Sudden insulin shock is another name for severe hypoglycemia, a condition in which an individual's blood sugar drops to dangerously low levels. Sudden insulin shock is a risk for people with diabetes and can be caused by a number of factors related to circulating blood glucose and insulin levels. If you have diabetes, learning the symptoms of the condition and the ways to prevent and treat it is important -- without prompt medical attention, people in insulin shock can suffer serious medical problems.
Causes
Sudden insulin shock occurs when the body's blood sugar level drops below 50 mg/dL and is left untreated. This drop in glucose levels can be caused by excessive alcohol intake, endocrine disorders, liver disease or pancreatic cancer, all of which cause either a sharp increase in circulating insulin levels or a decrease in glucose available in the blood. However, the condition occurs most often in people with diabetes. Diabetics can go into insulin shock if they take too much insulin or other diabetes medications like tolazamide, repaglinide or chlorpropamide; if they exercise more than normal; or if they haven't eaten enough food to replenish their glucose levels.
Warning Signs and Symptoms
When blood sugar levels begin to drop, you may feel hungry, fatigued and irritable and experience trembling, sweating, clumsiness, headaches, blurred vision, rapid heartbeat and difficulty thinking clearly. As the condition progresses from mild to severe hypoglycemia, you may have hallucinations, feel dizzy, lose parts of your memory and faint. If left untreated, hypoglycemia will progress quickly into insulin shock, which is characterized by unconsciousness, seizures, coma, irreversible damage to the nervous system and possible death.
Treatment
People in sudden insulin shock must be treated immediately with injections of glucagon or glucose. Glucagon is a pancreatic hormone that is responsible for stimulating the liver to metabolize stored glycogen and release glucose directly into the bloodstream. Since sudden insulin shock occurs most often in people with Type 1 diabetes, these diabetics are often given a glucagon emergency kit that contains a premeasured syringe of glucagon. If the person begins to exhibit the symptoms of insulin shock, another person can administer the glucagon, and then contact emergency personnel for further treatment.
Prevention
The key to preventing insulin shock is to know how to recognize and treat low blood sugar. Diabetics should check their blood glucose level whenever they experience the early symptoms of hypoglycemia, then consume glucose tablets, hard candy, honey or fruit juice to raise their blood sugar. If the hypoglycemia symptoms have not disappeared after 15 minutes, eat a small amount more and call for emergency medical help if the symptoms still persist. Talk to your doctor about having a travel or home glucagon kit if you experience low blood sugar problems frequently.
