May 20, 2002
Diagnosis and Symptoms, Hypoglycemia
Question from Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada:
We are concerned that our five year old daughter may have hypoglycemia. She was a premature baby born at 31 weeks and she had low birth weight as well as a identical twin. She has had low tone and global delays in her development (didn’t walk until she was three), and her communication skills are still quite delayed. She has had four sets of ear tubes put in as well as her tonsils and adenoids removed.
When she turned two, she had her first convulsion and since then she has had nine total. She has had EEG and an MRI, but no seizure activity was found. Two seizures were with fever, and the rest have been mysterious.
At age five, she is an extremely active child (weighing only 31 pounds), and at times can be very difficult to control. Often when she has these spells she will only be soothed by a spoonful of peanut butter or a spoonful of honey. Is this her body telling us she is behaving this way because her blood sugar is too low?
We have been to so many doctors with her (child development clinic, neurology, pediatrician), but no one has suggested low blood sugar. My husband has never been confirmed as having hypoglycemia, but he gets very shaky and weak if he goes for too long without food. Can this be hereditary? My father also has non-insulin dependent diabetes and so did my grandfather. Should we look into this further as we would rather not have to put her on epilepsy medications if this is more likely a diet issue.
Answer:
From what you describe, hypoglycemia should be eliminated as a possibility. You should discuss this specifically with your family doctor or pediatrician and either a visit to their office or a referral to a pediatric endocrinologist would be warranted to teach you how to actually get a drop of blood and use a blood glucose meter to measure blood glucose levels – in your husband and in your child. Values in the less than 60 mg/dl [3.5 mmol/L] range are hypoglycemic until proven otherwise.
Simple meal and snack changes that eliminate fast acting juices and other sugars coupled this with three meal and three snacks — none more than three hours apart — work in about 90% of kids with what we call reactive hypoglycemia. The same holds true for adults. However, a good pediatric endocrinologist consultation will set all this up and answer your specific questions, see if there is any association, etc.
SB
