total remission of type I diabetes

[ackerfrau]

Does anyone have any advice on handling total remission, i.e., can the parents do anything to prolong it, and how does it usually end?

My six year old son was diagnosed with type 1 two months ago, and is now experiencing total remission (he hasn't needed any insulin for the past two weeks and all but two of his blood sugar values have been in target range). His diabetes team at the hospital, however, hasn't any experience with total remission - he's their first patient. We are generally sticking to his diet and continue to monitor his blood sugar levels daily, but don't know if there's more we can do and how the remission usually comes to an end. I would be extremely grateful to hear about others' experiences with total remission.

[JDRF-Team-wak]

I am not a physician, but a mom of a type one diabetic.  I have never heard of remission, what you can be talking about is the honeymoon phase.  This is when the pancreas starts working and producing insurlin for a short period of time.  I DO know exactly how you feel as this happened to us when our daughter was diagnosed.  When she was diagnosed she really did not have any symptoms of diabetes we monitored her diet very closely and strickly berfore she went on shots.  For us this period was only for about 3 weeks, without insulin, for us the honeymoon period for us lasted about 2 years, where our daughter’s daily insulin intake was extremely low.  For most people the honeymoon phase can last from days to years. There is no way to tell or help extend it.

[crazedmom]

I am not familiar with total remission.  After my daughter was diagnosed (a month or so) she suddenly did not need insulin.  We were taught in the hospital that this may happen and a lot of people think they were misdiagnosed but it is actually the honeymoon period where the body is still producing its own insulin.

Shortly after my daughter went to 1 unit of insulin and now requires 7 shots a day.  Her pancreas is finally shut down.  As her doctor explained it,  it is like a car running out of gas, it has a little to keep it going but then when it runs out it is done.  She is done.

Good luck.  I pray that this is a remission for your child but if not, they are strong children and even though it is not fair, they do and can deal with it well.

[Jonodaigle]

I have heard of this before  just so long as your childs sugars are with normal range then they should be fine
.... you should try testing at 3 in the mourning and get a A1C test to see if there sugars are normal

[JDRF Team SGG]

I agree with the first response, that this is likely to be the honeymoon phase. The pancreas may well be under duress and may have been already damaged by the autoimmune system, but after your child was put on some insulin shots was able to recover enough to produce insulin for now. You did not mention whether your child is a normal weight or overweight, nor did you mention whether he has been tested for antibodies showing an attack on the pancreas. If antibodies are present, then the pancreas is being attacked, and it remains to be seen what the final outcome will be (probably type 1 diabetes at some point). If your child is overweight, then he may be able to avoid insulin by watching his diet closely and by trying to normalize his weight if his problem is insulin resistance.

My identical twin is also a type 1 diabtic, as am I. she went through something similar to this several years after her initial diagnosis and was off of insulin for several days before needing to start taking shots again. No matter whether how long the "remission"lasts, you are doing the right thing by checking his glucose and watching his diet. If his glugose levels start to rise again, it will be clear when he needs to start taking insulin again.