I've had a few observations that I've wanted to write about for a while.
Sleep and blood sugar levels
My previous experience of blood sugar problems while sleeping was mostly focused on waking up sweaty and hypo. I felt like sleeping with high BG was just poor, unrestful sleep, but not the end of the world.
Lately, I've been finding that I've had a reversal. If my blood sugar rises to over 170 mg/dL while sleeping it will wake me up, and I can tell my body temp is higher and I will begin to sweat. I usually won't be able to sleep fitfully again till my BG is headed downward. Often I find myself up at 2:30am waiting for a correction to take effect.
On the other hand, I've also discovered that my best sleep is often when my glucose levels are 60-70 mg/dL. I know it sounds crazy to sleep while teetering on the edge of hypo, but it's really the best sleep ever.
So, I think it's really interesting that my symptoms and sensitivities seem to have changed. I'm curious if any other diabetics have experienced this. How do you rate your sleep at different ends of the BG spectrum?
I used to be unable to sleep with bg below about 80. It used to be that was often my only symptom of being 60 or 70.
ReplyDeleteThese days I often find myself extra sleepy when low. However, if I go very low while asleep, I wake up sweatier and more onfused and disoriented- I have a hard time waking up low.
I have trouble with sleeping high if I'm above my renal thresshold. During the years since my diagnosis, that threshhold has moved from about 155 to around 210 (slowly). I don't have problems falling asleep, but I have trouble staying asleep because of thirst and needing to pee and sometimes symptoms of dehydration, and I wake up with a headache and I feel rotten.
Since there are way more nights that I spend above 155 vs above 210, the incidence of this has gone way down.