'Nodding off'

S

Shar67

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Agree you should test when this happens.
Get your husband to GP for snoring, he is at risk of heart disease if he has sleep apnea.
I had the exact same issue felt like I was just closing eyes the suddenly wake up, difference I tested BS and was fine, GP sent me off for blood tests, iron etc, ECG and tomorrow I'm seeing a neurologist, it is better to get checked out ASAP as it could be a simple fix
 
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axle 222

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Should deffo have blood test,I have intravenous iron infusions throughout the year,it takes 3 months for the blood cells to regenerate so not an instant cure but gradual,.....worth an ask..
I know when I'm due as even though I can sleep fairly ok( have a snoring partner too) I can get up and within an hour need sleep again....
 

chrisjohnson

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not being able to eat what i want
I was dropping off all the time and various achy joints and it turns out I have vit d deficiency. 6 weeks on taking supplents and no pain and no sleepiness and best of all bs levels have gone down so now averaging 5.8. Hoping to reduce current med soon
 

ButtterflyLady

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Anyone who is sleepy during the day or who snores could have obstructive sleep apnoea.

This is a very serious condition that is relatively easy to treat. Please see your GP and ask about getting referred for an overnight sleep study as this is the only way to be sure you don't have it. Having to put up with a snoring partner is no life. They should see their GP.
 

sapphira

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Hi everyone, I nodded off to sleep while typing this and its 11am in the morning, lol. Type 2 diabetic since 2009 and I just tested my sugar levels which came back at 5.8 mmol/l = 104.4 mg/dl...mmm...could this mean something else could be going on, not necessarily the diabetes...I have had a history of insomnia and could be menopausal, im not sure and starting to feel quite down. I exercise daily and try to stick to low-carb, sometimes I eat too much low carb meals especially meat...im 52 years old and 94 kilos (im working on my weight). Any ideas would be really cool, thank you.
 

srobertson06

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I will 'sleep' when my carbs intake has gone too high - it does not feel like sleep more like a passing out - it can be a few mins or over an hour - I have tested and it is a bg spike..........
I do get my scripts free so buying my testing kit is what I consider as keeping my diabetes in better control and worth every penny.
 

Brunneria

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Hi @sapphira

I get sleepy after food too - but only if I have eaten too big a carb portion (it doesn't take much!) causing my blood glucose to shoot high then drop fast.
 

GerryOB

Active Member
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Thank you so much to everyone who has replied and also to those who have shared their own similar experiences.
I've dealt with the snoring husband - we separated last year. However, sleep has not improved. I'm lucky if I get four hours of sleep per night. I can't drop off until around 2am, sometimes even later, and am then awake again around 5.30 or 6am. I occupy myself with a little knitting, which helps make me tired, and then drop off until around 8.30am, unless I am wide awake in which case I watch TV in bed. Sometimes I fall asleep in the armchair downstairs for a short while during the day, or have a short nap in bed. However, the other day, I dropped off at the wheel :eek:. Thank God I had my daughter and her partner in the car. I was literally unaware for all of a couple of seconds, but that was enough to make me start veering off course. I 'came to' in time to correct my path, and then pulled over off the road until I was 100% sure I was fully awake. It frightened the life out of me, as well as my daughter and her partner. I was only a couple of miles from home, and as neither of them drive, I had no option but to drive us home. Since then, I've not wanted to drive anywhere. When my husband was here, he done 95% of the driving. I had just started to build my confidence up about going out of my comfort zone, and was feeling pretty chuffed with myself. However now, I don't want to drive.

