Type 1 Diabetes Triggers Anxiety Attacks During Soccer Game

I know every family has their worries and concerns, especially when it comes to their children. But parenting a child with type 1 diabetes is so much more complex then anyone realizes. It was this past weekend that I accepted the fact that Madison's type 1 diabetes disease is also triggering anxiety attacks and causing her difficulty breathing when her blood sugar is too low (below 80) or too high (above 225).

It all became apparent for me on the soccer field. As her soccer coach and mom, I constantly worry that she's not going to be able to play up to her potential because of her disease. And the past three soccer games she hasn't been able to. In fact, for three games in a row, she has taken herself out of the game because she wasn't able breathe. The last game she walked off the field when all the kids were still running around. She didn't even yell to me that she needed to be substituted. Her blood sugar made her feel so bad that she just couldn't even yell. She said, "I thought I was going to pass out and you would have to call 911."  I tried so hard to hide my emotions. But I was angry and frustrated. I have really come to hate this disease.

From the sidelines, parents have mentioned how great she's doing. She scores and she's able to make a few good plays. She even gives them the impression that she's running just as much as the other girls. But as her mom and her soccer coach, she hasn't been herself. And she's walking and standing so much more than she has in the past.

Madison was born to run. If she could run all day long, she would. But lately, for unknown reasons, her blood sugar has stayed above 250 during our soccer games, causing her to have a real difficult time breathing if she runs to much. I've tried moving her to defense and even goalie where she can calm down and not run as much. But she feels even worse when she's just standing around. The reason she feels worse is because her blood sugar is already high and when she stands around, she's not burning it off, making it go higher.

Seeing my daughter take herself out of the game is heartbreaking. Tears filled her eyes last game. And the only words that entered my mind was hers. When she was five years old she said, "Mommy, I want to be an Olympic soccer player." And ever since she was diagnosed (November 4, 2011), I feel as if her dream may not become reality. I'm not giving up and I hope she doesn't too. But boy this disease has really been the greatest challenge she and I have ever had to face.

Many of you may be thinking, Just change her diet. Wish it was that simple. This past Saturday, the morning of her game, she had eggs, bacon and a half of banana. I wanted her to have some carbs (the banana) so her blood sugar wouldn't drop so fast. But it didn't matter that she had a low carb breakfast. Her adrenaline and stress kept her blood sugar above 260 the entire game. After the game it went up to 300. Then within 30 minutes it dropped to 80. I was angry that her blood sugar was outsmarting me. I literally have a competition going with her blood sugar and I'm going to win!

We have two games left in the season and then our tournament starts the weekend of November 9th. This disease isn't going to control us or win! I truly believe there has to be a way to help my daughter do the things she loves to do at her potential.

The following is what I'm going to try this week.
This week I'm going to have her visualize seeing herself running and scoring and playing up to her potential. I'm going to work with her on breathing techniques. And then on Saturday, I'm going to eliminate the banana from her breakfast and have her eat a bowl of cereal (1/2 of a cup of Honey Nut Cheerios) along with eggs and bacon.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the above will work. If you have had any experience with type 1 diabetes and anxiety, I would love to hear how you have been able to manage anxiety and difficult breathing for a type 1 diabetic.

Thanks so much for your support!

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Diabetes - The Differences Between Type 1 and Type 2

As many of you know, I'm a mom, raising a daughter with type 1 diabetes. Nothing about this disease has been fun. And what I've found over the past two years is that people think that type 1 and type 2 diabetes are the same. They are not!

 

Type 2 diabetes is a result of people not taking care of themselves. Their pancreas produces insulin (sometimes just not as much), but their body no longer absorbs it. Their body has become insulin resistent. Insulin resistence can be caused by being overweight, having high blood pressure for a long period of time, and even a person's genetic make-up. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed with a healthy lifestyle, which includes exercising, weight control, and eating healthy. Today, type 2 diabetes makes up about 90 - 95% of diabetics and most type 2 diabetics are over the age of 40 years.

 

With type 1 diabetes, a person's pancreas no longer produces insulin, a result of something (i.e. virus) that attacked the insulin producing beta cells of their pancreas. The most difficult part of someone having type 1 diabetes is that no one knows what destroyed their insulin producing cells. Today, there isn't a cure and it can't be delayed. The most common age for the onset of type 1 diabetes is 5 to 7 years old. It's known as a child and young adult disease.

