Michelle,
Certain medications most definitely can cause hypoglycemia in certain patients, and doctors are not always aware of these rare reactions. My son Jonathon (11 years old) has type-1 (insulin-dependant) diabetes, so we are frequently checking his blood sugars. He has had epilepsy meds that caused hypoglycemia. The first was zonegran (zonisamide). The neuro we saw at that time insisted it was safe for diabetics, and the pharmacist said there were no warnings for diabetics. Within the first 24 hours, he was in the ER with hypoglycemia that we had difficulty bringing up. The ER doctor said it did not appear the med could cause hypoglycemia. Jonathon continued having hypoglycemia the next day, and we decided to check him every 2 hours that night, because we couldn't figure out what was causing it. The first time we checked him, he was passed out from low blood sugar, so we switched to checking him hourly. About the 5th time I was to get up and check him, I turned off my alarm without waking up, and it ended up being 1-1/2 hours before I checked him, and he was passed out again. He ended up back in the ER. The doctors still insisted it wasn't the medicine, but we quit giving it to him, and his blood sugars started coming back up, but it took a full month before he was completely back to normal. I went online and within 10 minutes had found several pages that indicated hypoglycemia was a rare severe reaction to the medicine. Needless to say, I no longer start any new meds for Jonathon or my family without doing my own research first.
He was switched to Keppra (by a different neuro), and when the Keppra went generic (levetiracetam), we were forced to try it. That caused mild hypoglycemia, and we now have prescriptions written DAW (dispense as written). We were told by our neurologist to list Jonathon as allergic to sulfa drugs (zonisamide is a sulfonamide). I suspect that Jonathon is very sensitive to sulfa in any form, as one of the inactive ingredients in levetiracetam is sodium lauryl sulfate. It probably wouldn't affect him in small doses, but in regular doses (twice per day, 2-1/2 tablets each time) it seems to affect him.
All that being said, hypoglycemia can also cause seizures. Jonathons first seizure was caused by hypoglycemia, but none of the others have been. We have seen facial twitching when his blood sugar was low, but have not had any more seizures from lows. Jonathon has now been 63 weeks seizure free with the Keppra.
I hope this helps.
Dawn
--- In epilepsy@yahoogroups.com, "mlauchner" <oldstuff4me@...> wrote:
>
> We have long suspected a connection between low blood sugar and Aaron having a seizure. Many years ago when we had to call 911 for a never-ending seizure, of course the first thing the paramedic did was prick his finger and his blood sugar was in the basement! Then just today I "binged" this topic and came up with a whole slew of stuff. I'd love to hear what anybody has to say on this. We are constantly hounding Aaron to not go too long between meals, but the newest med to be added to the mix (Banzel) is just plain evil at trashing his appetite. So now I want to know more about how to maintain a proper blood sugar level, and is Lamictal contributing to low blood sugar. The search continues!
> Michelle
>
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