Extremely worried please any advice

ExtremelyW0rried said:

Yes it does and I don't know if it can be normal to spike to that level if it is a high glucose food. I cannot find any information on it.

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As said above, people without diabetes can spike up to approx 10.

I dont Think it is even unormal after all the body and insuline needs to have time to act. Action and then reaction I think your daughter is normal and non diabetic
If in daupt then try give her 15 grapes and see what happen no one gets serverely ills from once being over 20 mmol but in my mind it would be normal for the body to need at least more than a few minutes to knock blood glucose back to normal levels

It is quite understandable that you are concerned especially as you feel guilty about the doctor saying your little girl was small (what did he expect? Most babies, even of normal range birth weight lose a little weight in the first few days). I would advise that you see your health visitor at the clinic or your gp with a view to airing your concerns, this will benefit you because your worry may impact the little one without you realising.

At nineteen months you may think that your daughter is very active but her activities will only rise and her weight will change. It is wise of you to be aware of the risks of diabetes with your children as per your family history but don't allow your worry to spoil your enjoyment of your daughter's early years they are so precious.
See a HCP and I am sure you will feel better and get on with the job of just taking pleasure with your family. All the best.

@ExtremelyW0rried You need to speak to your GP about your concerns - so that you can get the reassurance you need. You seem to have convinced yourself your daughter has diabetes or is on her way to it.

People without diabetes see spikes after high glucose foods.

I understand your concern but your daughter is not destined to get diabetes just because you and your dad have it.

She's also not destined to get Type 2 diabetes or Prediabetes just because she's carrying a little extra weight now. She's only young. Speak to your health visitor about her diet/weight as advised above @ExtremelyW0rried

Edited to add that I dont think a once a week test is necessary. Certainly keep an eye on both your children, but there's no need to test so often.

Agree with @azure I think you are worrying yourself unnecessarily here and this type of stress will manifest itself in your children so try and take a step back and go to a GP if you have concerns. Type 1 onset is very quick, you yourself will recognise the symptoms easily and it can all happen within a week, so excess thirst, peeing, lethargy, pear breath, weight loss, for a t1 i think it's easier than anyone to spot, as we are so aware of our condition. Just because you have it does not mean your kids will get it, I am a mum and every so often I have this concern but regardless I get on with it and don't obsess about something that may or may not happen. Do you think there is something else that may of triggered this fear ?

ExtremelyW0rried said:

Thank you Azure.

I do feel it is inevitable that she will develop diabetes but I appreciate that I am not in the best place myself at the moment.

I guess it is encouraging that although high the spike is very short lived and is specific to high glucose foods. As long as that is how is remains I guess there isn't much anyone can do anyway. Possibly losing some weight will help her as all her weight is round her middle too which I understand can cause fat build up on internal organs. I will talk to the dr about how much would be best for her to lose.
I guess if I was checking her half an hour or so after the high glucose food it would look ok. It's only because I have checked her so close to eating it that I know she experiences these highs. Otherwise I would be in blissful ignorance.

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Please do not worry about excess weight in a child, they need fat for energy and can very quickly lose it with exercise, unlike an adult where it can become harder to lose, try and chill out and enjoy being a parent

@ExtremelyW0rried You're right You're testing so early that you're seeing a perfectly natural response and then worrying over it unnecessarily.

To answer your question, no I don't think you have anything to worry about.

But I do think some support with your anxiety would benefit you. You have a wonderful, precious daughter - yet your anxiety is interfering with your enjoyment of her. Just get that concern dialled back a bit to the normal level all parents have, and then you can enjoy every minute of your time with your children

I can understand your anxieties based on this experience it sounds like an incredibly stressful time, my own birth was stressful but fortunately daughter was well. I try to see being a parent as a blessing, each day is precious, regardless of having a premature baby and a stressful birth I am fortunate I have her, I know being a parent can be stressful there's so much to worry about, but just take one day at a time, speak to your GP for reassurance if you have any worries at all, I think lots of us t1 parents share these worries from time to time but it's better for you and your kids if you can relax a little more and enjoy being a mum without this degree of worry

azure said:

@ExtremelyW0rried
But I do think some support with your anxiety would benefit you. You have a wonderful, precious daughter - yet your anxiety is interfering with your enjoyment of her. Just get that concern dialled back a bit to the normal level all parents have, and then you can enjoy every minute of your time with your children

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It's incredibly normal for parents of children who had a rocky start, who had to worry and believe and fight for them right from the start, to carry that anxiety with them - I've seen families where completely healthy, happy teenagers who were SCUBU / PICU babies are still being anxiously worried over by parents who never resolved that anxiety.

