a little advice

[Jencaz23]

Hi everyone. I've been reading posts for a few days and I am getting a feeling maybe I am doing somethings wrong. OK first our doctors told us to check Camrens bg only before breakfast lunch dinner at bed time and 2am. The only other times I check are if Camren is telling me his legs are wobbly and I know that means hes low. Also if he is doing baseball or really active I check him to see that he didn't go low. Is this enough? It seems others check a lot more then that. The doctors also don't seem to be to concerned with highs. They tell me that the nph will bring it down and not worry. How high is to high and what can you really do?? I'm so new at this and could really use some advice. Thanks everyone.

[miss_behave]

Most people here test their child's blood sugars about 8-12 times a day. The less you test a day, the less of the whole picture you see. The more highs and lows you miss, the worse your A1c will be. I have no idea why an endo would tell you to test less (and you're not alone with that). Testing 8-10 times a day still misses so many numbers! Knowledge is power!

[twodoor2]

Hi everyone. I've been reading posts for a few days and I am getting a feeling maybe I am doing somethings wrong. OK first our doctors told us to check Camrens bg only before breakfast lunch dinner at bed time and 2am. The only other times I check are if Camren is telling me his legs are wobbly and I know that means hes low. Also if he is doing baseball or really active I check him to see that he didn't go low. Is this enough? It seems others check a lot more then that. The doctors also don't seem to be to concerned with highs. They tell me that the nph will bring it down and not worry. How high is to high and what can you really do?? I'm so new at this and could really use some advice. Thanks everyone.

We're on a Lantus regimen with our pump, and even on MDI, I test around 8 times a day during the winter when she's more sedentary, and around 12 times a day during the warmer months. Since NPH can be a more unpredictable insulin than using a Lantus or Levemir regimen, I think it would be advisable to check more often than what you're doing now.:)

[czardoust]

does your child have an endocrinoligist? Going beyond what your his dr has said, your his mom. If you think he isnt being checked enough, check him more often. I check Katerina every 3 hours during the day and 2-3 times at night. Is your son still honeymooning? (needing very little insulin). Sometimes lows are not felt, the child does not know they are low because they do not have symptoms of being low.

[MysticSisters]

It helps to check 2 and 3 hours after meals for 2 reasons. You can see how long insulin and food is staying in his system and that he is getting enough insulin.

Being high can really make a child (anyone really) feel kinda cruddy and makes things hard to comprehend. My sister can't do math when she is over 300. Makes school hard.

Glad you are not afraid to ask for help!

[BrendaK]

It sounds like you have an "old school" doctor who is not quite up to date on the newer insulins available and also not really in tune with how much different it is to manage a child as opposed to an adult with diabetes.

Checking only before meals and using NPH are very old school. What kind of doctor does he see? (Although there are parents on this forum who successfully use NPH :cwds:)

Yes, the NPH will bring his after meal numbers down. But if he's 400 after meals and then goes down to 80, that is probably not the greatest place for him to be. If you only check before meals and see 80, you never see the 400 he was at 2 hours earlier. And dropping that much can make a child feel very very icky.

What kinds of insulin is your son on?

[frizzyrazzy]

it sounds like what most of us were told at dx. Check 4 times a day. it will get you by, but it won't give you a good picture and like most of us, you're quickly seeing that it's just not enough to go on. I know when I came home from the hospital it was to check at exactly when you're checking. There is no harm to check more. It is the only good tool you have right now.

When we were on mdi I think I normally checked about 6 times a day. Now I check more because we have the pump and we can correct more.

I wouldn't worry at all about the highs right now. Eventually you'll learn how to correct those but your dr is right - the nph will get them and the last thing you want to do is pile more insulin up on top. You'll learn all this stuff in due time. Try to just not worry about learning everything right away. Just perfect what you've already learned. :)

[Sandy's mom]

It sounds like you're doing fine.

We were told the same, breakfast lunch, dinner and bedtime. We also check after school and sports. We lately have been testing more, her insulin needs seem to be rising. Also I'm experimenting to see what foods are making her spike more.

I don't think you can test too often, as long as you know the #s ARE going to be higher right after he's eaten. So don't freak out.

The only problem with a lot of testinf for us has been our prescription is for only 6 strips a day, so we run out. Fortunatley my dh has a stockpile we break into.;)

[zell828]

I've gotten in the habit of pretty much testing every 2-3 hours.

[iluvmhp]

My DD was dx 2/21 or this year. We began with NPH and humalog. We were told to test before B,L,D and Bedtime. After being on here we started testing more.

We recently switched to Lantus and have been testing a lot more - it does help to have the extra information.

Lots of luck to you!

Take care

susan

[clb1968]

Hi everyone. I've been reading posts for a few days and I am getting a feeling maybe I am doing somethings wrong. OK first our doctors told us to check Camrens bg only before breakfast lunch dinner at bed time and 2am. The only other times I check are if Camren is telling me his legs are wobbly and I know that means hes low. Also if he is doing baseball or really active I check him to see that he didn't go low. Is this enough? It seems others check a lot more then that. The doctors also don't seem to be to concerned with highs. They tell me that the nph will bring it down and not worry. How high is to high and what can you really do?? I'm so new at this and could really use some advice. Thanks everyone.


