May 26, 2001
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Little Rock, Arkansas, USA:
My sweet nine year old daughter becomes uncharacteristically antagonistic and inconsolable sometimes. I used to think it was an occasional behavioral problem, but I’m 100% sure now that it’s only when she’s hungry. After she’s fed, she dramatically changes back to her usual self. I’ve treated this in the past by trying to not let her get hungry, but I’m wondering if I need to talk to a physician about this. Could it be hypoglycemia or diabetes?
Answer:
If your daughter has no other symptoms , this is unlikely to be diabetes. It could be due to hypoglycaemia, as it sounds as though by preventing her going hungry, she avoided the symptoms.
It would indeed be worth talking this over with your daughter’s doctor who may want to check a few things out. However, if your daughter is otherwise well, it sounds as though she doesn’t have an underlying problem, but a tendency to drop blood glucose if her energy stores are used up.
JS
