Type 1 Diabetes - Anyone have any insight/experience?

[Bella1185]

DD is 19 months, so i should probably be posting this in the Toddler forum - but Baby Club always gives so much help - hope thats okay


Trying not to be dramatic, but over the last year or so I've noticed DD displaying some of the markers for Type 1 Diabetes. I'm not even sure she is old enough to be diagnosed? Some of these things could just be part of her physiology/temperament, but they always ping my "worry" meter. A couple times a week she has friends her age over, for nearly the whole day, so I do have some kids her age to whom I can compare.

Some of the odd things:

-Her wet diapers are always absolutely soaked through and quite heavy. I change her frequently. When her friends her age are visiting - they have new diapers put on at the same time, consume the same amount of fluid and foods, - but when its changing time, her diapers are always at least twice as heavy as theirs. Or she leaks through in a couple hours, where the other kiddos stay fairly dry.
-Pungent breath, almost sweet smelling (sorry a bit TMI but noticed it quite a bit recently. She loves to brush her teeth -and we do it often so its not that. She hasn't been sick/had sore throat either)
-When she wakes up in the morning or after a nap she is literally shaking all over, almost like low blood sugar.
-Often absolutely hysterical when she wakes in the morning or after a nap. Sobbing and shaking, there is no way to comfort her, but she is nearly instantly better after milk or a snack
-Her bug bites or little cuts and bumps dont heal quite as quickly as they used to
-She has always been fascinated with adult drinks, other kids drinks, or just water in general. She will go hysterical to drink something, and then easily finishes it in seconds.
-She will get so hungry she pulls paper pages out of books and tries to eat them! I always have a variety of healthy, veggie and protein filled snacks for her and she is a decent eater all around. She eats often and enjoys milk so even at times when most kids are full, she still wants to eat and then there go the books!
-She is quite thin - not too thin, but it seems no matter how much she eats she isn't quite "filling out" like her friends

This is making me so sad to type there are other little things, but these are the most prominent. She is a very happy, busy, outgoing, smart kid overall (well.... started terrible twos lately so thats not ALWAYS the case ) but these little things are starting to add up in my mind. I have a doc apt booked for her in a couple days, but wanted to see if any of you have experienced something similar? Please, any advice or experience would be so helpful.

 

[NickyKB]

Apologies my LO's just waking from a nap so it's a quick reply. A friend of mine has type 1 DM so this is based on knowing her and her story of how she was diagnosed when she was little. Of course you should talk to your Dr about your concerns but to me this doesn't sound like diabetes. Type 1 comes on quickly over a few days to a week not a long period of time and it makes babies really unwell (floppy lethargic dehydrated properly sick) quite quickly so the fact that your LO has been like this for a while makes it unlikely. Also untreated type 1 diabetes is a pure lack on insulin so blood sugar is only high. It only goes low in diabetes once people are on treatment and the amount of insulin they've had is too much for the sugar they've eaten and they can't self regulate. Untreated diabetes never causes a low blood sugar.

What drinks does your LO have? I've seen a thread in toddler club a while back where a mum was worried about how much her LO was weeing and drinking. even though she was giving really dilute juice once she switched back to just milk or water this all regulated back to normal.

Sorry not sure that helps hope your Dr can give you a more definitive answer and help with some of your other worries but to me it doesn't sound like type 1.

 

[Bella1185]

NickyKB - thank you! just water and milk here

 

[halullat]

My husband has T1 diabetes, he was diagnosed at 18 but had clearly had it for a long time, I had been telling him since we met (at 16) to get checked as he had the symptoms and it took 2 years for him to give in. It is always best to catch it early so definitely take your daughter to the doctor.

I get the waking up shaking thing after naps, it feels awful and I always need to eat to sort it out but I don't have diabetes, my son and mum are the same. I also often wake up from naps and feel very disoriented, panicky and upset, to the point I avoid napping even if I'm shattered, which I'm sure would make a toddler very upset, my son also sometimes gets this, but generally if he's napped at an unusual time or has been disturbed out of his sleep at the wrong point in his sleep cycle.

Try not to worry (impossible I know!), make an appointment to see a doctor and hopefully they will be helpful xx

 

[lau86]

She isn't too young to be diagnosed so I would make an appointment and get her checked. Hope she is ok x

 

[Sussy]

My husband was diagnosed at 7 with type 1 and his blood sugar was dangerously high when diagnosed. He had been drinking non stop, and eating loads but extremely skinny and tired. I wouldn't say it sounds like your daughter has it but get her checked over anyway if you have any concerns, even just to set your mind at rest xx

 

[smurff]

My nephew was diagnosed at 7, his kinda came on all of a sudden, one night he just wouldn't stop drinking at all, he'd down a glass of water and seconds later want another and another. His mum which is my sister was diagnosed at 12, she was the same with the drinking. She said at one point she would done anything to get her hands on a drink, she wasn't well for a while before she was diagnosed, my grandad also had it at an early age. In all 3 cases we were always told the main symptoms were drinking and your breath smelling of almonds. When my nephew was diagnosed his breath was exactly like he had been eating almond flavoured sweets.