March 3, 2006
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Birmingham, Alabama, USA:
I am 26 and have had type 1 diabetes for six years. I have a 13 month old. My daughter loves to eat! I noticed it so much that I wanted to check her sugar because increased appetite can be a symptom. I haven’t really noticed another other symptoms, so far. The other day, she had a random blood sugar of 114 mg/dl [6.3 mmol/L]. For a diabetic like me, this is somewhat a good reading, however, for a non-diabetic, it is on the higher side, I guess. I checked her sugar for the first time a few months ago and it was around 85 mg/dl [4.7 mmol/L]. I have been trying to read up on the numbers at which children are diagnosed. When I was diagnosed, it was in the 200s mg/dl [over 11.1 mmol/L] so there was no question. I checked her sugar again today and it was 117 mg/dl [6.5 mmol/L], probably about an hour since she has had anything to eat or drink. For some reason, I feel like this number is borderline. Should I be concerned?
Answer:
No. These blood sugars are normal after eating. A child of this age doesn’t really have a fasting time. To be diabetes, her fasting blood sugar would be 126 mg/dl [7.0 mmol/L] or higher and her random blood sugar would be 200 mg/dl [11.1 mmol/L] or higher with symptoms. Both of these blood sugars would need to be determined through a laboratory, not a home meter. I won’t tell you to never check, just don’t go overboard.
LD
