Advised against Blood glucose meter

mrpaulbradley said:

I must admit I do still feel very fatigued during the day quite a bit, often having to grab s nap when time allows. My dietician says this could be a symptom of both diabetes and sleep apnea.
The big change is feeling lots better in the morning and feeling more refreshed when getting up.

I hadn't realised how bad I was feeling as it had been so long since I had a more normal sleep pattern.

I also now remember dreaming on occasion. This means REM sleep, which I hadn't been getting.

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If your sleep apnoea is adequately controlled with CPAP, then you shouldn't feel the need to nap during the day. Also, naps can make it harder to sleep at night, which can make it harder to keep your mask on. It can be a good idea to resist the temptation to nap so you have better sleep at night.

My understanding is that when we remember our dreams, it's because we have woken up during REM sleep, when the normal sleep cycle that lasts about 90 minutes means we go down through sleep stages 1-4 then into REM sleep then back out through stages 4-1 before waking up. If you have an apnoea event during REM sleep, you may briefly wake up enough to be aware of your dream.

It might be a good idea to ask your sleep clinic to download the data from your machine, which will tell you how many hours it is being used each night, and (hopefully) what your average number of apnoea or partial apnoea events per hour are (AHI). This is really the only way to know if your sleep apnoea is well controlled or not. Depending on your machine, you will either have to bring it in to the clinic or insert a memory card and send that in to them.

Under 5 events per hour is considered normal. 5-15 is mild, 15-30 is moderate and 30+ is severe. When I was diagnosed, I was having 41 events per hour, and these days my machine tells me I have an average of 1 event per hour. (As it's an average, these events are probably clustered at the start and end of the night, so I am confident I am having many hours of uninterrupted sleep).

As for usage, research has shown that less than an average of 4 hours use per night means uncontrolled sleep apnoea. If your machine settings or mask seal are not right, your AHI or number of events may be too high.

If your CPAP therapy is shown to be optimal, then your fatigue and sleepiness symptoms will be caused by another condition. Even so, avoiding naps and practicing good "sleep hygiene" by getting enough hours of sleep each night are important.

Also, as you are using a full face mask, does that mean you have ongoing nasal congestion? This is common. If so have you been referred to an ENT specialist?

mrpaulbradley said:

Met my dietician yesterday and she was great.
She also told me that my recent weight problems (I had lost almost 7 stones a couple of years back only to sadly put it back on again) could be a symptom of my diabetes.
I have been craving sweet things for a while now. She gave me a different perspective and lifted some of the guilt.

I've got the hang of the meter now too I think. It was kinda high yesterday I think ? - 13.3 but down to 7.7 overnight.

I'm feeling a bit more motivated to get myself sorted. Which is a wee step in the right direction.

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and she is right - blimey a HCP that understands. Maybe she has seen Prof Taylor's symposium speech Well done with getting to grips with the meter.
For info I used to rotate through all my fingers but I now only test pricking one finger on one hand. I get more consistent results and 9 out of 10 fingers have no impact from testing.

mrpaulbradley said:

Yes nasal congestion. I've been prescribed with a steroid spray which does seem to help.
Good advise all-round. Thanks

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steroids will raise your bg levels. I used to suffer from bad snoring and stopping breathing when I was asleep (according to other half) but now since sorting out BG and losing weight I do neither

I've been using just one finger to test since I read AC's post this morning, I use a small guage lancet but my finger's looking a bit black&blue already. Good idea tho, think I'll persevere

mrpaulbradley said:

Yes nasal congestion. I've been prescribed with a steroid spray which does seem to help.
Good advice all-round. Thanks

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Another thing that may help is having heated humidification on your machine, if you don't already have it.

I had nasal congestion for years and frequent sinus infections. Finally a GP referred me to an ENT specialist. It turned out I had a "Concha Bollusa" which is a pocket of cartilage in the nose that about 30% of people are born with. It partially blocked that side and meant that there was only a narrow tube for the air to pass through. Every time the tissues swelled (which happened often) that side would be completely blocked. I had surgery to fix it and could breathe properly for the first time.

Alzebra said:

@mrpaulbradley It took me a while to realise it isn't essential to change the lancet every time you test. I change it about once a week, some people have said they go a month or more!

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Rightly or wrongly, I use a lancet until it hurts because it`s gone blunt.

chri5 said:

Rightly or wrongly, I use a lancet until it hurts because it`s gone blunt.