I've read this thread - there's a lot of very good, well-informed, sensible people here all saying that your daughter is fine, and you taking every single point made and batting it aside. You're still in "Fight for her life" mode, still protecting her, still struggling to believe that she is happy and healthy and that you've won the fight - she's yours, she's safe and she's here for good. After such a rough and intense start to her life, it can be really hard to believe it.

There is counselling available for this. It's a deeply personal, intimate process that you're going through and people often get stuck in this stage after caring intensely for a loved one - especially when that loved one is a new, desperately loved baby. Please, please get some advice from your GP about finding help to move on from this; it'll be so much better for you and your family as they grow to have a relaxed, confident Mum who can accurately assess risk and not worry over things unnecessarily (you will still worry, though!).

Honestly, your daughter is fine: feed anyone 10 grapes and follow that with apple juice and they'll have a blood spike - no-one tests before 2 hours after eating for that very reason - and you shouldn't be, either. Your daughter is a touch overweight - lots of kids are. A lot of the best people this forum has to offer in terms of sensible, evidence-based, experienced advice have tried to reassure you - and will all continue to support you for as long you're here (and I hope that's aaaaaaaaages!), but I think you need to talk to your GP about your needs now.

It's not selfish to think about what's going on with you. And it'll make you stronger, more confident, more capable, happier parent.

Really, really, @ExtremelyW0rried you're taking excellent care of your daughter, she's not going anywhere now - you've got her and she's fine. Find help for you <3

EDIT: I found a link (I really should look before I post) that may be of interest to you - scroll down to the "What's It Like For Parents?" section.

https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-25/edition-3/paediatric-intensive-care

Early studies of parents’ experiences in this setting tended to focus on how parents felt while the child was still in intensive care, but recent longitudinal studies indicate elevated levels of anxiety and post-traumatic stress for many months after discharge (Balluffi et al., 2004; Bronner et al., 2010). They also report a tendency to be somewhat over-protective, even where the child has made a good recovery (Colville et al., 2008). As has been found in studies of children’s psychological adjustment after PICU, the relationship with objective measures of severity of illness (such as number of days on a ventilator or number of injuries) is weak. Parents’ subjective sense of the degree to which their child’s life is in danger is a much stronger determinant of their later distress (Balluffi et al., 2004).

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This is incredibly common among PICU families - don't feel singled out in the slightest. But do seek help. There's every chance you're still experience the after-shocks of a shocking and intense situation.

Much love x

ExtremelyW0rried said:

Thank you Sock - and everyone else.

I hope you are all correct and it is a normal response to high glucose foods. It doesn't seem far off that 11.1 mark though and that scares me!
My daughter's fasting sugar was 4.6 and last night before I went to bed she was 4.7 so I know there isn't an immediate danger.
She won't ever get to a point where she's in dka because I am hyper aware of it so I guess that is something.
I am praying and praying it is a normal response and perhaps losing that bit of weight will lower the peak sugar by 1 or 2 mmol.

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@ExtremelyW0rried Youve identified you have anxieties about your daughter, and I think those anxieties are clouding your assessment. yes, 9 is near 11.1 BUT it is a normal non-diabetic blood sugar. I suspect that even if it did lower and you got an 8, you'd still be worrying about it.

The problem is the anxiety you have not your daughter's blood sugar. If you get help with that, it will benefit you and your children hugely.

You're torturing yourself for no reason. Yes, of course, keep an eye on both your children for the signs of Type 1 and the hundreds of other illnesses out there, but enjoy them. They're here and they're yours and they're healthy. By obsessing over their health, you're ruining your enjoyment of those brief years of childhood.

Stop testing your daughter's urine and blood sugar, hard as that might be, and enjoy the rest of your holiday. Then when you get home, speak to your GP as soon as you can. Getting some peace of mind back will help you and your children so much. It must be exhausting for you worrying like this.

@ExtremelyW0rried I'm glad you have an appointment for yourself Please don't think any of my posts are at all critical of you. I'm a mum myself and I feel desperately for your concern. You've got stuck down a bit of an alley and once you get out of that, you'll feel so much better. X

No, you don't need to make an appointment for your daughter. Her blood sugar is normal. Perfectly normal

What you do need to do is stop testing your daughter's blood sugar. You honestly and truly do not need to.

@ExtremelyW0rried , a picture speaks a thousand words, so have a sketch at this one:



Many non-diabetics have had a go at wearing cgm sensors, either out of curiousity or for studies, and the results are always pretty much as shown above, a spike after each meal and then a fall back.

It is a mistake to think that blood sugar will be the same all the time. Your blood stream is a transport mechanism. After a meal, it transports glucose around the body, so it is no surprise that there is a spike. It is doing what it is supposed to. It would be more of a worry if there was no spike!