• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2026 Survey »

Summer holiday grief

RyansMum

RyansMum

Active Member
Messages
27
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
My 14 yr old son has come a long way since diagnoses last December, the first three months were awful as he struggled to get to grips with his new diabetic way of life and his still insatiable hunger. The last five months have been much easier for all of us, he is eating healthier meals trying things he wouldn't previously eat such as fish and all vegetables. His average blood glucose level has been spot on and everybody has been really happy with his progress.
Then the summer holidays hit, he stays up longer than he should, resulting in sleeping all morning. Still pretty good during the day when it comes to meals (excluding breakfast as he's not up) but it gets to 9 in the evening and he starts snacking, I had a sneaky look at his meter this morning and it has showed a few high numbers. I don't want to make a massive deal if it's not needed as most of our problems in the beginning were because I was constantly nagging him (out of worry obviously, even the nurse told me to tone it down, wondering if I've toned it down too far) but I can't allow him to slip into bad habits just because it's the school holidays. Are there any other parents of t1 teenagers having the same problems as me? Any advice would be gratefully received, feeling confused and a little worried again.
 
I'm not a parent but I'm on holiday from uni at the moment and it is really so much harder to manage it when you suddenly lose your daily routine. One thing I would try to look at positively is that at least he's still testing himself, that's really good. If snacking is an issue maybe try looking into low carb snacks, there's a few posts about that you might be able to find. Alternatively if he wants something carby why not encourage him to take an extra unit or too so he can snack a little after dinner? I think sometimes one of the hardest things, weirdly, is being honest with yourself about how much you actually want to eat when you're injecting. Try not to force him out of eating the things he enjoys, but make sure he takes the insulin for it. As type ones we shouldn't technically have to restrict ourselves
 
Thank you for your comments, I find it really helpful hearing from someone in the same position as my son. He does give insulin for his snacks so I know he is being sensible in that respect, I just wish it wasn't so late at night, when actually during the day he is pretty sensible with food, well at home he is what he does when he's out is another thing. Maybe I'm overthinking it again. Thank you
 
RyansMum said:
My 14 yr old son has come a long way since diagnoses last December, the first three months were awful as he struggled to get to grips with his new diabetic way of life and his still insatiable hunger. The last five months have been much easier for all of us, he is eating healthier meals trying things he wouldn't previously eat such as fish and all vegetables. His average blood glucose level has been spot on and everybody has been really happy with his progress.
Then the summer holidays hit, he stays up longer than he should, resulting in sleeping all morning. Still pretty good during the day when it comes to meals (excluding breakfast as he's not up) but it gets to 9 in the evening and he starts snacking, I had a sneaky look at his meter this morning and it has showed a few high numbers. I don't want to make a massive deal if it's not needed as most of our problems in the beginning were because I was constantly nagging him (out of worry obviously, even the nurse told me to tone it down, wondering if I've toned it down too far) but I can't allow him to slip into bad habits just because it's the school holidays. Are there any other parents of t1 teenagers having the same problems as me? Any advice would be gratefully received, feeling confused and a little worried again.
Click to expand...

Hi Ryans Mum,
Your son is a normal teenager :) So his insulin can be changed around to suit his needs the same as everyone else.
If you and Ryan are unsure of how to go about things talk to his DSN, they have seen it all before.
Please please do remember that no one has perfect blood sugars all the time we are not machines :) Teenagers have hormones as well so this will also impact on his blood sugars at times.
Bottom line is change in routines always need a change in insulin requirements.
Sounds as if you are both doing a really good job.
 
That's good :) one thing to be mindful of is when he's getting these high readings. If its only an hour or two after he's eaten then it will come down as the insulin continues to work. Having readings which are high before he eats are the thing to watch out for. If he's getting consistently high readings he probably needs to adjust his insulin regime so speaking to his team might help. Also its not unusual to have different carb ratios at different times of the day, he may need to take more with his meals at one time of the day than another.
 
Back
Top