How do you sleep?

[twilight]

I've posted before about how for the last 8 years I have had bad hypos in the night that I haven't woken up from. Each one left me ill enough that I couldn't leave the bed for a week and I lost a lot of my memory. The worst thing is that I dont know what caused them. I'm constantly fatigued and I think when I get over tired the hypos occur, although I get over tired doing almost nothing.
The problem is now that I can't sleep. Sometimes my blood sugars drop overnight, sometimes they rise a lot. I do a lot of tests and eat and carb count very carefully but I cant get my BS normal. How can I sleep when I live alone while worrying about hypos? I only get about 4 hours sleep a night

Is there any tests I can ask for to see if the nightime hypos have affected my brain as my memory is terrible and I feel as though my mind is a lot slower and I'm only in my 20's. I'd feel a lot happier if I knew if my brain had been affected as it's so difficult trying to keep up with people mentally when I feel so slow

 

[donnellysdogs]

Oh Gosh...I so sympathise with you...have you spoken to your GP, DSN, Consultants about how you are feeling with all these hypo's, lack of sleep, it is absolutely no wonder that you are feeling so fatigued and your mind is feeling slower.

Our bodies need sleep-yes, some need more than others....but there are certain patterns of sleep that we all need to enable our bodies to replenish it's health and wellbeing....

Tiredness and fatigue does not have to be just related to hypo's...I take it that when you have your hba1c done that your thyroid function is tested as well, but it maybe worthwhile asking if your vit D and Vit B12 and folic levels could be tested...as deficiencys in these can lead to chronic tiredness and memory and concentration problems.

Have you ever considered a pump?? A pump really is good for getting night hypo's eliminated......

One of my GP's mentioned with my brain functionality (in my mid 30's I was referred to the dementia clinic)....he mentioned that there was some research showing that hypo's can effect memory.....However, this GP was wrong about the functioning of my brain....now I have a drug that another GP has put me on-for the first time in 15 years my brain is sharp and the fog that I had for 15 years has lifted. I still have short term memory problems, but they are not so bad as previously.....( I didn't have dementia by the way!!). It really is worthwhile making your GP and DSN realise just how bad you are.....The GP did not state where the research was done on hypo's damaging brain and research etc...and I have never been back to him....as I found a different GP that has really listened and helped me.

 

[twilight]

Thanks for your reply donellysdogs. I've mentioned it to the diabetes team and the GP but they didnt understand how bad it is. I also suffer with bad stomach pains and the brain fog you mentioned. I've been to the GP 5 times since march and I'm getting fed up going and not getting anywhere.
Im thinking about the pump but dont think I could handle it at the moment.
I was looking at vitamin b deficiency but wasn't sure if it affected just type 2's? I wonder if my brain fog is due to my insulin-im tempted to try pork insulin again and see if it helps. It's horrible feeling like I'm stupid when I remember being a lot faster/smarter.
Strangely my bs is starting to drop again now despite a big snack so it looks like I'll be up for a while!

 

[donnellysdogs]

Has your GP done any tests? Especially with bad stomach pains... and fogs??

B12 and folate deficicency is Pernicious Anaemia, and this is what I was diagnosed with when I went to the dementia clinic...(This was actually a misdiagnosis though.....)

From my experience and feelings I can 100% say that a pump would take a few weeks to sort out night hypo's and may need occasional tweaks and testings, but...having one sooner, rather than later may well help you get some decent unbroken sleep...

Did the night hypo's start when you stopped the pork insulin-or have you always had them this bad?

Have you given your HCP's actual examples of feeling like you are stupid...for example..mine sent me to the dementia clinic after I told my GP that I had gone to a customers house, who I had been going to for 3 years and I was on the main road of her village and I couldn't find her house. I tested my blood and it was 5.8....I went home..phoned the customer an apologised and went straight to GP next day and told him I couldn't keep having things like this happening to me.....he then took me seriously....

I do know exactly how you feel with thinking how you were smarter and faster previously....you need to give the GP's lists of things that make you think you need further investigations and tests being done...and ask him/her whether this is normal for a person your age to be going through this....

I think losing my keys before I went to the GP and missing my apppointment and phoning up the receptionist in a state also makes GP know how bad things are...and then on the previous appointment turning up on the day before the actual day accidentally!!!! This shows how awful your brain functions and how upset you get....this is only a couple of examples, and boy getting out of the 'fog' can make a huge difference...you really need to go to GP with some examples written down....and say you would like to discuss just your brain, fogs and fatigue...as you don't think that you should be feeling this way and ask if he would consider doing so me tests....

