Loss of speech

I was sent to the hospital on Wednesday morning after I didn't show up to work. They called my house and I was unable to speak intelligently, so they called 911.

When I woke up in the morning, I was confused. I was sick to my stomach, but couldn't remember who to call to let them know I wasn't coming in. I checked my BG and it was 174mg/dl.

Since my BG was ok, they told me I was probably having a small stroke. They did an MRI, which was negative (so no stroke). An EEG showed some slowing of my brain waves, but no seizure activity.

Has anything similar happened to you? The doctors are chalking it up to either a migraine or a low BG that spiked up later. My speech has since returned, but I still feel a little bit slow.

I'm a T1 on a pump. I called yesterday to get a new Dexcom, since I lost the sensor to my Dexcom 7. Hopefully that will help give me some piece of mind at least. I hope these changes aren't permanent.

I once lost the ability to discern what was being said to me. I oculd hear and am told sometimes i had delayed response. Like ask me something to day i might answer tomorrow or in 10 minutes. Also Dx'd a stroke also. Like you I did not have one, and I had no recurrence.

I'm so sorry this happened to you; it sounds truly frightening. My first thought on reading was stroke, and then when you said they checked for that I thought severe low blood sugar. I would definitely do some follow up with your doctor to make sure there isn't anything else going on. Hopefully it was a one time thing and you don't have to worry, like Rick describes his experience. (especially if it was low blood sugar, because you know how to prevent that - test, test, test!). Ruling out anything else will give you peace of mind. Let us know how you are doing.

I'm sorry you went through this, it must have been scary. I would follow up with a neurologist, get your dexcomb sensors and re-evaluate your whole nighttime treatment plan in case the 174 was a rebound from a bad low. I'm hoping this will just be a one time thing. Have you checked your pump records to see what was going on insulin-wise overnight? If anything looks off I would get a new pump sent out also.

This happens to me when I have migraines. Enough to where I thought it may be seizures, but I was told that’s just the way it is. My favorite story is from when I was 15 or 16 and I couldn’t verbalize “I have a migraine.” And I kept repeating nonsense about my stereo and how I couldn’t talk. My mom sent me to shower and when she found me huddled under the faucet because I couldn’t figure out how to turn the shower on she freaked. Doctors said t was classic migraines. I agree that it’s awful and the post migraine hangover as I call it is never fun. :frowning:

The 174mg/dl was what I got when I woke up. Luckily, I never lost consciousness and stayed on my pump the whole time I was in the hospital. It was really scary. I'm starting to feel better, although I am still a little cloudy and I still have a slight headache.

Throwing up is a common side effect of a very low blood glucose. Additionally, the 174 cold very well be a liver dump of glucose, which happens when the BG gets really low. And, remember, being low has some of the same characteristics of too much alcohol--disturbing the ability to speak intelligently, walk a straight line, etc.

Personally, I do not think the ER staff had any idea of what a low BG number can do, except the doc who told you it was a low BG that spiked later. I would get to know that doc...

About 40 years ago in college, I got up, toasted a sponge, spread it with jelly and tried to eat it. Thank goodness I had the wherewithal to spread it with jelly!

Weird brain things happen when you are low--especially VERY low.

Though I am a T2, I have experienced this due to what is called a "fibro-fog" from fibromyalgia. It mimics a diabetic low and is called reactive hypoglycemia, even though my blood sugar will read in the normal range. It is indeed very scary. I'm glad you are getting a variety of input here. There are so many possible causes.

Do keep copious notes of when it occurs and be persistent with pursuing answers from your docs....Blessings and keep us posted...Judith in Portland

Saw the specialist today- he is thinking I had a seizure. Doing a 3-day long EEG to check for any seizure activity. I really don't want to go on seizure meds, so hopefully this will come back negative.

So sorry to hear about your troubles with your health. My prayers are with you. I hope they find out what the cause is w/o any more guessing. That irks me no end!! And thank the good Lord that you work for people who care to look after you!

Lois

Hey there, Judith in Portland! :o)

Lois

Spock:

SO FUNNY! Did it at least taste somewhat good?

