Sunday, November 09, 2008

Should I be worried?

My Little Princess has always loved milk. She would have a glass with every meal and a few times in between. It was never really a big deal to me I just thought that she took after her Uncle David. In the last few months though it has been getting really bad. Like she drank almost half a gallon of milk by her self in one day. After that day I have always tried to regulate it a little. I couldn't afford to be buying so much milk all the time. She now will drink just about anything.

Naturally when you drink lots you pee lots too, so I am sure you can guess that she is always going potty. ALWAYS is an understatement lately though. Part of the problem is the fact that she has been having accidents while sleeping a lot lately, like 3 times in a 24 hour time frame. While trying to figure out what is going on with her and try to stop the accidents from happening I have realized a few other things that had brought up some concern. This problem has been on coming for a little while now, but just in the last month it has been getting really bad! When I say bad, I mean I have never seen anything like it. She drinks SO much. For instance, she woke up the other morning and threw up. Her daddy felt bad for her and went and bought a 64 oz thing of Gatorade for the family to share thinking it might help her tummy. Well less than 2 hours later she had drank almost the ENTIRE thing. There was probably about 12 oz. left. I know it was her that drank it because her brother was gone and and her dad and I hadn't had any. Is she the only child that could do that? Also before she started wetting the bed so much she would get up 3 or 4 times in the night even to get a drink.

A few of the other things that I have noticed is that when I have tried to regulate what she has been drinking and when she needs to stop drinking for the night (trying to help the accidents) all she tells me is that she is thirsty and hungry. When I feed her all she wants is to drink, she fills up in drink and hardly touches her food even though she said that she was hungry. Also after not letting her drink anything after 7:30 at night last night at about 9:00 or so she had gone potty 3 times in 45 minutes.

The more I think about all this the more it gets scary to me. I have heard that when someone is always thirsty and can't stop drinking it is a sign of being diabetic. When I realized at what point is started to get really bad (about a month ago) was when she had been given lots of Halloween candy. It is scary to me, but that made perfect sense. If she is eating more sugar the worse her blood sugar would be and the more thirsty she would get.

Tell me internet world, am I looking into this too much. Should I be worried? I really don't want to be one of those people that over reacts. I guess that when it comes to the health of my kids I can't over react too much. With all of your infinite wisdom internet friends, have you ever heard of this really happening?

I laid awake most of the night last night so worried. Wondering if this sounds like a case that needs to be taken seriously, or if there is something else I should be trying since we don't have insurance and all.

I don't know what to next.

5 comments:

Jen said...

I have some thoughts for you about this...I will email them to you soon...

Homemaker is not a "dirty" word said...

I new a guy that had something called Water diabetes, He always had to carry water with him or he would get really really ill. As for the drinking I wouldn't let her have any liquids after 6:00 and tell her if she hungry she has to eat. Easy to say when I'm not the one there. Good luck!!

Holly said...

I have a few diabetics in the family but I honestly don't know if the thirst is tied to the sugar level. I do know that if you completely deep-six sugary or sweet drinks it does cut down on how much all the kids drink. If water is the only option and she is still drinking you will know if it is a thirst issue or a preference issue. I know Robbie would rather drink than eat any time...it's a kid thing.

TravelMama said...

I agree with holly. Sugary drinks just make you more thirsty and milk is technically a sugar. I had gestational diabetes and didn't feel thirsty like that. Will she eat candy or junk food? If so, then it's just a preference thing. Eating and drinking sugar doesn't feel good to a diabetic, it makes them feel sick. So try limiting her to water and healthy snacks. It may take up to a week for her to decide that she'll eat them, so be patient. She'll eat when she's hungry enough. Good luck!

Becky said...

My kid has always been a big drinker and not a big eater too, so it's hard to say for sure. The constant drinking and peeing could be a sign of diabetes, though. Do you know anybody who tests their blood sugar at home and has a machine? You can do a fingerstick test and find out if her blood sugar is high. There are also urine tests to see if the urine has glucose in it (normally it doesn't) that you can get online. Maybe it would be worth the $$$ just to get it checked out so you can stop stressing about it.