constantly drinking

[Andrea26]

My 4 year old seems to be constantly thirsty..he can go through a gallon of fluid a day if we let him.. Someone I talked to mentioned this may be juvenile diabetes.. What is juvenile diabetes and what are other symptoms? We thought maybe he was dehydrated thats why he was drinking so much but we took away any juices and milk and he still drank as much.. The doctor hasn't been able to do any blood work on him because he freaks out every time we try to go and he has autism so we can't explain really to him whats happening..They tried restraining him to get the blood work and he even got out of that..I don't know what to do I am really concerned about this.. Other things he does show is he pees a lot but really strong odor like if you were dehydrated..but i thought that the peeing was just cause he drinks a lot.. he has quite a few specialists he sees or is scheduled to see because of the autism but no one can offer any insight to the constant thirst..


He is on 2 meds Melatonin 3mg and Clonidine 4 ml at bed its a liquid the tabs they used to make it are .1 mg

please help

[Lauralou71]

My name is Laura and i have a 3 year old daughter who is constantly thirsty. She will have a drink one after the other. If she dont get a juice she will get vey upset and start crying. She is also going to the toilet so often, its nearly every 10 minutes. She also comes out in a bumpy rash every couple of months which she complains this is itchy. I have just took her to the toilet and within minutes she has just asked to go again.
Is this something i shoud be concerned about?

[boseephus]

Is his urine dark yellow or clear? Go to the doctor with your problem. Call the local county if you can't afford just be careful they could jack him up on meds.

[papermun]

i manage to get this link it might help you http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/symptom-checker/DS00671
its a symptom checker i hope it helps .




all the best

[CharliesAngel77]

My suggestion is like the above, see if they can check his blood sugar on a blood glucose meter at your doctor's office.  I think it is painfree (but I have been doing it for 14 years) and alot easier than a blood draw.  It is a simple finger poke and then putting that blood on a test strip.  This will give the doctors more of an idea what they are dealing with and where to go from there.  I am not sure how he will react to this with his autism but I have checked my 3 year old sons blood sugar several times and it doesn't bother him at all.  In fact he sticks his finger out for me whenever I get my meter out to check my blood sugar.  I hope you can get something figured out soon!

[JDRF-VOL-RL]

Hello, Andrea.  I'm not a medical professional, just the parent of a kid with diabetes.  Juvenile diabetes is an autoimmune condition where the body's pancreas ceases to function properly.  The pancreas produces two primary proteins, the most important of which is insulin.  When you eat, food is broken down into it's basic elements to be digested, the most basic of which is glucose.  The body uses glucose in muscles, for energy, and in the brain, to support basic functions.  Insulin is the protein that takes that glucose and delivers it to the cells that use it.  When the pancreas stops producing insulin, the body doesn't have the ability to get that energy it needs from it's normal routes, and that creates the symptoms that people see.

Here are a list of the symptoms:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000305.htm#Symptoms

The primary ones most people see are weight loss, extreme thirst, frequent urination, and fatigue.  

You certainly have a problem on your hands, with his autism.  Does he sleep soundly?  It's possible to do a simple blood sugar test with a glucose meter to get a decent idea of whether or not he has diabetes.  Otherwise, all I can recommend is that you figure out a way to restrain him with enough people.  I don't know enough about autism to be able to suggest a way to do it that you haven't already thought of.  The blood draw doesn't take too long, but you definitely have your challenges.  I'd definitely recommend you get him tested.  Good luck.