Tiredness

How awful for you @LucySW

Have you had blood tests to rule out anaemia or other possible causes?

LucySW said:

I'm wondering what blood tests to ask for. None yet.

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Your Dr will decide which ones to request based on their observation Lucy.

I'd book an appointment, especially as it's effecting your quality of life aswe all need to get a restful nights sleep.

I agree on the blood tests to make sure all's ok.

I also think tiredness and insomnia can be a vicious circle. I definitely find it harder to sleep when I'm overtired - and then, of course, I get even more tired.

When you've woken up in the night, have you tested your blood sugar? I find unsettled sugars can really mess with sleep.

Hello my beautiful friends, I hope that you are all very well today!

Lucy, here are my thoughts:

I was talking to my doctor about a week ago (when I had my appointment for the review of my condition) and he said to me that I look “a little pale and silent” and that he is worried about early stages of depression. He suggested that I should not hesitate to ask for help if I feel I am dipping low.

At that moment, I realized this: It is not diabetes that makes me tired or sad… it is everything else… but, I cannot/I am not allowed to blame everything/everyone else… so, I blame diabetes instead. Therefore, diabetes becomes my escape goat.

I realized that every day, I put up with difficult, demanding customers, stupid/long working hours, the responsibility of being a carer, day-to-day stuff, my own personal problems and insecurities… I cannot stop/tackle any of these… I cannot quit my job, I cannot choose to work only with the people that I like, I cannot stop being a carer for my parents…so, I think to myself that it is diabetes that makes everything so difficult (as it is a problem which is added on top of everything else.)

The fact is that our health should be our priority; Diabetes and the good management of our condition should be our priority and everything else should be secondary. Just like I try to remind this to myself, I also wish to remind it to you…. Maybe your tiredness is not because of your diabetes… Maybe it is because of everyone/everything else and the fact that we haven’t yet persuaded ourselves (as well as the people around us) to adjust to our new reality. Therefore, everyone and everything expect from us the same amount of hard work, patience and responsibility.

Maybe, instead of pushing ourselves more and more every day, until we burn out, the solution is, in fact, in making things for others a little bit more “inconvenient”… ?

Just a thought…
Regards
Josephine

azure said:

I agree on the blood tests to make sure all's ok.
When you've woken up in the night, have you tested your blood sugar? I find unsettled sugars can really mess with sleep.

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100 times this! If I wake up in the night and can't get back to sleep 99% of the time it will be because of what my levels are doing. Usually it's if they're dropping - even if I'm 5.x and slowly dropping this can keep me awake. It can be if they're above 10 as well though.

Do your levels tend to rise fall or stay stable overnight?

I've found my levels are a bit more stable at night if I have a supper of 2 rounds of burgen bread (22g of carbs) about 2 and a half hours before bed (with insulin to cover it), of course this might not work for you...

Good luck.

Matt

Hi Lucy, it might well be your thyroid. Ask for the actual thyroid hormones, that is FT4 and FT3 along with TSH. Blood count and Ferritin and vitamin D are also tests you could ask for.

Another thought… I am wondering if “Bernstein-ing” is indeed suitable for everyone?
I know that there are people on a low carbs diet who are doing excellent, they manage their diabetes well and their energy levels are very good.

However, I am wondering if all of us are, in fact, suitable for such a dietary regime or if some of us function better on different diets (maybe of more carbs or vegetarian/vegan even…)

Regards
Josephine

Hi @LucySW
have you any other symptoms as well as the tiredness --
mainly either being cold , or feeling a bit weepy ??

i was diagnosed hypothyroid 8 weeks ago and my symptoms were extreme tiredness , cold , tingling in ends of fingers , and a bit weepy.

definitely include a full blood work up to include thyroid , iron levels.

I agree with everything said above, and I am v sorry you are feeling this way, @LucySW

The only thing I can add is something that affected my sleep more than I believed possible - and that was caffiene. I only ever drank 1-2 coffees a day, usually decaff, and always in the morning, plus decaff teas later in the day. Yet when I ended drinking all coffee and switched to herb teas, my sleep patterns improved tremendously.

I also try and avoid all electronic gadgetry and blue light in the bedroom, no TV, etc. And stick to a fairly steady bedtime routine.

I would definitely check with your doc, but trialing food, drink and routine changes might help as well.

Hey @LucySW I don't have anything to add to what's been said already except I hope you get this sorted, there will be an answer for you soon, take care and good luck

This happened to me post diagnosis and part of it was low vit D. They put me on special pills and I felt a bit better within 4 weeks. They are also exploring a chronic fatigue diagnosis for me (apparently type 1s are susceptible to it) although I am finally starting to feel better so hopefully it was not that.

Do you know how long your levels were high before diagnosis? Did you have DKA?

Really hope you start to feel better soon x

Unfortunately diabetes is a immune problem so you are susceptible to other immune problems so it could be numerous things. I got diagnosed with hyperthyroidism 8 months ago and it had huge impact on my sleep even gave me some mental issues which endocrinologist when asked if it could replied yes. Until recently I was snappy, tired, shaking, impatient and could only sleep now then because I kept waking up.

Have you changed diets in anyway? Or any extra activities?

Sometimes its the food we eat if we over indulge in foods our bodys are bound to suffer a little maybe even in non diabetics.

Sugars levels rise and then can fall depending on our moods this can have impact on tiredness. I don't always think that DSN we always have normal lives nor thet think we are normal. Thinking we can be happy all the time just so our sugar levels stay fine. I would like to know if sugar levels rise in non diabetics when upset or or unhappy.

Glad to hear it @LucySW