My 14 year old daughter and her diabetic symptoms - can her glucose level be normal?

[pigeon_gizmo]

Hello, my 14 year old daughter for the last few days has been constantly thirsty, drinking about 15 large glasses of water a day, has lost her appetite, and has been urinating over 20 times during the day/night, something she has never done before. She also feels tired frequently and lack energy.

My father is a type 2 diabetic, and I asked him to do a blood sugar test yesterday, which came back as 5.4 (sorry don't know the units!), and he said that everything was fine. However, she doesn't feel particularly reassured, and my father just seems to think that she's drinking alot of water to 'fill her up' when I don't think she is, she just feels constantly thirsty and complains of a dry mouth and lips.

I'd really appreciate it if I could get some advice on the matter, can her blood sugar levels be normal with the symptoms she has and then not be? (sorry if that doesn't make sense!)

Thanks,

A Concerned Parent

[Question Seeker]

I may be a bit late to reply to this.

You duaghter is showing signs of being a diabetic at first stages.
But the problem may not lay there, it could just be some sort of kidney problem or even a flu. Either way, get 'em tested and checked out.

My diabetise came quickly, in one night; I drank alot, used the washroom alot, and started vomiting, but felt no other discomforts, the next day, bam, I was offically diabetic.

[dancer101]

oh and i forgot to mention this in my post before, i have been much more tired and have gotten grumpy 9or so my sister says)

[dancer101]

i am a little worried about me lately.  i just resently starting drinking large amounts of water (about 20-35 glasses of water) and going to the washroom about 11 or more times a day.  i have seemed to have lost my appite escpecially after i eat the tiniest thing with sugar in it, then i am stuffed for hours. but in the night i will wake up and be extremly hungry. i have also had dry mouth and tingiliong sensations in my hands and feet along with occasional foot cramping which i never had before. i just wanted wo know what opinions on this are.

[awolfum]

Hi, I am 36 now and was 16 when I was first diagnoised, in a 2 week span I had lost 25 lbs, I drank everything in site and spent as much time in the bathroom as i was awake, I also was eating enough for 2 grown men ( 2 heaping platefuls).  When we had my test my sugar was over 600, the doctors were saying I should have been in a coma.  I have so called normal life, I have 1 child (no complications during pregnancy) she is 16 now. I have a normal intamite relationship w/my husband of 18 yrs.  (this can be a problem for some diabetics) My sugars were a roller coaster for most of my life w/ both hypo and hyper glycemia until I went on the pump about 7 yrs ago.  My hemaglobin when they first found out was 12 way to high, now it runs 6 to 6.5, my endocrinologist is very happy with the results.  Since I went on the pump I was able to eat when I wanted to -- given my daughter was in gymnastics and I could never eat like the doctors wanted me to. So from my stand point if your daughter is a diabetic YES she can have normal levels. The insulin pump i use is an Animas, www.animascorp.com.  If you find out your daughter is a diabetic you can email me if you like, or there are websites you and she can go to help.  I hope this helps and good luck.    

[Laura1109]

Diabetes is very complicated to get though. As I mentioned before I am only hitting the 1 year mark and still learn everyday, but I would be happy to lend any support that I can! Best of luck to you and your daughter. Let me know what you find out.

[pigeon_gizmo]

Thank you, I have decided to book a doctor's appointment as soon as I can, I really need to put my mind at rest, I too have that motherly feeling that she is diabetic, and need reassurance.

Thank you again for your response, I hope that your son is ok.

[Laura1109]

I am very new to the diabetes game. My son was diagnosed only about 1 year ago.  However, I do know that the very abrupt change in  his liquid consumption and the frequent urination were my clues to take him in to the doctor.  I think mothers have a gift to see things other don't in their children. I knew in my heart he was diabetic.  I am not sure how I knew the sypmtoms as no one in our family has diabetes, but I knew!  I hated to have the doctor say those words to me and I fully admit I still cry when I think about it too hard, but you   should seek medical attention for your daughter and have her tested.

I hope she is okay.

[JDRF-VOL-SG]

If in doubt, you may want to test her blood sugar at several times during the day for a few days, and write down the results. People who are not diabetic have blood sugar levels that change all day long, but they stay within the normal ranges. If she is tested both before and about 2 hours after meals, and the levels are normal, you probably don't have to worry about diabetes.

Another thought is that if she is hypoglycemic, she may get a dry mouth (it is slightly different from the diabetes thirst, but this dry mouth almost feels like thirst... dry eyes and lips are also symptoms of low blood sugar). Usually, hypoglycemia is accompanied by other symptoms, and fatigue, depression or irritability, lack of ability to concentrate, headaches, sometimes nausea and lack of appetite are all symptoms. Undiagnosed diabetic kids are hungry all the time, but hypoglycemia can make the person just lose the appetite altogether. So she may be suffering from low blood sugar at times. If you test her and find her glucose running below the norm, this could explain the symptoms. You may want to look for patterns to when she feels this way. Is it right before a meal or after meals? Does it seem to be triggered by foods that have a high glycemic index?

If in doubt, though, discuss this with her doctor and have some real lab tests done. Much better to be safe than sorry. The number that showed up on your father's glucometer IS very normal, though.