Lack of sleep

[Ace Redford]

morning everyone , i'd like to ask about my fiancé's situation , she is type 1 diabetic , she doesnt rest at all , at night either sugar wakes her up or her son does , she doesnt get enough sleep , and its been building up on her , yesterday she told me her vision is foggy a bit , she still can see but foggy , her blood sugar wasn't high at all , it was 176 , her eyes are reddish a bit , she seriously lacks sleep cuz no one is with her at home , am so worried about her , can you please help me or give am an advice , is that foggy vision a consequence of sleep lacking or is it because of something else , she eats just regularly , and her diet is healthy .

 

[Jaylee]

Hi @Ace Redford ,

Lack of sleep can make ones eyes a little foggy I suppose..But then, so can can wildly fluctuating BGs? (Should one drop in the night & overtreat. For me it can feel like a "hangover."
(Lol, just spent the last two nights myself gigging with the band & I certainly feel the late nights..)

176 is about 9.8Mmol which is a little over what should be normal..

What insulins is your fiancé prescribed?

 

[kitedoc]

Hi @Ace Redford, Lack of sleep makes everything worse!! My thoughts as a TID, not professional opinion or advice.
So stress might cause some sleep disturbance, the sleep disturbance might then cause fractiousness and more stress and perhaps more reliance on caffeine which also affects sleep, and alcohol which creates further problems.
With stress, the body releases cortisol, a stress management hormone which makes insulin less effective and which tends to mobilise body stores like stored glucose from the liver a very "anti-insulin' action.
As others have said fluctuating BSLs (and 170 mg/dl is above normal and just one reading) can affect vision - the lens of the eye swells due to the increased level of glucose in the body.
But I have heard of mothers stressed by lack of sleep who have had temporary but severe visual disturbance. And eye doctors do at times diagnose people as having spasm of the eye muscles due to stress alone.
Poor diet with lack of Vitamin A affects vision too.
It seems to me that unless your fiancee's stressful situation is alleviated her vision, stamina, coping levels and diabetes may have great difficulty in improving.
I am uncertain where you live and thus what support services might exist ? visiting mothercraft nurse ? counselling services ? social work services, support from relatives etc.
Certainly adjustment of diet and insulin are likely necessary and perhaps a visit to the doctor, both to discuss her visual problems, diabetes and stress. Her child may also have some condition making him/her more difficult to settle, feed etc.
In such circumstances we as diabetics are advised to not have new glasses dispensed as the visual difficulty is likely to change with reduction of stress etc.
Best Wishes and please keep posting. A worry shared is a worry halved.

 

[Fairygodmother]

Hi @Ace Redford, how old is your girlfriend’s child?
When they’re young most children need refreshment and reassurance at night which can make mother’s sleep deprived. Without someone else there, and T1, your girlfriend is carrying a big burden so any help would probably be welcome.
Does she work? If not, is there someone who could take her child out for an afternoon or a crèche/kindergarten/nursery that her child would like and could go to so your girlfriend could catch up on sleep during the day?
Personally, I find it’s harder to control blood sugars without decent sleep.
Would she like to join this forum too so that she can interact with others who have T1?
Like the others say, a visit to a doc seems a very very good idea for her.

 

[EllieM]

at night either sugar wakes her up or her son does

Look, as a mother of two grown children I totally appreciate the sleep deprivation caused by a young child, and I had a partner to help me when ours were small. Not much you can do about that other than try to get her some additional adult help so she can rest during the day. However, night time hypos are a serious T1 issue and it's definitely worth getting help so as to avoid these. Honestly, I feel wrecked for most of the next day if I have one. So, she should be asking for medical help re the hypos (maybe get a freestyle libre and an alarm for it?) and definitely go straight away to the doctor about the "foggy vision". I have no idea whether that is caused by poor diabetic control, exhaustion or something else entirely but it's not something that should be ignored.
On the positive side, vision problems from diabetes are often temporary and fixed by improved blood sugar control, and more serious issues usually develop over a long period, so that yearly checks are enough to detect (and treat) issues before they do long term damage. Do you know how long it is since your gf had her eyes checked?

