Abstract
Pregabalin is often prescribed to patients with neuropathic pain, including painful diabetic neuropathy. Here we have reported a case in which incidence of hypoglycemia increased after prescription of pregabalin in a patient with painful diabetic neuropathy. A 50-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes mellitus complained of bilateral leg pain and numbness. After diagnosing painful diabetic neuropathy, 50 mg of pregabalin was administered one day and 75 mg the next. Although no complications of pregabalin, including sleepiness and dizziness, were observed, hypoglycemic symptoms were frequently observed following the start of pregabalin administration. During hospitalization this patient had hypoglycemic attacks 11 times, and 9 of them occurred in the morning. Because of frequent hypoglycemia, insulin dose was reduced during hospitalization. We considered that this hypoglycemia might have resulted from an improvement of impaired glucose tolerance and insulin overdose. However, we could not find the exact mechanism of these hypoglycemia attacks after a prescription of pregabalin in this patient with painful diabetic neuropathy.
