My daughter was diagnosed with diabetes type 1 about a year ago. She is 11 years old and complains about bad stomach pain in the upper stomach around the pancreas about once a month. Could it be insulin that causes that or something else?

There are many possible explanations for upper abdominal pain in an 11 year old girl with diabetes, with psychosocial issues high on the list and she needs to be evaluated for these by her paediatrician as soon as possible. One of these possibilities is that her diabetes is accompanied by another autoimmune condition which is the celiac syndrome, a sensitivity of the mucosa of the upper small intestine to a wheat protein (gluten). Up to 10% of Type 1A autoimmune diabetics in Caucasian children may have this additional problem. In the circumstances it would be well worth getting the appropriate test for serum anti transglutaminase or anti endomyseal antibodies and you should discuss this with her diabetes doctor.

DOB