Blood sugar issues?

[ncoombsy]

My now 6-year-old son has been having episodes upon waking in the morning, which were happening about twice a year, but have increased in frequency to once every one to two months. He is lethargic, extremely weak (explained by him as having no power), and is very pale. Every time this happens, he will not wake on his own. Nearly every time, something sugary with recover him quickly, although sometimes he will vomit before we can even make it to the kitchen. He is confused and talks out of context sometimes, or his words are unorganized. For example, this morning, I made him rest on the sofa after the episode, while I put on a show on the TV. I asked him if he wanted some water, and he said, "Yes, I can use it while the movie." Note the word "use" instead of drink or have some, and not a complete sentence. Although was language delayed previously, his language skills are up to par to date. Also, last episode, 10/4/12, my husband and I gave him cake icing to recover quickly, while we were "joking" with him saying, "That's silly, Connor. You're eating cake icing for breakfast," to keep the mood light for him, although we were scared for him. Later, Connor did not recall anything.

We eat very healthy, I have to say. My son was at risk for autism, having SPD, social and language delays, unusual play with wheels/cars, and other issues that were typical for disorders on the spectrum, and since then, we have a very clean diet. I looked back on that evaluation report from his developmental pediatrician when he was 4yrs, 4mths old, and at that point, he had had 4 of these episodes since the age of >2yrs. While under her care, he had two episodes.

Do these episodes sound like blood sugar "crashes" in your opinion?

[ncoombsy]

His latest developmental pediatrician diagnosed him with ADHD last year, however, thinking he was not on the spectrum. She wanted to rule out seizures first, and so we had a 3-day ambulatory EEG, which was totally negative.

His regular pediatricians have gotten blood work for glucose levels and whatnot, and everything seems to come out fine.

Also, I have always been curious if these episodes (but on a lesser level throughout the day) have anything to do with what might look like ADHD? Could it all be related somehow? BTW, he is not on any medication. He does take omega-3 and evening primrose (omega-6).

What are some examples of those other explanations? My husband and I feel like we keep hitting a brick wall. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Richard B. Graff, PhD, BCBA-D]

While it is certainly possible that this is related to low blood sugar levels, there could be a number of other explanations for this type of behavior.  Thus, it is important that you speak to your child's pediatrician about this, to determine the most appropriate course of action.

Best of luck!