My daughter has irregular blood sugars. Right now, the doctor told me to monitor it with testing three to four times a day. She has about five to six highs a week 323 mg/dl [17.9 mmol/L], 234 mg/dl [13 mmol/L], 402 mg/dl [22.3 mmol/L], 198 mg/dl [11 mmol/L], and then some lows, 59 mg/dl [3.3 mmol/L], 41 mg/dl [2.3 mmol/L], and 53 mg/dl [2.9 mmol/L]. Right now, they just have me give her six small meals a day. After fasting through the night, her blood sugar is normal, around 80 to 82 mg/dl [4.4 to 4.6 mmol/L]. Is it normal for a child’s blood sugar to spike and fall like that? My mother and my husband’s aunt and brother are diabetics. My mother is a severe, brittle diabetic.

If I understand you correctly, your child does not carry the diagnosis of diabetes. Why are you checking her blood glucoses? How are you checking her blood glucoses? Is your technique proper? Who taught you how to check? What meter are you using?

Depending on a number of factors, and making the assumptions that your meter is coded correctly, the strips are correct, the technique is correct, etc, I would have to say that glucose levels in the 300s are very suspicious for diabetes.

But, a diagnosis of diabetes cannot be made with a finger stick. Please read Classification and Diagnosis of Diabetes about how to diagnose diabetes. Your doctor may want you to have the child undergo a valid fasting serum glucose check by a venipuncture in the arm and may require another check two hours after a hearty meal. While not often required, a formal glucose tolerance test may be warranted here.

Again, the proper technique is required in doing home glucose monitoring and, making the major assumptions outlined above, these fluctuating glucose levels you describe are not normal. Before one gets too panicky, perhaps you can be referred to a Certified Diabetes Educator to assure you are doing everything appropriately in your checks at home.

DS