Teen fainting and blood sugar im paranoid now! Advice needed!

[Fluffyshoesandfleece]

My 15 year old collapsed at home a few days ago she said she felt dizzy and sick then just went down like a stone. Came round after a minute for a few seconds then out again. At that point we called an ambulance. She was waking up when they arrived ( incredibly quickly - was very impressed!) and they did some checks on her which were all normal.

we drove her up to a and e for a check (since by that point she was ok and we didnt feel we needed to use the ambulance. Again fine.

verdict was she was a little under the weather got up hadnt eaten and fainted no worries.

we were happy BUT then i told my dad about the whole thing. For background my mum had type 1 diabetes very unwell most of her life and died at 40.

my dads immediate question was “what was her blood sugar?” It was 7 when the ambulance arrived. Which they said was fine.

But my dads response was “oo thats high if she hadnt eaten for over 12 hours - keep an eye on it”.

that one sentence had been playing in my head ever since. I have never been too worried about diabetes tbh i just thought it was bad luck for my mum but i dont have it so my kids are fine but now im totally paranoid over it.

Is 7 ok for not eating? If she was diabetic she would be very ill right? Not just faint once.

i dont want to be a crazy person im normally pretty calm about thjngs like this i think ! I wax told it was ok by the ambulance so i dont know whats wrong with me&!

does anyone have any advice on this! And sorry for the crazy rambling!

I don’t have any experience on diabetes but have fainted a lot over the years. Usually if all initial checks are okay then there’s not much A&E will do than say you’ve not eaten enough and got up too quickly. If it’s something that’s worrying you then it might be worthwhile speaking to your gp for some reassurance and getting her blood sugar level checked again. Where I live you can also get it checked in most pharmacies so this could be an option for you.

No experience about diabetes, hope someone comes to answer that..

How are her iron levels?

Is she skipping meals and/or not eating enough calories and/or underweight? That can cause fainting and dizziness. As can low iron.

Offf i dont know she didnt have any
blood tests they checked her heart and blood pressure

Berry no shes not underweight shes about a size 12 and within her normal range for weight. She doesnt normally skip meals she just got up later for breakfast and fainted myst be about 11:30am. Last time she ate was about 7pm the night befite

Hiya, mum of a type 1 here. 7 is quite high for a fasting blood sugar - should be nearer 5.
Can you do another finger prick test to make sure? This time an hour after a meal.

Try not to worry, mist likely just a bit unwell. How is she now? Type 1 has some v clear symptoms- Tired, Thirsty, Toilet and Thin.
The thirsty and going to the toilet are particular signs. Does she have any of these?

Getting a lot of infections is another diabetes sign

I used to faint quite frequently at this age, and my sister did too. I think it's fairly common in teenagers, although not pleasant (neither of us are diabetic or have any other conditions).

It’s horrible worrying about our kids isn’t it! I fainted a couple of times at that sort of age too - no particular reason for it and no one took me to the GP back in the day! But I would take her if I were you - just to chat it through, learn what symptoms to look out for, and hopefully stop you worrying so much :)

Did she have her period? My mum was a period fainter in her teens.

I can go and buy a finger prick test today.
she is ok today still tired but she has been under the weather.

i actually have no idea how much she drinks i have noticed it being an excessive amount though!

the only thing she gets the last month or so is tired and headaches and very emotional but i dont recall anything else

No no period and she has very light irregular periods still.

It sounds silly but ive never seen anyone faint before! None of my kids and no one i know !

i was terrified!

Parent of a type 1 diabetic here.

Yes, 7 is slightly on the high for fasting sugars but also within the non-diabetic sugar range. Being unwell elevates sugars, as does adrenaline and stress which were probably factors.

For a diagnosis it’s usually sustained fasting sugars over 11. When my daughter was diagnosed her fasting sugar was 38.

Things to look out for are drinking a lot (pre diagnosis my 4 year daughter could drink 1l in a sitting), weeing a lot, tired and loosing weight.

There is no standard blood test for diagnosis. it’s just finger pricks or a CGM to see what the sugars are over a day. So if you’re really worried you could buy a finger prick machine or a CGM and see how her sugars vary over a days

Ok OP, that's good that you can get a finger prick test today. Hopefully all OK and she's just a bit under the weather.
But as PP says - if it is Type 1, don't panic. Things have come a very very long way in treatment and tech, especially with youngsters, and there is a lot of support out there. Keep us updated.

Fainting also seems to be a symptom of the latest Covid variant. Could also explain the tiredness.

I used to faint alot as a teenager, turns out I have Ehlers Danlos syndrome and Dysautonomia (a version of POTS.) The doctors would do tests and they’d all come back clear, wasn’t until I was 27 that I was diagnosed by a specialist after years of pushing due to other symptoms. Take a look at EDS and POTS.

I would buy a blood sugar monitor and check at random a couple more times, when I did a fasting test when pregnant for diabetes and checked when I got home and my blood sugar was actually 3.4 so 7 is quite high. Combined with the drinking a lot, emotional side (I have two type 1 boys and when there blood sugars are high they get overly emotional, headaches and stomach pain) and your mum being type 1 it's definitely something I would be keeping my eye on. It can slowly creep up on you.

My friend's son had teenage fainting syndrome at that age. Which can happen when teenage have a growth spurt and grow quickly.

I would go to the GP and get her checked out just in case.