Boy, oh boy! I'm really needing some help with period questions and diabetes. More TMI....but this is MY blog and if you don't have anything nice to say to help me then STOP reading!
I've really forgotten what it's like to be a little girl with a period and I have no clue how diabetes affects these things. Kacey has been an emotional mess and she ended up home from school today because she's still having some cramping. We're on Day 3 and she's got hardly any bleeding now but I can tell that her body still doesn't know what is going on. Her numbers are a mess! She's gone from 45-300 and then back down again.....and NOT FEEL THEM!!! She told me that she feels crappy but she doesn't know if it's her blood sugars or her period. *sigh* I'm feeling pretty helpless at the moment and I don't know how to make it better. I've tried Motrin and that only seems a temporary fix. I don't know if she can have things like Midol because of her age?!?!
I contacted her CDE and we go back to the end on Jan 19th. I let her know that she started and sent her most recent week of blood sugars by email. With the aggressive changes her blood sugars were not as high this past week and her average was 161....good I guess? Her CDE said not to make any changes and we'll see what happens with her numbers over the next week. She wants me to start charting and looking for trends before/during her periods.
Those of you that are older can probably help me with this! What happened to your numbers when you started your period? How do you deal with the crappy feeling of PMS combined with the crappy feeling of sugar swings? Did any of you start early? How did you handle it?
I contacted Kacey's school nurse this morning and let her know why Kacey was absent today. I told her to give Kacey's teachers a heads up and let them in on whats happening. She doesn't think there is any other girls Kacey's age that have started yet so there isn't another peer that Kacey can turn to yet. I've explained to Kacey already that this isn't something you go blurt out to your classmates because many of them don't even know what it is yet and I know none of the boys understand either. I told her if she has a problem at school she can go to the nurse or to her teachers because they all know. Ugh!
Thats the best way I know to handle it.
9 comments:
Oh, it's fun (not) when that starts! Mine came the summer after I was dx'd...I was 12 and a couple other girls in my class had theirs already, but we never talked about it. My numbers were wacky because this was back in the dark ages of urine testing and beef/pork insulins...I'm sure they were high most of the time :-( My mom was pretty good about helping me with it and my school was very small, so my teachers were also supportive. That helps!
Now I notice a definite pattern: low the week of my cycle (like 'wow, maybe I'm cured' numbers), generally rising afterward with another little low dip the day of ovulation, then stubborn highs the week before my cycle. I've been told by my gynecologist that this is pretty typical of the hormonal shifts during one's cycle. Not sure if Kacey is at that point yet, it might take time for her. I'm also as regular as a clock so it may be different, unfortunately, for those who aren't.
Welcome to the world of womanhood!
Sent you an email, Jill! :)
Oh man Jill I'm so sorry that you and Kacey are going through this so soon. Kailyn just started a little while ago but she is 12 and not a T1.
Good luck and keep your head held high and you WILL figure this out!!
Oh Jill I feel for you! I have no idea what to say to help you but I wanted to let you know that I feel for you!
Hang in there both of you!
they make a Midol Teen Formula!
YIKES!
I'm SO NOT ready for this...
First, take a deep breath. You, or I guess she, will be going through this for a long while. My daughter is 16 and periods are just unpredicatble. One month she is high for two weeks straight and there is nothing we can do to get her down. The next month she has ups and downs, and I mean big downs. The next month...nothing. My daughter also now is experiencing not being able to tell when she is low.
For the periods, all I can say is you just have to go with the "flow". (sorry, I know that was a bad pun) You will have to go through several months of experimenting and just seeing how she reacts to the adjustments. The obvious, she has to step up her testing. She has to. I would also recommend your keeping a log because it might not be the same every month and you will need something to jog your memory on what you did two months ago. My daughter is really bad for almost two weeks up to her period. Once she starts, she usually balances out. On the low recognition, she is really PO'd at not being able to recognize a low now. So, we sat with her friends and dad and I are on the lookout. Her big tell tale sign is that she is overly happy. How sad is it that when your kid is giddy you have to say..."something is wrong, go test." It's a mean disease at times. But if you stay calm and stay after it, she will learn the same method.
Oh Jill...I'm thankful we're a few years out from this...I really wish I had something to say to help you!!! Hang in there....you'll figure it out....YOUR AWESOME!!!
Periods are always a tricky one. I tend to go low 2 days before and the first 2 days, the next 2 days are usually perfect numbers and then it goes up for a few days. I actually have a different insulin pattern that we set up with my endo for this week. Being as regular as a clock I can do this which is great...so as usual, log log log to see if you can find a pattern!
Good luck
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