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I have a 13 year old daughter, diagnosed 6 years ago with T1. The past 2 years had several episodes of very high BM & Ketones, occasionally gone into DKA and has had 8 hospital admissions this year! Intially this was put down to puberty/hormones, so tried an insulin pump for 18 months, with little imrovement and now our consultant has put her back onto mutiple injections, again little improvement. I also have another diabetic child and myself which are all on insulin. Any help/advise, greatly appreciated.
Responses
Gary Scheiner says
Probably not what you want to hear, but there is a good chance that your daughter is suffering from an eating disorder and is omitting insulin intentionally. This is quite common with girls her age; it is referred to in healthcare circles as "diabulimia". I would recommend a thorough evaluation with a mental health counselor.
Alicia H. McAuliffe-Fogarty says
This is difficult to answer because there is limited information. But having a meeting with your daughter and her diabetes team together is very important to review what is going on (is she not taking insulin at the right time? Is she not taking enough? Is she not monitoring her BGs often enough? Is she not being being truthful about what she is doing to manage her diabetes?). Another things to think about is possibly changing diabetes health providers, if working this current team is not helpful to managing her diabetes.
Ginger Vieira says
I think the bigger problem is not what device or method your daugher is using to manage her diabetes, but the fact that whatever method she does have access to, she's clearly struggling with the overall responsibility of taking her insulin when she needs to and checking her blood sugar throughout the day.
Have you ever had the opportunity to ask your daughter how she feels about having diabetes? And beyond that, who is the main person in charge of her insulin doses? Does she take care of it herself or are you the one who helps make sure insulin is given at meal times? If a person, young or old, is in and out of the hospital that often, then you know right off the bat that her ability to handle the responsibility of diabetes needs attention...not the method of insulin delivery.
The next step might be to find a therapist/psychologist who specializes in teens with diabetes. As well as enrolling her in diabetes camp for next summer, ASAP! I promise the camp can do wonders for a young girl who feels like the only girls in the world who has diabetes. I'd also be happy to chat with your daughter through coaching at http://www.Living-in-Progress.com.
