Another Problem Brewing?

[nmlove]

I took my oldest to his 6 year check-up. His pediatrician and I got to talking about a few things that seemed unrelated but were bothering me. I wasn't going crazy about it but they were just things making me feel uneasy, kind of like how I felt before he got sick with something six months before his celiac diagnosis. First off, his latest GI check-up was great - all levels and vitamins good, growth good, etc. So I don't think it's his celiac doing this. He's been looking a little peakish to me but that could be the end of winter speaking. Hopefully our trip to the sun state will put some spark in him.

Basically I told his doctor that he was eating all the time, which doesn't bother me (ok, I'm a little tired of being in the kitchen) but it's the fact that he's so irritable because of it. My son is tall and skinny so I have no issues feeding him a ton (of good food) as it seems to be burned up faster than he's digesting it. Obviously it could very well be tied to a growth spurt - except that it's never-ending. He mentioned the irritability could be a sign that he's a little hypoglycemic.

Then I mentioned that he's still peeing a ton at night. This isn't unusual; he always has and still wears a pull-up to bed. But I always bring it up as it seems never-ending. Over the winter I had a few nights where I thought dry days might be coming but then he started to wet through his pull-ups. That was just before his appointment but now he seems back to his regular, wet but not too wet self.

Finally I mentioned that when I've gone in to check on him he's been sweating a lot more. He's never been a sweater except as an infant and when he was sick with a fungal infection but that was a cold sweat, not this hot, sticky, nasty, I can't even touch him sweat. It's not every night but it doesn't seem to matter what he's wearing, what covers are on or the time of night so it's not likely because of him being overheated. His doctor said this could be anything but with everything else we talked about, he thinks something could be going on with his immune system. Since he does have celiac and even though it is controlled, he's more at risk for something else to go wrong with his immune system. I think because of the peeing at night he brought up type 1 diabetes. He wasn't implying that he would develop it but he wanted us to know the symptoms in case it turned out to be that since it can get serious so fast. His latest urine test came back normal.

I hate just waiting for something to happen - or not. I know that's a part of parenting but it's very frustrating! I guess this post is a little vent so thank you. But I was wondering if anyone knew of info about diabetes being diagnosed after a celiac diagnosis. Everything I've seen (and even told by my sons' nutrionist) says that typically diabetes is diagnosed first.

I do love my children's pediatrician. He's been there from their birth on and was the one who first brought up celiac. He also listens to me and is quick to run tests if he feels something's not quite right. Most of the time everything turns out ok but sometimes not. So I do trust what he says. By the way, I don't run to the doctor for tests all the time and he says I'm not being paranoid, that I'm the right amount of aware since we've had some funky stuff go on with my son off and on (though in general, he's really healthy).

[Roda]

It is worth making sure he isn't diabetic first or that there is any other underlying medical problems going on.

Here is our experience with bedwetting. Has your son ever been dry at night? I ask this because my oldest still wet the bed until he was 6 years old. Ever since he was a baby and when we potty trained, he never had a dry night. Our ped said that it was better this way since if he had previously been dry at night and then started the bedwetting it could be more serious. He didn't have diabetes and I was told that some kids bladders just are slower to develop. He didn't recommending me doing anything about it until around age 5. A few months after he turned 6 his little brother (they are 4 yrs apart) was potty training. It didn't take long, about two weeks, and my youngest was broke both night and day. I thought my oldest would feel funny about the fact that his 2 year old brother didn't wear pull ups to bed when he did. So I ended up buying an enuresis alarm for him. Here is a link to the one I bought, I ordered mine from a company in the US Open Original Shared Link The first night we used it is scared the dickens out of his dad and I. It went off several time in the night. I had no idea he was wetting multiple times and that much! By two weeks he was good to go. He was dry at night and he has never looked back. I highly recommend the eneuresis alarm. If I had known it would be that effective for us, I would have bought it a year prior. It was expensive, around $90-$100, but well worth it. I saved so much in not having to buy pull ups and it was worth it to see the benefits for my son. He was able to start spending the night with his best friend!

[nmlove]

Thanks for the review on the alarm. I've seen them advertised but wasn't sure how effective it would be. He's always peed a lot. His ped, just like yours, said some kids take longer and that he wasn't concerned until it bothered the kids. He said it could take even until he was 8, 9, 10. Yikes! My husband said he had some bedwetting issues that he was ashamed about so we really try to play it down and tell him that some bodies just take longer to not pee at night. We also have a younger son who's dry at night. Sometimes I can tell my oldest wants to wear underwear at night but he pees way too much. The concern his ped had was that he was wetting even more than usual, to where he was wetting the bed through his pull-up. But since his check-up he hasn't done that, just the normal filling up of the pull-up. His ped said that there is a kind of "pre-diabetes" stage for type 1, where the body's attacking the pancreas but the body's still producing insulin so tests come back normal basically until finally no insulin is produced which leads to getting sick so quickly. Like I said, it doesn't mean he will get it, just that he wanted me aware since undiagnosed type 1 can be very serious, very quickly. I'll have to show my husband the alarm and see what he thinks. Thanks again!

[Roda]

Your welcome. Glad the ped is keeping an eye out for other possible problems. Our ped did the same thing just to be safe. We down played it also, but like you said we could tell it was starting to bother him. He was so excited after the whole summer being dry and come first grade his best friend wanted him to spend the night. Before this I would just tell them that he wasn't ready to stay the night with no mention of the bedwetting. I also have a nephew who bedwet until 9 years old.