Ask D'mine: All About Seizures, And Cold Funky Feet
Who doesn't sometimes need help navigating life with diabetes? That's why we offer Ask D'Mine, our weekly advice column, hosted by ve teran type 1 , diabetes author and community educator Wil Dubois. This week he's offering some thoughts on diabetes and seizures, and... well, funk y toenail concerns. {Got your own questions? Email us at [email protected]} Marty, type 1 from Florida, writes: I'm 22 and I've been a diagnosed diabetic for 8 years. My A1C's are always under 6%. I've been reading a lot of diabetic blogs and diabetic support group stuff, and I've noticed that a lot of type 1s have had seizures. I've 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. Wil@Ask D'Mine answers: Coma, seizure, and death. The three horsemen of the diabetes apocalypse. Google that trio of words and you'll get around 8 million hits. That's 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 it's all about. What causes the seizure? What the f--- is a seizure, really? Are all seizures created equal? Here's the deal. Sugar is brain fuel. Deprive the brain of sugar and weird things start happening. Of course, in medical circles, people in white coats and ties can't look appropriately dignified talking about "weird things," so they like to discuss "neuroglycopenic events" instead. In a nutshell, neuroglycopenia means not enough sugar for the brain, which in turn affects the function of neuron Continue reading >>
Symptoms Of A Diabetic Seizure
A diabetic seizure can be caused by high blood sugar or low blood sugar. Mixed signals from brain cells cause seizures similar to those that are caused by a head injury or a high fever. These seizures can lead to coma, convulsion or death if untreated, but there are ways to tell if someone is experiencing a diabetic seizure in time to seek medical assistance. Common Symptoms Common symptoms of diabetic seizures are similar to symptoms of epileptic or other types of seizures. Muscles can twitch or jerk and tighten up. If someone having a seizure is holding a cigarette or a drink, you may not be able to remove it from their hand when their muscles become rigid. Body parts can become numb, and the person having the seizure may complain of dizziness, sweating, fatigue and headache. Night Time Diabetic Seizures There are many reasons blood sugar drops too low or rises too high, and any of them can cause diabetic seizures. Seizures often occur at night when blood sugar is low. Most of the time, the person wakes up and wakes someone else up before it progresses too far. They might throw off blankets and request a cold washcloth or feel nauseous. Sometimes someone having night time seizures doesn't wake up and the only signs that they had one are headaches in the morning, damp sheets from night sweats and high blood sugar. Misconceptions Skin may become very pale and clammy. A person having a diabetic seizure could have chest pain, panic attacks and wide mood swings. They can seem fully alert but be completely unaware or disoriented. They could smell odors or see bright lights that aren't there. Behavior might be unusual and memory loss is not uncommon. There may be loss of sensation in addition to numbness and tingling, and a lack of coordination. Some people having diabetic s Continue reading >>
Epilepsy And Diabetes – Confusion Or Common “cure”?
You might be surprised to hear it, but according to recent research, epilepsy and diabetes have more in common than we thought. The key commonality is fluctuating blood sugar. People with hyperglycemia tend to have focal or local seizures. And those who are hypoglycemic, tend to have tonic-clonic seizures… Although some patients and even some doctors disagree, there’s really not much difference between a diabetic seizure and other forms of seizures, such as those caused by epilepsy. While the symptoms are generally the same — there is one very significant difference — the blood sugar irregularities which can cause a diabetic seizure can also cause the diabetic patient to lapse into a coma. One dilemma facing both types of seizures are their origin. If the seizures are caused by blood sugar fluctuations, treatment with anti-seizure drugs which address electrical impulses in the brain are addressing the wrong problems. Yet we all know that diet plays an important part in controlling epilepsy. Interestingly enough, initial testing shows that a diabetes drug widely used to help diabetics manage their condition could also become recognized as an effective and secure way of treating epilepsy. According to reports, Metformin (brand name Glucophage) could be particularly useful in treating those epilepsy patients who are drug resistant. Glucophage, a popular oral drug for type 2 diabetes, helps lower blood sugar levels by improving the way the body handles insulin. Much like the Ketogenic Diet which treats epilepsy by minimizing levels of dietary starch and sugar. A team headed up by Dr. Avtar Roopra found that Glucophage was able to turn on a molecule that regulates energy, and then found that they could suppress over-active nerve cells by inhibiting the transfer of su Continue reading >>
What Does A Diabetic Seizure Look Like?
