December 9, 2002
Daily Care
Question from Hardwick, Stockton-on-tees, Cleveland, UK:
We recently went to visit the doctor for a routine check-up and were told that my son has not been getting enough insulin. He hasn’t been growing as he should be, and we were told that we should gradually increase his insulin. We’ve done this, going up 2 units twice daily, but his sugar levels have dropped drastically, and we can’t seem to get them back up. We’ve been advised to give him Coke with two spoonfuls of sugar, but the Coke makes him totally mental.
Answer:
It is very unusual in the UK for a child with type 1 diabetes to be so underdosed with insulin that they don’t grow enough. A raise of only 4 units causing hypoglycemia doesn’t suggest that he was significantly undertreated in the first place. You should ask your team about other possibilities for his poor growth e.g. coeliac disease.
KJR