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I do the same

CatLadyNZ said:

I'm pretty sure SSRI antidepressants kicked off the cycle that led to my T2 diabetes 10 years later. Still, I wouldn't have had it any other way as those meds have been medically necessary. If I had known about the risks maybe I would have tried harder not to gain weight. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I so envy people who can recover from depression without meds.

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OMG in the last 10 years I've had a couple of bouts of medicated depression, SSRI... so many variables that could have an impact on our conditions. Bit chicken an egg though, as the increased insulin resistance could have been a factor in my depression....whilst it is interesting I have to look at the now and remember my body processes glucose in a different way from even my own mother who has Type2. The meter screen determines my health future....

Also as an aside, my nails are a lot stronger and flexible now, no longer are they splitting far down on the nail bed to cause bleeding - on my hands and feet. I had to be diligent with my vitamins/minerals for that to not happen, been like that for year's. Another bonus for eating copious amounts of veg...and possibly as BS is lower my body doesn't have to expend so much nutrients on repairing any damage done by high BS nor on keeping homeostasis, just a Monday lunch time musing.
GC

CatLadyNZ said:

I had a look at your other posts and I saw you have sleep apnoea, so do I. Is it well controlled at the moment? Do you know what your AHI level is? Do you have a way of getting the data off your machine, eg by taking it in to a clinic every so often? When did you last have a sleep study?

If it's not well controlled, that makes it harder to manage diabetes and lose weight. The good news is it should be fairly easy to get it under control, all going well.

Did you know that it's very common to have sleep apnoea, diabetes, hypertension, depression, and be overweight? I was able to break the vicious cycle by getting sleep apnoea under control with CPAP, hypertension and depression under control with meds, and diabetes and weight under control with LCHF eating. So while I still have these conditions, they are not running my life like they used to.

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Oh wow I have to send my Mum that as she has all of those!!

Thank you @CatLadyNZ your knowledge generosity strikes again.

Gravity-Carb said:

Oh wow I have to send my Mum that as she has all of those!!

Thank you @CatLadyNZ your knowledge generosity strikes again.

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Aw, thanks Gravity-carb I've been through a fair bit with my health, which enables me to share some info with others. If it helps them, it makes my day.

My husband does a nasal douche about once a week. It enables him to sleep better without the SNORING, which enables me to sleep as well

Alzebra said:

@mrpaulbradley It took me a while to realise it isn't essential to change the lancet every time you test. I change it about once a week, some people have said they go a month or more!

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I think that recycling lancets or needles is unhygienic and the tips will blunt on repeated uses. I can however appreciate the cost implications for those who have to purchase their supplies.

Gravity-Carb said:

OMG in the last 10 years I've had a couple of bouts of medicated depression, SSRI... so many variables that could have an impact on our conditions. Bit chicken an egg though, as the increased insulin resistance could have been a factor in my depression....whilst it is interesting I have to look at the now and remember my body processes glucose in a different way from even my own mother who has Type2. The meter screen determines my health future....

Also as an aside, my nails are a lot stronger and flexible now, no longer are they splitting far down on the nail bed to cause bleeding - on my hands and feet. I had to be diligent with my vitamins/minerals for that to not happen, been like that for year's. Another bonus for eating copious amounts of veg...and possibly as BS is lower my body doesn't have to expend so much nutrients on repairing any damage done by high BS nor on keeping homeostasis, just a Monday lunch time musing.
GC

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Your nails say a lot about your current and past physical health, it's why a lot of doctors examine them in a general examination.

carol43 said:

My husband does a nasal douche about once a week. It enables him to sleep better without the SNORING, which enables me to sleep as well

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Nasal irrigation is great. I don't do it so much now but before I had my surgery I did it every day and it really helped.

If your husband had nasal congestion, that would have caused his mouth to fall open during sleep, then the tongue falls back and partially blocks the airway, which typically leads to snoring. It is much healthier to breathe through the nose, whether asleep or awake, because the air gets warmed and humidified before it gets to the lungs. The cilia, or fine hairs inside the nose also filter out particles than can cause infection.

eddie1968 said:

I think that recycling lancets or needles is unhygienic and the tips will blunt on repeated uses. I can however appreciate the cost implications for those who have to purchase their supplies.

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I agree it it probably not the most hygienic, but it never seems to cause infection in my experience. I guess if pathogens got onto the lancet and were injected under the skin they could cause an infection, but I have never heard of this happening.

eddie1968 said:

Your nails say a lot about your current and past physical health, it's why a lot of doctors examine them in a general examination.

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Mine never have.... Interesting about the health thing, it totally makes sense, as its the same for hair. That's yet another reason for LCFF, better nails, hair and skin.