Diabetes

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Juvenile Diabetes and the Honeymoon Period

» Diabetes 2 symptoms
» Symptoms for diabetes
» diabetes symptoms and treatment
» Pre diabetic symptoms
» Neuropathy in diabetes
» Best medicine for diabetes type 2
» Diabetes type 1 and type 2
» Diabetes recipes
» How to prevent diabetes
» Feet and diabetes
» Herbal medicine for diabetes
» Herbal treatment for diabetes type 2
» pre diabetic diet
» control of diabetes
» pump for diabetes
» risk factors of diabetes
» smoking and diabetes type 2
» diabetes type 2 risk factors
» insulin type 2
» a-1 diabetes
In many children with juvenile diabetes a period occurs shortly after being diagnosed

they go through what is commonly called as the honeymoon period. This is a time when

your child’s blood sugar levels will return to normal without the aid of additional insulin.

It is important to remember that this happens in a lot of children and does not mean that

the disease has gone away. The pancreas is still trying to do its job and is working

overtime to make insulin for your child’s body. Following are some guidelines to follow

when this happens.

The length of the honeymoon period is not the same for everyone. In one child it can last

months while in another child it can feasibly last for over a year. It all depends on how

much insulin your child’s pancreas can produce and how long it can keep up that rate of

production. It will be hard to figure out how much if any insulin your child needs during

this time when their blood sugar levels are normal. Constant monitoring of the blood

glucose levels is still required, because you will not know when the honeymoon period is

over otherwise.

Keep in close contact with your health care provider. He or she will help in determining

what the best plan is to follow during the honeymoon phase. Some may even want you to

give minute amounts of insulin daily in order to keep your child used to the injections and

your child’s body accustomed to the additional insulin it will need.

It can be emotionally hard for your child during the honeymoon phase. Everything will

seem back to normal and they are going to want to resume their life like it was prior to

diagnosis. It is important to remain on the diabetic diet and continue monitoring during

this time.

Juvenile Diabetes and the Honeymoon Period

Juvenile Diabetes and Teenagers

» Diabetes 2 symptoms
» Symptoms for diabetes
» diabetes symptoms and treatment
» Pre diabetic symptoms
» Neuropathy in diabetes
» Best medicine for diabetes type 2
» Diabetes type 1 and type 2
» Diabetes recipes
» How to prevent diabetes
» Feet and diabetes
» Herbal medicine for diabetes
» Herbal treatment for diabetes type 2
» pre diabetic diet
» control of diabetes
» pump for diabetes
» risk factors of diabetes
» smoking and diabetes type 2
» diabetes type 2 risk factors
» insulin type 2
» a-1 diabetes
Teenagers are young adults and are ready to take on new responsibilities. If your

teenager has had juvenile diabetes for some time, this is the time to pass the reins of

management over to them. It may seem a bit intimidating to you to let your child take

control of their diabetes but it is the best thing you can do for them. They are

approaching a time in their life when they are going to be going out on their own. For

both your sake and theirs, a comfort level needs to be reached in reading blood sugars,

giving injections and planning appropriate meals.

If your child was a teenager when he or she was first diagnosed, involve them in the

process from the beginning. Their input and the ability to make some decisions will help

them feel in control of a situation they would rather not be in.

The biggest point to stress and make sure your teenager understands is how important it

is to keep proper control of their diabetes. Juvenile diabetes is a serious disease and it has

serious complications if blood sugar levels are not kept under control.

Discuss with your child different scenarios that are sure to arise and try and come up with

solutions or ways to manage them. Drinking can have a negative affect on blood glucose

levels and it is important that a young adult realize the dangers. When they reach legal

age, they need to know how drinking can affect them and ways to incorporate that into

their life if they so choose.

As a parenting, letting go is a hard thing to do but it is necessary to create independent

adults. Trust your child to make the right decisions for their diabetes and be there to

guide them when necessary.