Thinking back, I'd had my usual slimfast shake with skimmed milk for breakfast, and a banana just before we went out. We went shopping, and afterwards, my daughter treated us to a carvery where I had just turkey, Yorkshire, peas, runner beans, carrots, cauliflower, 2 roast potatoes and a spoon full of mash with mint gravy. I've never been good remembering what foods are good/bad etc (I have adult Autism) so could it have been the meal or something in it that caused me to nod off momentarily? I've recently had my 6 monthly check up and blood test. The GP has put me on another tablet to take as well as my Metformin, although I've not started to take it yet, as only delivered today. She said my levels had gone up a bit. I put that down to not eating properly, as since my husband and I split, I tend to live on ready meals, as I am unable to manage cooking. I just feel like I've totally messed my life up. I long to get out of the house, but don't want to drive. None of my children who live nearby can drive, so I am caught between a rock and a hard place. :bigtears:
 

Brunneria

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Thank you so much to everyone who has replied and also to those who have shared their own similar experiences.
I've dealt with the snoring husband - we separated last year. However, sleep has not improved. I'm lucky if I get four hours of sleep per night. I can't drop off until around 2am, sometimes even later, and am then awake again around 5.30 or 6am. I occupy myself with a little knitting, which helps make me tired, and then drop off until around 8.30am, unless I am wide awake in which case I watch TV in bed. Sometimes I fall asleep in the armchair downstairs for a short while during the day, or have a short nap in bed. However, the other day, I dropped off at the wheel :eek:. Thank God I had my daughter and her partner in the car. I was literally unaware for all of a couple of seconds, but that was enough to make me start veering off course. I 'came to' in time to correct my path, and then pulled over off the road until I was 100% sure I was fully awake. It frightened the life out of me, as well as my daughter and her partner. I was only a couple of miles from home, and as neither of them drive, I had no option but to drive us home. Since then, I've not wanted to drive anywhere. When my husband was here, he done 95% of the driving. I had just started to build my confidence up about going out of my comfort zone, and was feeling pretty chuffed with myself. However now, I don't want to drive.

Thinking back, I'd had my usual slimfast shake with skimmed milk for breakfast, and a banana just before we went out. We went shopping, and afterwards, my daughter treated us to a carvery where I had just turkey, Yorkshire, peas, runner beans, carrots, cauliflower, 2 roast potatoes and a spoon full of mash with mint gravy. I've never been good remembering what foods are good/bad etc (I have adult Autism) so could it have been the meal or something in it that caused me to nod off momentarily? I've recently had my 6 monthly check up and blood test. The GP has put me on another tablet to take as well as my Metformin, although I've not started to take it yet, as only delivered today. She said my levels had gone up a bit. I put that down to not eating properly, as since my husband and I split, I tend to live on ready meals, as I am unable to manage cooking. I just feel like I've totally messed my life up. I long to get out of the house, but don't want to drive. None of my children who live nearby can drive, so I am caught between a rock and a hard place. :bigtears:
Try asking your doc to be tested for sleep apnea.
I recently learned that one of the symptoms is insomnia. Strange but true.

It is VERY common amongst type 2 diabetics. I will post a link when I find it, showing that up to 80% of us may have it.

Feeling sleepy after a big meal is very common. But more so for those of us who have problems regulating our blood glucose.

Do you have a meter to test your blood glucose?

I completely understand your reluctance to drive, and I think you are making a very sensible decision not to drive. I would be locking those keys away until I knew what was causing the drowsiness, and had the problem solved!

Please keep us informed, and I hope you get to the bottom of it. You have enough stress at the moment, without that as well.
 
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Brunneria

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Here you go.
This is the link to the study on Sleep Apnea
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2727690/

and these are a couple of charts from the study.
tileshop.fcgi





nihms115120f3.jpg

It really would pay to get checked out by your doc!
 

ladybird64

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Gerry, I agree with the advice on sleep apnoea, but wanted to point out the importance of self testing. Before I was diagnosed, this was my only "sign" that I had diabetes, nodding off in the armchair, something I'd never been able to do (and I tried!). It was uncontrollable and I felt like I'd been drugged. I also wonder if you could possibly have depression? It's notorious for affecting sleep. Hope you get it sorted can
 

Ultramum

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May be different for others but I tracked down my sleep issues to my cholesterol medication - went away and forgot to take them with me and slept like a baby. Restarted them when I got home and sleep issues back with a bang.

