Question from Phoenix, Arizona, USA:

I have had type 1 diabetes for more than 10 years, and about a year and a half ago, I experienced a once in a lifetime disturbing sleepwalking incident. I was visiting my parents out of state because my dad was in the last stages of losing a battle to cancer. In the evening, I thought I was asleep and dreaming this, but apparently I got rather loud and violent (pushing a family member to the floor), left the house, and was actually reported to (and picked up by) the police for walking into a stranger’s home. It all felt like a dream, but I visited the emergency room where they chalked it up to stress over my dad and hypoglycemia.

Nothing like this has ever happened, but my wife, who works for the police department here, has been on a case recently where an adult with diabetes had a similar incident that ended up in a violent episode and his suicide. I cannot find any information relating diabetes to violent sleepwalking incidents, and my endocrinologist here supported the ER diagnosis. It does worry me to think about losing control like that and possibly hurting myself/someone else, although I feel like it was a once time event.