Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

Are other test needed?

My son who is 8 has a pituitary cyst/possilbe microadenoma.  We see a ped. endo in August.  His symptoms are wildly fluctuating blood sugar headaches.  He will lose weight and then gain weight.  Sometimes he just looks bad-pale, dark circles under his eyes.  I'm wondering if there are additional tests I should ask for.  What should I expect them to do at the endo appointment?
4 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
310293 tn?1274739773
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
In order to diagnose a true blood sugar problem it has got to be based on labs not just symptoms, what you may see as "blood sugar"headaches may not really be due to a sugar problem that needs medicine to treat like diabetes, he may definitely have a little insulin resistance being on steroids, but actually manage his sugars overall just fine due to his compensation in insulin secretion, if indeed the endo did the labs including hba1c, insulin and c-peptide, a fasting blood sugar and urinalysis, this is very very reassuring that you do not need to stress as much about the sugar, rather I would highly recommend that you talk with your child's asthma specialist about the steroids and modify this regimen as well as focus on the diet to prevent any rapid weight gain that also leads to insulin resistance.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I forgot to mention one thing he did say.  My son has asthma and is on two medicines with steroids.  He said it's possible he is experiencing a bit of insulin resistance.  Does that make sense?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
We had our appointment and the peds endo didn't think the pituitary cyst was causing any of his symptoms.  When we talked about his blood sugar all he kept saying is that my son doesn't have diabetes and wouldn't really acknowledge his higher than normal blood sugars.  He didn't want to do any further testing and sent us on our way.   I'm very frustrated that this is the fourth doctor we've been to who won't acknowledge a blood sugar problem because he doesn't have full blown diabetes.  Any advice would be helpful.
Helpful - 0
310293 tn?1274739773
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Be sure that you first let the peds endo assess things, do not ask for specific testing,rather let them run the show with some good education from them so you are involved in understanding what is going to be looked at, also have a copy of the mri if one was done, to accurately view the pituitary an mri with and without contrast is the best study, they may want to have peds neurosurgery look at it as well, there are many children I care for who are incidentally found to have cysts and are terrific pituitary hormone wise. So expect a full history and physical, and maybe some labs and perhaps orders to repeat imaging of the pituitary.
Helpful - 0

You are reading content posted in the Pediatric Endocrinology Forum

Popular Resources
Fearing autism, many parents aren't vaccinating their kids. Can doctors reverse this dangerous trend?
Is a gluten-free diet right for you?
We answer your top questions about the flu vaccine.
Learn which over-the-counter medicines are safe for you and your baby
Yummy eats that will keep your child healthy and happy
Healing home remedies for common ailments