Talking About Health And Medical Care

Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which your body does not produce insulin, which is necessary for carrying glucose to all parts of your body. Without insulin, severe and life-threatening problems can arise as the disease manifests itself. These symptoms can often be misdiagnosed and confusing to the individual experiencing them and to their family and friends. As a parent, it is important to be on the lookout for these symptoms and take your child to see their doctor as soon as possible.

Beginning Symptoms

At the beginning of your child becoming a diabetic, their blood sugars will slowly increase beyond normal levels. This will result in their having a fruity smell on their breath, and they can be more tired than usual. When they are suddenly sleeping in later, harder to wake in the morning, and falling asleep during the day, their body may not be using the sugar within their blood stream.

Another symptom that can manifest itself in the beginning stages of type 1 diabetes is extreme hunger in your child. When your child is always complaining they are hungry but are still losing weight even though they eat more, this can be a sign as well. When their body is not able to turn the food they eat into glucose that their body uses, the sugars end up leaving their body through their urine. This can also result in a sugar smell in their urine as they use the bathroom or wet their diaper.

Extreme thirst accompanies the extra hunger, as their body is constantly trying to eliminate the high sugar levels in their blood by passing it through to their urine, thereby causing them to urinate more frequently. This causes them to become severely dehydrated. If you notice your child wants something to drink constantly over several days and uses the bathroom or wets their diaper much more frequently, you may want to take them to their doctor immediately.

Later Symptoms

As your child's blood sugar levels continue increasing with their untreated diabetes, they may begin to become nauseous and experience vomiting as their body further tries to eliminate the excess sugars in their blood. Your child may also begin to have difficulty breathing. You can check their heart rate by feeling their wrist for a pulse, as advanced diabetic symptoms can cause a very rapid heart rate.

It is important to pay attention to your child if they begin to experience any of these above symptoms and take them into a clinic with pediatric services immediately. A simple blood test is all that is needed to check for diabetes, and it only takes a few minutes at the doctor's office.