Living With Juvenile Diabetes Symptoms

Below is my Amazon review of 50 Secrets of the Longest Living People with Diabetes:

As the mother of two young daughters with type 1 diabetes, I've read a lot of websites and books with highly technical medical information about diabetes.

It was refreshing to sit down and read a book full of stories. When is the last time you read a book about diabetes that was actually hard to put down? This is a book like that.

One can't help but be encouraged by stories like those of the two brothers, ages 87 and 91, who have had diabetes since early childhood. Both have avoided major complications even though they lived most of their lives in the "dark ages" (pre-glucometers). The 87-year-old brother often rides his bike 20 miles at a time. The book is full of stories like these.

Interspersed between the stories of these inspiring diabetic people are the 50 secrets. I'll list ten of them here:

1. Live first and be diabetic second.
2. Control your problems before they control you.
3. Consider being a grazer.
4. Always carry a toothbrush.
5. Erase your mistakes with exercise.
6. Love (and hate) your pump.
7. Involve your family and friends.
8. Have kids if you want to.
9. Understand possible diabetes complications.
10. Respect the power of diabetes.

The 50 secrets aren't earth-shaking but there is commentary from these diabetics on all of the secrets and it is motivating and encouraging. The advice is very, very practical.

The authors don't shy away from the grim statistics: "Just by having diabetes, you already have twice the risk of dying young as someone who is diabetes-free." Some of the 50 people in the book share stories about scary hypoglycemic episodes while driving. The authors make it clear that facing the reality of possible complications is much better than denial.

There is some information about type 2 diabetes in the book too. Overall, the book is easy to read and I think every teen and twentysomething with diabetes should read it. Parents of diabetics should read it too. It will wake you up a little and also encourage you.

To purchase a copy of the book, see the Amazon section below.

Up until August 15, 2007 I had been the mother of a diabetic child for seven years. My 11-year-old daughter was diagnosed with diabetes at age four and I thought I had seen it all.

First there were the juvenile diabetes symptoms she had shortly before diagnosis. She had all the classic symptoms:

Weight loss.

Excessive thirst.

Frequent urination.

Extreme hunger.

I knew before taking her to the doctor that it was very likely in the extreme that she had diabetes. Unfortunately I was correct.

Since her diagosis I've witnessed almost every low blood sugar symptom:

Seizures.

Literal bouncing off the walls and inability to walk.

Disoriented to the point of jumping into deep water when she didn't know how to swim. And I was holding an infant in my arms at that moment.

Falling asleep.

Slurred speech.

Temper tantrums.

Remarkably there hasn't been a time I've been unable to revive her, even those few times her blood sugar dipped into the 20's. No matter how incoherent or unconscious she is, she responds when I put a straw in her mouth.

Taking care of a young diabetic child is very difficult. I thought for sure I'd seen it all and if one of my other kids showed signs of diabetes I would notice immediately.

Wrong.

From February 2007 until August 2007 my 14-year-old daughter had the following symptoms:

Fatigue.

Joint pain.

Joint swelling.

Headaches.

Eye pain.

She didn't have weight loss, until she lost five pounds right before her diagnosis. She didn't have excessive thirst or frequent urination. She went to the doctor several times and no one thought to test her blood sugar, including me.

We thought we were dealing with rheumatoid arthritis or food intolerances. A rheumatologist ordered a bunch of lab work and, finally, the high blood sugar was detected. She was in ketoacidosis.

I was so shocked. How did I not know that she was diabetic? Now I'm the parent of two diabetic children.

The bottom line: if your child is having health problems and the doctors are having trouble making a diagnosis, make sure they test your child's blood sugar. Especially if they have a diabetic sibling.

Cool Medical ID bracelets

Diabetes Teen Talk

Think Like a Pancreas

Groovy Patches for insulin pumps

Also see the Pink Panther books below in the Amazon section.