Juvenile Diabetes and Teenagers

Insulin Pumps for Juvenile Diabetics

» Diabetes 2 symptoms
» Symptoms for diabetes
» diabetes symptoms and treatment
» Pre diabetic symptoms
» Neuropathy in diabetes
» Best medicine for diabetes type 2
» Diabetes type 1 and type 2
» Diabetes recipes
» How to prevent diabetes
» Feet and diabetes
» Herbal medicine for diabetes
» Herbal treatment for diabetes type 2
» pre diabetic diet
» control of diabetes
» pump for diabetes
» risk factors of diabetes
» smoking and diabetes type 2
» diabetes type 2 risk factors
» insulin type 2
» a-1 diabetes
A popular alternative, especially for teenagers, to daily insulin injections is to use an

insulin pump. Although it is an alternative for everyone because of the high cost of the

unit and having to wear it 24 hours per day for others it can help in successfully

managing juvenile diabetes.

An insulin pump is worn all the time and provides a steady stream of fast-acting insulin

instead of a combination of fast-acting and long-lasting insulin that is typically combined

in a syringe. If your child is has to have multiple needles in a day this is also an attractive

alternative.

Wearing an insulin pump provides greater flexibility; there is no specific injection and

eating times that have to be met. But eating at similar times each day is still

recommended. One of the best features of wearing an insulin pump is the ability to bolus

– giving additional fast-acting insulin immediately before eating a meal or a snack by

pressing one of the buttons on the pump. This method can prevent spikes in blood sugar

by providing a boost of insulin when it is needed most.

Some of the downsides of a pump are the expense. The unit itself is not cheap and you

have to still buy the insulin and supplies to go with it. And it has to be worn all the time

with the exception of bathing or swimming. But you and your child will have to weight

the pros and cons of a pump and see what they want to have in the end.

The same amount of effort is still needed to keep blood sugars in control but having an

insulin pump can be more convenient by not having to worry about insulin injections. An

insulin pump will also keep a steady stream of insulin in the body overnight when blood

sugars can sometimes spike.

Insulin Pumps for Juvenile Diabetics

Hypoglycemia

» Diabetes 2 symptoms
» Symptoms for diabetes
» diabetes symptoms and treatment
» Pre diabetic symptoms
» Neuropathy in diabetes
» Best medicine for diabetes type 2
» Diabetes type 1 and type 2
» Diabetes recipes
» How to prevent diabetes
» Feet and diabetes
» Herbal medicine for diabetes
» Herbal treatment for diabetes type 2
» pre diabetic diet
» control of diabetes
» pump for diabetes
» risk factors of diabetes
» smoking and diabetes type 2
» diabetes type 2 risk factors
» insulin type 2
» a-1 diabetes
Hypoglycemia is when a child (or any other person) with diabetes is suffering from low

blood sugars. This can be an extreme and dangerous situation and in the worse case

scenarios can lead to a diabetic coma or even death. But with careful monitoring of

blood sugar levels this can be prevented.

An important lesson to teach young children with juvenile diabetes is to recognize the

signs of when they have low blood sugar. For very young children this is going to be

difficult when they don’t have the words or comprehension to explain what they are

feeling.

Your child can develop hypoglycemia if they have not eaten enough, have had too much

insulin or if they have missed a meal. All of these situations can be avoided but they still

happen from time to time. Make sure your child always has some emergency food on

hand for these types of situations and knows when they should eat it.

A child suffering from hypoglycemia may display certain symptoms that can help an

outsider know what is going on. Especially for young children keep a look out for mood

swings, shakiness, paleness, acting strangely or the inability to concentrate. The

condition can manifest itself in many different ways but in an individual they usually

react the same way to hypoglycemia. Learn how your child reacts to low blood sugars

and advise others who care for your child in the course of a day so that they too can be

prepared.

If your child is frequently suffering from hypoglycemia, consult with your doctor or

diabetes educator. An adjustment to the insulin schedule or the amount of insulin that is

given may need to be adjusted. A closer look at the meal plan is warranted too, maybe

meal times or the type of food eaten needs to be changed.

