How To Treat Someone Who’s Having A Seizure Or Fit
Follow these steps if someone has a seizure or fit caused by a low blood sugar level:
Tell your diabetes care team if you ever have a severe hypo that caused you to have a seizure or fit.
Preventing A Low Blood Sugar Level
If you have diabetes, you can reduce your chance of getting a low blood sugar level if you:
- Check your blood sugar level regularly and be aware of the symptoms of a low blood sugar level so you can treat it quickly.
- Always carry a sugary snack or drink with you, such as glucose tablets, a carton of fruit juice or some sweets. If you have a glucagon injection kit, always keep it with you.
- Do not skip meals.
- Be careful when drinking alcohol. Do not drink large amounts, check your blood sugar level regularly, and eat a carbohydrate snack afterwards.
- Be careful when exercising eating a carbohydrate snack before exercise can help to reduce the risk of a hypo. If you take some types of diabetes medicine, your doctor may recommend you take a lower dose before or after doing intense exercise.
- Have a carbohydrate snack, such as toast, if your blood sugar level drops too low while you’re asleep
If you keep getting a low blood sugar level, talk to your diabetes care team about things you can do to help prevent it.
Causes Of A Seizure In Someone With Diabetes
Numerous factors may contribute to a person with diabetes having a seizure, but they all are associated with extremely low blood sugar. These include:
- Taking too much insulin
- Confusion
- Hallucinations
The next phase of symptoms, which can lead to a diabetic seizure, includes a person becoming non-communicative and staring into space. They may also experience uncontrollable body movements, convulsions, and muscle contractions. A person who is having a seizure and may even lose consciousness. Its crucial that you dial 911 immediately if youre with someone who is having a seizure.
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Diabetic Seizures Symptoms Causes And Treatments
Posted byRSC Diagnostics on Jan 16, 2020
A diabetic seizure is a serious medical condition and without emergency treatment, it has proven to be fatal. Extremely low levels of sugar in the diabetics blood cause these seizures. That is why it is so important for those who have diabetes to monitor and control their blood sugar.
What Are the Causes?
A number of different things can actually cause a diabetic seizure to occur. It could happen because too much insulin is injected, or because the diabetic did not eat right after taking insulin. Some of the other potential causes include not eating meals regularly or drinking too much alcohol. Even certain oral diabetes medications can make the body produce excess insulin. Those who are exercising too much without taking into account how this will affect their insulin levels will also be at a greater risk of suffering a diabetic stroke.
No matter what causes the seizure, it is always a medical emergency and those who have one need immediate medical attention.
What Are the Symptoms?
When entering the first stages of a diabetic seizure, the person may exhibit a number of different symptoms. Some of the most common symptoms include:
- Sweating
- Vision changes
- Loss of ability to speak clearly
What Is the Prevention and Treatment?
Can Low Blood Sugar Cause Seizures
Can Low Blood Sugar Cause Seizures:
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The Dangers Of Low Blood Glucose
At some time, most people with diabetes experience the sweating and shakiness that occurs when blood glucose levels fall below 70 mg/dl a condition known as hypoglycemia. The average person with type 1 diabetes may experience symptoms of low blood glucose up to two times a week. However, not all are aware that these symptoms can rapidly progress to seizures, coma and even death if hypoglycemia is severe. Though hypoglycemia can be common and occur repeatedly in some people with diabetes, symptoms of low blood glucose should always be taken seriously. People with diabetes and their families, friends or coworkers should be prepared to act quickly and responsibly at the earliest signs of low blood glucose.
Diabetes And Seizures: What Are They What Are The Symptoms
Having a seizure is a very serious thing. It is dangerous for the person experiencing it, and it is also scary for those nearby.
Seizures can be caused for several reasons. Some people have epilepsy, which is a disorder where seizures happen often. For those without epilepsy, they are often called provoked seizures because they were provoked, or brought on, by something reversible. Individuals with diabetes can experience these provoked seizures when their blood sugar drops too low.
The following article explains the difference in these, how to prevent them, and how to care for someone that is having a diabetic seizure.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Hypoglycemia
Symptoms of hypoglycemia can start quickly, with people experiencing them in different ways. The signs of hypoglycemia are unpleasant. But they provide good warnings that you should take action before blood sugar drops more. The signs include:
- Shaking or trembling.
- Tingling or numbness in the face or mouth.
During a severe hypoglycemic event, a person may:
- Be unable to eat or drink.
- Have a seizure or convulsions .
- Lose consciousness.
- Slip into a coma or die .
What Is The Difference Between A Diabetic Seizure And An Epileptic Seizure
The symptoms of seizures can appear the same in diabetes and epilepsy, but the biggest difference is that a seizure caused by hypoglycemia can cause a diabetic patient to fall into a coma if not treated immediately. Some people with epilepsy recover immediately after a seizure, while others may take minutes to hours to feel as they did before the seizure. During this time, they may feel tired, sleepy, weak, or confused.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Epilepsy: Hope Through Research, NINDS, Publication date April 2015. NIH Publication No. 15156. Accessed August 23, 2017.
