High or Low??

[Chase's mom]

Which one had you rather have your child be?? I know it sounds crazy but of course we would all like it to be normal but that's really hard sometimes. I lean towards letting it get a little high than it being really low.Let me explain Chase has had a few lows before bed and I give him Lantus then. But i'm afraid to give it to him cause i'm afraid he will bottom out through the night. So I tend to want it around 180 before bed. Am I crazy I had rather it be alittle high than low.How to ya'll handle this??? Oh his lows have been from
57-72 :confused:

[AmyMcCracken]

When we were on MDI my daughter had to be 180 - 250 when she went to bed or she'd be low in the morning. We had lots of middle of the night snacks until we switched her Lantus to morning. This helped a lot with the late night lows. When she got her Lantus at night I didn't sleep good because I was worrying about lows.

You may want to switch the Lantus to morning since the slight peak will hit around snack time. The only drawback is the shot needs to be at a fairly consistent time so I didn't get to sleep in on the weekends.

[selketine]

No experience with older kids but with little ones you should want them to be high than low. A high for an hour or two (or even more) won't hurt them. A low has many more negative consequences which are usually immediate. Plus the potential to harm the growing brain of a really young child if it happens to often.

We also heard one of the lecturers at the CWD conference last summer (wish I was there now - sob) say that it is better for a younger child to run consistently high (say 230) rather than be going from high to low to high and low and again - bouncing all over the place. I think we try to keep William as consistent as possible without going low. 130-180 is my personal goal with him.

He is so sensitive to insulin and and food that when he is around 100 - which is a fine number - I worry because 15 mins later he could be 50 - or maybe he has bottomed out and will go back up.

[pookas]

Hunter gets a bedtime snack regardless of his number. If he's lower, he gets a bigger snack and we don't cover it. If he's over 250, he gets extra insulin and a snack. If he's mid-range, like 130, I give him a medium snack w/ no cover. I kind of have a system to figure it out each night. Hunter gets a split dose of Lantus, but in the beginning, we did Lantus in am only because of possible nightime lows.

Linda-[NEPA]-Mom to:
Hunter, 5 yrs, dx'd 11/14/05 type I
Colby, 7 yrs, migraines

[hartpukas]

I agree with Selketine - 180 is a good place to be. I prefer the higher numbers but not high enough to need a shot (we only give fast acting if our daughter is over 400 b/c she goes low sooo fast).

[Karin]

Scott is more uncomfortable trying to sleep and during the night if he is high. He wakes up kicking and screaming and angry. If he is less than 100 we give him about 30 carbs instead of 15 for bedtime snack. If he goes to bed less than 100 I usually sleep all night in his room because I am worried that if he has an episode I wouldn't know until too late.

[isaiah268m]

Laura has a bedtime snack if she's under 120. She does take Lantus at night. We also have her test again before falling asleep, just to be sure the snack has raised her enough. Milk works really well as it stays in her system a little longer.

If Chase is fairly consistantly low at bedtime, I'd review your evening dosage of your rapid acting insulin (Novalog? Humolog? or ??)...maybe you need to change the carb ratio for dinner time. We had to do that for a while with Laura. Maybe check him for a few nights at 2 AM? Just to see what's happening during the night?

That said, I think it IS better to be on the high side rather than on the low side, especially in these new stages. Laura doesn't sleep well if she's over, say 150.

The whole pre-pubescent thing of tweens - and then the whole teen thing - does unexptected and frankly wacko things to insulin absorbtion and blood sugars. As you learn more about how Chase responds to different foods, different activity levels, illness, growth, etc...you'll find you can (and eventually he can) tweak his insulin dosage to keep tighter control. For now though, you're still in the really new stages....I know that fear!

What does his endo say about the lows? And his Lantus dose? It might be worth a call to your DE (diabetic educator) or endo to review Chase's numbers and dosage.....we were about 4 months from dx before we felt comfortable changing Laura's dosage without their approval....and then it was only at their prompting (ahem....pushing) that we finally did it. Now we're at the stage that Laura's endo is encouraging HER to make the decision when to change her dosage based on her numbers. Hard for me as mom to release that control, but essential for Laura's future.

[ilovehellokitty]

Hi cathey im only 14 and a teenager but if i was him i would rather have a high because if you have a low its hard to get up in the morning and he can have a sezer i had a lot a lows and its not fun i want normal numbers but it really hard be a teen. but i think everyone would agree with me it would be better getting highs but dont let it get to high

[grace girl]

I'll give you the adult perspective, as I also take Lantus at night. Lows are the worst, by far. Sometimes I wish I had a mommy here when I had a low! If it happens during the day, though, it's just me and my kids. I frequently don't feel right for the remainder of the day after a low. Does it affect children the same way?
If I had to choose, I'd be high, but not too high, for that has it's own set of problems, as you all well know.

Interestingly enough, as an adult my Lantus dose is set and doesn't change, but I have to gage the snack size at night on my bs readings...or I will go low in the morning. That part doesn't seem to change.