When our practitioner Coriander told us about this case, we knew we had to share it with you. We are used to finding the root causes of symptoms that doctors often dismiss, but this was an extreme case of a missed diagnosis of a serious disease and shows how important it is to look at all the symptoms and push for answers.
We have interviewed Coriander about the case and changed the name of the boy for privacy purposes.
Hi Coriander, tell us a bit about your patient and the symptoms he came to you with.
Luca is a 9-yr-old boy with an ASD diagnosis and very little speech. He had a ton of symptoms including constipation, gastro problems, aching joints, general discomfort, lack of communication and focus, which are all common symptoms we see in clinic. He was also constantly hungry and eating a lot but was still quite skinny and lacking in energy. Luca was also very thirsty, drinking a lot and wetting the bed and having daytime accidents. His parents were of course very worried and exhausted by the time they came to Brainstorm Health. They hadn't had much help from doctors in the past and his mum felt symptoms in kids with ASD were often dismissed as just part of autism.
Did you suspect he had diabetes? I knew he had blood sugar issues as the lack of energy, excessive hunger and thirst were clues, but I didn't think he'd have Type 1 Diabetes. That diagnosis came as a shock to all of us but totally made sense once we knew.
How did you find out then? We agreed do a urine test called Metabolomix from Genova to assess his overall nutritional status and look for other markers that would give us clues about his metabolism. Genova thankfully checks glucose levels as standard even though it's not listed in the report. Luca's levels were sky-high and the lab called me immediately - before the rest of the report was even ready. I should note that a GP can do a very simple urine test that also would have picked up high glucose levels - a comprehensive lab test was not needed to find this issue.
What happened next? I contacted Luca's parents and told them to make an urgent appointment with the GP to share this finding and insist on further investigations. He was diagnosed very quickly with Type 1 Diabetes and put on insulin.
How is Luca now? He's so much better now that he's on insulin and his blood sugar is under control. He's stopped daytime accidents and sleeps through the night without wetting the bed. His mood, focus and energy are so much better. The parents are so relieved!
What else did you do to support his health? Quite a lot - we were working on his diet for a couple months before the diagnosis anyway. We put him on the Brainstorm Health 30-day reset plan and were giving him blood-sugar balancing smoothies and trying to wean him off all the high-carb foods he craved. His symptoms definitely improved but not as much as I usually see with patients. That's when I recommended the lab test so we could pinpoint what we needed to support the most. Since his diagnosis and treatment, we continue to work on his health by making sure his meals and snacks are very balanced. You can't just rely on insulin to control sugar levels.
Any advice for other parents worried about their child? If you feel dismissed by a GP about certain symptoms, find another GP and keep pushing until they do some basic tests and investigations. We see so many kids who are acting out because they are actually in pain due to undiagnosed gut issues like extreme constipation, and even sometimes due to painful teeth because of dental caries. This case was a bit extreme but it just goes to show that you have to look at the symptoms and push for answers.
Any other advice on how to manage blood sugar? Balancing blood sugar is important for everyone so parents can take this advice too. Very simply, make sure you always eat carbohydrates with a protein and healthy fat - this will slow down digestion and release the sugar from the carbs into the bloodstream more steadily. Starting your day with a breakfast full of protein and fat, instead of the usual carb-heavy one of cereal and milk, is so important because once blood sugar swings out of balance, it's hard to get it back under control. A full-fat yogurt with berries and nuts is a good swap for cereal. Remember there's no such thing as 'breakfast food' so if your child wants sausages with some veg for breakfast that's great!
I know parents have to rely on packaged foods sometimes and these are often very high in sugar and carbs. A simple Brainstorm Health trick is to make sure that the carb to protein ratio is no more than 5:1. For instance, if I look at a 'cereal bar' for my son and it has 25g of carbs, I make sure there are at least 5 grams of protein to balance it out. I also try to make sure there's a healthy fat in there too e.g. nuts.
Please note we do not diagnose or treat illnesses at Brainstorm Health but can help you advocate to get the right medical diagnosis from qualified doctors if necessary.
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