He always has dark circles, and just hasn't seemed himself for a few weeks now. He gets really highly strung when tired too and so is getting extremely upset very easily, which is hard on everyone, especially him!

We had a crazy year last year- new baby brother, I've been ill, lots of stress going on... But my instinct is that there is a physical cause for how he's feeling.

We saw the gp who was v nice, tho she didn't think he seemed that tired as he talks a lot (?)

She tested wee for signs of infection and glucose, but said they don't rush to do blood tests on little kids, so to come back in a few weeks if he was still 'not right'. She noticed his glands were up so it 'could be something like glandular fever' but again they wouldn't test at this stage.

Sorry for a stupidly long post but wanted to give background! Have decided to try to note down how often he drinks/wees so I can feel like I'm getting an accurate idea...

I am not saying in any way that I think it's definitely diabetes, it's more that I think it's something and am concerned. Came away from docs thinking it couldnt be diabetes as no raised glucose in wee. But as I'm worried about him, I have started to question if that test always picks it up?

I'm sure I could have said all this much more concisely, apologies...

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Daveslittlehelper · 03/01/2012 15:26

This does sound like my ds who went downhill for a few months before his diabetes reached critical stage and he was diagnosed. He began to wet the bed, had terrible tummy ache and a pear drops smell on his breath. I really knew at that point. We had been to the gp over the summer with his tummy ache and he was only checked for appendix.

Was it a 'fasting sample' of wee, or had he eaten an hour or so before? Don't know what the protocol for blood tests is as my ds turned the stick black, but if you're still concerned it needs monitoring closely and ds taken back/a&e depending on symptoms. Hopefully the gps hunch is right and it is not diabetes.

However, it can be a slower onset as the pancreas is in 'honeymoon' to start with and does still kick out insulin, which can mask things for a while. The website 'children with diabetes uk' is a really good source of info for concerned parents.

Do you have any urine test strips yourself or fingerstick test kit?

Daveslittlehelper · 03/01/2012 15:27

Sorry that all sounded really scary, I really hope it is not diabetes and it could just be an infection, especially with raised glands - I'm just trying to help,since our diagnosis was missed. X

supermama212 · 03/01/2012 16:03

i have a thread about my DN - Dn just diagnosed with diabetes. search for it, hopefully it will help, all the mn`s here are excellent!
the blood test works best though! niece had a urine test and wound up in a&e as it was "fine nothing wrong just pubertey starting" she is 12 though

FestiveFriedaWassailsAgain · 03/01/2012 17:20

His symptoms are fairly vague and not uncommon if he has been a bit unwell over the winter.

But - if you have noticed him weeing and drinking more, and more tired, it would be absolutely reasonable to ask for a blood test just to rule diabetes out. As a mum, and a qualified nurse, I would ask for that too.

paddyclamp · 03/01/2012 17:59

When i was diagnosed as a child i got very ill very quickly...by tired, i mean once i'd got myself dressed and come downstairs that was me asleep on the couch again....and by drinking a lot i went through 4 x 2l bottles of pop in a morning!!

Not saying that everyone has such extreme symptoms but i sure did! Do you know anyone who has diabetes that you could borrow to do a finger prick check?

Daveslittlehelper · 03/01/2012 18:25

Gosh Paddy, how quickly was it picked up for you?

DS was much slower. We thought we had a very whiny child who was just overtired from school (he'd started ks2) - he went on like this for 3 months as the doctor had reassured us over the summer. It was only when it hit the acute phase and over a couple of days he became incredibly thirsty and started bedwetting that I knew.

Original poster

ginhag · 03/01/2012 19:43

Thanks everyone. Daveslittlehelper, that description sounds VERY like DS. Although as everyone says, it could be that he's just kept getting bugs and is run down and knackered. He has started getting up in the night for a pee, and has wet the bed a couple of times recently (tho obviously that's something that can happen sometimes anyway...and it's not happening every night...)

He's not drinking anywhere near as much as you paddyclamp, and he has been really tired etc for quite some time now so there definitely hasn't been a sudden onset.

