does she really need the insulin

[tammy75]

my child was diagnosed at age 2 with type 1 diabetes 2 months ago. We spent a week in hospital learning about diabetes and insulin  injections and carb counting. Im a nurse so i had education on diabetes already.after we got home I worked diligently to ensure her insulin injections coordinated with the carbohydrates she was taking in. At our 3 week follow up with the diabetic team we discovered that she was eating less therefor recieving less insulin. She went from 5 injections a day of a combination of novorapid, and lantus at supper times, to 1-2 injections daily. after another 2 weeks of very healthy blood sugars, and not recieving the novorapid i decided what would happen if i discontinued the lantus? now my understanding of newly diagnosed type 1 diabetics is that the pancreas i s still producing some insulin, and generally after diagnosis a honey moon stage occurs..with alot of lows. Now is this honey moon stage the time it takes for the remaining ilets to die? and become totally dependant on the insulin injections to do alll the work.she has been off insulin for 2 days now, i'm keeping her carbs low mand her sugars are normal...can you explain this to me. Is there a chance that if her little body has small frequent amounts of carbs to breakdown that whatever ilets remaing can do this job? my question is by allowing her to maintain a low carb diet along with exercise can she remain off the insulin??? and will the pancreas ever rejuvinate?

[JDRF Volunteer AJ]

Hi my name is Ardy Johnson and I am a volunteer with the JDRF.  I want to let you know we are all volunteers so we are not able to give any medical advice, we simply respond based on our personally experience with type 1 diabetes.
My son was diagnosed at the age of 11 and is now 38 years old, but I have to say I remember those early days and weeks as though they just happened.  I did exactly what you did, in learning how to deal with diabetes, however we don’t know as much back then as we know today.  But we also were told about the honeymoon stage and indeed Jeff went through the same thing.  I wanted to stop giving him his injections but the doc really didn’t want me to do that, he felt it would provide Jeff with a false sense of not having diabetes and he (the doc) was convinced he indeed did, we were giving him just 1 unit of insulin a day, and over the course of several weeks we had to start increasing it again.  Again I cannot give you medical advice but what I would say regarding your question about a low carb diet and exercise can she remain off insulin…if indeed she has type 1 the answer is “no”  and again if she has type 1 the pancreas will not rejuvenate on its own.  I certainly understand you asking these questions, but I can honestly say in my 27 years of being active in the type 1 community I have never heard of this happening.

If you are interested in regeneration, here is a quote from the JDRF website regarding this area of research: Among the fastest-growing scientific areas JDRF supports is research aimed at regenerating insulin producing cells in people who have diabetes (as opposed to transplanting cells from organ donors or other sources). This involves triggering the body to grow its own new insulin producing cells, either by copying existing ones - some are usually still active, even in people who have had diabetes for decades - or causing the pancreas to create new ones.

For more information, simply go to www.jdrf.org and click on the Research tab.  If you would like to speak to another mom who has had a child diagnosed close to your daughters, simply contact the Online Diabetes Support Team, again found on the JDRF web site.

I would encourage you to contact your doctor and let him know you have taken your daughter off insulin and seek his input.  I would also encourage you to continue to test her on a regular basis to make sure her blood sugars are not starting to rise.
Thanks for your post, I hope this has been helpful to you.
Ardy