July 11, 2001
Hypoglycemia, Meal Planning, Food and Diet
Question from Galena, Kansas, USA:
My 10 year old son, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes about a year ago, has always had pretty good control by counting calories, as this is the method our doctor prefers, but in the last six weeks, he has had three hypoglycemic seizures. After the first two seizures, his doctor changed the nighttime insulin to Lantus (insulin glargine) which worked very well until he had another seizure last week when he first woke up in the morning. We are in contact with our team and have been monitoring and adjusting his insulin. He is now swinging from high to low, and since his first seizure, he cannot detect a low coming on. Do you think at this point I should switch to counting carbs rather than calories? Our doctor is not opposed to this method, she just feels her kids have better control by counting calories. I am open to any suggestions from anyone.
Answer:
Carbohydrate counting is accepted by most as the most current diet management strategy for type�1 diabetes. You may wish to change to that method since you are not having success with calorie counting. I would suggest you continue to have close follow-up with your son’s diabetes team to form a strategy to decrease the frequency of your son’s hypoglycemic seizures.
MSB
Additional comments from Lois Schmidt Finney, diabetes dietitian:
I think 3 seizure episodes in 6 weeks without a good plan of action to prevent future occurence is too much. Does he give his own insulin and if so, does someone watch to be sure he gets the correct amount? Does he have a snack before bedtime? Do you check 3 AM blood glucose levels? If the team has not suggested any of these and hopefully other options, it may be time to look for another team.
LSF