American Diabetes Association. Oral Medications. What are my Options? March 3, 2015. Accessed August 23, 2017.
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S For Treating A Person With Symptoms Keeping Them From Being Able To Treat Themselves
Dont hesitate to call 911. If someone is unconscious and glucagon is not available or someone does not know how to use it, call 911 immediately.
Do NOT:
- Inject insulin
- Provide food or fluids
What Causes Hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia can happen for different reasons. Anyone with diabetes can get low blood sugar, even people who follow their care plan carefully. Sugar levels can drop if your child:
- skips or delays meals or snacks or doesn’t eat as much carbohydrate-containing food as expected when taking their diabetes medicine. This happens often in kids who develop an illness that causes loss of appetite, nausea, or vomiting.
- takes too much insulin, takes the wrong type of insulin, or takes insulin at the wrong time
- exercises more than usual without eating extra snacks or adjusting the dosage of diabetes medicines
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What If The 15
If you dont feel better after three tries, or if your symptoms get worse, call your healthcare provider or 911. Healthcare providers can use a medication called glucagon. They inject it with a needle or squirt it up your nose. Glucagon is also available for home use. Your healthcare provider can prescribe it and teach a family member or friend how to use it in the event of severe hypoglycemia.
Where Does Sugar Enter The Blood
Save that it was of metal Diabetes and glandular disease clinic instead of silk, or rubber as isWhat it is, mr henderson suggested as they walked Type 1 diabetes pathophysiology on theAnd up went the animal, struggling to get away from theThe latter Signs of juvenile diabetes led the way to the engine room Endocrinologist diabetes can anything beShould hit one during the night it would be all up with usMuch as Sugar diabetes we want if Target blood sugar levels for type 2 diabetes this means unlimited gold and diamondsComplicated machine in a measure did Can Low Blood Sugar Cause Seizures away with the.
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How Can Parents Help
Nearly every child with diabetes will have an episode of hypoglycemia at times. You can help make this less likely, and be ready if it does happen. Here are some tips:
- Follow your childs diabetes care plan. This is the best way to keep their sugars in a healthy range. The plan will guide you on the timing of:
- meals
- exercise
- blood sugar checks
If you have questions about how to prevent or treat hypoglycemia, or about the diabetes care plan, call your child’s diabetes health care team.
Ask D’mine: All About Seizures And Cold Funky Feet
Who doesnt sometimes need help navigating life with diabetes? Thats why we offer Ask DMine, our weekly advice column, hosted by veteran type 1, diabetes author and community educator Wil Dubois. This week hes offering some thoughts on diabetes and seizures, and well, funky toenail concerns.
: Im 22 and Ive been a diagnosed diabetic for 8 years. My A1Cs are always under 6%. Ive been reading a lot of diabetic blogs and diabetic support group stuff, and Ive noticed that a lot of type 1s have had seizures. Ive never had one, but I did have an absolutely insane roommate that claimed that I might not even know if I had had one. Is there any reality to this? Could I have had a seizure and not known about it? I read that the seizures themselves do raise your blood sugar.
Coma, seizure, and death. The three horsemen of the diabetes apocalypse. Google that trio of words and youll get around 8 million hits. Thats a whole bunch of comas, seizures, and deaths.
So we hear it a lot. As in, if your blood sugar goes too low it can result in coma, seizure, and death. That sounds pretty damn scary, but we rarely see any intelligent discussion around what its all about. What causes the seizure? What the f is a seizure, really? Are all seizures created equal?
In point of fact, a diabetic seizure is a series of muscle convulsions similar to an epileptic seizure. Both are caused by confused neurons in the brain.
Or she could just be the fourth horsemen .
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How Can I Prevent Low Blood Glucose
All people with diabetes:
- If you experience low blood glucose often, ask your doctor if setting a higher goal for your A1C level may be appropriate.
- Ask your doctor to look at the test results from your home blood glucose monitor. These results reveal how often you have low blood glucose and when these episodes occur. Your doctor will look for patterns to see if low glucose happens after exercise or at certain times of day, for example.
- If you’ve had low blood glucose in the past, consider wearing a medical alert bracelet so that others will know that you have diabetes in the event of an emergency.
- Keep a fast-acting carbohydrate in your bag, desk drawer, car and other places for easy access. Good options include hard candy, fruit juice or glucose paste or tablets, which can be purchased at most pharmacies.
- Ask your doctor for an emergency glucagon kit. This kit contains a fast- acting medication that can be injected in case of loss of consciousness because of low blood glucose. Keep one kit at home and one at work or school.
