July 8, 2004
Hypoglycemia
Question from Virginia, USA:
When my son was born in November 2002, he was borderline hypoglycemic. He would get very shaky and had to eat every two hours to avoid the shakiness. Now, he is 18 months old and I still worry about him having hypoglycemia. It seems like every morning he wakes up he is shaky and cranky. I feel like this is coming from his sugar since he seems to be fine after having breakfast. I have also noticed the shakiness when he is feeling bad and hasn’t eaten. My son was sick on Friday and I mentioned my worries about the hypoglycemia to the pediatrician and she did not seem very worried. She told me that it was very hard to test a child as young as he is and that I may want to get him tested by a family member or friend that had a blood sugar monitor. This is not his regular pediatrician and he’ll have a well baby visit next week, during which I plan to ask the doctor’s advice. Is this something that I should be worrying about?
Answer:
This could be hypoglycemia. You should discuss these concerns with your pediatrician and probably get a pediatric endocrinology consultation so that your child can be evaluated. Infantile hypoglycemia can be associated with neurological consequences and, so, such possibilities should be thoroughly investigated without delay. Home monitoring is easy to learn and should be part of this assessment so that you can inform the physicians doing the evaluation.
SB