You are not doing anything wrong.:D Wanted to reasure you on that.
You are still in the learning process, after 18 yrs I am too.
When I started testing it was 2 times a day and was like that for almost ten years, then 4 times a day, I am on the pump now, so I test more often.

With more frequent testing you will be able to see how you son's body handles things, food , insulin,exercise, etc.
If you are not seeing a pediatric endo , that would be the next step.
If you are tell the doctor , that since you are so new at this , you would feel more comfortable with testing after says meals so that you can see how the food is working with the insulin .

Ask all the questions you want here since there are so many great parents here that will help you.

[CJ's Mom]

Here lately our CDE keeps asking why we test so much. It just amazes me. They want him checking before meals and at bed time and then every day 2 hours after a meal but a different meal. Like today 2 hours after breakfast, tomorrow 2 hours after lunch, the next day 2 hours after supper and then start all over. Talk about confusing!! I finally told them that he was only going to check 2 hours after lunch every day since during school he does a check before he gets on the bus (45 minute bus ride, out in the country, doesn't want to take a chance of a low on the bus) and that's about 3 hours after lunch.

WHen I phoned in his numbers today she asked me again why he tested so much. Well, let's see, yesterday morning at school about 8:30 he felt low tested, 78. 15 minutes later retest, 51 & juice! Then another 15 minutes back up to 77. Now what if he wouldn't have stoopped and checked??? What if he didn't feel lows coming on and never did extra checks?? He throws in extra checks when he feels like he needs it. I occasionally ask him to do an extra check when my 6th sense kicks in.

I've decided I'm keeping a seperate log. One for me with all the numbers and one for the CDE/Endo with only 5 checks a day. You know, it's my money, if he feels better testing 50 times a day then so be it.

And I'm beginning to really dislike having to call the CDE at the D ed. center who relays everything to the Endo's office. We have our first endo appointment next week but they're calling all the shots (pun intended). If the Endo office has questions for me they call the CDE who calls me. Having to go through the CDE office is kinda BS. Sorry for the rant.

[Heather(CA)]

Hi everyone. I've been reading posts for a few days and I am getting a feeling maybe I am doing somethings wrong. OK first our doctors told us to check Camrens bg only before breakfast lunch dinner at bed time and 2am. The only other times I check are if Camren is telling me his legs are wobbly and I know that means hes low. Also if he is doing baseball or really active I check him to see that he didn't go low. Is this enough? It seems others check a lot more then that. The doctors also don't seem to be to concerned with highs. They tell me that the nph will bring it down and not worry. How high is to high and what can you really do?? I'm so new at this and could really use some advice. Thanks everyone.

I think what your doing is fine for now, your child is probably still honeymooning anyway and you don't want to overwhem them right after dx'd with 12 pokes a day...Over time when the honeymoon is over, you will probably test a little more often to help get the insulin doses right. I sometimes test Seth 3 hours after he eats to make sure what I gave him was right. The thing is, while honeymooning, the pancreas still kicks out insulin at times, so in a way it's harder to know if what your doing is right anyway. Trust your gut.:cwds: This whole D thing is a learning process...You will do great, the longer he has it, the more you will learn.

[Jencaz23]

Thanks for your advice everyone. This is so overwelming I just want to do the right thing. Camren does see an endo doc and he is on humalog and nph.

[Ashti]

I think people on this board to have the tendency to test a lot. (Our family included).

But we usually have a good reason for each test, and do something with the info gathered (ie. decide to stay the course, or increase/decrease insulin, or correct, or snack, or inject earlier next time, or to keep an eye out for a potential developing trend.) When testing it is also a good idea to look at the number keeping in mind how much insulin is still working or expected to be working in the near future.

1) Basic testing regime: The times your doctor has recommended are very important times to test - since they correspond with times that insulin is injected (before meals and before bed), and the night time number informs potential night time highs or lows. So those are the basic times where measurements are needed day in and day out to evaluate how well the last injection covered the meal in the end, and to see if any correction is needed with the upcoming injection.

2) Low testing (or suspected high highs): When feeling or looking or acting low, another test is needed. If indeed low, it must be treated and then another test is usually needed 15 minutes later to make sure it has been corrected.

3) Post-meal spike testing: These tests are done to evaluate how well the insulin seems to be covering the meal 1-2 hours in. Perhaps your child is always back in range in time for the next meal, but what if you find out there is a spike in the 300s between meals? This info will let you know that something should be tweaked. (These aren't needed after every meal, but they are helpful when new foods are encountered)

4) Very Active times: Before/during and after being very active are also good times to measure (and snack).

5) Sick days - require more testing than normal too, including ketones.

So, it is no wonder that most of us measure more often than 5 times a day!

Ashti :)

[Gaia]

We test when he wakes up, before meals, before gym if he has it & usually after, before he leaves school, as soon as he gets home, before dinner, around 8 pm then again before bed. If he seems cranky or overly wired, then we check. We go thru a lot of strips but tough noogies I say. Ive also noticed he checks on his own at times & if I ask why, he'll say I feel funny.