November 25, 2005
Diagnosis and Symptoms, Hyperglycemia and DKA
Question from Wetumpka, Alabama, USA:
My mother died at 59 this past May and her doctor thinks she had diabetes for many years before she was diagnosed with it. Earlier this year, when my mother was testing, my 10 year old daughter wanted to test herself so my mother tested her. My daughter’s blood sugar was over 200 mg/dl [11.1 mmol/L] and I made an appointment with her pediatrician. She tested normal. But, she does have more than one symptom, including tiredness, thirst and increased hunger and, at times, after eating something sweet, she gets very mean. Her pediatrician tells us not to worry about it since the test they did was normal.
Also, before my mother was diagnosed, she also tested normal until she got very sick and her sugar went up to 600 mg/dl [33.3 mmol/L]. Can someone’s blood sugar go up very fast and then fall back to a normal level and be missed by a doctor? If so, how do we catch it?
Answer:
Generally, if you are found to have random blood sugar level as high as over 200 mg/dl [11.1 mmol/L], it’s rather unlikely that you subsequently normalize your levels completely, especially in a child. In your daughter’s case, I suspect the high blood sugar level was quite probably due to some mistakes done with your mother’s home meter. I agree with your pediatrician that you shouldn’t worry any further if she tested normal in laboratory testing. If not, ask him for a laboratory determination of a fasting blood sugar level and urinalysis.
MS