It isn't easy to get HCP's to listen about our brains and how they are functioning etc...I fully understand and can really only tell you how bad I had to get to before mine listened to me....

I am concerned that you are having bad stomach pains as well...do you suffer from IBS?? Have you had any confirmed diagnosis or tests such as an endoscopy etc to look at what is happening with your stomach??

 

[twilight]

I've had a few blood tests and was diagnosed with ibs. Everything else came back ok. I'm really not happy with the ibs diagnosis because the gp told me it was all in my head, but I know thats not true, I just found the sypmtoms really hard to talk about. My stomach is bad enough that it keeps me awake at night and wakes me up in the morning and I wonder if it is causing my blood sugars to be so erratic.

An example of the confusion I experience is that I've started walking out in front of traffic-it's like I cant focus on how far away the cars are to make a proper judgment (my eye tests came back normal). I cant count my change when out shopping, I can see the coins but cant figure out how to add them up. I once worked with a woman for 6 months and we got on really well. After she resigned she came back after a little while for a visit and I had to ask who she was-I had no memory of working with her (that was embarassing!) I'll try to think of some more-I'm sure theres plenty if I can remember them!

 

[pendragon]

I too have had terrible Hypos the past couple of years, during the night that I haven't woken from. The last one was a couple of days before Christmas, I woke to find the men in green in my bedroom & having bitten my tongue so badly there was a chunk out of it! I am now frightend to go to sleep for fear of it happening again!
I also have hypothyroid (think this can cause brain fog) Pernicous Annemia (so have B12 injections every 3 months) & Addissons Disease. Felt very ill & tired suffered dizzyness & terrible headaches (oh & went very brown & pigmented) before diagnosed with A D. My mum has ceoliac disease, all of these are endocrine problems caused by auto immune deficiency as is type 1 diabetes. It took me 9 years of going backward & forward to docs before being reffered to endocrinologist & diagnosed. I remember being treated like a hypocrondriac for most of the years and not one of them really listening...but persist, you must make yourself heard, keep seing different GPs Eventually one of them will listen & hear you!

 

[Cenynpedr]

This is just my experience, but might ring true for a few others. For years, I existed with massive headaches, I couldn't put my head below my body in case my brain exploded. My brain was foggy. palpitations, fatigue, dizziness, joint pain, stomach problems, glucose spikes,lethargy, pigmentation, bleeding under the skin..... the list was endless. I was tested for thyroid, adrenals, hormones, rheumatoid, lupus. Can't even remember them all. They all came back negative - but I just knew that I was dying.

One day, I received a forwarded e-mail about aspartame, and the health problems it caused, and I went through the list of conditions it mimicked, and ticked most of the boxes. That was the last day I touched aspartame (knowingly) and I've not looked back since.

From the day we were diagnosed, we were advised to drink "diet" drinks. Which I did religiously. Little did I realise that the aspartame was poisoning me. I accidentally ingested the sweetner on 2 occasions, and within minutes, I was left with the crippling headaches that I used to have - and I now have no idea how I coped with them on a daily basis!

 

[Anonymous]

oh dear... it's not nice having night hypos. I hope you're feeling better since you wrote this post. I too have been having night hypos and some nights I'm Ok and other nights I get one.... on exact same bolus of insulin too. I've even dropped dosage and still get the same problem. I wonder with me whether it's my pancreas releasing different amounts of insulin at different times (as I still have some insulin being produced apparently). I wished I had a gauge where I could see what insulin my body is making at any time and then top up accordingly. But I've just been told by my endocrinologist to take certain insulin dosages and only adjust 1-2 units at a time if required. It does make me nervous at times about going to sleep.... especially when my doc explained to me that sometimes your liver can fail to dump if you've had diabetes a long time. I had a hypo previous night and I woke up with that post hypo feeling and a bad brain fog... it pretty much lasted into the afternoon for me yesterday... I felt excessively tired. I also have other health issues to contend with too.... I have chronic burping day and night that doesn't help with sleep. I think that on top of diabetes is a lot for the body to deal with. I'm still trying to get my iron level back up as it was at a very low level. I can relate to everyone about this.... thank goodness we have a chance to share our experiences and we're not feeling alone in this.