April 19, 2001
Hypoglycemia
Question from Gozo, Malta:
My seven year old daughter, diagnosed at age three with type 1 diabetes, is on only a morning injection of Actrapid and Monotard, and I still fear night time hypos. She rarely has them, but, when she does, they’re really bad. She gets to what looks like a fit of some sort, and her glucose levels are sometimes as low as 1.8 mmol/L [32.2 mg/dl], but as soon as I give her glucose tablets she’s back to normal within minutes. Doctors can give me no specific answer as to why this happens. Is this a normal occurrence in this age child?
I would like to make contact other parents in my situation.
Answer:
Every child is different, and sometimes bad hypos happen without warning and despite great care with giving extra carbohydrate before exercise, etc. However, in my experience, it is rare to be able to achieve good control on one injection per day after four years of diabetes. Discuss with your daughter’s diabetes team.
KJR