Lois

Back at you, Lois my friend.....xx000

The majority of us have had lows that you've described. I've had countless seizures especially when I was young.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetic-hypoglycemia...

That's a great A1c you have there but you may want to bring it up a bit for a while at least. Mine was at 5.3 but I had to bring it back up since I was having more lows than I preferred. I'm much better between 5.7 and 6.5.

My first thought when reading your discussion yesterday was, a bad low not a stroke or migraine. You wouldn't need to go on medication for this type of seizure due to severe hypoglycemia. But you should bring your numbers up a bit, try to keep your food intake, rest, exercise and Insulin needs in line. Hard to do sometimes with other influences affecting us, I know. Test regularly also.

After, a severe low, I usually feel better later in the day or the next day for sure. Feel better and Good Luck. :)

I forgot: Another time I was at the hospital, an elderly Nurse had announced that she was giving me my Insulin before supper. My blood sugar was 4.9(88). I had heard the supper carts but they were way down the hall. I told her that the carts wouldn't get here in time. She wanted to get all her work done before the other shift came on, so she assured me they would be here in good time.

I enjoyed my supper and shortly after, my Friend called to see how I was doing. My blood sugar had already started dropping without my knowing. We chatted for a bit and then I started talking jibberish to her. She knew I was a Diabetic but she hadn't experienced someone with a low blood sugar. Poor Girl!

Within minutes, I was screaming thinking that I was in an alien spaceship(all the hospital ceiling lights and I had drawn the curtains after supper). Then the aliens(Doctors) started doing mean things to me. At this point, I was in a seizure and remember nothing until the Doctors came to see me that evening. Thank goodness it was a minor seizure. Diabetics experience different types of hypos and seizures of their own.

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Thank God, no stroke. I'm so relieved. Give your coworkers a pat on the back, for me. How old are you? Seizure are not related to pregnancy? Keep an eye on your blood pressure, for me. Let us know what they find out.

I can't completely rule out a hypo as the cause of a suspected seizure because I think that the very act of seizing might increase my BG, so by the time the medics show up and manually check it, its normal. But, you were wearing a Dexcom. That's key. Did the receiver get data during the event? Are there any low values present leading up to the event?

I'm sorry you lost your sensor transmitter. Did the ambulance pick you up? Perhaps hospital staff tossed it out with the tubing. I always worry about that. The fact that you describe yourself as feeling 'slow,' makes me think it was a seizure because thats how I often feel after a seizure - 'slow.' Seizures are somewhat common and people can have one out of the blue, and then never have another as long as they live, so don't panic. Once you have two seizures without an identifiable cause, then they start using the word 'epilepsy.' Identifiable cause is important to you. I am hoping your Dexcom receiver has data.

Did someone schedule you for a EKG? Should check out your heart. Also, be cautious abut driving for a couple weeks until they run all their tests. If it was a seizure, there may be increased probability of another in the immediate future.

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mmmm...sponge cake.

It is rare, but not unheard of, to have a sort of migraine-without-an-actual-headache, where you have cognitive impairment as a function of the migraine-induced constrained blood flow that manifests as a mild stroke. It produces no long-term impairment and I don't think there's any definitive way to diagnose it.

I rarely, a few times a year, get a severe migraine, for which Axert (a triptan) is extraordinarily effective at knocking out about 90 percent of it if taken at aura/migraine onset.

I recently had one of these migraine-without-an-actual-headache things, which impaired my speech (both my ability to process others' speech and my own), ended up the ER, they ran all the tests, found nothing and eventually sent me home. Only the next day I realized I felt like I do post-migraine--stiff neck and head muscles, a sort of post-inflammation feeling in the head--googled migraine without a headache, and found that this is actually not so uncommon.

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My father recently had an episode where he couldn't get a particular sentence out coherently, no matter how hard he tried. It only lasted about 10-15 minutes at most.
We thought for sure it was a stroke but after thorough testing there was no sign of one.

The doctors all agree that it was likely a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack). It is basically a stroke but the blood clot dislodges itself before any damage is done.