Question from Navarre, Florida, USA:

My six year old daughter has had type one diabetes since February 1, 2005. She had been sick for months and our family doctor could not figure out why she was staying so sick. All laboratory tests were normal, even her A1c. Her father and his brother both have type 1. Her fasting blood sugars were 160 to 200 mg/dl [8.9 to 11.1 mmol/L] at times. She would have the ketone breath, increased urination and abdominal pain. We finally took her to our endocrinologist and her fasting glucose was 187 mg/dl [10.4 mmol/L], A1c 6.1, and co2 level 18. All other tests, including C-peptide and insulin levels were normal. Currently, she takes NovoLog 70/30, five units in the morning and five units in the evening. She was 42 pounds and now is 47 pounds and looks great. She eats very well. Her fasting blood sugars are 85 to 110 mg/dl [4.7 to 6.1 mmol/L] and she has an occasional 140 to 160 mg/dl [7.8 to 8.9 mmol/L] before lunch. I have stopped her insulin before due to occasional lows and her weight gain thinking we were wrong. But, within three days, she would be sick. Her fasting blood sugars would be 180 to 200 mg/dl [10.0 to 11.1 mmol/L] with abdominal pain. I would restart her insulin and she would be better. My husband is very brittle, with fasting blood sugars of 30 to 400 mg/dl [1.7 to 22.2 mmol/L] even with the pump on six different settings. He is 33 and has had type 1 32 years and has always been this way. In general, my daughter's blood sugars are perfect. Ten units does not seem like a lot of insulin. Is she really a diabetic and we caught it early like our endocrine doctor says?