my worst nightmare.. my toddler is in the hospital via ambulance

[lancem]

@alwayscurious That’s very scary! I’m so sorry that this happened to you! Sending you positive thoughts to help get you through this!

 

[alwayscurious]

@lancem thank you! x

 

[dfc]

@alwayscurious You did the right thing. Don’t be ashamed for calling the ambulance. I work on an ambulance and this is what we do! You couldn’t have safely driven yourself with your child in that state.

 

[chosen808]

@alwayscurious You did NOT overreact by calling an ambulance. You knew something was wrong and you reacted. I’m not sure what you mean by “tacky”, but that’s not how a normal 14 month old should be. Blood sugar levels are NEVER anything to mess with and could lead to a coma and/or death if not treated quickly. You did the absolute right thing. I’m glad he’s improving and I hope you have more answers soon.

Try to rest now. I know it’s extremely hard, but he needs you.

 

[alwayscurious]

@chosen808 by tacky i meant that his skin was clammy. he didint feel hot or cold but his skin was sweaty thank you so much, i’ll try my best

 

[chosen808]

@alwayscurious Oh ok. I thought you meant “tachy” at first, which is short for tachycardia. But then you said his heart rate was normal so I got confused haha.

You did the right thing.

 

[danielhm]

@alwayscurious Im so sorry you’re dealing with this! You area wonderful mom The EXACT same thing happened with my toddler (~20 months at the time, 2.5 yrs now). Hard to wake, laid there, sweaty, “floppy”, low blood sugar, etc. His doctor concluded that he had had a seizure while sleeping, or shortly after “waking up”, which can cause all of these after symptoms. That diagnosis certainly scared me, but was helpful to have an “answer”. I hope you get some sort of answer as well!

 

[micmac]

@alwayscurious Wow! You did the right thing. I’m glad you followed your instincts and got him to the hospital.

In no world was your response an overreaction, are you kidding me? Good job!

 

[image]

@alwayscurious This happened to a friend of mine. Her son ended up recovering well and being pretty much fine for a long time. A year or so later he started having episodes of hypoglycemia over night again, but not nearly like the first experience, where he was hypoglycemic and his rectal temperature was 91.5 (33). His blood sugar was really low and he was experiencing ketoacidosis. They did SO many tests, genetic testing, etc, and basically the only diagnosis they've gotten in the last couple years is idiopathic ketotic hypoglycemia. He's more prone to dips in his blood sugar when he gets sick, so they have to keep a close eye on it, but it is now manageable. Most kids also do outgrow it, but in the meantime it is definitely a pain, and VERY scary at first diagnosis. Luckily he has not had anything as serious as his first episode.

I don't know if that's exactly what you're experiencing, but it sounded quite similar.

 

[alwayscurious]

@image wow this sounds so similar. and i’ll definitely look into this more. during the period of waiting for a diagnosis and considering you said his condition is now manageable, how exactly did/does your friend manage it?

 

[image]

@alwayscurious They just monitor his blood sugar basically. He had to recently go back to the hospital for a few days for more testing after having a period where his blood sugar was dipping every evening. Basically this time at the hospital they had him under close monitoring while they tried to have him fast and figure out what was happening. Unfortunately the diagnosis is still "idiopathic," which pretty much just means unknown cause, and it's frustrating to not have a definitive answer. On the other hand, idiopathic ketotic hypoglycemia IS a thing that seems to "just happen" to some kids, and while it absolutely sucks for them to have no real clue why it happens, it gives them some comfort to know it's probably not a lifelong issue.

 

[blessedwife92]

@alwayscurious You should post this to r/nursing as well. It sounds like you are a nurse and they could give you great feedback about how you did the right thing for your babe. You absolutely did the right thing. Calling the ambulance was totally warranted. Don’t second guess yourself! You did good!

 

[lemon_sorbet]

@alwayscurious Hi OP,

Sorry this has happened to you. Have you been given a diagnosis yet? We had something similar with our son when he was 14 months old and he was diagnosed with Ketotic Hypoglycemia. If that is what your toddler has, I hugely recommend joining the Ketotic Hypoglycemia International Facebook page, which has been a HUGE source of support for me and my family, and many other families over the globe.

I'm based in the UK and my son is looked after at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Happy to answer any questions you have if your toddler is diagnosed with KH.

Hope you're all okay xxx

 

[alwayscurious]

@lemon_sorbet no diagnosis yet unfortunately the doctor still isn’t sure what going on and is giving us the impression he won’t know until the blood results come back which will be weeks. thank you so much! i appreciate it

 

[lemon_sorbet]

@alwayscurious No worries. Feel free to DM me later down the line if you have any questions about ketotic hypoglycemia. Hope your little one feels better soon xx

 

[slreed]

@alwayscurious If he had a hypo episode please consider getting cortisol tested.

 

[joyfulnoise25]

@slreed This happened to my toddler also and never figured out why. Why would you test cortisol?

 

[slreed]

@joyfulnoise25 Low cortisol can cause hypoglycemic episodes (known as Adrenal Crisis). Low blood pressure can also be a side effect. I'm not saying that's what happened I am not a doctor but my first thought was to check cortisol levels.

Is your toddler ok now?

 

[joyfulnoise25]

@slreed Yes, he was hospitalized for 4 days and we followed up with a neuroendocrinologist but we never found out why he had such low blood glucose.

 

[slreed]

@joyfulnoise25 Must have been a scary experience. Glad he is ok now. Has he had any more episodes?