Diabetes and puberty

[dot]

My son is rapidly approaching puberty - now 13.5. In the last coouple of weeks his levels have gone from being stable and well controlled, to being a roller coaster, seemingly no sense to his readings. They seem to be totally unpredictable and not related to his meals or his dose rates.

I suspect this is due to hormones beginning to kick in - does anyone else have any experience of this? Any advice welcome.

Thanks.

 

[noblehead]

dot,

Seems quite reasonable that his hormones will be upsetting his control, if too concerned then have a chat with his dsn for advice.

Nigel

 

[anniep]

I am a T2 female and long past puberty, but my hormones effect my bg so it would make sense. As nigel said it's worth havongh a chat with his hcp.

 

[stoney]

Hi Dot

I know what you mean by problems with puberty. My Son has just gone 14 and around Christmas time he was experiencing high Bg's. He had his HbA1c done in January and it was up to 8.

I don't know what insulin/regime your son is on but James' DSN suggested that since he was on only 2 injections per day he may now need to go on the MDI and carb counting (basal/bolus regime) which would be more flexible. We started this on the 12th February and waiting to see what his HbA1c will be on his next clinic appointment in May.

He is now experiencing lows after lunch so the DSN suggested changing his ratio to 1:10 for breakfast, 1:15 for lunch and back to 1:10 for tea. Supper does not get counted and his Lantus before bed is 15 units.

Don't know if this has helped you in any way but there are some very informative people on this forum who will be able to help you, they certainly have helped me

 

[dot]

We do sort of carb count, but I find it really hard as all our food is home made and recipes, particularly for savoury stuff tend to depend on what I have to hand. So I just estimate, ie this dinner has only got spud in it, so not too bad. This one has got spud and pastry and a roll aswell, so much higher carbs.

It is the lack of predicatability that is tough at the moment. Another example, a couple of days ago his pre -bed test (about 2.5 hours post eating) was 8.1, so I was quite happy with that before he went to sleep. It was 18.6 in the morning. Later in the day, it was going too low.

Tricky isn't it. :roll:

 

[marynf]

Hi, I can't help with the puberty thing as S is only 5, but can with the carb counting.

Have you heard about carb factors? It is a really easy way to be really precise with the carbs when making your own food. Basically you note down the percentage of carbs in each ingredient, add them up, divide by the weight of the food and end up with a figure like 0.73. I now know that bread has a carb factor of 0.52 (so is 52% carb) and so can weigh a slice, divide by 2 and that is roughly how many carbs there are. I could be really precise and mulitipy by 0.52 and get an exact figure.

You only have to do the maths once, so long as you write the result down somewhere. My favourite recipes have lots of maths in the margins now and a big number circled at the top with the carb factor. In our house lemon mini cupcakes are 9g each. Meringues 10g.
I make sure things like that are the same size each time so I don't have to weigh every single item of food.

I find it really helpful. Google carb perfectionist for a good website about it. Also have you got the carbs and cals book? It is really helpful for servings of things like mashed potato and pie.

I hope you find some way of getting through the unpredictable levels...

Mary

 

[ginx]

I also can't help with puberty except I wonder if anyone thinks t1 diabetes diag age 8 can accelerate puberty? My daughter is just 9, very small and thin (typical of a recently diagnosed child I guess) but is being really stroppy, and her body is beginning to change. I am surprised as I didn't enter puberty early and my older daughter not until 10. My diabetic daughter has always been small of her age so I am surprised. Does diabetes speed things up?
Regarding the carbs, the book Carbs and Cals is fantastic (and you can download it onto your Ipod if you want). After three months we've learned that most sweet things are about 50% carbohydrate (if you don't have the book to hand). Pasta, rice are about a third carbohydrate. Potato seems to vary depending what form it's in. I'm just not clever enough to look at a heap of mashed potato for example and guess it's weight so we have scales with us wherever we are go weigh food! Also I write everything down each meal and we all discuss what we think carbs are (great for the maths!) Some foods are difficult, my daughter mixes everything together then doesn't always eat it ... also we were told there's no carbs in strawbs/rasps/melon but if you eat as much as we do, there is a small amount! I'd say you do get used to it, just always have the book, scales, a pen and paper to hand - and have your own recipes. But then we're always confused when my daughter's levels are high, even when we've carefully worked everything out ... I don't know ...

 

[wsmum]

Hello
My son is just 14, new to diabetes (diagnosed in March). From our small experience so far, I'd say hormones can mess with blood sugar levels quite a bit! William has had some high levels in the evening that we've struggled to understand - he wasn't ill, so at first we thought his pen had bust or the insulin had got overheated and stopped working (we were on holiday in Devon last half term and it was boiling 8) ). But on seeing our DSN we realised he just needed a lot more insulin in the evenings! She thinks it could well be connected to growth (he is shooting up fast right now).
He too is on MDI and we have been getting to grips with carb counting. I would also recommend the carbs & cals book - really helpful - and the calculation methods in the earlier posts. Agree it's really tricky - and just when you think you're getting somewhere with the insulin:carb ratios, something changes and you have to work it all out again! :roll:
As for the numbers going up and down ... William had a situation a bit like that (low between meals and waking up high). Turned out his basal was set too high, so lows in the night were causing his liver to dump glucose (hence morning high). Cut his Lantus and problem seems to be gone, at least for the time being! Just a thought - I might be way off but perhaps it's worth investigating.
Have you got Ragnar Hanas' book Children and Adolescents with type 1 diabetes? It describes lots of scenarios like this and possible explanations. Full of information, and clearly written - v.glad I bought it.
Bye for now
Catherine

 

[Snodger]

I also can't help with puberty except I wonder if anyone thinks t1 diabetes diag age 8 can accelerate puberty? My daughter is just 9, very small and thin (typical of a recently diagnosed child I guess) but is being really stroppy, and her body is beginning to change. I am surprised as I didn't enter puberty early and my older daughter not until 10. My diabetic daughter has always been small of her age so I am surprised. Does diabetes speed things up?

I've not come across anything that suggests diabetes speeds up puberty, but for a girl these days 9 is not that odd to be starting to change. Puberty in general is happening earlier and earlier in the developed world. And as you say your older daughter was only 1 year older when the changes began.