For the grand mal my sugar wasn’t checked until an hour after and then it was like 240. The seizure had dumped so much sugar so quickly it was hard to control the after effect. When I am under stress I go low for no reason other than the stress. That was a stressful day 9-11-2001. My wife had been in building 7 the week before and made it home the Saturday before, my brother-in-law was suppose to be in one of the towers at the time of the attack, Meeting was canceled. I took it all on myself and had the grand mal to show for it.
Normally when I seize my sugar is below the meter’s ability to read it.
I have woken up many times in a pool of blood, but more common is a pool of sweat. That much work creates a lot of sweat.
I have convulsions for most of my seizures the level is just a guage of how bad they are. That is normally what wakes my wife up. When I start thrashing she knows I am having issues. THe grand mal was longer and much more intense, I had four firefighters trying to stop me from hurting myself and I was overpowering them. Before it has only taken one or two to control me.
If they aren’t hurting themselves you should just back away and moniter the situation. Apparently my wife was worried as I was hitting the bed side table and she thought I was going to hurt it or me. My arm is all beat up, but her hand has some nasty bruises.
The good news is I don’t really have to worry about dying in a low as my body has this safety mechinism. But I worry about the long term affect of all of these seizures.
I had a “seizure” back when I was a teenager at my friends house. Apparently my blood sugar was really low when it happened. Don’t remember so this is all hearsay! Also when I was in my mid-20’s I woke up from a nap on the floor and had a torn rotator cuff. Went to the chiropractor because I couldn’t lift my arm at all and he put 2 and 2 together. Also a few years ago I was on a HBP med that disguised the low symptoms and got down into the 20’s My husband said I was catatonic-like and making wiierd sounds. He is not one prone to freaking out but he did call the ambulance for that one. He is still freaked out by that! Sorry honey!
thanks Stefanie for mentioning you story
my family panic quickly,two times I passed out and they were too paniced to remember that the glucagon was the one
first time my father dumped some sugar in my mouth
the second time my sister tried to do the same thing but it dedn’t work,apparently she used a “sugar free” sugar!
my family get’s paniced that they don’t know what to do
they put sugar in my mouth once
the next time they tryed to do so but it didn’t work, apparently they tryed to do so with a sugar free ! they just drove me to the hospital
I too have only had 2 really bad seizures. I too was flailing and shaking the bed so much it awoke my husband. I was drenched in sweat. I don’t remember anything until I started coming too and I heard the medics counting my BG as it was rising…59…75…82…I absolutely don;t remember a thing. I have also done some really “stupid” things when low. So many stories over the last 55 years…and counting. I don;t know why some people have seizures and some don;t - its not even the number that you fall to. After getting the CGM you can actually see how quickly the BG drops…but often you are dropping so quickly it is hard for the CGM to keep up. I firmly believe its the rate that you drop not so much the actual number that you are at. My symptoms of low BG always used to wake me up…why it didn;t thost two times I don’t know. You just have to be very diligent with managing the BG’s. Sometimes it throws you for a loop and make sure you have people around you who “know”.
Sheila
The brain has direct access to the glucose in the blood stream and like the muscles these cells do not need insulin to achieve that. This wonderful setting saved our live in the first place. A healthy body will regulate the insulin level very tightly and even release glucose so that a certain level is guaranteed. With blind working insulin we can come into situations were the glucose level is below the level that is needed to fuel the complex neurological processes of our brain. The problem is that the brain has no way to orderly shutdown systems to reduce its glucose needs. Thus under very rare circumstances a situation can occur in which the neurological processes get really disharmonic. The result can be a seizure that is comparable to an acute epileptic attack.
I had one seizure in over 20 years and it was a logical result of a very big mistake that I made in my first years with insulin. My parents have woken up from the noise I was making. They gave me a glucagon shot and were very really shocked about the incident. It took a while to get them assured that this did not happen out of the blue. I am thankful that I can not remember anything from that night. I only know about the next morning and I can assure you that a seizure and a glucacon shot gives you the heaviest day-after you can imagine. I never felt that weak in my whole life and it took a week to recover from that. I have heard that a seizure can be deadly and this is not related to the blood glucose value but it depends on the disharmony that will be caused. This is why there is no guarantee that a serious low that you have been able to manage will not bring you in trouble the next time. I am still convinved that the main risk of a low is to have it while driving in a car and to cause an accident. But we should not undestimate the seizure risk and should seek help if we see patterns of lows for longer periods of time that can lead to a deadly circle: higher frequency of lows or lows in the night > less awareness for lows > lower lows…
I mentioned the peanut-butter thing once on a previous posting and was questioned on it. Peanut butter is not to treat the low…But to maintain the BG level. The oil, protein in the nuts slows the effect of the carbs in the peanut butter and over time keeps the BG from dropping again. I have had a low, treated with a fast acting carb, bolus and then had a low again. I have had a really bad low, had the glucogon shot and gone low again. The medics too recommended peanut butter on crackers. In the emergency room one time I was not allowed to go home until I ate some boiled chicken…YUK !!! and cold rice.
S
Not as much in the last year but before that they got to know me by name at the ER now I have the gulacon kit to take when I start falling down. In the years before that I was in the ER atleast once a month,
The feeling of coming out of a seizure low has always been worse then a regular low. Maybe because it is more prolonged. I remember the voices first then the blury images then getting some feeling and finely movement. It may only take a few minutes but it feels like hours. You can’t talk or move and even blinking seems difficult. It is a feeling I can’t really describe in words. I have tried several times, to explain to my wife and kids but… The exhuasted hang over that lasts for 2 days and the mental fog that takes almost as long to clear is daunting. Or maybe that is only my experience. For me I have to work many times harder to do the normal things for a couple days after even a low level seizure. The big one I had was worse but not a lot. CGM has helped as I have been hypo unaware for years, ever since I made the switch to Humalog. I never had that issue with pig/beef based insulin. Now I get too confident and don’t always wear the CGM, oops.
thanks sheila,
I don’t exactly understand the part you said about why people are different when it comes to seizures from your point of view
about the feeling,maybe not after a seizure since I don’t know from the beginning,but I totally agree,at fiirst it’s blank,nothing,then you hear voices,then it’s as if you are a ghost,seeing,not clearly,but you see,and no communication,no control over your own body,yeah,diabetes seduces your body to betray you
then (lightheaded)ness…
that’s good to hear,that’s what I heard from everyone who transfered to humalog,geeting better thank god
I get it now,I never understood why people used peanut butter
I never used it myself
ugh,hospital food gets on my nerves! those claamy things they call food, that’s what they did to me too,wouldn’t check me out without eating breakfast,I stayed there 2 hors waiting for the official breakfast time !
wow,you have to watch over yourself!
I guess that because you get unconscious fast and all,right?
because if you’re awake you can treat yourself
didn’t you have the glucagon before?
I have no time right now to comment on every thing you said
but there is so much good information that I can’t give them the attention they deserve
I know some of the things you saidbut in another way,it’s just well spoken(written) thanks Mark,really grateful
I’ve never had a seizure in 12+ years as a Type 1.
I will get short spasms or twitches when I am very low, or trending very low. I usually only notice them when I am ice skating or playing ice hockey, as my legs tend to kick out or my knees will buckle. I guess I notice this only on th eice because I don’t have any traction with the skate blade, which can easily slip and move with my spasms. When it happens, I know it’s time to go have a sit-down and eat some glucose tabs. After a 5-minute break, I can get back in the action.