DON'T stop medication without discussing it with your doctor!
 
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Bluetit1802

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May be different for others but I tracked down my sleep issues to my cholesterol medication - went away and forgot to take them with me and slept like a baby. Restarted them when I got home and sleep issues back with a bang.

DON'T stop medication without discussing it with your doctor!

Statins caused my hubby no end of sleep problems when he was taking them.
 
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Brunneria

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With me it was diet. An escalating sensitivity to caffiene. Reached the point where i couldn't even drink decaff tea.
Took me a long time to work out what what it was. I mean, you don't expect decaff tea to be a problem, do you?
 
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Pipp

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@GerryOB

I am really sorry for your distress due to the sleep problem.

Please follow advice already given and tell the doctor what you have told us here. It could be the diabetes control needs some tweaking, or as some have mentioned it is possible sleep apnea is causing this. I also know of someone slim, not diabetic, who had a similar problem of dropping off to sleep during the day, and of stopping breathing several times at night during sleep. The problem for that person was not diabetes or sleep apnea, but acid reflux which was quickly resolved with the correct medication. Though not until a sleep study and HbA1c had ruled out diabetes and apnea.

Whatever is causing your sleep problem needs to be investigated. Oh and please do not drive, or undertake other hazardous activities until you can be sure you are not going to fall asleep suddenly again. Let the need to get out and about be the motivation to get checked by doc.
Best of luck.
 

LittleGreyCat

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<snip>
Thinking back, I'd had my usual slimfast shake with skimmed milk for breakfast, and a banana just before we went out. We went shopping, and afterwards, my daughter treated us to a carvery where I had just turkey, Yorkshire, peas, runner beans, carrots, cauliflower, 2 roast potatoes and a spoon full of mash with mint gravy. <snip>

I was quite struck by what you had eaten; those on here who try to avoid carbohydrates may have flinched slightly.

Anyway, here I go: :woot:

slimfast - no real comment, assume you are trying to lose weight? It is a bit carb heavy.
skimmed milk - nearly pure lactose (a sugar) in water. Full fat might be better.
Banana - loads of carbohydrate and a no-no for most (but not all) T2s
[Carvery - and the word "just"!]
Yorkshire - very high carbohydrate
Carrots - root vegetable, and medium/high carbohydrate
2 roast potatoes - again high carbohydrate, but better for you than...
spoon full of mash - carbohydrate mashed down for the quick and intense blood sugar hit.

So I can readily believe that after a carbohydrate orgy at the carvery you might have gone hyperglycemic and become very sleepy.

Had I been eating at the carvery I would have had turkey with extra turkey, peas, runner beans and cauliflower (lashings of vegetables), no gravy (because they usually put sugar in it) and if possible loads of butter on the vegetables. This would have been a good low carbohydrate meal and hopefully also filling and satisfying.

Not everybody believes in the Low Carbohydrate High Fat (LCHF) eating approach but eating lots of carbohydrates usually (not always?) makes T2 diabetes worse.

As others have said, are you testing? In your first post over a year and a half ago you said:
For the past few weeks, I find I keep nodding off. Only momentarily, and the moment my head flops, I startle awake again, but am still incredibly tired. I know I ought to check my blood sugar at these times, but when it happens, I'm not really 'with it' enough to remember, despite the test kit being 6" from my elbow.
so you had a test kit then.

Driving is important for your own personal mobility and independence so it might be wise to take the same precautions as a T1 or a T2 on insulin or some BG lowering medications. Test your BG before you drive and every 2 hours if on a long journey. I would also suggest not getting up from the table and straight into the car; have a sit and a coffee or something for a little while before you test.

I looked back but can't see what medication you are on. Knowing this might help us with helping you.