Hypoglycemia

How Juvenile Diabetes is Diagnosed

It can be scary when you realize that something may be wrong with your child. You will

want to find out right away what it is and how you can help. The testing that is done to

determine if your child has juvenile diabetes is not very evasive and can be determined in

a very short period of time.

Once you have taken your child to your health care provider, blood work will be ordered

to check your child’s blood glucose levels. The first test that is performed is normally a

with a blood glucose monitor in your doctor’s office. If the level is high a fasting blood

glucose test will be ordered. Your child will not be able to eat for 8-10 hours prior to the

blood being drawn. It is best to do this first thing in the morning as soon as your child

wakes up. Bring a snack along for your child to eat after the blood work as they are sure

to be hungry.

Depending on the results from the fasting blood test your doctor will probably order

another round of tests to verify the results. This test is also done on an empty stomach

and you should make an appointment as you will have to be in the office from 1-3 hours.

When you arrive at the lab your child will have some blood drawn and then be asked to

drink a beverage that is high in sugar. After one hour another blood test will be

conducted to see how your child’s body has processed the sugar. If the three hour test

was ordered two more blood tests will be done at the two hour and three hour marks.

The results from this test will give your doctor the information needed to make a

diagnosis of juvenile diabetes in your child.

How Juvenile Diabetes is Diagnosed

Help from Grandparents with Diabetic Children

A night out on the town is just what mom and dad needs, but who is going to baby sit?

Grandparents are the best baby sitters, especially when they involve an overnight stay.

For parents of children with juvenile diabetes it might not be as easy. It is going to be

hard to leave your child with anyone for an extended period of time unless they know

how to take of your child and manage their diabetes.

Training and a little bit of practice is all that is needed. The good thing about

grandparents is that you know they have your child’s best interests at heart. They are

going to take the responsibility seriously and follow your instructions to the letter.

To give the grandparents confidence and make yourself feel better do a trial run. Have a

day where you are around and let grandma or grandpa take the reins for the day. It

doesn’t take much time to become comfortable with drawing and injecting the insulin and

testing blood sugar levels with a monitor.

For the first visit, help out by providing a list of step-by-step instructions as a back-up.

And you can even provide meal suggestions. Send your child with their emergency kit

(they really shouldn’t go anywhere without one anyway) and make sure everyone knows

how and when to use the contents.

Leave contact numbers where you can be reached at all times. It will give peace of mind

to everyone involved to know that if any questions arise or an emergency does develop

you are just a phone call away. Encourage the calls so that no one feels that they are

interrupting you – even for little questions.

After the first successful overnight stay, be ready for many more requests to go and stay

at grandma and grandpa’s house for a sleepover.

Help from Grandparents with Diabetic Children

Healthy Eating Guidelines for Juvenile Diabetes

A daily insulin injection is required to manage type 1 diabetes in children but it is not the

only management strategy. The diet plan that goes along with the daily insulin

requirements is just as important and needs to be planned accordingly. Consistency in

meal times, portion sizes, and food groups are the keys to successful meal planning for

children with diabetes.

Even though consistency is of the utmost importance, it does not mean that your child

cannot have variety too. This may seem impossible but there are ways it can be achieved.

The important rules to remember are feeding your child at the same time each day and

giving them their insulin injection(s) at the same time too. This helps their bodies

regulate the use of the insulin.

The other piece of the consistency equation is the servings given from the food groups. If

your child gets one protein and one carbohydrate every day for the morning snack don’t

deviate from that. But what you can do is provide many choices for the protein and

carbohydrate and try different combinations.

If your child has a favorite meal or snack that works well with their blood sugar make it

for them as often as they like. But they are going to get bored if they have to eat the same

thing day in and day out. You are going to find that the food choices available are not as

limited as you might have originally thought. You can also get creative and revamp old

recipes making them friendly for diabetics by using sugar substitutes in place of sugar or

using whole wheat in place of white (for instance in a pizza crust).

Browse diabetic cookbooks with your child and involve them in the meal planning. You

are sure to have more success in preparing meals if they have a say in what they are

eating.

Healthy Eating Guidelines for Juvenile Diabetes