Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes - 7 yro boy fitting with low blood sugar?

My 7 yro nephew fell into a coma today as a result of his blood sugar level being too low. It was sudden and he started fitting. Has anyone else had experience with this or have a child with this? For the record he is OK - but very tired from his ordeal.

First off, I am glad he is doing alright. :)

My 11 year old has been a diabetic for 10 years and that in its-self is a very tiring thing. We have only had two 'scares' with this condition, one with high and one with an extreme low. We were lucky enough to have a glucagon kit on hand with the low (only 3 days in the hospital and scary as hell to use on your little 3 year old), but for the HI she was in the hospital for 2 weeks (one week in ICU)

Living with a Type1 diabetic for 10 years is an ever changing and learning experience, for the entire family. The keys that we have learned (thus far that is) eating and staying active are the keys to maintaining good readings. We have also found that if we 'mini' up her meals through the day (several small meals with no less then 35 carbs) her readings are maintained.

Let the little man know he isn't the only one out there and try and find a diabetic group for kids for him to attend. (helped out with my daughter so MUCH!)

Best of luck!

My mother has Type one Juvenile Diabetes so i am quite familiar with it. He will need to eat every 4 hours (healthy things recommended by doctors) and you must attempt to teach him to let you know when his blood sugar is low so he can drink orange juice or anything sweet will raise his blood sugar back up to normal. You must let his school know that he will need to eat smaller amounts more often than the normal child for his safety.
You should keep a blood sugar testing device at home and test it several times throughout the day and also the school should have one to test him through the school day.
He is too young to know on his own right now, so that makes you responsible.

Seizures during hypoglycaemia is not abnormal.

After an episode like this, measure his sugar more regularly until it is under control. Establish causes for the hypoglycaemic attack eg the child may not have had adequate dietary intake, the dose of the insulin may have been calibrated incorrectly etc.

Remember to keep seizure attacks to a minimum (they cause irreversible brain damage and repeated seizures have an additive effect on the extent of the brain tissue death).

It can happen. You should keep glucagon on hand in case it does.

Yes this has happened to me. I used to have a lot of problems with my blood sugars dropping to low due to my long acting insulin peaking way too early. I had hypo unawareness, so I no longer felt any of the symptoms of hypoglycemia. Very scary situation when you wake up and find yourself in the er. I went on the pump which help stabilize my blood glucose. Kept my goal targets a little high for the first six months and the hypo unawareness went away.

absolutely, this will make him tired for the rest of the day. my son over the past 11 yrs has experienced this alot. however, he did not go into a diabetic coma. he had a seizure from having too much insulin in his system. this will cause his brain to swell but will have no long term damage from the incident. so, he may have a headache later. just give him some Tylenol and let him rest. if u want to talk further just email me and i will be glad to answer any other questions u may have.

I have Type 1 diabetes and have fallen low quite few times and had "fits" but have pulled through it I'm proud to hear he did too. I can't say as of yet me or my daughter has been comatose from it. tell him to keep trucking hes a tough one!

I used to be like this because I was a very active kid, and I wouldn't stop to eat or I did not eat enough calories to sustain my activity level. He will need to have emergency glucose tablets with him for school or playing away from home. This is very common. For a while he will need to check his level very often, especially when he is sick as this is the time things really foul up. I'm glad he is better and best of luck to him!