Managing diabetes effectively requires knowledge of the condition and the steps necessary to avoid complications. Blood glucose levels that are too high or too low for prolonged periods have detrimental effects on overall health and can lead to death. A diabetic seizure is a serious complication of this disease. Patients and caregivers must know how to avoid seizures and to recognize their signs so that proper immediate assistance is provided. Video of the Day According to the American Diabetes Association, a diabetic seizure can occur when you become hypoglycemic, which means blood sugar levels have dropped too low. This happens if you take too much insulin, exercise vigorously without eating properly, skip meals, drink too much alcohol or have a metabolic disease. It can also occur as a reaction to medications, such as heart medicines and those that cause the pancreas to release more insulin. Hyperglycemia, or levels of blood sugar that are too high, can also lead to a diabetic seizure. Initial Signs and Symptoms of a Diabetic Seizure Initial symptoms of a diabetic seizure include sweating, feeling cold or clammy, shakiness and feeling faint, sleepy or confused. Additional seizure signs are feeling anxious, muscle weakness or a loss of muscle control, loss of ability to speak clearly and changes in vision. You may hallucinate, be unaware of your surroundings, cry without control or have other unexplained emotional behaviors. If a seizure is untreated you may become unconscious, fall and have convulsions that cause muscles to contract involuntarily, making the body move and jerk out of control; this can be mild or severe. Patients may also appear to be in a trance and unable to respond, with eyes blinking rapidly or staring into space. The best treatment is prevention. Continue reading >>
Duration Of Nocturnal Hypoglycemia Before Seizures
Abstract OBJECTIVE—Despite a high incidence of nocturnal hypoglycemia documented by the use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), there are no reports in the literature of nocturnal hypoglycemic seizures while a patient is wearing a CGM device. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—In this article, we describe four such cases and assess the duration of nocturnal hypoglycemia before the seizure. RESULTS—In the cases where patients had a nocturnal hypoglycemic seizure while wearing a CGM device, sensor hypoglycemia (<60 mg/dl) was documented on the CGM record for 2.25–4 h before seizure activity. CONCLUSIONS—Even with a subcutaneous glucose lag of 18 min when compared with blood glucose measurements, glucose sensors have time to provide clinically meaningful alarms. Current nocturnal hypoglycemic alarms need to be improved, however, since patients can sleep through the current alarm systems. In the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), intensive diabetes management was associated with an increased frequency of severe hypoglycemic reactions, and more than half of these occurred at night (1). In children, 75% of hypoglycemic seizures occur at night (2). Among patients with type 1 diabetes, there is a 6% lifetime risk of “dead-in-bed” (3), which may in part be a result of severe nocturnal hypoglycemia. Nighttime is the most vulnerable period for hypoglycemia, since sleep blunts the counterregulatory responses to hypoglycemia, even in nondiabetic children (4). In young children, there is also concern that severe hypoglycemic events can cause permanent neurologic sequela. These concerns over nocturnal hypoglycemia are a major reason for people with type 1 diabetes welcoming the possibility of using real-time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) with real-time h Continue reading >>
Exorcising The Specter Of Overnight Hypoglycemia
For millions of people with diabetes who take insulin or medicines that stimulate the pancreas to release more insulin, hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) is an ever-present threat lurking in the shadows. And few things instill more fear in parents of children with diabetes and partners of adults with diabetes — not to mention people with diabetes themselves — than hypoglycemia that occurs in the middle of the night. Most people feel confident in their ability to deal with lows that occur while they are awake. The symptoms, even if subtle, can usually be recognized in time to down some rapid-acting carbohydrate and fix the problem. But the very thought of dropping low while sleeping gives many a feeling of complete helplessness. Will the symptoms be strong enough to wake me? Will I have the ability to get up and treat it? Or will I just lie there, unable to do anything about it? Sometimes people are completely oblivious