Have just talked to DP (and shown him this thread) and he agrees we should go back to doc, so that we can definitely rule it out (hopefully). DP also mentioned thyroid probs as a possible cause, as an old friend of his was diagnosed as a child and had similar symptoms to DS.

There's a good chance this will all turn out to be the result of a combination of stuff (growth spurts, bugs, etc etc) that can't be pinpointed, which is just fine by me! I just don't want him to end up really ill just because we didn't push to get him checked out. And as I said, my instinct is that something is not right.

Supermama, I'll check out the thread, thanks :)

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paddyclamp · 03/01/2012 21:00

Davelittlehelper...i went from completely fine to type 1 diagnosis in about 2 weeks!

Daveslittlehelper · 03/01/2012 21:27

Crikey paddyclamp! Almost wish ds had, as he wouldn't have suffered all the additional weight loss and suffering, but it is as it is. We had the most awesome clinic today - there's some fantastic support out there for those who need it (came away with A* praise too, which is great).

Daveslittlehelper · 03/01/2012 21:28

Let us know how you get on ginhag. I'll keep fingers crossed for a good outcome.

Is there thyroid or coeliac in the family?

paddyclamp · 03/01/2012 21:41

It was good in some ways i guess but cos it came on v quickly i went downhill very rapidly...had DKA on admission :(

Sounds like your DS is doing really well now though :)

Daveslittlehelper · 03/01/2012 21:45

Ouch re dka, my ds was pretty close, v I'll on admission. Yes he's doing well, we're working hard on building his independence.

Spidermama · 03/01/2012 21:59

Just wanted to say hello to all the parents dealing with a child with diabetes. It certainly is a tough journey.

My ds was tired and not himself for a few weeks but the intensive weeing and drinking phase only lasted a day and I took him straight to the doc. There was glucose in his wee and that was conclusive so he sent us straight to hospital. I always assumed that the wee test is pretty accurate even if they are in the honeymoon phase.

DS was 5 when he was diagnosed. He's 11 now and recently went onto a pump. It's a really challenging condition but the management of it and the gadgets available get better all the time.

supermama212 · 04/01/2012 16:22

ginhag
your welcome. there is a huge age difference between DN and your DC.
Hope it helps x

Daveslittlehelper · 04/01/2012 18:51

Spidermama, glad he's on a pump. Ds loves his and is now using cgm as well which changed our lives as much as the pump has done (dexcom).

sneezecakesmum · 05/01/2012 00:23

Glucose in the urine would be inevitable if the diabetes was advanced and blood sugars dangerously high, but possibly not when the diabetes was not severe. A pinprick finger blood test isnt traumatic and gets an instant result. Lloyds chemist I think do it but doubt whether they would do children. Worth asking though as to buy the kits is quite expensive.

DS certainly sounds as though he has some virusy illness though.

Original poster

ginhag · 05/01/2012 21:36

Wanted to say thanks so much again to everyone who took the time to post, especially as it sounds like most of you have plenty to deal with yourselves. Really, really appreciate it :)

Well, I phoned doc for a chat but she wasn't in so she was due to call me today. However yesterday DS had a much better day - although still unusually wiped out the excessive thirst has gone, and that meant a lot less weeing too. My feeling is that he wouldn't have a better day if he had diabetes. I think that the docs' analysis of 'a glandular fever type thing' is prob right, so I'm just going to keep an eye on him over the next week or so, hopefully he'll start to pick up.

I'm so sorry if I've seemed over dramatic with my worrying, I've just been aware of DS seeming really run down for ages and he seemed to be getting worse rather than better. He's normally such a bundle of energy...

OP posts:

Spidermama · 10/01/2012 14:09

Glad he's improving Ginhag.

Daveslittlehelper are you in the UK? I'm very interested in the cgm. Our diabetes team haven't mentioned this so not sure if its an option here. DS had one once but it was only meant to stay on for 48 hours to take readings and it was far bigger and more cumbersome that the one you mention. (I googled)

One day perhaps they'll be able to merge the pump and the cgm together to make some kind of external, robotic pancreas.

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