Four weeks ago, my 5 year old started having to go to the bathroom more often. At first, I just thought he was worried about wetting his pants. But his teacher brought it to my attention today. He is only in school three hours a day and only drinks about half a cup of milk before school. When he tells me he has to go, there are times he will urinate and other times he tries but produces no urine at all. I have noticed that he does have fatigue and he eats all day long. His uncle has Type 1 diabetes. I am taking him to see his doctor and I want to know what tests I should have done on him.

I think you should accept that the decisions about how to investigate your son’s problem must lie primarily with his doctor though obviously you will want to be in on whatever is suggested. I say this because there are many possible causes other than diabetes that might explain the symptoms. It might be a urinary tract infection and it might be an anxiety problem in some way associated to school for example.

As regards the diabetes possibility a fasting blood sugar and test for urine glucose will probably be enough to exclude the diagnosis; but if you yourself feel that you need more reassurance even though his uncle is not a first degree relative you might ask the doctor about a modified glucose tolerance test or even an antibody test (tel 1-800-425-8361).

DOB