to periods of low blood glucose that occurred while they were sleeping. The only clues left behind might be sheets or pajamas that are soaked with sweat or a rebound high blood glucose level the following morning. Although rare, there have been deaths reported that resulted from hypoglycemia that occurred while sleeping. The reason those deaths are rare is that the body usually reacts to low blood glucose by producing adrenaline, which causes profuse sweating, shaking, and a strong or rapid heartbeat. This will almost always awaken a person who is experiencing hypoglycemia or alert that person’s partner. Adrenaline also stimulates the liver to release some of its stored-up glucose (called glycogen) into the bloodstream. When low blood sugar continues over an extended period, a seizure may occur. The seizure will often alert family members, roommates, Continue reading >>
Type 1 - Blood Sugar Reading With Diabetic Seizure | Diabetes Forum The Global Diabetes Community
Diabetes Forum The Global Diabetes Community Find support, ask questions and share your experiences. Join the community Type 1 Blood sugar reading with diabetic seizure My partner has type 1 diabetes and for the past 7 years that we've been together it's been really well controlled with just mild hypos but in the last few months he's had about 6 or 7 seizures at night. He's informed his diabetic nurse who's advised a few changes and they haven't happened for about a month, but last night he was low at midnight so had some toast and then he had a seizure at 2.30am. I took his blood sugar reading immediately after the seizure before I gave him glucose gel and it was 6.1. I thought it would be a lot lower for a seizure to happen, so my question is could the 6.1 reading be related to emergency glucose being released from his liver? He has another appointment coming up with his diabetic nurse but we're worried in case these aren't diabetic seizures and maybe some form if epilepsy as it seems odd that he has them a few hours after eating carbs and he had done no exercise that day. He's an active 30 years old and has had diabetes since in was 17. My partner has type 1 diabetes and for the past 7 years that we've been together it's been really well controlled with just mild hypos but in the last few months he's had about 6 or 7 seizures at night. He's informed his diabetic nurse who's advised a few changes and they haven't happened for about a month, but last night he was low at midnight so had some toast and then he had a seizure at 2.30am. I took his blood sugar reading immediately after the seizure before I gave him glucose gel and it was 6.1. I thought it would be a lot lower for a seizure to happen, so my question is could the 6.1 reading be related to emergency glucose b Continue reading >>
What Is A Diabetic Seizure? Know The Signs And Symptoms
As people with diabetes, we should all be very familiar with hypoglycemia but for those who are not, what is hypoglycemia and how can it effect us? Hypoglycemia is the clinical syndrome that results from low blood sugar. The symptoms of hypoglycemia can vary from person to person, as can the severity as I’ve personally dealt with in the past when my severe low was accompanied with a seizure. This was the first time this as ever happened to me since being diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic over 10 years ago now. While I don’t remember the seizure itself, let’s just say we made it a memorable experience for the community as it happened at my sons fall soccer tournament. So what is a hypoglycemic seizure and what are the warning signs of having a seizure? Let’s take a closer look! What Is a Hypoglycemic Seizure So what causes a seizure? A hypoglycemic seizure may be triggered by injecting too much insulin, or failing to eat soon enough after using a fast acting insulin (exactly what happened to me); excessive use of alcohol, skipping meals, or exercising vigorously without adjusting insulin dosages or eating properly. A seizure may also be triggered by oral diabetes medications that cause the pancreas to produce more insulin. Whatever the cause of the seizure, it needs to be treated as a medical emergency. To identify the onset of a hypoglycemic seizure, look for the following warning signs of seizures and symptoms: Sweating Confusion Feeling faint or too sleepy Feeling cold or clammy Hallucinations Unexplained emotional behaviors Uncontrollable crying Unaware of surroundings Changes in vision Loss of ability to speak clearly Loss of muscle control Muscle weakness Anxiety So what happens during a seizure? If a diabetic seizure is untreated you may become unconscious, f Continue reading >>
Is It Epilepsy Or A Low Blood Sugar Seizure?
