March 21, 2002
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Newton, New Jersey, USA:
My nine year old son went to our family doctor because of a six pound weight loss, and his T-4 was low, but his TSH was fine. So, the doctor sent my son to an endocrinologist, and after his glucose was 134 mg/dl [7.4 mmol/L] an hour and a half after eating a sandwich and Diet Coke. The doctor said that he thought that my son had early onset diabetes and sent him to eat a big meal. We came back to early (by a misunderstanding), and his blood sugar was 119 mg/dl [6.6 mmol/L] one-half after he ate. After this, the doctor did some more blood work at the lab.
The endocrinologist called to say that the blood work looked good, but was concerned that I was getting readings of 130 mg/dl [7.2 mmol/L] (give or take a few numbers) before breakfast on my meter and wants my son to come into the office to get a monitor from them to use. My husband’s parents and his sister all have diabetes, and I had gestational diabetes during my pregnancies. What are the chances that my son has diabetes? Is this the onset where you see symptoms and get sporadic blood readings?
Answer:
Work closely with the endocrinologist since they will have run special tests, including hemoglobin A1c and perhaps also insulin, islet cell, and GAD antibodies to see if this means diabetes. You did not provide enough information about blood glucose readings. The most common reason for high sugars in this borderline range is not wiping and cleaning finger sites correctly so that something is interfering with the readings. If technique is correct, then you and the doctors must explain these slightly high values. It’s not likely this is thyroid related from what you have described, but ask these same questions to your endocrinologist and, if necessary, get a second opinion.
SB
