Type 1: Headaches from hypers

[wigins123]

Hi new to this forum. My 10 year old son was diagnosed in July with type 1. We had a great summer but since going back to school in Sept he has been getting very bad headaches. Over the past 4 weeks we have struggled to get his blood sugar levels to single figures, I'm thinking this is the honeymoon period coming to an end. His diabetic team are slowly increasing his insulin and his blood sugars are improving however the headaches are not and he is missing a lot of school.
Has anybody else experienced this or have any advice. Thanks

 

[GrantGam]

Hi new to this forum. My 10 year old son was diagnosed in July with type 1. We had a great summer but since going back to school in Sept he has been getting very bad headaches. Over the past 4 weeks we have struggled to get his blood sugar levels to single figures, I'm thinking this is the honeymoon period coming to an end. His diabetic team are slowly increasing his insulin and his blood sugars are improving however the headaches are not and he is missing a lot of school.
Has anybody else experienced this or have any advice. Thanks

Hello @wigins123 and welcome to the forum.

Headaches are an unfortunate symptom of hyperglycemia and it would unfortunately appear that your son is getting them worse than some of us do...

Are you in regular phone contact with the DSN/diabetes team - or are you waiting for clinic visits to amend the insulin doses? Obviously the sooner that his numbers get into single figures, the lesser of an impact these headaches will have on his well-being.

Is he on a basal/bolus regime and are you counting the carbohydrates in meals or administering fixed insulin doses at meal times?

 

[wigins123]

Thanks for replying, yes we are working with the diabetic team to reduce his blood but it is taking some time to work out the levels. He is on a set dose with corrections at the moment but we are hoping to begin the carb counting after his next appointment.

 

[GrantGam]

Thanks for replying, yes we are working with the diabetic team to reduce his blood but it is taking some time to work out the levels. He is on a set dose with corrections at the moment but we are hoping to begin the carb counting after his next appointment.

Yeah unfortunately it can be pretty tedious setting up insulin doses and ratios, especially when recently diagnosed and young. In your situation it's probably best to sit tight and follow the guidance of the diabetes team, as they will be able to advise you best.

As you'll already be aware, carbohydrates have the biggest impact on BG over any other food type - and until the carbohydrate counting is properly implemented, managing those levels will be quite tough on fixed doses.

Keep testing as much as possible and in time things will improve.

 

[Leanne28]

I just wondered aswell do u do some through the night testing? If you are hyping through the night you will wake up with a sore head which can last all day and ur blood sugars could be on the rebound (high) from going low

 

[Leanne28]

Hypo not hyping

 

[wigins123]

He has been getting up frequently in the night for toilet and does on occasions test but usually high. We'll keep at it it's a learning curve for us all. Thanks for your advice.

 

[365]

if u are not carb counting, what sort of food is your son having. it may have allot of carbs so will increase the bg level.

plus if his blood glucose is high regularly this will impact his vision so may be struggling with his eyes.having to focus more therefore causing headaches.
also if bg is high it can also affect his body hydration level, he may need to be drinking more water. if not this can cause headaches.
i know this from experiance when my son was diagnosed. he went from very good vision to needing glasses/ headaches until his bg's came under control.

believe me it gets easier, the more you understand the nature of the ilness.

 

[SurreyDad]

Has he had a growth spurt? Could be why his levels are now high, although as others have said, carb counting should help.

Good luck!