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Night sweats T2 - hypo?

K

KateS14

Well-Known Member
Messages
45
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi all.

The last 3 night I have woken up a couple of times sweating buckets. Never had this before. I am on 2 x 500mg per day and no other medication. My BG is generally well controlled.

I wondered if my BG could be going low / hypo at night. Is this even possible for a T2 not on hypo causing medication? Has anyone else experienced this?

I haven't been on the ball enough to test when I've woken up in the night, but will if it happens again.

The last week or so has been absolutely crazy busy, and quite stressful with various things, and my normal eating schedule went to pot a bit, missing a few meals and eating at odd times. And generally probably pushing myself too hard trying to organise a family Christmas from scratch in 2 days after a positive Covid test for our planned hosts changed all our plans at the last minute. Thankfully all done now, and a few days off now to just relax!

P.s. - It is definitely not menopause / hormonal (that's been and gone, thank goodness!)
 
Omicron has a particular side effect apparantly of night sweats. May not be related but is that a possibility?

not sure about night sweats and hypos. Metformin assume you are on isn’t known to cause hypos. Can you test your levels when you wake up?
 
While you may be through the menopause it isn't unusual for women to continue to have hot flushes/night sweats years later, so it might be that?
 
It may be nothing to do with your T2. I’m 4 years post menopause and I still suffer terrible night sweats and hot flashes at random times of the day, I had them for a few years before too. It’s nothing to do with warm temperature around me, it’s the change of temperature, in fact just had a massive flash 20 minutes ago going into freezing cold garage- I was like a furnace lol - I still sleep with 2 fans on in winter whilst hubby is wrapped up like an Eskimo. I find stress can exasperate them too and you seem to have had more than your fair share this week.
 
Sometimes night sweats and hot flushes can continue into your 70's according to some of my older friends.
 
I used to get night sweats when I was running high blood sugars.
You can also get 'false hypos', if you're used to running high and start to get lower you can get hypo symptoms because you're lower than your body is used to.
How are your numbers in general?

Without testing there really is no way to tell if it's from high BG, low BG, lower BG than you're used to, or something not related to diabetes at all.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I never once had a hot flush/night sweat throughout the whole of perimenopause, or menopause, so I am as sure as I can be that it's nothing to do with that, but will bear it in mind.

Also repeatedly tested negative for the dreaded Covid, so hopefully not that either.

My blodds are normally well controlled - between 5 and 7 before eating and generally never above 8.5 after eating (average rise testing after 2 hours over the last 3 months no more than 1.6).

Stress / anxiety / disruption has been pretty much through the roof the last few days, and I did have to take a painkiller before bed a couple of nights, just to dull down the pain of a pulled muscle enough to sleep.

I will try to remember to do a finger prick if it happens again.

Maybe it's just a bad combination of too many things going on at once and I'll feel better after a few days rest!
 
I get this. T2, in remission, no meds. The sweating happens a couple of times a week but I'll get five or six wet mornings in a row sometimes. Night sweats, nightmares, early waking. I tried a Libre 2 via the free offer which (when it worked) showed that I was indeed having a "proper" hypo around 4-6am. BG abruptly drops from mid-fours and then the liver kicks in with a big glucose dump but not until after BGs fall to around 3.6. I could never check this via fingerprick as by the time I'd woken, my BG was already back up.

I'm not saying your experience is the same - there are many other possible causes - but you could try a Libre via the free Abbot offer. I wasn't really impressed with them, as two failed and the one that didn't gave readings much higher than my blood testing. But it's the only way I can think of that you can find out what your levels are while you're actually asleep.
 
Thanks @KennyA .

That's really interesting to read. It's not bothering me too much at the moment, but if it persists I'll think about the free trial Libre, as I also can't think of another way to see what's going on if I can't catch it on a fingerprick test (for whatever reason).
 
Last week I had three nights on the trot. Keep a fresh top by my bed so I can change. Sheets get changed as they are soaking wet.

It happens a couple of times a year looking back at my BG testing tracker but only for a few nights and then nothing. Never tested my BG at night, it's the early morning really. Nothing consistent in what I have eaten or drunk.

No idea but it's not nice....
 

Thanks @hankjam .

No, not nice at all, I agree. But I have to say it is very reassuring for me to hear that it happens to other people too.
 
You will read in othe places that T2s don't have "real" hypos, only false hypos. I always felt that was wrong and now because of the Libre I have some evidence to back that up. As you say, it's annoying rather than anything else and the worst bit is the early morning waking. Best of luck. Interested in how we get along.
 
OK, so a bit of a working theory after another few nights.

I have only experienced 1 more night sweat- last night - but the common denominator on the 4 nights that it has happened is that I had 2 Ibruprofen before bed to help with some muscle pain. Other than that not much real change in variables at all.

I have looked up interactions between that and Metformin, and some sites say it's fine to take both, others say not as Ibruprofen CAN lower BG. Very confused, so had a chat with a lovely pharmacist who made time to talk it through with me, and she said that although the evidence she could find on a quick search wasn't entirely clear, she has heard of other people who have had this problem if taking Ibruprofen at night.

She's advised switching to paracetemol when needed. Which, as I hardly ever need painkillers will hopefully be a while now...

Hardly definitive, but reassuring nonetheless.
 
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Hi, I wouldn’t say it’s impossible for type 2 to have hypos, I’m as not a doctor as anyone can get, but I think it’s hard to grasp what an induced hypo actually is until you have one, I had experienced false hypos and woozy need to eat something hypos. But when you have an actual hypo or at least what I now define it as, you wouldn’t need to ask if you have had one, no more than a pallet of bricks landing on your head would make you ask “did someone throw something?”

If you have the funds (just under £50 in UK for two weeks) It may be worth investing in a freestyle libre from the chemist, it will tell you what’s going on when you sleep, it’s actually quite fun and interesting as a learning experience.

I hope you find some answers, best wishes.
 
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