[MichaelR]

hi, I have a 8yr old daughter named bethan and last week out of the blue she collapsed and started to have convulsions,This lasted for 4-5minutes.Has i have never experienced this before i obviously started to panic and thought she was choking,It broke my heart seeing my little girl in this way.I phoned for a ambulance and once we got checked out the doctor said she had low sugar (2.1) and had a HYPOGLYCAEMIA then gave her some lucozade tablets to bring it up (7.7).Later that night we came home and thought it was a one off and wouldnt happen again if we keep to her regular meals she would be fine.5 days passed and while she was eating a lucozade glucose tablet she complained of her tongue going numb and then started to have convulsions,this lasted only 30 seconds.
I took her straight up the hospital again and they tested her sugar level which was 5.3.
This time after she was fully checked out she was again allowed to return home and the doctor said he would contact me within a week for a EEG.
To be honest im worrying myself sick and dont know what to do for the best.I have recently brought a Accu-chek compact machine to check her blood sugar(here are some recent readings)..

10/04/07 time:14:43 Sugar 7.7
10/04/07 time:18:37 Sugar:7.0
10/04/07 time 20:10 Sugar 11.9
11/04/07 time:6:25 Sugar 9.3
11/04/07 time:9:43 Sugar 10.0

Im not sure when is the best time to take readings and i am uncertain on what the best reading should be (nighttime,morning etc).
To be honest this all new to me and im worried im doing something wrong which could harm my little girl.

[Penny]

Hi Michael, and welcome. I don't blame you a bit for being worried. I think I would insist on seeing a doctor like "yesterday"! I do not understand about the EEG, and think the doctor needs to be more concerned about Diabetes. I hope Bethan is doing better and gets help soon.

[xMenace]

Those are fairly high readings with normals being low 4's to 7ish. But she is a young girl that likely eats lots. The alarm bells go off for most of us when it gets into the 3's. I'd be watchful at 4 or even 5 though. Keep in mind there's variability in the readings: that 4.2 could be a 3.9.

These are diabetes-like symptoms, but I don't know if they are associated with new or pre-diabetics. At least I don't think so. Going low and into convulsions is from getting too much insulin which untreated diabetics don't do -- that's why they're diabetic. It's like her insulin controller needs a reboot: sometimes too little and sometimes too much. I suspect the EEG to id some other cause for this.

Good luck and let us know how she does.

[Mama Belle]

If I were her Dr. (and I am not a Dr.) I would be less concerned about her brain (EEG) and more worried about her pancreas. It could be diabetes, but the seizures and super low lows tell me that it is more likely some general malfunction with the pancreas than it is emerging diabetes. I know a girl who used to wear an insulin pump even though she does not have diabetes because she has a pancreas that does not function properly because of a tumor. This means that sometimes she goes really low and sometimes she goes really high. Whatever the case may be, I think an EEG is kind of a pointless test if the issue is low blood sugar. But then again I am not a doctor!

I am so sorry you are going through all of this and wish you the best of luck dealing with it!

[JediSkipdogg]

I think what needs to be looked at are a number of factors. She could be diabetic or just hypoglycemic, either way she needs to be checked out soon. The EEG will show if there is a brain problem which is generally what many think of when they think of convulsions. However, she has the classic symptons of hypoglycemia.

Generally thinking a person will not have low readings if they are diabetic and on no other treatment methods. It is still possible though.

The best time to take readings are when she first wakes up and has not eaten yet. Then another good time is to take them right before she eats and then 1-2 hours after she eats. This will help to determine what her body is doing for her.

WHat I would recommend is calling a doctor to see her soon and ask for an A1C test to be run. That test cannot confirm or deny diabetes, but is a good indicator if the person is having an average higher blood sugar level.

Has she been drinking alot more? How about urinating more? Does she complain about being thirsty alot more? Has anything else changed in her daily activity level? I would recommend getting an appointment scheduled with a doctor within the next week. See what tests they run and then post back here what they did. We will try to be as helpful as possible to you and your family.

Good luck and I wish you well. Hang in there, everything will be alright.

[Funnygrl]

I would get her to a pediatric endocrinologist asap.

[June91]

Originally Posted by Funnygrl

I would get her to a pediatric endocrinologist asap.

I don't need to post at all when Funnygrl is around to dish out her concise if sometimes brutally honest advice - she's so much better at it.

[MichaelR]

Hi,Thanks for the replys they have helped alot.
The situation as of now is that i am testing her blood sugar with Accu-chek,Morning as she wakes up she is around the 5.1 mark then afternoon she is around the 7.0 mark and after food,before she goes to sleep she goes 9-11 mark.
I have made a pointment to see the doctor tomorow morning to see if i can speed things up with the EEG and to get some more advice.
As of know she seems to go toliet alot and seems not her usual bubbly self but i asume thats down to being scared.
She also is alot more thirsty but im not 100% sure what is best to give her,Im worried about what foods,drinks etc is best to give her.Currently she has been drinking lucozade,fruit juices etc and also the odd lucozade glucose tablet.
To be honest it doesnt seem like im getting much info from the hospital towards her condition,basically last time she had a confulsion they check her over and sent her home saying they would contact me for a EEG,Hopefully the doctor will shed some light on the situation.

