Blood Sugar levels in Children

[pippasmum]

Hello,

I am hoping someone here can help me - my three year old daughter was found to have a blood sugar level of 8.2 yesterday after a routine urine sample by our GP highlighted there may be an issue. She was referred straight to hospital where she had two more blood tests - one which was a 'standard' blood sugar test and another where the results were monitored over a period of time (apologies if this is vague but this is how it was explained to us).
The first result we were told was normal, as was the urine test that they did at the hospital and we were sent home believing that it was one of those things. This evening however we have had a phone call from the hospital to say that the levels on the second test were high and that we need to now fast her for 12 hours and take her back for more tests tomorrow.
I have looked online but can find little info that helps - I am confused as to how she can have a high result, a normal result and then another high one within a few hours of each other. Also she has no obvious symptoms of being diabetic other than complaining of a stomach ache for a few weeks, but I cannot find any other explanations as to why her levels would be high?
I'm not sure what to expect from tomorrow and have a very nervous little girl who I am struggling to reassure - can anyone offer any advice please?

 

[ladybird64]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I'm afraid i don't have any experience of diabetes in young children but wanted to "bump" your post in the hope that it would get seen and answered.

Please don't be put off, the forum gets very busy and sometimes posts can slip down the forum quite quickly.

Hope all goes well.

 

[AMBrennan]

I have looked online but can find little info that helps - I am confused as to how she can have a high result, a normal result and then another high one within a few hours of each other

That's because the various tests have different cut-off points for diagnosing diabetes and not all of them can be used to exclude diabetes. Further, there is a wide range of presentations and related conditions.

A random reading of 8.2 mmol/l is not high enough to *diagnose* diabetes (cut-off is >11mmol/l), but it is cause to do more checks.

What they did at the hospital sounds like another random BG test, and possibly an OGTT (did they make her drink a sugary drink?). It's not inconceivable that that the first would be "normal" (<11 mmol/l) whilst the OGTT is positive.
Basically, the problem is that what and when you've eaten will confuse the BG readings to an extent that makes it impossible to tell if there's a problem unless you control food intake; OGTT controls food intake and is thus, unfortunately in this case, more reliable.

On the other hand, you are supposed to fast before an OGTT so it seems a bit odd that they would do it without fasting but the only other test that involves continuous monitoring at all is a glucose clamp which is very very obscure and rarely used outside clinical trials.

Another possibility is that the "standard test" was an HbA1c, which is basically average BG of the last three months; if that is normal when an OGTT is positive then you've caught the problem very early. Type 1 in particular, which is more common in children and young adults, tends to have quite rapid onset.

I'm not sure what to expect from tomorrow and have a very nervous little girl who I am struggling to reassure - can anyone offer any advice please?

So, it if I had to venture a guess I'd say that they want to confirm the results with a fasting BG and/or another OGTT (you need two abnormal tests in the absence of classical symptoms like increased thirst and such) in the morning before taking any actions.

Assuming the above speculation is correct, I think that it's unfortunately quite possible that your daughter is diabetic. I'm sorry but I (21y student) can't give you any advice