Sleep

[ExChocoholic]

Does anyone else find when you have a short night your fasting sugars increase? Now I ask it seems common sense that there is a correlation, but your thoughts anyway?

 

[Robbity]

Quite often I don'r sleep much at night though I'd tend to call it a short rather than a bad nights sleep, but I think in general my glucose levels first thing are more related to when I last ate and/or what I ate the night before - e,g. a fatty supper tends to give me a lower "fasting" reading. Short sleeps have been a fairly long term sleep pattern since long before I had diabetes, so it doesn't normally bother me - but if it's down to pain or stress that's a different matter - as @helensaramay says many other things can also impact on our levels.

And another thought: as I don't go low overnight, I don't have the possible background worry of that ever happening.

Robbity

 

[Brunneria]

Yes.
The worse my sleep, the higher my morning readings.
Stress (such as a job interview) can make my fbg nearly double.
I just try and work with it - and eat something as soon as I realise what is happening, because I find a low carb breakfast is the best way to stop the bg from rising further.

 

[Lamont D]

Sleep!
Many and varied theories why we have sleep problems. The recommendations and advice is just as varied, theories resound!
Through my experience and please don't take it as gospel!
We have between three and five different levels of sleep, R.E.M is probably the most popular because of the dreams we have and is probably the most fascinating and less understood.
I fall asleep, this is the part known as beauty sleep, it definitely doesn't help my looks, but it is the preparation for a prolonged sleep. Next will be the REM sleep, which can be two or three times a night, then deep sleep. This is the important one because if you don't get the previous states of sleep, the deep sleep is where you get the resting state, the healing state and brain function is much improved. Your health is always improved if you get continuous deep sleep, night after night.
If you suffer from sleep deprivation or insomnia or even nightmarish dreams, if you have hypos or in some cases hypers during sleep, and if your sleep patterns are disrupted by work, traveling and what you eat or drink especially alcohol.
Your following day on waking will notgive you the good day, bad day scenario as your hormonal response to the sleep will effect your day ahead.
This includes, insulin and glucose, but if you have a bad sleep with a nightmare or too much to drink, your day could be worse!
Breathing patterns are important during sleep.
When you wake naturally, you do usually have a better chance of having better sugar levels, the dawn phenomenon will always be a problem because it is a necessary natural reaction to waking.
Sleep is important and the benefits of good sleep has to be how you live your life!

 

[ExChocoholic]

Well I've suffered some back-to-back kidney infections over the summer which cause many a fragmented night and with the infections I can see why my fasting sugars went haywire although DBN doesn't seem to take this onboard. I've been working hard on low carbs but had melt down yesterday and ate Cadbury alleged 30% less sugar chocolate- guilt kicking in today :-(

 

[Stephen Lewis]

If I have a disturbed sleep - several wakings, maybe awake for 1 to 2 hours etc. my bg levels always increase. As I have a Libre I can see how the bg levels increase as I am waking then drop when IO fall asleep. If I wake early and stay up the graph just shows a continual increase. I am finding that my previous day's carb total will influence my overnight and morning bg levels even when those carbs were eaten at lunch. Now that I have lost a lot of weight, 35 lbs in a year, I am finding that the affect of poor sleep on my bg is much less. Just a few months ago I could go from 5.5 to 8.5 in half an hour now I am going from 4.5 (or less) to maybe 6.0 at most. I assume because my liver has less fat to metabolize. Still even with less sleep I feel way better than a year ago because of the low carb diet. As always I have to say that we are all different and your story may be different but this may help. I also say do what you can to cut the stress that you put yourself under as this will help the sleep.

 

[Stago2005]

Does anyone else find when you have a short night your fasting sugars increase? Now I ask it seems common sense that there is a correlation, but your thoughts anyway?

Yes definitely I have sleep apnoea and when I have a poor nights sleep my sugars are higher