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Diabetic siezures?

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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nick_ellwood600

New Member
Hi there everyone,

I have been a type 1 diabetic for nearly 8 years now and for the last 7 years i have never really had an issue with it. I took to carb counting my food and tried to stay away from sweeties. all the usual stuff they tell you to do. although i didn't always get it quite right i.e. sometimes a bit low or high. I was never dangerously low and could tell the symptoms.

This was up until 10 months ago i went to bed and had a seizure at 4 in the morning, my girlfriend was in bed with me and called an ambulance. Although i have no recollection of the seizure, all i remember is coming round with paramedics around me. Unfortunately the paramedics couldn't do a blood test whilst i was having a seizure so my reading was 8 m/mol once i had come round. so they wouldn't say whether it was diabetes related.
In the time since they sent me to a neurologist to test for things like epilepesy, when all came back fine the doctor couldn't really pinpoint a reason for it.

spoke to my diabetes nurse about this and she did say that sometimes if you have a severe diabetic siezure as a defence mechanism your body can extract sugars from your liver to boost your sugar levels, but again because never had a reading before the seizure she couldn't be sure.
everything was fine agin until last week when exactly the same type of seizure happened again. this time i really want to find out the reasoning for this.

So i was wondering whether anyone has had anything similar i.e being asleep when they have had a diabetic siezure and your body pulling on its reserves to bring your levels up without glucose tablets etc

many thanks for any info.
 
Hi Nick, welcome to the group..... Sorry I don't have any insight into this but I'm sure that someone will be along who can give suggestions.
 
Hi Nick

Sorry to hear about the seizures. I believe the hormone glucagon that allows the liver to release glucose can be released to enable you to come out of the hypo. Normally in situations where the person is unconscious through hypoglycaemia the paramedics (or a trained carer/partner etc) will inject glucagon for this happen. I've had this happen to me once when my OH couldn't wake me in the night - she described it as some sort of seizure and the paramedics were called. In my case glucagon was injected, I came round and despite not feeling quite with it for a bit my blood glucose was normal.
 
Hi everyone

Thanks for the reply Matt, hhmm when I have come out of my two seizures both times I have felt abit off and had a headache for a few hours, and without receiving any glucagon my readings have been normal, making me wonder whether I am having a diabetic seizure and it's the liver releasing glucose to bring me out of it.
 
I Nick sorry can't help you, hopefully you will soon find out what is going on perhaps think of using a CGM to find out if it's diabetes related.
Not to sure if you realise it or not but if you hold a driving licence you have to now inform the DVLA and your licence is now revoked.
 
Hi pumper_sue

Thanks for the reply. Yh my license was taken away from me when I had my first seizure. Doesn't look like I'm going to get it back any time soon unfortunately
 
nick_ellwood600 said:
Hi pumper_sue

Thanks for the reply. Yh my license was taken away from me when I had my first seizure. Doesn't look like I'm going to get it back any time soon unfortunately
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I'm so sorry to hear that Nick.
You need to start demanding answers though as in if it's seizures caused by your basal insulin why hasn't it been changed, why have you not been offered a CGM to find out what exactly is going on, also push for a pump (that's if you want one). Those who shout loudest always do better in getting funding for extras on the NHS so start shouting in the nicest possible way.
 
nick_ellwood600 said:
Hi everyone

Thanks for the reply Matt, hhmm when I have come out of my two seizures both times I have felt abit off and had a headache for a few hours, and without receiving any glucagon my readings have been normal, making me wonder whether I am having a diabetic seizure and it's the liver releasing glucose to bring me out of it.
Click to expand...
Been there, done that and got the T-shirt. My first seizure, or grand mal fit, was out shopping. Hypoglycaemia was the cause, but my BG had returned to reasonable levels by the time I arrived at A&E. Full investigation by neurologists couldn't identify any other cause. No driving for a year. Second time, out shopping, same result. I did get warnings in both instances. Third and fourth, on consecutive nights, were in the middle of the night with low BG, but aggravated by being on Sertraline. If your fits are only nighttime, never in the day, then you should be able to drive.

What you need, as has been suggested, is some form of CGM to monitor your blood glucose. If you are getting unnoticed nocturnal hypos, your basal needs changing, but you really can't do that without knowing what's happening. Talk to your diabetes nurse to see if it would be possible to get a system on loan for a month.

Interestingly, after the daytime fits, I felt really good, as though my brain had been washed clean. Like hard reboot on a computer, with just a very distant sort of headache. The nighttime ones, I just went back to sleep after a snack.

It hasn't happened for 3 years, but latterly I do use a Libre so I know exactly what's happening overnight, and switching from Lantus to split dose Levemir has almost eliminated nighttime hypos.

I know this doesn't help you much other than to reassure you that it's not that unusual, but it can have a major effect on your lifestyle.
 
mikeyB said:
If your fits are only nighttime, never in the day, then you should be able to drive.
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Not according to the DVLA he can't, the rules are meant to be changed but as far as I know people are still waiting for the change.
 
Sorry Sue and Nick, I thought the regs had changed. You'll soon find out for sure.

One really irritating thing is that every three year licence renewal I got the epilepsy questionnaire, which isn't easily answerable because you don't have epilepsy, you have diabetes induced seizures which are determined by diabetic control, not anti epileptic medication.
 
nick_ellwood600 said:
Thanks everyone for your replies, given me a lot to consider and discuss with my diabetes nurse. All the best
Click to expand...