 

[Ace Redford]

Hi @Ace Redford, Lack of sleep makes everything worse!! My thoughts as a TID, not professional opinion or advice.
So stress might cause some sleep disturbance, the sleep disturbance might then cause fractiousness and more stress and perhaps more reliance on caffeine which also affects sleep, and alcohol which creates further problems.
With stress, the body releases cortisol, a stress management hormone which makes insulin less effective and which tends to mobilise body stores like stored glucose from the liver a very "anti-insulin' action.
As others have said fluctuating BSLs (and 170 mg/dl is above normal and just one reading) can affect vision - the lens of the eye swells due to the increased level of glucose in the body.
But I have heard of mothers stressed by lack of sleep who have had temporary but severe visual disturbance. And eye doctors do at times diagnose people as having spasm of the eye muscles due to stress alone.
Poor diet with lack of Vitamin A affects vision too.
It seems to me that unless your fiancee's stressful situation is alleviated her vision, stamina, coping levels and diabetes may have great difficulty in improving.
I am uncertain where you live and thus what support services might exist ? visiting mothercraft nurse ? counselling services ? social work services, support from relatives etc.
Certainly adjustment of diet and insulin are likely necessary and perhaps a visit to the doctor, both to discuss her visual problems, diabetes and stress. Her child may also have some condition making him/her more difficult to settle, feed etc.
In such circumstances we as diabetics are advised to not have new glasses dispensed as the visual difficulty is likely to change with reduction of stress etc.
Best Wishes and please keep posting. A worry shared is a worry halved.

She lives in Belgium , the health care is optimum , now the foggy vision has vanished , thankfully , what am more concrened about is the sleep at night now

 

[Ace Redford]

Look, as a mother of two grown children I totally appreciate the sleep deprivation caused by a young child, and I had a partner to help me when ours were small. Not much you can do about that other than try to get her some additional adult help so she can rest during the day. However, night time hypos are a serious T1 issue and it's definitely worth getting help so as to avoid these. Honestly, I feel wrecked for most of the next day if I have one. So, she should be asking for medical help re the hypos (maybe get a freestyle libre and an alarm for it?) and definitely go straight away to the doctor about the "foggy vision". I have no idea whether that is caused by poor diabetic control, exhaustion or something else entirely but it's not something that should be ignored.
On the positive side, vision problems from diabetes are often temporary and fixed by improved blood sugar control, and more serious issues usually develop over a long period, so that yearly checks are enough to detect (and treat) issues before they do long term damage. Do you know how long it is since your gf had her eyes checked?

thank you Ellie for your reply , now the fog is gone ,she sees clearly with her beautiful eyes , am more concerned now about her sleep , she tolf me clearly , she is afraid of the night , cuz she never gets rest , and its mainly cuz of sugar , she always eats much sugar at night , and then injects and goes to sleep , hoping that sugar will go low slowly , to allow her to sleep , but i feel like she is making a mistake there , i dont know its just a feeling , could it be that she's applying injections wrongly at night ?

 

[Ace Redford]

Hi @Ace Redford, how old is your girlfriend’s child?
When they’re young most children need refreshment and reassurance at night which can make mother’s sleep deprived. Without someone else there, and T1, your girlfriend is carrying a big burden so any help would probably be welcome.
Does she work? If not, is there someone who could take her child out for an afternoon or a crèche/kindergarten/nursery that her child would like and could go to so your girlfriend could catch up on sleep during the day?
Personally, I find it’s harder to control blood sugars without decent sleep.
Would she like to join this forum too so that she can interact with others who have T1?
Like the others say, a visit to a doc seems a very very good idea for her.

she doesnt work for now ; her child is almost 2 years old , i tried to convince her to take her son to a crèche , but she refuses it , she told me i want to take care of him , i respect her decision

 

[Ace Redford]

Hi @Ace Redford ,

Lack of sleep can make ones eyes a little foggy I suppose..But then, so can can wildly fluctuating BGs? (Should one drop in the night & overtreat. For me it can feel like a "hangover."
(Lol, just spent the last two nights myself gigging with the band & I certainly feel the late nights..)

