My roommate has type 1 diabetes. Last night she had a seizer when no one was home. She broke her nose, busted her head open and hurt her arm and lip really bad. I’m very scared because she didn’t have anyone to help her last night. What should she do if she is home alone and goes into a seizer? Has this happen to anyone? I’m so so upset and scared for her. Is there anything we can do to stop this from happening again? How come she didn’t go into a coma? Any information would be very helpful .She has had many seizers and I have always been home to help her. When it normally happens I hold her and try to force her to drink orange juice and in a few mins she is ok. I would appreciate any information or advise !! Thank you
Welcome Christy! I hope that your roommate is OK now! Did she end up at the hospital or how did she stop the seizure?
Many seizures are causing by quickly dropping blood sugar (note that it does not need to be LOW, but dropping quickly). You are right that she needs something to raise her blood sugar, but I would be concerned about giving her juice or food while having a seizure (do others have experience with this?). I would think that a glucago injection would be best. This is a injection that forces your liver to kick out glucose (sugar) into your blood. It is generally given to people who are unconcious due to a low blood sugar. It might be best in this case too! She should ask her doctor what do to (whether or not this is a good time to use that injection).
I don’t know what she can do if she is by herself. That must be very scary for both of you…
Thank you Kristen, Im not sure how her seizure stopped. She doesn’t remember either. I was wondering if anyone knew how or why the seizures stop, if nothing is done to help. She didnt go to the hospital either. When I came home she was fine and asleep. I found out this morning. Thank you for your advice.
If she’s had multiple seizures, it sounds like she’d be a good candidate for a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). It’s a little device that you wear that checks your blood sugar every few minutes and sets off an alarm if it drops below a certain point. This would give her a warning that her glucose was dropping so that she could prevent the low. Just a thought.
Hi Christy,
Kristen is absolutely correct about asking the doctor what to do. It is dangerous to give someone having a seizure some liquid to drink because she can’t be sure to get it down the right way. The injection is ideal and there is a gel that you can squeeze in between the lower lip and gums. Rub it back and forth on her gum but be careful of your fingers. Only do this if the seizure has pretty much stopped. The other thing to do is really talk hard to the doc about how much insulin she is taking and try to get things under better control. It is dangerous to be having seizures all the time. Someone needs to be helping her about her food intake and make usre she has regular meals each day with no skipping. Prevention is a far better route to go and the doctor needs to be helping you with that. Your roommate is really lucky to have you with her. Please come back and let us know how things are going. My best to you both.
Good point Carolyn!
thank you so much . All this information really helped. Now I have to figure how to bring it up with her. Thank you everyone again!