June 30, 1999
Honeymoon
Question from Ontario, Canada:
My son is 12 and was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 3 months ago. He has excellent control with many lows in the day. He takes Humalog, 4 times daily. Sometimes at supper and especially at his 8 o’clock needle we have to skip and he is normal in the morning. He had a virus last week, with a fever for 6 days, and has not required any insulin for the past 5 days: all his readings are normal. I am very confused on what is happening. I have tried looking up information on this, but to no avail. Is this a common occurrence? How often does this happen or will it stay?
Answer:
It sounds very much like your son is in the honeymoon phase of his diabetes and is still able to make most of the insulin he needs. I am a little concerned that he has many lows each day. I would not regard this as excellent control and I am sure that your diabetes team will wish to adjust his insulin. Presumably, when he had his virus, his gut wasn’t absorbing very well and that’s why his insulin requirement was so low. This state may go on for quite a few months before his insulin need slowly increases.
KJR
