March 27, 2002
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from East Liverpool, Ohio, USA:
A year ago, my four year old son started with problems with his sugar. His endocrinologist tested him and said his pancreas was producing too much insulin. So I started monitoring his sugar, which for over a year has fluctuated so much (44-298 mg/dl) [2.4 16.6 mmol/L]. He just went through a another battery of blood work, and his pancreas is now producing very little insulin, the doctor has put him on a sugar free diet and wants to run more tests, but I think by this time we should be looking into insulin.
In the meantime, I have thrown myself into the computer finding out how to count carbs and how to stop his sugar from fluctuating so much. Do you think this doctor is doing all he can? Is he leading us on. Is it time for insulin or not? I am scared and confused and don’t know what to do.
Answer:
There’s no reason for doctors to be “leading you on”, but perhaps you should arrange some extra time for a detailed consultation so that your questions may be answered by your current physicians. If you are unhappy with them, then arrange for a second opinion from another pediatric endocrinologist. There are several excellent pediatric endocrinologists in your area, at all of the big medical school/university settings as well as some of the larger community hospitals. Your family doctor or pediatrician is also a resource to help you sort out conflicting ideas and also to help make other referral for second opinions.
SB