A seizure is a symptom of a brain problem that occurs because of sudden, abnormal electrical activity in the brain. There are many types of seizures and most last from thirty seconds to two minutes. Seizures can have many causes, including medicines, high fevers, head injuries, and certain diseases such as diabetes and epilepsy. What causes a seizure in people with diabetes? Hypoglycemia, or low blood glucose, occurs when the level of glucose in a person’s body drops below normal. Hypoglycemia can be dangerous and occurs in people with type 1 diabetes, and people with type 2 diabetes who are injecting insulin or using oral medications (sulfonylureas and meglitinides) to lower blood glucose. Sulfonylureas stimulate the beta cells of the pancreas to release more insulin. Brand names include: Chlorpropamide (Diabinese) Glipizide (Glucotrol and Glucotrol XL) Glyburide (Micronase, Glynase, and Diabeta) Glimepiride (Amaryl) Meglitinides also stimulate the beta cells to release insulin. Brand names include: Repaglinide (Prandin) Nateglinide (Starlix) When someone with type 1 or type 2 diabetes experiences a significant drop in their blood glucose, they may experience a range of symptoms that include: Dizziness Sweating Confusion Hunger Extremely low blood glucose can result in a “seizure,” which, if left untreated, can lead to a coma. If you are taking a medication that causes the pancreas to release more insulin, or if you are taking insulin injections, it’s important to know whether you are having low glucose levels during the night while sleeping, as this could be the cause of your seizures. A continuous glucose monitoring system—a pager-sized device typically worn for two to three days that measures your blood glucose every five minutes—can determine if you are Continue reading >>
Diabetic Seizures – What Are They? Symptoms, Causes, And Treatments
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 diabetic’s 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 Clamminess Drowsiness Confusion Bodily shakes Hallucinations Rapid and unexpected emotional changes Weakness in the muscles Anxiety Vision changes Loss of ability to speak clearly After these initial symptoms, the next phase of symptoms begin and the danger level rises. Now, the person may stare into space and be non-communicative and uncontrollable body movements and contractions of the muscles may occur. In some cases, the diabetic will be unaware of the movements and may even fall into unconsciousness. What Is the Prevention and Treatment? The best way to deal with this problem is by ensuring it does not occur in the first place Continue reading >>
Hyperglycemia Lowers Seizure Threshold
Correlation between Extracellular Glucose and Seizure Susceptibility in Adult Rats Schwechter EM, Veliskova J, Velisek L Ann Neurol 2003;53:91–101 In adult diabetic patients, periods of hyperglycemia may be associated with exacerbation of focal seizures. Our objective was to determine in the adult rats the correlation between seizure susceptibility and extracellular glucose concentration in two models of seizures. Male rats were injected with two doses of streptozocin (40 mg/kg, IP) on consecutive days to induce diabetic hyperglycemia. Controls either received vehicle or were not injected. After 2 weeks, blood glucose concentration was measured, and the rats were subjected to flurothyl seizure test. Another group of rats received glucose solution (20%, 5 mL, IP) 30 minutes before testing to induce nondiabetic hyperglycemia. Thresholds for flurothyl-induced clonic and tonic–clonic seizures were determined. Finally, in vitro epileptiform activity was induced in the entorhinal cortex–hippocampal slices from naive rats by perfusing with magnesium-free medium with various glucose concentrations. In additional slices, the paired-pulse paradigm was determined in the perforant path. Susceptibility to clonic and tonic–clonic flurothyl-induced seizures positively correlated with blood glucose concentrations, as the increased glucose concentration was associated with proconvulsant effects. Similarly, in the in vitro experiments, epileptiform activity was promoted by increased and suppressed by decreased glucose concentrations. Data indicate that, in the adult rats, high glucose concentrations are associated with proconvulsant effects. Go to: Abnormal glucose levels, whether too high or too low, can cause seizures. The problem is especially pertinent to individuals with dia Continue reading >>
Diabetic Hypoglycemia
Print Overview For people with diabetes, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) occurs when there's too much insulin and not enough sugar (glucose) in the blood. Hypoglycemia is defined as blood sugar below 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), or 3.9 millimoles per liter (mmol/L). Several factors can cause hypoglycemia in people with diabetes, including taking too much insulin or other diabetes medications, skipping a meal, or exercising harder than usual. Pay attention to early warning signs, so you can treat low blood sugar promptly. Treatment involves short-term solutions — such as taking glucose tablets — to raise your blood sugar into a normal range. Untreated, diabetic hypoglycemia can lead to seizures and loss of consciousness — a medical emergency. Rarely, it can be deadly. Tell family and friends what symptoms to look for and what to do in case you're not able to treat the condition yourself. Symptoms Early warning signs and symptoms Early signs and symptoms of diabetic hypoglycemia include: Shakiness Dizziness Sweating Hunger Irritability or moodiness Anxiety or nervousness Headache Nighttime symptoms Diabetic hypoglycemia can also occur while you sleep. Signs and symptoms, which can awaken you, include: Damp sheets or bedclothes due to perspiration Nightmares Tiredness, irritability or confusion upon waking Severe symptoms If diabetic hypoglycemia goes untreated, signs and symptoms of severe hypoglycemia can occur. These include: Clumsiness or jerky movements Muscle weakness Difficulty speaking or slurred speech Blurry or double vision Drowsiness Confusion Convulsions or seizures Unconsciousness Death Take your symptoms seriously. Diabetic hypoglycemia can increase the risk of serious — even deadly — accidents. Identifying and correcting the factors contrib Continue reading >>
