Hello there,

My name is Serge and my six year old son was diagnosed with T1D on January 1 2013. I came across Dr. Bernstein's book a few days ago (couldn't put it down, read it in one day!) and decided to impliment his suggestions for my son. Here's a little background.

When Jayden was first diagnosed in January he was put on NPH and Novorapid. For the first few weeks in January he was on a total 16 units of insulin (he is six and weighs 38 lbs). After a few weeks, the honeymoon kicked in and for the last 4 months, he has been down to approx 7 units per day. Here was his regimen (based on activity, other stuff his sugars would swing from 4-15mmol/L on this regimen):

Breakfast - 4.5 NPH
Supper - 1.5 NR
Bedtime - 2 NPH

The new program:

The last insulin he had was Thursday morning, 4.5NPH (its Saturday morning now). We started the Bernstein diet for him yesterday, we gave him no insulin. I took his readings 12 times yesterday since it was his first day on Bernstein. All of them, with the exception of two were in the range of 3.8-4.8 mmol/L (70-86 mg/dl). He had a low at 10AM (2.7 or 48mg/dl) and another at 12PM (3.3 or 60 mg/dl). I treated both with a Dex4 tablet and his sugar returned to normal in minutes. I thought the lows were strange as again, he was given NO insulin. I thought maybe it was a little NPH still in his system from the previous day (although I've read that NPH wears off after 12 hours).

Apart from the lows, I was very pleased with the first day.

The last reading I took was 4.7 (85mg) at 11PM last night when he was sleeping. I regret not setting my alarm to check his sugars during the night. At 6AM, I went to check, and his sugar was 2.6 (46mg). He was groggy but still conscious. I grabbed him half glass of juice which normally raises his sugar in 10 mins (remember he is 38lbs). After 10 mins his sugar had not budged at all, and he complained that he didn't feel good. I grabbed a vial of Dex4 liquid which he drank. After 10 mins still no change in bg, it was still 2.6 (46mg). I phoned 911 and paramedics came out. I gave him another half cup of juice while we waited for them. He was still at 2.6 at 6:45AM when the paramedic did the first reading. We gave him more juice, and a cookie. He complained that his stomach didn't feel good. At 7AM his sugars started coming back up, 5.8 (104), to 9.5 (171) at around 7:15. Around 7:30 he vomited, I believe in response to all the juice we had pumped into him. He has continued to vomit on and off for a few hours, is sleepy but his sugars have remained in the 6-8 range (108-144).

I'm keeping a close eye on him, and also waiting for a phone call back from his pediatric endo.

I don't know how long he was low for at night, and I'm assuming the vomiting and tiredness is a result of his low, and the treatment of it.

Here's my question:

How can he be going low if we are not injecting insulin??? I thought the two lows yesterday (Friday) were due to some NPH he may have in his system from Thursday morning. But why last night? Thats a full 36-40 hours after the last insulin we gave him.

I already have a feeling his endo will say to put him back on his high carb + insulin regime. I don't want to get back on that rollercoaster after reading Bernstein.

Sorry for the long winded post - please help!

Serge

Wow, I don't know, but I'm no expert. Could he have been misdiagnosed? I wonder if a more gradual weaning off carbs might be helpful?

Even if the endo gives you crappy diet advice, he might be able to explain that weird low without any insulin.

Do you know why your son was classified as a T1? Meaning is a T1 because his pancreas is not working at all. Or is he a T1 because his body is not using the insulin properly?

I don't know the reason why you went to Dr. Bernsteins plan. As in the bad things your son was experiencing. What I do know. Is I definitely would not be switching his diet around, and meds around, with out a physician supervising and helping you figure it out. A physician who is willing to help you with following the guidelines Dr B has set up. Especially with a child. As he is still growing and his body is changing. It will be more difficult.

Perhaps you should get a second opinion. There are diseases out there that can mimic diabetic symptoms but aren't truly diabetes.

Finally Dr. Bernstein does have forum. The link below is a culmination of FAQs about kids that they put together in a post.

http://www.diabetes-book.com/cgi-bi...?num=1211470179

***Special note**** if you have *trouble* registering for the forum email steverxx -at- comcast.net or hmoran -at- diabetesincontrol.com and they will get you set up.

Forum doesn't allow me to use the -at- symbol

This is a link to a small list of low carb doctors... Not all are ENTs but you might get lucky...

http://lowcarbdoctors.blogspot.com/

the search is by state

This is the forum of Dr bs so you can ask others if there are any lc docs in your area.

http://www.diabetes-book.com/cgi-bi...BB.pl?board=psp

Perhaps a meal before bedtime which includes protein, fat, and some carbs. And yes, I would be checking with a doctor who specializes in children's diabetes.

hey guys- she said she has a pediatric endo
type I children are generally not sent to regular endo's.
and yeah, a 38 pound child is (almost 100%) certainly type I.

I am an adult, who has had type I for nearly 21 years, so let me start by saying i am very sorry to hear the bad news- but guess what? my life has been very healthy and diabetes hasn't kept me from running half marathons through mountains, skydiving, traveling to isolated jungles in the most remote regions of costa rica, etc.....so hang tough when diabetes is being a jerk!
Your son will do whatever he wants in life, outside being an astronaut or serving in the military.

Now here is what i suspect is happening.
when someone gets type I, the beta cells (which produce insulin) have died.
meanwhile this was not a one time battle- the body continues to produce the cells, and the autoimmune system will continue to kill them. sometimes the body is making cells so quickly, the autoimmune system can't keep up!
There are random times when i need almost no insulin for days!

i hope this helped. and again, i am sorry to hear of your son's diagnosis.

The "Classic Interview" with Dr. Richard Bernstein by Jimmy Moore is now posted on the LLVLC website, or go directly to iTunes for #683, 1 hour, 33 min. From 2009, one interview and then a follow-up Encore interview.

http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/...-may-2013/18311

try contacting dr. Bernstein's office.wvets

Yeah...ummm...I'd have a chat with his endo and take Bernstein's book in with you. Depending on the reception you get, you might want to find another endo. One who understands the goal is not to eat a high carb diet and just shove insulin at the problem. Your son will always need insulin, but (according to Bernstein) Type 1 is much easier to control on a low carb diet.

One would *hope* that they diagnosed him correctly since he's seeing a pediatric endo, but I'd definitely get clarification on why he dropped so drastically and stayed so low. I'm assuming that when you gave him his insulin it was based on the low carb and not just some number of units they gave you (with their assumption that he's eating a certain number of carbs at that meal).

I'd definitely check out Bernstein's site and see if you can't get some info there.