[Funnygrl]

Originally Posted by June91

I don't need to post at all when Funnygrl is around to dish out her concise if sometimes brutally honest advice - she's so much better at it.

Lol June! I don't know if I should be proud or offended. I'm leading toward proud

Michael- I'm glad she has a doctor's appointment. Please keep us updated.

[xMenace]

Originally Posted by MichaelR

Hi,Thanks for the replys they have helped alot.
The situation as of now is that i am testing her blood sugar with Accu-chek,Morning as she wakes up she is around the 5.1 mark then afternoon she is around the 7.0 mark and after food,before she goes to sleep she goes 9-11 mark.
I have made a pointment to see the doctor tomorow morning to see if i can speed things up with the EEG and to get some more advice.
As of know she seems to go toliet alot and seems not her usual bubbly self but i asume thats down to being scared.
She also is alot more thirsty but im not 100% sure what is best to give her,Im worried about what foods,drinks etc is best to give her.Currently she has been drinking lucozade,fruit juices etc and also the odd lucozade glucose tablet.
To be honest it doesnt seem like im getting much info from the hospital towards her condition,basically last time she had a confulsion they check her over and sent her home saying they would contact me for a EEG,Hopefully the doctor will shed some light on the situation.

Pretty good BGs. Give her water for thirst.

It's quite possible you just think she's going more simply because you are watching her now. The numbers don't indicate diabetes, but it's still a possibility.

If it helps you at all, having convulsions is not a particularly nasty event. It may look so, but it's not. The body just gets ignored when the brain is being attended to (lack of sugar). I've been there a few times myself as have many diabetics. Mind you the broken foot was no fun.

[KickStart101]

Hi Michael and Welcome.

Sorry to hear that you and Bethan are going
through this. I understand your panic of seeing
your Daughter seizing and the unknown. That's
Wonderful that you got an appt. tomorrow.

My Endo said My Kids had a 4% chance of getting
Diabetes which is very low so it was a relief to me.
But of course, when my Son at 15 mths. and my
Daughter years later at 3 mths. each had a seizure.
I, of course, thought it was Diabetes. It was febrile
seizures for both thankfully.

Then my Daughter had a grand mal seizure at age 3.
Epilepsy. We have a few in our Family. After many
seizures, drugs and some CAT scans, EEG's, etc., she
finally outgrew it at age 12. Thank God.
But anyways, as you probably know febrile seizures
are most common in young children.

I do know that some Drs. do EEG's after Diabetic
seizures to determine any damage and your Dr.
probably is not totally sure that this is Hypoglycemia.
So perhaps he wants to rule out other conditions
such as Epilepsy.

Hopefully not but it could be Diabetes. I don't
remember my "Diabetic honeymoon" since I was too
young when or if I had it. I was wondering perhaps
that is what is lowering Bethan's sugar levels sometimes
and causing the seizures. I'm not sure about that.
The others here would know. Just a couple thoughts.

I do wish you and Bethan a Happier outcome. Please
keep us posted.

[MichaelR]

Hi,Thankyou everyone for your helpful posts..
We visited the doctor today and i had a good talk with him about bethan,He explained to me that i shouldnt think the worst and that it could be one of a hundred things that caused bethan to have a seizure.I Asked him if i could get the EEG pushed through quicker and he has arranged bethan to have one this week,Also she will be seeing a Doctor on may 16 who deals in children.
Also he explained to me that i shouldnt panic over her sugar levels and i should just take a reading every 48hrs just to check that she is doing ok.Fingers crossed she hasnt had any convulsions in the last 4 days and has had only 2 in the last 3 weeks (1st one lasting 5 minutes ,2nd one only lasted 30secs).
The doctor said he doesnt think its diabetes or epilepsy and could be some type of infection which wasnt treated right.
I thank you all for the great support and my heart goes out to you all.
I will keep you all updated on how the EEG scan etc turn out.
I have one quick question i have brought a Accu-Chek compact and i seem to get some strange results from it,Say i do a test and its 12.8 then i do another one just to confirm and its 6.8? Does anyone else seem to get different results like this.How accurate are these blood testing machines?

Thanks ... Michael

[xMenace]

Well, you are a noob at it One should have clean hands with no foreign substances like alcohol or soap on them. One also needs the correct size of droplet and the strips need to be inserted correctly. Also check the expiry date of the strips. I don't know about the strips today, but I was taught to never touch the business ends of them.

[KickStart101]

Hey, that's promising news. I never thought of an
infection. There are lots of causes for seizures, for sure.
The Dr. sounds like he knows his stuff.

I've never used an Accu-Chek. Mine have mainly been
One Touch products. I trust them. I also have a Freestyle
Mini/Flash. Geez, those test #'s are really far apart.

Occasionally my test doesn't match how I feel so I will
test again and make sure I did everything properly. Also
if one test is say 4.2 and the next is 6.8. I will test once
more and take the 2 closest results.

Thanks Much for keeping us updated. Fingers crossed
and here's hoping that something simple caused Bethan's
seizures.