July 31, 2000
Behavior
Question from Lund, Sweden:
My two sons (18 and 14 years old) both have had type 1 diabetes for five years. I have a bit of a problem keeping the blood sugar within reasonable levels on the youngest. He also has a bipolar disorder and is treated with lithium. First of all, it seems like he’s having difficulties understanding the seriousness and is not taking good care of diabetes. Secondly, he is eating a lot of junk during the night when he can�t sleep (he is treated for insomnia, every now and then). His blood glucose ranges between 14 mmol/L (252 mg/dl) to high during these periods, and his last HbA1c was 13.1 percent. Do you have any suggestions?
Answer:
Controlling diabetes when the child has little insight is particularly difficult. Often spending time and discussing with them the impact on their health of poor control can be helpful, but also working with psychologists on using coping skills may help.
JS