 

My type 1 diabetic daughter is thin, healthy, and active. She plays sports and eats healthy. Supposedly, she got a virus which attacked the beta cells of her pancreas, killing them. She now is 100% insulin dependent. Her pancreas cannot produce insulin, but can absorb it if given. This disease is considered an autoimmune disease.

 

The highs and lows a type 1 diabetic has is a constant juggling act. The weather, their stress level, their emotional state, and their health all impacts their blood sugar. It’s not just food that a type 1 diabetic has to worry about. It’s everything they do and feel. A simple pill won't fix their problem. Exercising, losing weight, and eating healthy won't cure them or delay their illness. Every day, until their is a cure, they have to have insulin shots or wear an insulin pump which is attached to their body. And six to ten times a day they have to check their blood sugar by pricking their fingers to prevent and better manage their highs and lows.

 

Trying to predict how a change in a type 1 diabetics lifestyle will affect their blood sugar is like trying to predict the lotto. Just yesterday, my daughter's blood sugar was 56 at school. She had just come in from recess which burned off some of her blood sugar. Normally, you would give her a 15 carb juice and some protein to raise her blood sugar, and then check it again in 15 minutes. But Madison's scenario was a little different. She had eaten lunch about 45 minutes earlier, so she had insulin still in her body (2 units), processing all the carbs she had eaten for lunch. The teacher and nurse were trained to take into account the insulin on board, meaning give her enough juice and protein to cover the insulin that her insulin pump said she still had in her body so she didn't drop more.  But for Madison, her body works differently. The insulin on board was still processing the carbs. Her body works slower than other type 1 diabetics when processing certain carbs. When Madison got home, her blood sugar was 351. They had given her way too much to eat and drink.

 

The above scenario is constant in a type 1 diabetics life. Every thing they do, feel and eat affects their blood sugar, causing them to have to constantly stay on top of their blood sugar by checking it every two to three hours. There are minutes during the day where we haven't a clue why Madison's blood sugar is dropping or why it is all of a sudden high.

 

Differences between type 1 and type 2:

• Type 2 diabetes can be prevented, delayed and even cured if they start eating healthier and exercise. Type 1 cannot be cured today.
• Type 2 diabetes can happen at any age. Type 1 diabetes usually occurs in children and young adults. Like I mentioned earlier, the most common age for the onset of type 1 diabetes is 5 to 7 years old.
• Some type 2 diabetics don't need medicine. Some need to take pills daily. And some do need insulin shots. With type 1, all have to take insulin shots or wear an insulin pump.
• People with type 1 diabetes have to manage their highs and lows by checking their blood sugar 6 to 10 times a day, depending on their activity level and daily events.
 

Similarities between type 1 and type 2:

• Both can lead to major complications if not managed such as blindness, kidney failure and loss of limb.

I hope you will share any additional similarities and differences that I may have missed.

Highs and Lows of Raising a Child with Type 1 Diabetes | workingmother.com

Highs and Lows of Raising a Child with Type 1 Diabetes | workingmother.com

A Mother's Nightmare - Learning Her Seven Year Old Has Type 1 Diabetes

We all know that life can change in a split second. I experienced three such changes in less than one year, two which brought the greatest joy to my life—the pregnancy and birth of my fourth child! And a third that brought great sadness. The night of November 4, 2011 shockingly was a tragic time for me and my family. It's the night that my 7 year old daughter was rushed in an ambulance to downtown Charlotte Hemby Children’s Hospital, because the doctors at an Urgent Care Clinic found sugar in her urine. Within hours, she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes-a disease I was ignorant of, a disease my prophetic logical mind could not predict.

Ironically, the signs were there a month prior. But I didn’t recognize the signs and messages; or should I say, I was too exhausted from being a new mom to pay attention to them or think they were anything serious.

Going back in time, one month earlier, my daughter, Madison, (after participating in a diabetes lecture at school) asked me if she could catch diabetes. I chuckled and paused for a split moment, wondering why she would ask me such a bizarre question. Her eyes filled with water, knowing there was something going on within her body that I wasn’t ready to face. I gazed into her big, glossy hazel eyes and said, “No, you can’t catch diabetes.” I then went on to share that my grandfather had Type 2 Diabetes when he was older, but it was because he didn’t take care of himself. She looked at me and said, “I think I have diabetes." Madison’s comment left me dumb-founded, unsure what was going to happen and to whom. I actually thought perhaps one of my parents may come down with diabetes. Never did I expect my daughter to be diagnosed not even a month later.

