
September 25, 2000
Daily Care, Puberty
Question from El Dorado, Arkansas, USA:
I am 11. Lately, my blood sugars have been high. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. So, when they are high I just don’t eat. What do you think?
Answer:
There are many reasons blood sugars can be high. Most frequently, this includes not taking enough insulin, decreased activity, and sometimes eating more than you should without taking enough insulin. Sometimes, blood sugars can just be unpredictable despite your best efforts. If you are noticing a trend of high blood sugars, make sure you are reviewing this with your parents and your diabetes team to make the best changes that will get your blood sugars back where you’d like to see them.
MSB
[Editor’s comment: Another possibility is that you are entering puberty. As your body begins to change and, you go from being a kid to becoming an adult, there are hormones that start working to make this change happen. These hormones sometimes make blood sugars high.
In any case, skipping a meal because your blood sugars are high is probably not the best solution. It’ll take discussion with your diabetes team to figure out if this is the cause, or one or more of other reasons that Dr. Brown mentions. Once you identify the problem, you can work with your diabetes team to find more appropriate ways of dealing with it.
SS]