Diabetes?

[AZI01]

My almost 4 yr old daughter was diagnosed with ketotic hypoglycemia 2 years ago, so we were always keeping an eye on her low blood sugar readings. Recently I have randomly checked her and once it was 198 ( 2 hrs after breakfast) and another day it was 215 ( about an hour after eating a piece of licorice).  Her doctors have checked a few different times for diabetes, but they assure me that this is not the problem. I just feel like they aren't seeing the whole picture. Any ideas?
- Adria

[AZI01]

The geneticist says that uncooked cornstarch taken at bedtime acts as a slow release glucose. I mix it in drinkable yogurt. Nasty! But she has been doing this for 2 yrs now, and she is a pretty good sport about it:) I asked about a bowl of spaghetti at bed time, or something else, but he said this is working, and it is the best. I dunno, maybe it is a Utah thing, because no one has ever heard of "uncooked cornstarch therapy".

[Zoelula]

Four tablespoons of cornstarch?? How on earth do you get her to eat that?? There are plenty of carb snacks if she needs one that are more palatable than that!

By the way, you don't need to use alcohol wipes to test. They will dry her hands and could change the result. Just wash and dry well.

[AZI01]

Thanks for the info. I checked her this morning and she was 73. She takes 4 tablespoons of cornstarch at night before bed, to keep her sugars up while she sleeps. The geneticist said that it should keep her above 80 over night. It is wierd. Sometimes when I think she would be high, or low, her numbers are fine.... and when I think there is no problem or symptoms, she is high or low. I don't know. I always freshly wash her hands or use the alcohol wipes so there is nothing on her finger to mess up the test and give a false positive.

[Zoelula]

You should test her fasting blood sugar first thing in the morning before food and the goal for that is under 100. Then test two hours after eating and the goal would be under 140. It might be interesting to see when she spikes, (her highest number) for some people it is closer to one hour for others two, but testing sooner than that doesn't mean too much. Yes, I'm sure it was a blood test, but if it was just a random blood sugar it is pretty meaningless. The ones that determine diagnosis are either fasting (diabetes is 126 and over) and more commonly these days A1C which is an average of blood sugars for a period of about two months. (diabetes is over 6.5). Ask your doctor what type of tests he did or is going to do now. I hope she doesn't have diabetes, but if she does, there is a lot to learn. Send me a private message and I'll give you the names of a website with lots more diabetics and parents of children who can share their experiences with you.
Zoe

[AZI01]

Thanks for your comment:) I think I will make an appt with her doctor. I want to make a log of her sugars for a few days, do you know the best times to test? I know that about 2 hours after eating, you should be in the normal range....but what if you test soon after you eat, is that a bad time to test? I don't know much about diabetes. I think when they have tested for diabetes it was a blood test. Thanks for your help!

[Zoelula]

Those numbers are definitely in the range of diabetes. When you say the doctors have "checked a few different times for diabetes", how did they check? Random blood sugars? Those are virtually meaningless. They need to do an A1C. Results under 5.7 are normal, from 5.7 to 6.4 are pre-diabetes and 6.5 and over are diabetes. I don't really know what " ketotic"  hypoglycemia is, but those numbers after meals are indicative of diabetes. If your doctor is unwilling to test, you might see an endo. Regular doctors are woefully ignorant of diabetes especially type 1.