March 31, 2008
Hypoglycemia
Question from Hubbard, Texas, USA:
Diagnosed with type 1 in October 2007, my three-year-old son recently had his first low, 47 mg/dl [2.6 mmol/L]. He was screaming this awful scream like someone was trying to hurt him and was twitching and grasping things so hard his hands would turn white. His eyes were also as wide as they could get. After we got a little sugar into him, he could finally talk again and was yelling that everything looked like snakes and such. He later told us he was seeing monsters, ghosts, snakes and so on. Is this normal? It was very scary for me.
Answer:
I think that hypoglycemia as low as 47 mg/dl [2.6 mmol/L] or even lower may trigger neurological symptoms as you describe in your son. You shouldn’t worry too much. Proper management of diabetes should avoid severe hypoglycemia, but, if it does happen, you know how to treat it. Remember to work with your diabetes team if you see too many incidences of hypoglycemia.
MS