Type 1 Diabetes Linked To Epilepsy Risk: Study
HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, March 31, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- People who have type 1 diabetes may be nearly three times more likely to develop the seizure disorder epilepsy than people without type 1 diabetes, a new study suggests. The youngest people with type 1 diabetes -- under 6 years old -- seemed to be six times more likely to develop epilepsy, the researchers reported. But, those with the highest risk of epilepsy appeared to be children with type 1 diabetes who had to be treated in a hospital for a severe low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). The study found the risk of epilepsy was 16.5 times higher for these children. It should be noted, however, that the study did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the two conditions. And the "absolute" risk of any one person with type 1 diabetes going on to develop epilepsy remains very small. Epilepsy is a brain disorder affecting less than 1 percent of the U.S. population, according to the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. "Even though the risk of epilepsy is increased, most type 1 diabetics wouldn't have it," said Dr. Scott Stevens, attending neurologist at Northwell Health's Comprehensive Epilepsy Care Center in Great Neck, N.Y. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition that causes destruction of the body's insulin-producing cells. Insulin is a hormone necessary to use the sugars found in foods. To replace the missing insulin, people with type 1 diabetes must take multiple daily injections of insulin or use an insulin pump with a thin tube inserted under the skin to deliver the insulin, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). However, achieving the correct dose of insulin can be difficult. Too little insulin, and high blood sugar results. Over time, high blood suga Continue reading >>
Diabetic Seizure: Causes & Symptoms
You don't want your blood sugar to be too high, but what happens if it gets too low? This lesson discusses diabetes and what a diabetic seizure is, including the potential causes and symptoms associated. Diabetes Rachel recently started studying information about diabetes since she found out that her friend Julie is diabetic. Diabetes is a condition of not producing insulin or not being able to use it correctly. Rachel now knows that insulin is the hormone required to move sugar from the bloodstream to inside the cells where sugar is needed. Her diabetic friend Julie can't produce insulin, which causes an increase in blood sugar levels. Without insulin medication, the sugar would remain in her blood and the levels would increase every time she ate. Julie has been living with diabetes for over ten years now. All in all, she has been very successful with managing it and keeping her blood sugar level normal. However, Julie and Rachel are about to learn that having the blood sugar drop too low can be just as dangerous as letting it get too high. Diabetic Seizure The friends were about to head out of town on a road trip. Julie took her diabetic medications as usual and then they hit the road. They both wanted to get some distance behind them before they stopped, so they decided to wait until later on to eat. About an hour and half into the trip, Rachel noticed that Julie seemed anxious and was a little shaky. Both of them thought it was due to the excitement of the trip. What they neglected to remember is that Julie needs to eat within a certain amount of time since taking her medication. Because the medication causes an increase in insulin, it decreases the amount of sugar in the blood. If Julie does not eat, then her blood sugar will continue to decrease and can lead to a Continue reading >>
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. The difference between epilepsy and seizures Epilepsy is a seizure disorder that happens because there is an electrical storm in the brain. People have recurrent seizures that involve loss of consciousness, convulsions, abnormal behavior, disruption of senses, or all of the above. Some have an “aura” before having a seizure and know when it is going to happen. Most causes of epilepsy are unknown, however they can be triggered by flickering light, loud noises, or physical stimulation. Treatment for this condition includes medications and sometimes diet changes. A “provoked seizure” happens because something abnormal is happening in the body. This can include low sodium, fever, alcohol, drugs, trauma, or low blood sugar. The same thing happens as with epilepsy, and there is unusual activity in the brain causing abnormal movements and behaviors. Unlike epilepsy though, where a seizure can happen for no reason, there is an actual cause for each one that occurs for “provoked seizure”. It is important to understand the cause of these so that preventative measures can be taken. There is no relationship between epilepsy and diabetes. One Continue reading >>
