Optimal solution in a child with diabetes who refuses to eat after insulin injection
Particularities of the first weeks
A few weeks after the onset of diabetes, blood glucose levels may be close to normal, or even below the target. This sometimes leads to a noticeable decrease in the amounts of insulin. This relatively calm and simple phase, more or less prolonged (a few days to a few weeks, sometimes a few months) is what is called the "honeymoon" period: insulin requirements have decreased to less than 0, 5 units/kg/day whereas initially they were more than double at the start of treatment, when insulin treatment was started in the hospital .
It even happens that one can temporarily stop, for a more or less short period, one of the fast or slow insulins (most often the fast insulin), but never completely the 2 insulins. However, it is preferable, even if insulin requirements are minimal, to maintain a very low dose of long-acting insulin.
Diabetes cannot be cured. It is not possible, today, to protect cells that are still functioning (for a fairly short time), before being destroyed in turn.
Types of Insulin Therapy
Treatment requires insulin throughout the day and night with greater requirements at mealtimes:
Insulins, called rapid, are absorbed at the time of meals containing carbohydrates, and submitted for 2 to 4 hours depending on the child. They make it possible to use the carbohydrates in the diet and to correct hyperglycaemia;
Insulins, called slow, are injected once or twice a day; they are said to be vital and necessary for the proper functioning of the body throughout the day and night. Slow-acting insulin should never be interrupted. They help maintain stable blood sugar levels between meals;
The medical team, in collaboration with you, can choose the most appropriate treatment according to your child's age and rhythm.
The choice is possible between:
Treatment with an external pump, especially when the child is young and of preschool age or less than 6 years old;
Or multiple insulin injections administered by means of a pen or syringes (rapid insulin associated with semi‐lente or long-acting insulins).
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insulin and child