Need Suggestions : Vomitting

[A&Ds Mommy]

Hi.

I am posting for my wife, who is in bed.....Dylan vomitted this evening right at the time of his bedtime snack. We tested him just prior to this and he had an 81 BGL.....After speaking with his Dr. about 20 minutes after he got sick, he tested at 55....The doctor suggested apple sauce, which we gave him, along with a graham cracker.

We tested him two hours later and his level was 68. Called the dr. again and he jsut told me to test every couple hours overnight, along with snacks if needed...We jsut gave him a half of a banana and will retest in two more hours. H eebenm mentioned a little milk, but I'm not sure if that is such a good thing with his stomach.

From your experiences, do any of you have any other suggestions that we could give him that might hold him over. Waking Dylan up from a sound sleep makes things that much more difficult for him and us to treat him with his carbs. I appreciate any insight that you can offer....Thanks

Dave

[Treysmom]

This was all before "D". Our pediatrician said to give them the BRAT diet when they are sick @ their stomach Bannanas, Rice, Applesauce and TEA. We have not really been sick since "D". But I don't see how this could hurt.

Just about anything you can keep down should help. I would say Gatoraide, Sprite, Ginger Ale. Bread. Hope this helps some.

[hallenbeckfamily]

Another thing we were told with low's and sick tummy was popcicles,just 1/2 at a time. Good luck sounds like you guys have a long nite ahead of you~Jennifer

[hold48398]

I'm so sorry...!!!

The things you need to be aware of is signs of dehydration and ketones! Despite the low BGs your son could be developing dangerous ketones, which are common with vomiting. We use the Precision Xtra ketone meter and strips to test blood ketones. You can also get the ketone urine strips. We were advised to test blood sugar AND ketones every 2 hours.

Also, our endo gave us an open prescription for an anti-vomiting medication. They always want to be informed when our child vomits as things can get worse quickly. If the vomiting continues or when in doubt, take your child to the ER just to be safe. He may need IV fluids.

If BG is low push sugary liquids, a little bit at a time (I know, easier said than done in the middle of the night with an icky tummy!): Coke, Gingerale, Pedialyte. I wouldn't think milk is such a good choice with an upset tummy. If BG is high, push sugar-free liquids.


Good luck, I hope Dylan and your wife get better quick!!!

[Mama Belle]

Popsicles, gatorade, clear sugar pop, anything to keep his levels up but not push his tummy. If you get his tummy mad because of what you put in it, it will just make everything worse because he'll throw up more. You want to break the cycle and keep his stomach happy while giving him as much sugar as possible to keep him up. It is a fine balancing act. Also don't forget to check his ketones, very important! And if his ketones go up the best thing to get them down is insulin, which you obviously can't give him unless he has a higher blood sugar, so pump that liquid sugar as much as his tummy will allow. If worse comes to worse you can always use the "low dose of glucagon" method to raise it enough to get the blood sugar up to a good level. The Pink Panter Book gives directions to do this in the sick day management chapter, here's the on-line link to the chapter: http://www.uchsc.edu/misc/diabetes/ud16.pdf . The whole chapter has lots of great info about how to handle illness and you can find directions for the low-dose glucagon method on page 178. The chapter also gives lots of great advice for foods that are easy on the tummy that will help to raise blood sugar. Good luck!!! Illness can be scary, but I am sure you guys will do a great job!

[MamaC]

Something that we subscribed to during college days (when throwing up might follow a night of over indulgence;)) - stir the carbonation out of Coke (essentially making it Coke syrup) and administer in small sips. It calms the stomach (really - first hand knowledge of such)!

Something we subscribe to now - applesauce, saltines, dry toast, Gatorade, rice cakes. I always make sure I have this stuff around for D emergencies. And we follow the nurse's advice - everything in small bits, and nothing till he's stopped vomiting for 1 hour - or else you risk starting everything up again.

Stay away from anything dairy - it's too much for a sick tummy to process (also advised when you're dealing with the OTHER end of the digestive tract).

Good luck!

Becky

[wendyc]

Hope things are better this am.

I agree with the others, stay away from dairy and eggs. This comes from experience, let's just say this...eggs are not pretty the second time around, especially when one is covered in them:eek:

That being said, you want to try small portions of sprite or giner ale, popsicles, and the B (bannana) R (rice) A (apple items) T (toast or crackers) diet.

Even though he is running low you still want to watch for ketones. If he is vomitting frequently they will register. These are most likely starvation ketones (ketones from not eating and getting insulin).

Hope things get better.

[A&Ds Mommy]

Thanks everyone for all the help. He never did throw up again last night.

