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Poor sleep and high BG

J

Jewiemax

Active Member
Messages
31
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Please can I ask about sleep patterns - is there a correlation? Have had high blood sugar over a year or two and am waiting to see if I need Metformin to help decrease. Because I wake up feeling exhausted it's then even harder to get exercises done as just feel so utterly wiped out..
 
High blood sugar can cause all manner of problems and I'm sure poor sleep is one of them. Metformin helps a little but it's not the wonder drug people seem to think. It works by restricting how much glucose is produced by the liver but it can do nothing about the sugar/carbs in your diet.
Dietary changes, cutting out as many carbohydrates as possible will have more of an impact on your levels than any drug
 
I am aware of this and started a low carb diet this summer but was told by my GP to stop because of my thyroid condition worsening
 
Jewiemax said:
Please can I ask about sleep patterns - is there a correlation? Have had high blood sugar over a year or two and am waiting to see if I need Metformin to help decrease. Because I wake up feeling exhausted it's then even harder to get exercises done as just feel so utterly wiped out..
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Don't know if it helps, but I have high glucose (over 9 mmol) every morning. It might be the dawn effect where your liver spits out lots of glucose early morning. However, I do have weird sleep, with about 4 times more REM (dreaming sleep) than normal, measured on a proper machine that measures EEG, rather than one of those silly smart watches. In REM sleep, your brain is as active as when awake, so I don't know if this has an effect on glucose levels
 
Agree with jewiemax. I am the exactly the same. Can't sleep at all. Some people tell me go to bed the same time every nigh. Can't see the p oint.Still awake until day break sometimes.Be better maybe try and wake the same time every day and then maybe get the patern changed.Wondering if it is a diabetes thing as well. Hope to get good advice somewhere.
 
If you want to try it, there's a system where you go to bed at the same time each night, but, for the first few night, you get up after 4 h whether you've slept or not. Then you gradually increase it over about 8 weeks to 7 or 8 h.
 
In my experience I have found that poor sleep leads to higher blood glucose levels. I expect the reverse may also be true but I can go to bed with a level and have a higher level after a bad night's sleep despite having eaten nothing in between. It may be worth considering a CGM to actually look at the levels and record how you slept.
 
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