But that was only the beginning of the signs and messages. Madison had also started to wet her bed, urinate constantly, and drink more than usual. My husband even asked me once if I thought Madison had diabetes. My mind just couldn’t wrap itself around her all of a sudden getting diabetes. She was thin. She ate well. How in the world could she get it? So instead, I attributed all the changes to her adjusting to me having a baby and then taking care of the baby. I was pregnant and delivered October 7, 2011—the day I thanked God for being blessed with four healthy children, not knowing that one of my children wasn’t healthy.

Weeks went on, and Madison continued wetting her bed, and drinking and urinating more than usual. I was consumed with being a new mom, trying to catch up on sleep and doing the necessities when my kids got home from school that I chalked up her behavior to simply adjusting to having a newborn sister. But on November 4th, I couldn’t ignore the signs and messages any longer. She was thin. She was weak. She was stupor.

That afternoon, Madison stepped off the school bus, floating in her clothes. I thought perhaps I had purchased her the wrong size, because she looked anorexic. I checked the inner tag of her pants which said size 8, the size she had been wearing for several months. I followed her into the house, confused with what I was witnessing. She sat on the couch, leaned back and just stared out into the room in this dazed look. Thinking she may be anorexic, I asked her a simple question, “Did you eat your lunch today?” She just continued to stare in this stupor state, never responding. She looked like she was on drugs. Then I thought perhaps she had mono because my neighbor’s two girls just had mono a couple weeks back. I had my husband take Madison to Urgent Care, thinking they would be back home within an hour and a half. But instead, I received a text from my emotionally shocked husband around 6:10 pm stating Madison was being rushed to the hospital because they found sugar in her urine. My body and mind became numb from the words I read. How on Earth could I have missed all the signs? Within seconds tears flooded down my face and didn’t stop for weeks.

For four days, with my newborn baby in tow, I spent twelve hours by Madison's side in the hospital, learning everything I could to be able to take care of her. I tried so hard to be emotionally strong, but my hormones were everywhere, having just given birth four weeks earlier. Every time I cried, she would cry which broke my heart even more. But I was able to bring a smile to her face when I would say, “Princess, the reason I’m crying is because I'm so happy you are healthy again and you will be able to run around and play like you always have.” But down deep inside, I was mourning. I was angry. I was sad. I was in shock, especially when the endocrinologist said her Type 1 Diabetes was triggered by a virus and it was just pure bad luck. Words I really had a hard time wrapping my mind around.

After two days in ICU and a total of five nights in the hospital (where the first three days my husband, nurses, doctor and I spent begging Madison to allow us to give her shots, always resulting in us holding her arms and legs while she screamed and cried so we could give her the insulin that was keeping her alive), we were able to take her home. But with it came an enormous responsibility and change in lifestyle. We were now responsible for checking her blood sugar by pricking her finger every couple of hours, even throughout the night. We also were responsible for administering her insulin by giving her four to six shots a day. And we were responsible for keeping track and calculating every carbohydrate she ate at every meal. We now were responsible for making sure she didn’t go into a stupor state again, and for that matter, coma.

Things aren’t simple in our lives, but whose life is really simple. The good thing is our life is becoming more manageable. As of Christmas (2011), we were able to transition Madison to a pump, giving her and me a little more freedom and control. It’s not picture perfect, but its allowed her to have less shots and to eat snacks.

I’ve learned and grown a great deal over the past nine weeks. What I've come to realize is that when tragedy happens, there are people ready and willing to help you, if you open up your heart and life to them. Those people were my family, friends and neighbors. I wouldn’t have been able to get through this rough period without them, especially Tracy (a mother of a type 1 diabetic daughter who has become a great friend and mentor)! Madison’s diagnosis has truly made me stop and appreciate my family, friends and neighbors.

Yes, I still have moments of crying, experiencing disbelief, and getting angry. But in the same breath, I'm very grateful that her disease is manageable and she can still run around, play and be her silly sassy self.

Blessings,

Melissa
www.melissaproductions.com