We tested him again at 12:20 and his BG was 139 and he ate some more banana and then at 3:30 it was 277 (we didn't give him anything to eat) and when he woke at 6:50 this am it was 323. We gave him his insulin for breakfast and he ate a normal breakfast. We have been checking for ketones and he has been fine thus far.

We are just wondering why his numbers went up if he wasn't really eating anything.

Just glad things didn't get worse last night but it was still stressful. Thank goodness you guys are here for support.

[beckybuckley]

We are just wondering why his numbers went up if he wasn't really eating anything.




I found this info on a website (link below the exerpt)

How Illness Affects Blood Sugar Levels
When your child gets sick - whether it's a minor illness like a sore throat or cold or a bigger problem like dehydration or surgery - the body perceives the illness as stress. To relieve the stress, the body fights the illness. This process requires more energy than the body normally uses.

On one hand, this is good because it helps supply the extra fuel the body needs. On the other hand, in a person with diabetes, this can lead to high blood sugar levels. But although stress tends to make blood sugar rise in people with diabetes, some illnesses cause loss of appetite, nausea, or vomiting. The poor intake of food in such cases can result in low blood sugar levels in a person who is taking his or her usual doses of insulin.

In a nutshell: Blood sugar levels can be very unpredictable on sick days. Because you can't be sure exactly how the illness will affect your child's diabetes control, it is important to check your child's blood sugar levels often on sick days and adjust insulin doses as needed.

http://www.kidshealth.org/PageManager.jsp?dn=familydoctor&lic=44&cat_id=20472&article_set=41532&ps=104

[A&Ds Mommy]

Becky--thanks for that info. I guess I wasn't really thinking he had an illness since he just threw up the one time and is fine now, but I guess with D any little minor illness/sickness will make things and numbers out of the ordinary.

Guess I am still learning all about the nuances that come along with D. Can I just say it sucks!

[Norma2]

Hi! I am new to the site. But I have had 12 years of experience with the same situation. I couldn't help wonder if the vomiting was due to the low blood glucose. Was he running a fever or any other signs of an illness. I also would of tested for Ketones, because we all know ketones can make our stomache's upsett. One thing our doctors would have us do, especially when children are young and vomiting (not showing any signs of fever, ketones or illness), they would have us give our son a teaspoon of peanut butter to hold him through the night. We also were on injections and not the pump. This way we did not have to get up all night long. It seems we would have this problem of constant lows just prior to an illness too! I hope this is some help!

[A&Ds Mommy]

Well he hasn't thrown up at all today and ate his breakfast and snack just fine. Checked him before lunch and he was low (68) So I gave him some juice and then his shot and sat him down for lunch. Well he didn't want to eat his lunch (not sure why--other than a low number he was acting fine) so I had to get him to at least eat some applesauce and a few bites of his sandwich, a little more than half of carbs he normally eats for lunch. Checked him 2 hours later around snack time and he was 75. This time he didn't want any juice and had to really get him to eat some dry cereal (only about 2/3 of his normal snack carbs).

So for dinner I only plan to make rice and see how much he eats and then give him his insulin based on what he eats. Don't want him going to bed low again tonight.

[Mama Belle]

YAY!!! Glad he is doing better!

[Stacjean1]

Our pediatrician said to give them the BRAT diet when they are sick @ their stomach Bannanas, Rice, Applesauce and TEA.

We do the brat diet when we are sick too, but TOAST and not TEA. Rice is really high in carbs too, so it would help raise bs. I would stay way from fruit juices and anything sugary, as it would irritate the stomach.

Our Endocrinologist has told me to keep a couple of cans of fruit in heavy syrup around for times like this. He said to just give him a spoonful of the heavy syrup. He has also told me that it is important to still give insulin, because you don't want to develop high keytones.

I haven't yet had to deal with this. Eli was sick with a cold a couple of months ago, but his sugar was high and not low.

Hang in there.

[Eoin'sMam]

Our miracle food while Eoin has a sick tummy and you Don;t want to Wake him but know the sugars are too low to leave him in the middle of the night is honey....just give it to him on a teaspoon and it doesn;t disturb his sleep

this time of the year is a nightmare...eoin had much the same experience last just vomited out of the blue for no apparent reason..low sugars 38..(immediately following his tea and a bolus) Honey was our life saver..kept him up with honey to work through the bolus, had the glucagon on hand just in case but he settled within 2 hours checks through the night were fine and back to normal this morning...he's a bit washed out today but in good form...I'm living in fear of the winter vomiting book..having experienced it twice last year...but fingers crossed this isn;t the beginning of it.

Lou