My 22 year old son was diagnosed with type 1 about ten months ago, so he is fairly new and has been honeymooning. This past weekend he had his first incident of insulin shock but it happened at about 2 in the morning. Luckily his girlfriend was visiting and noticed he was incoherent in bed. Paramedics were called after she started feeding him M�&�M’s. What happens next time if she’s not there and how can this happen while sleeping?

I hope you can meet with your son’s diabetes educator to learn about hypoglycemia. Does he have glucagon available? If not, he should ask for it, or find a diabetes provider who routinely teaches the use of glucagon. Read and learn as much as you can about diabetes, so you can help your son and understand what he has to deal with.

Hypoglycemia happens when the balance of insulin and glucose is off (too much insulin with not enough glucose). It can happen for a variety of reasons. Hopefully your son is in contact with a diabetes provider to help with adjustment of insulin and his diabetes plan. If not, see if you can help him to find such a team.

We try to prevent severe hypoglycemia, such as you described, but it is not always possible.

LM
Additional comments from The Editor:

I would recommend keeping a ready supply of emergency glucose at hand. Chocolate candy has fat, which can delay the absorption of the sugar.

JSH