Deliberate Insulin OD

[sejhemming]

I wasn't sure where to ask about this; I hope you'll forgive me if this is the wrong place.

A few days ago, a friend of a friend was found unconscious and the emergency services were called. The police found an empty insulin vial.

It seems that the medics found 'practically no' Blood Glucose when the victim was tested at the scene.

This person has been unconscious ever since and remains in ICU.

My question is, would an insulin OD be the cause of a prolonged period of unconsciousness? What would be the long term effects on the victim, assuming survival?

I should say, it seems that this person may have had a seizure, probably as a result of the OD, and sustained a broken collar bone and has a bleed on the brain possibly as a direct result of the seizure or from a subsequent fall.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Haven't you more or less answered your own question?

If the victim has suffered a fall serious enough to break a collar bone and cause a brain bleed then the brain bleed is far more likely to cause a long term coma than low blood sugar (which I must assume was treated pretty quickly by the emergency services).

I am not a doctor, but as far as I know if you pass out due to very low blood sugar then you wake up again once your blood sugar comes back up.

 

[sejhemming]

I was pretty sure that was the case. However, it's not known how long, prior to being found, the overdose was administered.

I suppose my question really is what would be the long term effects of prolonged severe low BG?

 

[tim2000s]

@sejhemming I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I'm afraid that the news isn't great.

There is reasonable research that extremely low blood glucose for a prolonged period kills brain cells and can cause brain damage. To quote from some research on the topic:

"In studies of insulin-induced hypoglycemia in monkeys, 5–6 hours of blood glucose concentrations of less than 1.1 mmol/l (20 mg/dl) were required for the regular production of neurological damage (12); the average blood glucose level was 0.7 mmol/l (13 mg/dl)." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1838950/

Given what you said about your friend having no discernible blood glucose, and having no idea how long they were unconscious, it's hard to tell what damage has been done. It's very possible that they would remain unconscious for a reasonably long period and until they wake up it is hard to tell what the outcome will be.

 

[paulliljeros]

I am no Dr either, but taking it down to bare basics, the brain requires glucose to operate (hence the confusion when hypo) and so when glucose gets so low, the basic functions will cease, and hence the danger to life. I think in short, Yes, there are plenty of long term effects, and as to which ones .... take your pick!? I am sorry to hear what happened, and I hope your friend pulls through.

 

[sejhemming]

@tim2000s, @paulliljeros. That kinda lines up with my (uneducated) thoughts. I my mind I likened it to suffocation except the brain is being deprived of BG instead of oxygen. I suppose I was hoping I might be wrong.

 

[Lazybones]

Under extreme circumstances, there are some Insulin Producing cells situated within the brain itself, principally there to keep the brain active and hence alive if the primary insulin supply of the pancreas should pack up for any reason. However in your friends case, having overloaded his/her body with excessive insulin would result in there eventually being little or no glucose within the bloodstream to maintain the body organs and in particular keep the brain alive with a constant glucose energy source.
What he/she did is actually very dangerous, and apart from nearly loosing their life, they may have damaged their brain in what they did. It might well be seen as being an attempted self suicide and if the worst ever comes to the worst, he/she might well as a result of their actions be sectioned if they cannot give a reasonable response as to why they did it in the first instance..
Without knowing all the facts we shouldn't judge anyone, it might well be down to severe depression or possibly some mental problem, or simply a call for help that unfortunately went wrong.

 

[paulliljeros]

Hi @sejhemming, I just wondered how things had gone for your friend. I was watching a programme on UK TV last night, Louis Theroux: A different Brain regarding people with brain injuries, caused by different events. One lady featured in the show had taken an insulin overdose and it followed her a little. I missed the first 20 minutes, and the part that I did watch didn't go into a huge amount of detail, but it did give a brief insight of some of the affects that can happen in this event. I think as you are already aware, there is no individual, catch-all answer though.

 

[sejhemming]

Thanks @paulliljeros. Not had an update since Saturday when her was still in ICU and unconscious.

 

[CarbsRok]

I was pretty sure that was the case. However, it's not known how long, prior to being found, the overdose was administered.

If the person is actually a diabetic then do you know it was a deliberate overdose as obviously when using insulin you do empty the vial after a month or so.
If the person comes out of the coma then more than probably they will be brain damaged if you take into account all you have posted.