Hypoglycemia and seizures

[ss730]

My husband has had diabetes for 10 years and had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital for severe hypoglycemia with a seizure. This is the first time this has ever happened to him.  It has now been 5 days since the seizure and he still can barely get around due to extremely sore back muscles. I'm assuming this is due to the muscle spasms that occured during the seizure. He's taking ibuprofin and a muscle relaxant prescribed by the doctor. I'm concerned that it's taking so long for him to recover. Is this type of muscle pain common after a seizure?  Has anyone else had this type of experience that can provide any insight as to how long it might take to fully recover from a seizure?

[JDRF-Team-sgg]

Oh boy, I am glad to be the person responding to questions tonight, for I have been in his shoes. When I was pregnant with my second child (I am a type 1 diabetic female), my doctors used me as an experimental case and I was overdosed on insulin. Passing out entirely from low glucose and having muscle spasms and seizures while semi-conscious or unconscious happened all too often during that time.

Yes, the soreness is from the muscle spasms, but also from the muscles clenching tightly while the body is under duress. In my case, usually the sore muscles are calf muscles, which knot up horribly until my glucose rises back to normal. For calf muscles, the recovery is usually several days. But back muscles are probably worse, for they hold the spinal column upright. And once back spasms start, sometimes it is hard to get those muscles to relax enough to heal. He may want to give it a few more days, and then contact his doctor again in case he has misaligned some of the vertebrae and perhaps the pain is not just due to muscle damage. I know of friends who have had back spasms due to overuse  and some of them take a week or longer before they truly have relief, so he may just have to continue to use the muscle relaxers until the pain is gone.

I would recommend that if he feels concerned, he call his doctor and ask to be seen and checked out to make sure that the pain is due to muscle issues and not spinal issues. If it is muscles indeed, then he may just have to be patient. Hot baths or hot showers may help the muscles to relax and they may also help increase circulation so that healing happens quicker as blood flows to the damaged muscles.

Another suggestion is a dietary one. During a severe low glucose episode, most of us sweat profusely and your husband may have lost some minerals that his muscles need. While after five days, I would assume that his body's chemical balance has righted itself, you may want to buy some Gatorade and add this to his diet in place of some other carbohydrates just to maximize the minerals that his body is getting. I do know that lack of calcium, potassium, sodium, and magnesium is sometimes blamed for muscle cramps, for your body's muscles need these minerals. It may not hurt for him to add a dietary supplement such as vitamins and maybe Gatorade while his back is healing. Can't hurt and it might help if he is lacking in some minerals.

I wish you both the best. Make him test his glucose often so this doesn't happen again! I have found that to be the very best protection against hypos.