Lethargy

[Bob F]

Morning all,

I have always had weird sleeping patterns ( 3-5 hours normally enough ), but over the last 6 months i'm waking up on the hour every hour ( sometimes less ) to go to the toilet and i'll have a drink of water or cordial ( not always ).
I can fall asleep at the drop of a hat and i have recently been dozing off in the office
( usually for seconds / a minute ) which is not good. Is this normal ? As i have only been confirmed as a type 2 diabetic within the last 6 months.
So far i have been left to control the diabeties with my own diet and exercise, finding it hard to lose weight even though i go swimming every morning before work and most evenings after work, i play golf most saturdays and sundays.
Any suggestions ??

Regards

Bob f

 

[noblehead]

Bob,

Tell us a bit more information, i.e blood glucose and recent hba1c.

Nigel

 

[Synonym]

Hi Bob and welcome.

First of all look under the Greetings and Introductions heading for a thread where the advice given to New T2s has been posted and then follow it! The guidance given is just what you need.

What is your Hba1c and are you self testing? You may need to cut down on portion sizes and the total carbs you are eating but you will only find out by testing before and 2 hours after your meals to see what your food is actually doing to your BG levels. Cordial, which usually has high sugars, may not be the best thing to drink but water is good.

As for the nodding off it may not be related to Diabetes at all so I would see your GP.

 

[RichardNY]

Hi Bob,

As well as what other members have suggested what popped into my mind (and this is not a diagnosis) is sleep apnea. Always good to see the GP but try not to let them pin everything on your diabetes (not that they will, just be cautious ). Interrupted sleep pattern, dry mouth and a tendency to doze off during the day belongs to a lot of overlapping niggling little problems diabetes (in relation to your sugars) sleep apnea and a host of other ailments.

All the best.

Richard.

 

[noblehead]

Hi Bob,

As well as what other members have suggested what popped into my mind (and this is not a diagnosis) is sleep apnea. Always good to see the GP but try not to let them pin everything on your diabetes (not that they will, just be cautious ). Interrupted sleep pattern, dry mouth and a tendency to doze off during the day belongs to a lot of overlapping niggling little problems diabetes (in relation to your sugars) sleep apnea and a host of other ailments.

All the best.

Richard.

Good call Richard!

Nigel

 

[sugarless sue]

Here is the advice that Synonym was talking about to save you looking for it !

Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics.This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid or reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating then two hours after eating you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the affect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try !!

As a Type 2 the latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.
If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

Sue/Ken.

 

[Bob F]

Thanks to you all for your input, new at this so I shall take on board all your comments and let you know the outcome.
At present not on medication or self testing, guess I should start self testing and take it from there.

regards,

Bob F