New Experiences
Throughout high school, your son or daughter will be exposed to all sorts of new experiences, challenges, and opportunities. Many of these can affect, or be affected by, his or her blood sugar control. It's important that even if you don't agree with some of these choices, you speak frankly to your teen about the consequences of decisions and how to try new things responsibly.
Rebellion
Testing limits is what being a teenager is all about. So negotiate new rules as they become age appropriate, but be sure to distinguish between what's related to diabetes and what isn't. For example, you may not want your son or daughter to stay out until two in the morning - but that's probably due to their age, not because you're worried about them having a late-night low blood sugar episode.
Choose your battles. Give your son or daughter room to express themselves in ways that don't hurt anyone - like choosing clothes or hair color you hate. That way, you can still stand firm on what's really important.
Behind the Wheel
A new drivers license is an exciting thing and chances are your son or daughter will seek every opportunity to get behind the wheel. Just make sure that testing blood sugar is as much a part of the process as putting on a seatbelt and adjusting the mirrors.
In general, people with diabetes - particularly those with type 1 - should not drive unless they have eaten or tested their blood sugar within the past hour. Low blood sugar while driving can be very dangerous.
What's more, while no one should drive after drinking alcohol, this is a crucial rule for people with diabetes. As explained below, alcohol increases the potential for low blood sugar. Even the possibility of losing consciousness while driving should keep your teen from getting behind the wheel.
Tobacco and Drugs
This is a time when kids are experimenting with everything from music to wild hair colors. They're likely to be offered cigarettes, and possibly some form of drugs. Help them understand why they should say "no."
• Tobacco has been proven to significantly raise a person's risk for many diabetes-related complications. Your son or daughter works too hard to protect the health of their eyes, heart, lungs, and nervous system to let cigarettes undo the positive effects.
• Drugs can impair a person's judgment, making it impossible to identify low blood sugar. Further, other people may be less able to recognize a problem as diabetes-related and treat it quickly and competently.
Alcohol
Even if you hope that your son or daughter won't drink, it's important to arm them with the facts about alcohol and blood sugar, just in case.
Alcohol lowers a person's blood sugar, sometimes enough to cause a "low" or hypoglycemia. Why? Normally, the liver is responsible for helping regulate blood sugar, but when a person drinks, their liver turns to processing alcohol instead. As blood sugar falls, the liver can't release additional glucose to correct the problem.
So if a person with diabetes is going to drink alcohol, there are some important things to keep in mind:
• Eat first. A snack or even a glass of milk beforehand can be enough to keep blood sugar in a healthy range.
• Drink only in moderation. Alcohol impairs a person's judgment and may make it impossible to identify a blood sugar low. What's more, many of the symptoms of a low can look like intoxication, so friends may not realize there's a problem.
• Make sure your son or daughter wears a medical ID bracelet or necklace and keeps glucose on hand at all times.
• Never, never let them drive while drinking. The increased risk of a blood sugar low makes drinking and driving even more dangerous. Offering to be the designated driver can keep your teen, as well as their friends, safe.
Relationships and Sex
When they're old enough, your son or daughter will quickly realize that diabetes doesn't have to get in the way of an active social life and dating. That's when a healthy discussion about sex should come in. Of course, for emotional, moral, religious, or health reasons, your teen may not engage in sexual activity. But if they do, it's important that they're aware of special considerations for people with diabetes.
• Make sure your son or daughter knows that, in spite of the myths, men with diabetes can get women pregnant, and women with diabetes can get pregnant, even if their blood sugar is not in control.
• Teen women with diabetes need to practice careful birth control - their pregnancies should be planned and managed carefully with the help of an obstetrician. If a woman with poor blood sugar control gets pregnant, it can pose increased risks to the mother and baby.
• For women, birth control pills can contribute to higher blood sugar. They should test often if starting a new prescription.
• Sex can cause blood sugar to drop. It's a good idea to test before sex, and keep juice or glucose nearby in case of a low blood sugar episode.
• Teenage men may be somewhat aware of the relationship between diabetes and impotence. It's important that they understand that this refers to the inability to maintain an erection, and doesn't affect their ability to procreate. Further, it generally doesn't affect men until later in life. Remind them that careful blood sugar control now will help reduce their risk of impotence later.