Hi Nick

How did it all map out?
I hope the seizures have eased off.

I noted the point about cgms being necessary to see what basal changes are needed. Well from experience a cgm can be used but isnt obligatory.

As an alternative, if you have dinner early eg 6 or7pm with insulin for, and this important, a known amount of carbs eg 50g dry pasta =4.4 portions (you might use a pasta ring to standardise the amount but often the rings are set give you weird amounts of pasta like 77g but whatever you use x it by 0.87 to give the carbs)

Then 4 hours after your bolus, without any additional carbs eg crisps, biscuits, beer, zoider, pud; test again. Ideally you shouldnt have to make any corrections. If you do, you make the corrections and if the same sort of correction is needed 3 days running, you can alter the bolus g CHO/ U. Repeat next day until you dont need to make any correction. And repeat the following day to check yesterdays outcome wasnt a fluke.

Meanwhile of course you're still conducting other blood tests before bed and meals. Now if your morning sugar is high and a rabid gerbil hasnt bitten your finger again or you havent secretly been woofing doughnuts or been on the lash and you have a split basal, you could increase the evening basal and or dinner bolus. If you take your evening basal around dinner time eg 6pm but go low over the evening and high before breakfast you could shift the basal to before bed eg 9 or 10pm, testing at 3am ( what an awful time to test eh?) for a few nights to see how shift affects night time glucose.
Returning to morning glucose results, if they're repeatedly high, its likely due to be from either insufficient dinner time bolus, too little basal over the evening or night. And vice versa if they're low.

The key point is that changes to your bolus g/U ratios or basal doses and timing, try to ensure the body receive the same volume of basal as bolus over a 24 hr period. If you need any further changes you can divide tge changes 50:50 between basal and bolus so as to maintain a 50: 50 ratio.

Additionally always try and see if there is pattern of sugar results over a few days before addressing one issue at a time.

That was probably hideously complex but ping me a pm if you like.
 
daducky88 said:
Hi Nick

How did it all map out?
I hope the seizures have eased off.

I noted the point about cgms being necessary to see what basal changes are needed. Well from experience a cgm can be used but isnt obligatory.

As an alternative, if you have dinner early eg 6 or7pm with insulin for, and this important, a known amount of carbs eg 50g dry pasta =4.4 portions (you might use a pasta ring to standardise the amount but often the rings are set give you weird amounts of pasta like 77g but whatever you use x it by 0.87 to give the carbs)

Then 4 hours after your bolus, without any additional carbs eg crisps, biscuits, beer, zoider, pud; test again. Ideally you shouldnt have to make any corrections. If you do, you make the corrections and if the same sort of correction is needed 3 days running, you can alter the bolus g CHO/ U. Repeat next day until you dont need to make any correction. And repeat the following day to check yesterdays outcome wasnt a fluke.

Meanwhile of course you're still conducting other blood tests before bed and meals. Now if your morning sugar is high and a rabid gerbil hasnt bitten your finger again or you havent secretly been woofing doughnuts or been on the lash and you have a split basal, you could increase the evening basal and or dinner bolus. If you take your evening basal around dinner time eg 6pm but go low over the evening and high before breakfast you could shift the basal to before bed eg 9 or 10pm, testing at 3am ( what an awful time to test eh?) for a few nights to see how shift affects night time glucose.
Returning to morning glucose results, if they're repeatedly high, its likely due to be from either insufficient dinner time bolus, too little basal over the evening or night. And vice versa if they're low.

The key point is that changes to your bolus g/U ratios or basal doses and timing, try to ensure the body receive the same volume of basal as bolus over a 24 hr period. If you need any further changes you can divide tge changes 50:50 between basal and bolus so as to maintain a 50: 50 ratio.

Additionally always try and see if there is pattern of sugar results over a few days before addressing one issue at a time.

That was probably hideously complex but ping me a pm if you like.
Click to expand...
It looks like the poster has not been here since last post was made, which was a couple of years ago.
 
daducky88 said:
The key point is that changes to your bolus g/U ratios or basal doses and timing, try to ensure the body receive the same volume of basal as bolus over a 24 hr period. If you need any further changes you can divide tge changes 50:50 between basal and bolus so as to maintain a 50: 50 ratio
Click to expand...
That doesn’t work for everybody, though, I'd be in serious trouble if I tried to do a 50:50 split. People often need 40:60, or 60:40, or frankly, whatever ratio works for them. Your basal needs to be whatever keeps your blood glucose steady when you’re not eating, irrespective of what you need to bolus for when you eat.
I’m just replying to this so if anyone is browsing through and sees it, they won’t get the idea they’re 'doing it wrong' if their split is different. As @grovesy said, the post is 2 yrs old, so unlikely to elicit a response from the OP.
 
daducky88 said:
The key point is that changes to your bolus g/U ratios or basal doses and timing, try to ensure the body receive the same volume of basal as bolus over a 24 hr period. If you need any further changes you can divide tge changes 50:50 between basal and bolus so as to maintain a 50: 50 ratio.
Click to expand...

Probably worth pointing out that not everyone has a 50:50 split between basal and bolus. Some HCPs are very keen on the 50:50 idea, but many people vary. Most are somewhere between 60:40 and 40:60 split between the 2 insulins. In part this will depend on the general level of carb intake between people.
 
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