A few questions really

[Mamma99]

Hello! My son (12) was diagnosed a few weeks back. He's been dealing with it all like a pro, but I do have a few questions.

1. How tight should you be with blood sugar numbers?
My son's supposed to be 4-7 mmol/L. Is a temporary 8, 9 or 10 really that "high"? At present we're not correcting, especially after dinner as he drops a bit overnight.

2. How many hypos is normal / acceptable?
Is being low once or twice a day too much? If insulin needs tweaking, how do you know whether to play with basal or bolus ratio?

3. The effects of exercise?
I wouldn't consider a 20-30 min walk (dawdle) exercise, but sometimes it seems to be enough to bring my son's sugar down considerably. Snacking him up before, during, and after does the trick. But I don't want to give him a huge rucksack of food to lug around just in case. Is this just a quirk of the so called honeymoon?

4. How many days / weeks worth of insulin / supplies should you have at home?

Er, I think that's it for now. If any of you lovely people could advise on any of the above I'd be ever so grateful.

Cheers

X

 

[jlarsson]

I have my target range set to from 5.2 to 8.4, but from reading these forums a lot of people seem to want lower than that, it's all individual really. I would personally not be bothered until it hits double digits, but again it varies from person to person.
Hypos are to be expected, unless you're in very good control(see @Mel dCP for example) having several hypos a week is not uncommon, the problem is when you get into a hypo state that you can't detect yourself or get out of on your own. I get plenty of mild hypos but rarely to the point where I don't detect it in time to correct it or where it actually affects my ability to correct it.
Exercise is a tricky subject because in some cases it can actually raise your blood sugar. It's usually a good idea to have something before exercising(like a banana) to prevent a potential hypo, but it will depend on the exercise itself and obviously what your level is before exercising and all that.
I'm probably not the right person to answer how much to stock at home as I always have several boxes of each thing due to international travels etc.

 

[LooperCat]

I’ve only recently gained good control after 20 years of it being... much less good. A Libre sensor made all the difference for me, as various mental health problems have made fingerpricking a real issue for me. I set my range at 4-7 and can keep within that 75-90% of the time, with maybe 1-2 mild hypos a week, rarely below 3.5 - the main differences here being that I eat hardly any carbohydrate, am a middle aged woman and do less than zero exercise. But...

I keep at least a month’s worth of supplies in reserve - executive dysfunction plus caring for my his and mean I’m rubbish at renewing prescriptions.

To play with insulin doses, you’ll probably need guidance from your team while honeymooning. Once you’ve got the basal set right, it’s really bolus you’d need to fiddle with it, but tbh that’s a whole lot easier once the pancreas has packed up completely - also teenage growth spurts and puberty can really affect insulin requirements. Girls have menstrual cycles with the accompanying week or so’s worth of insulin resistance to contend with as well.

A temporary level like what you describe shouldn’t be an issue as long as it’s not for months at a time - the levels of people with pancreases do fluctuate by this amount. It’s extended periods at high levels and massive swings from hypo to hyper that do the long term damage.

Tl;dr - it’s very early days, you’re still finding your feet - and there’s loads of support here for you x

 

[Antje77]

Hello, and welcome, mamma99 & son! Other people will be along soon to help you out. Bedtime for me so no answers to your questions right now, but it sounds like you're very much on top of things
Answers to your questions will come, and will help , reading around this forum and the rest of the internet will help too. But the most important thing is time. Look back in two months and marvel at the knowledge and confidence you have gained !

 

[jlarsson]

Can only echo what @Mel dCP says about the Libre, it turned me from irresponsible unhealthy wreck into an irresponsible fairly healthy person. I still eat portions probably twice as big as I should and have an addiction to sweets(liquorice, specifically) that would make even non-diabetics absolutely horrified, but I can now quite easily bolus for it and make the inevitable corrections that I never made before.

 

[Mamma99]

Thanks all! Getting sleepy now but will try to read n digest more soon

 

[MagicFirefly]

Hi Mamma99, welcome to the forum.

I was diagnosed aged 9 over 24yrs ago. I was told in the beginning I would remain in the honeymoon phase (which lasts variable lengths for different people) and hypos were normal within this time.

As for correction doses, I was advised not to correct unless over 14mmols but this is something you can ask.your diabetes specialist nurse. I was diagnosed at Alder Hey Childrens Hospital and the care and support from the team was amazing!

It may be worth asking the specialist nurse about any parent support groups they have. My mum would attend one every 1-2months and it really helped her.

The fact that you're here asking questions and looking for support tells me you're a great mum who is going to do really well in supporting your sons diabetes. So when you're having a bad day, remember that its not everyday and you totally got this!

We're all in this together.