
February 27, 2004
Daily Care, Puberty
Question from Arnold, Maryland, USA:
My 11 year old daughter, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in November, recently began her menstruating. So far, her blood sugars have been in the range we have been given. How does the onset of menses typically affect diabetes management?
Answer:
Some teens/women have major changes in insulin requirements during different parts of menstrual cycle, but most do not. This is all very individualized and should be decided based upon actual blood glucose results, looking for patterns, etc. There are no hard and fast rules and no dogmatic therapy since everyone is so different. If there is a pattern of higher sugars for the first week of the cycle, or any other pattern, for that matter, then adjustments of insulin and/or food should be made based upon that particular pattern.
SB