February 19, 2003
Hypoglycemia
Question from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA:
My six year old niece just had her first convulsion (caused by a night time hypo) after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes three years ago. Her blood sugar was 66 mg/dl [3.7 mmol/L] immediately after the convulsion, but in the past she has been much lower than that (even as low as 15 mg/dl [0.8 mmol/L]) and not had a convulsion. Will she be more likely to have seizures now that she has already had one? Can we now expect convulsions to be a regular part of her disease? Why would she have a convulsion at 66 mg/dl [3.7 mmol/L] but not at 15 mg/dl [3.8 mmol/L]?
Answer:
A hypoglycemic seizure does not imply epilepsy in the future. The best way of dealing with hypo seizures is avoiding severe hypos.
It is a good idea to have her parents talk to her diabetes team about how they can do this. Although the glucose level was not too low after the seizure, it may be that it was that level because the body does try to bring the glucose up itself, with various hormones that it produces. If you are not sure whether it was a hypo seizure, it is best to check this out with her paediatrician and diabetes team.
JS