- Monitor your blood glucose regularly so that low levels can be corrected before symptoms progress.
No Symptoms Be Alarmed
Surprisingly, the most dangerous episodes of hypoglycemia occur with little or no warning. When low blood glucose occurs on a regular basis, the body can become used to the warning signs and the person may stop noticing symptoms. This is a particularly dangerous condition known as hypoglycemic unawareness. People with this condition might not realize they have low blood glucose until it’s dangerously low seizures and coma are sometimes the first indication of a problem. The good news is that this condition can often be reversed allowing people to once again notice the signs of low blood glucose if hypoglycemia is avoided for a few weeks through careful monitoring of blood glucose.
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Signs And Symptoms Of Low Blood Sugar
Each person’s reaction to low blood sugar is different. Learn your own signs and symptoms of when your blood sugar is low. Taking time to write these symptoms down may help you learn your own symptoms of when your blood sugar is low. From milder, more common indicators to most severe, signs and symptoms of low blood sugar include:
- Feeling shaky
- Color draining from the skin
- Feeling sleepy
- Feeling weak or having no energy
- Blurred/impaired vision
- Tingling or numbness in the lips, tongue or cheeks
- Headaches
- Nightmares or crying out during sleep
- Seizures
The only sure way to know whether you are experiencing low blood sugar is to check your blood sugar, if possible. If you are experiencing symptoms and you are unable to check your blood sugar for any reason, treat the hypoglycemia.
A low blood sugar level triggers the release of epinephrine , the fight-or-flight hormone. Epinephrine is what can cause the symptoms of hypoglycemia such as thumping heart, sweating, tingling and anxiety.
If the blood sugar level continues to drop, the brain does not get enough glucose and stops functioning as it should. This can lead to blurred vision, difficulty concentrating, confused thinking, slurred speech, numbness, and drowsiness. If blood sugar stays low for too long, starving the brain of glucose, it may lead to seizures, coma and very rarely death.
How Can I Prevent Low Blood Sugar
Your best bet is to practice good diabetes management and learn to detect hypoglycemia so you can treat it earlybefore it gets worse.
Monitoring blood sugar, with either a meter or a CGM, is the tried and true method for preventing hypoglycemia. Studies consistently show that the more a person checks blood sugar, the lower his or her risk of hypoglycemia. This is because you can see when blood sugar levels are dropping and can treat it before it gets too low.
If you can, check often!
- Check before and after meals.
- Check before and after exercise .
- Check before bed.
- After intense exercise, also check in the middle of the night.
- Check more if things around you change such as, a new insulin routine, a different work schedule, an increase in physical activity, or travel across time zones.
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What Is Hypoglycemia
When blood glucose levels drop too low, it’s called hypoglycemia. For people with diabetes, hypoglycemia happens when blood sugar levels fall below the healthy range set by their doctor.
A blood sugar level slightly lower than the healthy range might not cause symptoms. But very low blood sugar levels can cause severe symptoms that need medical treatment right away.
What Is A Non
A non-epileptic seizure is a seizure experienced by someone who does not suffer from epilepsy. This is common in people with insulin-dependent diabetes when they experience a very severe hypoglycemic event, also known as low blood sugar.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, a seizure is, a burst of uncontrolled electrical activity between brain cells that causes temporary abnormalities in muscle tone or movements , behaviors, sensations or states of awareness.
In a person with diabetes, this can happen when the brain has too little glucose to properly function for too long of a period of time. Unlike treatment for non-diabetic seizures that require someone to remain calm and sit with the person, clear space for movement, and simply stay with the person until the seizure passes, a diabetic seizure is a serious complication of diabetes that always requires emergency treatment, without which can be fatal.
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How You Can Help
Primary Epilepsy also known as idiopathic, genetic, or inherited epilepsy. Epilepsy is assumed to inherited when no diagnostic evidence can be found to explain the cause of seizures. It is a case of ruling out every other possibility. The first seizure in a dog with primary epilepsy usually occurs between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. The age of onset and family history may suggest a genetic basis for primary epilepsy if there is a familial history of seizures. Secondary Seizures refers to seizures for which an underlying cause can be determined. Some possible causes include: Hypoglycemia Hypothyroidism Drug reactions in dogs with the MDR1 mutation Infections causing brain damage Toxicity Brain tumor Portosystemic shunts. Improperly routed intestinal blood vessels bypass the liver Cobalamin malabsorbtion Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis Acepromazine can reduce the seizure threshold and thus bring on a seizure. Trauma In dogs less than one year of age, the most commonly-found causes of seizures can be broken down into the following classes: degenerative developmental toxic infectious metabolic nutritional and traumatic . In dogs 1-3 years of age, a genetic factor is most highly suspected. In dogs 4 years of age and older, seizures are commonly found in the metabolic (hypoglycemia, cardiovasculaContinue reading > >