My two year old daughter may have diabetes, and I really do not want her to be on shots at this age if she does not have to. Are there any other methods that can be used instead of the shots? I really do not think she could take a pill. What other options are there for a little one as her if she does not have type 2 diabetes yet?

Please, without delay, have your daughter seen by her pediatrician right away! Diabetes is not a diagnosis that you want any uncertainty about. You say that your daughter “may” have diabetes. It is easy to find out with simple blood tests. A urine test is not accurate enough!

If she is shown to have diabetes, then at the age of two years, she would almost certainly have type�1 diabetes. Insulin given by shots is the only current way to care for the child with type 1 diabetes. There are no other options.

Please get her checked immediately so as to either establish a diagnosis and get treatment started or to relieve your anxiety if she is shown to not have diabetes.

DS

[Editor’s comment: If your daughter does have type 1 diabetes, as Dr. Schwartz has stated, insulin is the only treatment currently available. Hopefully, there will soon be other ways, but for now, insulin by injection is necessary for life. If she does have it, as your daughter does grow up, she will always have type 1. Just because she becomes older does not mean she then has type�2 which can often be treated with diet, exercise, and pills called oral hypoglycemic agents.

SS]