Hypoglycemia 2 year old unresponsive

[mongopongo]

My two year old son was unable to wake up Thanksgiving morning.  He was basically unreponsive and the paramedics took him to ER.  He did not respond to IV's or needle sticks at all.  His blood sugar was 56, CO2 was low and ketones were 80 (high).  They say it was a seizure.  The night before he ate very little for dinner with no snack before bed.  I have researched a little about Ketotic Hypoglycemia.  Doe anyone have any experience with this?  

[JDRF-VOL-SG]

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.

So if he is normally healthy, this has to have taken you totally by surprise. Type 1 diabetics do run into this kind of severe hypoglycemia occasionally, and it is our worst fear. If hypo for a long period of time (several hours) without any help, the body burns its own fat in order to provide the fuel that the brain needs; hence, the ketones. No long-term damage is done in most cases. I have certainly been in this situation before, and it is terrifying. I feel woozy for a few hours and then am just fine. For children, it is more dangerous, since their brains are still developing and they are more sensitive to hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia and the effects of both.

You may have to watch him carefully, and if he goes to bed before you do, wake him with a glass of milk or something like that if he goes to bed without eating. Milk has carbs that are digested slowly and is perfect for this kind of situation -- it would give his body carbs during the night without him having to be forced to eat if he doesn't want to. This may be a wakeup call that this particular child is going to be prone to hypoglycemia. You might want to check out the website wwww.hypoglycemia.org, for there is lots of good info on this subject there.

[mongopongo]

Thanks for the information.  No, he has never been dx with diabetes and this was our first episode.  Any other suggestions besides milk as a bedtime snack?  He hates milk...