176 is about 9.8Mmol which is a little over what should be normal..

What insulins is your fiancé prescribed?

i dont know , ill ask her

 

[EllieM]

thank you Ellie for your reply , now the fog is gone ,she sees clearly with her beautiful eyes , am more concerned now about her sleep , she tolf me clearly , she is afraid of the night , cuz she never gets rest , and its mainly cuz of sugar , she always eats much sugar at night , and then injects and goes to sleep , hoping that sugar will go low slowly , to allow her to sleep , but i feel like she is making a mistake there , i dont know its just a feeling , could it be that she's applying injections wrongly at night ?

Well, we're not allowed (rightly) to give advice on insulin doses here, but that does sound like an unusual regime for a T1. Most of us try to adjust our insulin to what we eat, rather than having to pack in the carbs to avoid a night time hypo. And it won't be doing her any long term good to go very high in order to avoid (possibly) going low. I'm assuming she's on a combination of long acting (basal) insulin to keep her going throughout the day/night and short acting (bolus) before meals? Night time hypos sound like she may need to adjust her basal. If it's fear of hypos rather than actual hypos I'd suggest she pushes hard to get a cgm, such as the libre, which will tell her what's happening at night and can have add-ons to convert it to give actual warnings when your blood sugars goes out of range.

But I understand her hypo fear when she's home alone with a toddler. I lost hypo awareness when I was pregnant with my two kids and had friends around to watch me in my second pregnancy when I was minding my toddler alone. My suggestions

1) Get her to make appointments and talk with her doctor/clinic.
2) Investigate the cgm option for hypos
3) Get her to create an account on these forums for help/support

If she's your finacee you're not ready to move in together yet? (I don't worry about night time hypos when my husband is home, though it's truly scary for him on the few occasions I've had a serious night time hypo)

 

[Ace Redford]

Well, we're not allowed (rightly) to give advice on insulin doses here, but that does sound like an unusual regime for a T1. Most of us try to adjust our insulin to what we eat, rather than having to pack in the carbs to avoid a night time hypo. And it won't be doing her any long term good to go very high in order to avoid (possibly) going low. I'm assuming she's on a combination of long acting (basal) insulin to keep her going throughout the day/night and short acting (bolus) before meals? Night time hypos sound like she may need to adjust her basal. If it's fear of hypos rather than actual hypos I'd suggest she pushes hard to get a cgm, such as the libre, which will tell her what's happening at night and can have add-ons to convert it to give actual warnings when your blood sugars goes out of range.

But I understand her hypo fear when she's home alone with a toddler. I lost hypo awareness when I was pregnant with my two kids and had friends around to watch me in my second pregnancy when I was minding my toddler alone. My suggestions

1) Get her to make appointments and talk with her doctor/clinic.
2) Investigate the cgm option for hypos
3) Get her to create an account on these forums for help/support

If she's your finacee you're not ready to move in together yet? (I don't worry about night time hypos when my husband is home, though it's truly scary for him on the few occasions I've had a serious night time hypo)

She eats and injects cuz she fears hypos yes , and sadly we are not move in together yet cuz we are far away of each other

 

[EllieM]

She eats and injects cuz she fears hypos yes , and sadly we are not move in together yet cuz we are far away of each other

The thing is, it's likely that her night time insulin is her basal dose, so it shouldn't make her hypo if she's taking the right amount. Depending on what she's taking, she also might be able to change the time of day for her basal. She really needs to talk to her clinic about her issues. (Failing that, she could post on here, since though we can't advise on specific doses, we can make useful suggestions about things she can ask her clinic and things she can do herself. How long has she been T1?

 

[endocrinegremlin]

Blown away by this whole post and the comments.

A whole number of things can be causing hypos. basal. bolus. stress. depression, how hot her bedroom is. Yes I am serious on the last one. If her average is 9 that is not horrendous. For many years that was my TARGET.

I'd offer all the help you are able to give and if you ARE so far away as the comments suggest then maybe it is not right for you to be posting her health and family life details on a public forum?