Hypoglycemia unawareness glucagon
Common Questions and Answers about Hypoglycemia unawareness glucagon
hypoglycemia
Hello again, Wendy -
Your fear is shared by every parent of a diabetic child. Truth is, normally when our blood sugars drop too low, our liver will dump glucose into our blood stream to raise it. So, all diabetics have a built-in safety valve that protects us from all but the most rare of situations. Each time our liver 'dumps' glucose, it takes a few good meals and some time for our livers to rebuild the storehouse for the next time.
This is not an easy fix. Get glucagon injection and keep it loaded. Trust me I deal with this frequently. Just inject him when he is not paying attention and he'll come around shortly. Don't take any chances he could die get glucagon and use it.
she did mention one thing that concerns me, and hopefully is a warning to those not sure. If you experience hypoglycemia unawareness, she said you could lose your drivers license. While I had always been aware of this condition, and hopefully watchful, this did shake me up a bit.
Question I forgot to ask endo, and will definitely follow up on...at what point with levels are you supposed to "feel" symptoms? 70's? 60's?...
anyway, he now has hypoglycemic unawareness. It happens a lot during the night. He s doing a lot better about taking his BS more often but he is possibly still approximating the carb counts ( I think that may be where he is messing up occasionally). He also has seizures with the lows, not every time. I have to call the ambulance about once a month or once every 6 weeks. I have another son who lives two hours away and now has a baby.
t intend to read the articles, glucagon kits are used to treat severe hypoglycemia. Glucagon is injected, and it causes the liver to release emergency stores of sugar. It will only work if the liver HAS emergency stores of sugar, and then will not work again until the liver replenishes the sugar. So it is not a substitute for drinking juice or eating some carbohydrates, but is used to help the severely hypoglycemic person until he or she can eat or drink something.
Good luck with your report!
The other possible explanation that comes to mind about why his glucose levels do not rise much after glucagon is that the liver may not respond properly to the stimulus provided by the glucagon.
Eat some protein with foods that have carbs so as to slow down the digestion and absorption of those carbs, and avoid sugary caffeinated drinks, for caffeine can be a real problem for people who deal with hypoglycemia. Some people find that they can stave off hypoglycemia by eating small snacks often throughout the day rather than huge meals.
--that was copied from an answer posted by another volunteer on 7/23/2007, who is very knowledgeable on the subject of hypoglycemia.
When you notice unawareness of hypoglycemia happening, you need to raise your glucose levels enough to avoid ANY hypo episodes for a short period of time so that the body can re-program what the normal levels are. That period of time varies from study to study, but one study I read about suggested that the awareness symptoms could return in just 2 weeks without hypos.
3.
The article about the study on hypoglycemic unawareness was published in my hometown newspaper in 2001. I remember it so clearly because I was one of those diabetics with a real problem wtih hypoglycemic unawareness. I followed the suggestions and truly my warning symptoms are great now. I still of course have occasional lows -- I think that any type 1 diabetic under tight control risks occasional lows.
First, if he has several lows in a short periiod of time and seems to be dropping lower before noticing or behaving oddly, then you should do as your doctor just arranged for -- raise those glucose levels for a period of 2 weeks, according to the study on hypoglycemia unawareness. The study indicated that this is the length of time needed for the body to return to normal with normal warnings if a pattern of lows has caused the symptoms to dissapear.
Plus, for instances of low blood sugar where it is impossible to get the person to swallow anything there is always the injection of Glucagon. Glucagon is available by prescription and comes normally with two vials, one a powdered Glucagon and the other a normal saline solution to reconstitute the glucagon with. Glucagon is a hormone screted by the body to make the liver release some of it's glucose stores into the blood stream.
You may have a very rare tumor in the pancreas which produces glucagon and causes hypoglycemia. This is not a cardiac problem, and you should ask you physician to work you up for a glucagonoma.
s had diabetes since he was 4 and has been on the pump for about 6 years now. He has had many episodes of early AM hypoglycemia where he has been unarousable and we've had to give him glucagon. I'm just wondering how other parents have dealt with their diabetic teens going off to college and the lack of supervision. There are times when I think I just want to tell him he can't go!
Hello. Wow, do you have a lot on your plate. I'm not a medical professional, just a parent of a kid with diabetes. From your description of your father, it sounds like he's progressed from a functioning adult to someone completely dependent on others to simply remain alive. He almost assuredly has severe hypoglycemic unawareness, you don't say whether he's been diagnosed with that or not.
t exactly sounding like hypoglycemia, but it could be (low blood sugar) and a simple meter test will tell you. Or else he is drinking when you are at work and using diabetes as an excuse.
You don't say whether your little guy has ever been diagnosed as being type 1 diabetic, but your note seems to indicate that he is NOT diabetic, for I suspect that if he WAS, you would have probably not let him go to bed without eating enough. Parents of type 1 children have to watch this very carefully and usually have glucagon kits handy to revive their children if they drop too low during the night. You must have been terrified.
If nothing else she should have glucose tablets handy (brings up the lows) or a glucagon injection kit (in case of a coma). The glucagon injection kit is for when/if she would go into a coma, you hit her with an injection and lay her on her side. The glucagon tells the liver to release all its sugar it is storing and it then releases it into the body and she will get sick and vomit. That is why you lay her on her side.
a 20hr challenge fast was performed and her BS dropped to 40 in the 14th hr. they continued and adm glucagon then did the challenge test. results arent in. what does this sound like it could be-i mean i know its hypoglycemia but the results will show WHY and i am so nervous of WHY this happened. shes home now and i have a glucometer and feed her every 3 hours. was this normal protocol?
My symptoms included a faster heart rate, confusion, foggy thinking, impaired judgement, and many others. From personal research I correlated my symptoms with hypoglycemia. At times, it was difficult to even walk in the university halls without feeling extremely faint. Social interactions were difficult as well as I felt irritable and highly anxious.
I don't know that hypoglycemia is usually associated with MS or found commonly in MSers. I've had both myself though. In my case, I suspect it has a connection to the autonomic nervous system but I've never had a doctor confirm that - never asked them either cause they don't seem to care like I do.
I was diagnosed with Hypoglycemia many years ago but never gave it much thought or consideration. When I felt sick or faintish after not eating for many hours I would just grab something quick and ignor the whole matter. I didn't think hypoglycemia was anything to worry about until lately. Over the last couple of months I've experiecened tingling and numbness in my hands, feet, lips and felt tingling sensations all over my body.
m a type 1 diabetic and I had a severe hypoglycemic episode 2 days ago while I was sleeping, requiring my wife to give me glucagon. It was three days after a previous episode (also sleeping), and I am still feeling a bit "foggy." I feel woozy and vaguely off-balance, and the closest analogy I can give to the feeling is that of a vicious, vicious hangover. I also have headaches, not in a consistent location and generally not for very long, that come and go since the episode.
Several months ago, reports published that many post bypass Sx people have benign pancreatic tumors causing hypoglycemia. Seems, though, no one yet sure if those tumors should be removed -- it corrects hyppoglycemia, but no one knows how long it will be before more grow. My doctors feel it best to try to treat the unstable insulin, but the endocrinologist admits he is going through uncharted territory and merely "guessing" what to do. I was put on Metformin (Glucophage) 500 mg.
Although death is rare from hypoglycemia, it does occasionally happen, and is considered a risk to young children. So I must disagree with the previous responder's comment. And many doctors tell parents of very young children to not attempt to get quite as low of glucose readings as we adults are encouraged to attain because of the risk of brain damage to developing young children. So I personally do not believe that the dangers are over-rated at all.
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