Could it be Diabetes?

[MummaBear79]

Im just after a bit of advice from any Mum's out there who may have a child who has been diagnosed with Diabetes.

My son is 7 years old and for the past year or so we have been struggling a little bit with his behaviour His extreme emotional ups and downs, anger and teariness had us thinking some sort of food intolerance. So we started looking in to that a little bit. It did make a difference, but the onset of a very distinctive smelling breath has started me thinking (and worrying) about Diabetes.

I have had a lengthy talk to my Midwife who has a daughter with Diabetes and the symptoms seem to be spot on.

His moods are so up and down its almost like he has two personalities. His teacher has also said that he needs to go to the toilet alot (even though we dont notice this as much at home), his breath is horrible even though he brushes well, he can be as sweet as pie one minute and lashing out the next and he gets very hyperactive after sugary foods, bread etc.

I personally dont know too much about Diabetes myself, so if there are any Mums out there who could offer some help, that would be wonderful. My son is away with his grandparents at the moment, but we are going to test his BSL's when he gets home.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

I just wanted to add that we do have diabetes in the family, on my husbands side.

[Tinks]

My Dh has diabetes. The first symptom was that he was thirsty all the time, frequent urination is also another. The mood swings you've described do sound like DH's when his sugar levels aren't controlled. Does he have a funny taste in his mouth that he can't get rid of?

My advice would be to check his BSL, if it's over 6 or below 4 take him straight to hospital and let them sort it all out there. Don't wait.

[Olive]

a friends DD was recently diagnosed, her signs were constant thirst and frequent urination/wetting the bed, she was extremely high levels

[skybie]

I have type 1 diabetes and if these symptoms have been going on for 12 months then I wouldnt think
He has it. It a matter of 3-4 months of my symptoms going from mild to severe the doctors were surprised I wasnt comatosed (sp?). My symptoms were constant thirst and urination severly dehydrated to the point I couldn't speak without having a drink first because my mouth was so dry, rapid weight loss, I'd gone from 73kgs to 59 kgs in ten weeks. Constantly tired I couldn't hang a load of washing without needing to sit down for an hour. If your son is having a big reaction to sugar then it might be sugar related because when your a diabetic the sugar doesn't go into your red blood cells to be burnt off for energy which is why you crave sugar so intently and your body burns off your fat stores for energy which is why rapid weight loss is a symptom. Also because the sugar is t turning into energy it builds up and up in your blood stream which is why diabetics feel like crap when we're running high. And it's also why we drink and urinate alot pre diagnosis because your body can't pee sugar crystals and needs to dilute them.
Hope I've helped in some way

[melbel]

If it is ketones on his breath you are smelling it would smell like nail polish remover....it's a very distinctive smell and happens in the later stages....if it smells like that get him to a gp asap as it is the last stage before comatose. As Skybie says if he has had the symptoms for that long it is most likely NOT diabetes, type 1 at least as in children it usually hits and progresses pretty quickly......there is a small possibility it could be juvenile onset type 2 diabetes but this is not so common. I would get him checked out at the GP just to be sure but highly unlikely. Another possibility is a condition called Hypoglycaemia which can lead to massive mood swings in relation to sugar intake. It is another type of inability to metabolise and store sugars effectively. and then the breath issue could just be a simple case of h.pylori (bad breath bacteria).......you really need to get him checked out by a doctor hun.....

[MummaBear79]

Thanks so much for your advice girls. He is back from his Grandparents house tomorrow so we will get him checked asap.