• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Trouble sleeping

winter2342343

Active Member
Messages
30
Hello, I was recently diagnosed with type 2 a month ago. I was started on metformin 1 per day increasing to 2 after two weeks. All seemed fine initially. It's weird because I didn't have any symptoms of diabetes apart from tiredness after meals and getting up in the night to go to the loo, no excessive thirst and certainly no weight loss. It was only after my auntie, who is also diabetic, tested my blood glucose and found it was about 11 first thing in the morning.

I've cut out all sweets, cakes, biscuits, sugary drinks, and have really reduced my carb intake, I'm walking the dog every evening which is getting better and better, we are able to walk much further every time and I've lost a lot of weight initially around my chest and stomach.

So the problem I'm having is I don't have much appetite and am generally less hungry than I've ever been! also for the past 10 days I've been suffering from insomnia, where I can't fall asleep no matter how tired I am before going to bed and I'm only getting a few hours sleep per night. I did change my mattress when it started so I'm not sure if that's to do with it or it's something to do with the metformin, my levels in general coming down, or some other complication? I wondered if any else had experienced a similar thing? Upon waking my levels are about 5.6 mmol/L.
 
Welcome @winter2342343 The weight loss is more a Type 1 thing, so don't let that bother you.

Let me tag @daisy1 for you as she has some good information.

Any change in life can cause insomnia and having a diabetes diagnosis is certainly a change! Also, if your body has been used to high levels, then as you come down to normal levels it can feel strange to your body and so can make you feel a bit 'off' sometimes.
 

Thanks for replying.
 
Hi @winter2342343 ,

What I've read about metformin. It can act as an appetite supressant. As well as the obvious increasing insulin sensitivity.

It's great you're getting the BS levels under control!
 
@winter2342343

Hello and welcome to the forum Here is the information, mentioned above, which we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. It contains useful advice about low carb eating including a link to the Low Carb Program which you could join. Ask questions and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 220,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
 
@winter2342343

I suffer from that myself. I was not sleeping well before diagnosis, though I am a lot more conscious of it now that may be because I am paying more attention to my health .

I have been doing very low carb for 6 months now. I think I have concluded that meat makes the problem worse, so I am going to try to eat a bit more fish and a little less meat. it also seems that its better to eat any carbs you do include in your diet in the evening rather than the morning, so I am going to try that out too

http://www.livestrong.com/article/482729-i-cant-sleep-on-a-low-carb-diet/
 

Thanks
 

Thanks very much I've read that, it could well be what's happening to me. I'm also really encouraged reading your signature and the stats.
 
Insomnia is a nightmare, I've had it for a long time. Stopped drinking coffee and tea or anything containing caffeine after 2pm at the latest. I'm now sleeping a lot better. Some people metabolize caffeine quickly and some slowly. There is some sort of genetic testing you can get done to see if you are or not. I'm sure I metabolize caffeine slowly, so the stimulating effects linger much longer. Not saying this will solve your problem. Just that it has had a positive effect for me, my energy levels and alertness are so much better. Don't feel exhausted or like I'm dragging my feet all day. Good luck!
 

Thanks for the info.
 
Chronic insomnia, you need a wind down routine, prepare your body for sleep, this will take about 2 hours before bed.
Go for a 30 minute walk
Take a bath or shower, get ready for bed
Don't watch tv
No computer or mobile phone checking
Make yourself a night time drink, even if it's just hot water
Read a chapter of a book, a real book not electronic
Get into bed and close your eyes, if you are not asleep within 30 minutes, read more of the book, if this doesn't work get up and sit somewhere quitely you can try meditation, soothing music via head phones, after 20 minutes try reading and bed again.
Lavender and/or chamomile scent infusers in your room help.
 
Well a quick update on this. I went to see the doctor about the sleeping problems on the 5th Jan, I explained what had been happening and he asked me if I'd been testing my levels. I said I had and just before going to sleep they were about 5.5mmol/L. He said that was far too low and the reason why I was having difficulty sleeping, he recommended knocking the metformin down to 1 per day and it that doesn't work try stopping them altogether and seeing if that makes any changes. He said it should be higher than that before bed and I might be going hypo. So I did as instructed and have been on one metformin per day for around a week and a half. I've had more success sleeping but I'm still waking up at around 3:30 - 2:30am sometimes (I go to bed at midnight and read for a bit) probably getting around 5 hours a night a best, sometimes less. I've been testing my levels throughout the day and there doesn't seem to be much change in what I was getting before. What I have noticed is more appetite coming back which over xmas on the 2 metformin a day I lost completely. I know it's not as accurate as the hba1c result but if I do an average over 30 days on my meter it comes out at 6 mmol/L.

I've been having a snack before I go to bed, either some oat cakes, pitta bread or nuts. I don't want to put on weight, I'm exercising every day and following a low carb/GI type diet, but I feel like if I don't do something to raise my bg I won't sleep!

I'm just a bit worried about stopping the metformin and my levels rising, but equally I'm worried about not sleeping well and that causing problems.

What do you guys think based on what I've written above?
 
well I have the same problem many days of the week, it doesn´t seem to help me to eat anything just before going to bed either, there must be something in all those carbs we used to eat that helped sleep...

I do have a little medicine from before becomming diabetic that made me sleep like a baby which I take once in a while when being desperate, but then on the other hand this is maybe what made me diabetic in the first place, the last 2 nights I have slept fantastic without any help of anything, but up at least twice every night to go to the toilet, this problem I didn´t have either before being put on metformin... maybe metformin do affect more aspects of the body in some people, I have found other cases on the web of people telling of frequent toilet visit in the nights.. but I haven´t look for cases of people with insomnia due to metformin yet...

some also tell that on low carb you need less sleep, but when one feels totally exchauted with hardly any sleep that doesn´t seem to be a symptom of not needing the sleep..

all I can say is that I feel compasion with you and know how anoying it is to not being able to sleep night after night, I tried to take tryptophan 250-500mg for some nights, didn´t help much but did make me very very sleepy, but couldn´t sleep the Whole night anyways, but then I read of the scary illness a lot of people got from tryptophan some 25 years ago, and I don´t dare experiment with it any more..also have tried melatoni with not that good results either, baldrian make me feel poisoned so that is not an option, but many people do use baldrian tea just before sleep and tell that it helps them much and camomille tea in the evenings..
 
Last edited:
This might sound silly @winter2342343 but have you tried going to bed earlier? You'd have to move your bedtime forward gradually.

I find that if I go to bed later than 11pm or so, adrenaline kicks in and I don't sleep as well.

Worth a try if the lack of sleep is debilitating maybe?
 

Thanks for the reply. It's not the waking up that bothers me it's the not being able to fall asleep initially.
 
@winter2342343 I have the same problem too. It's getting better now. I used to listen to stories at the very beginning and I drifted to sleep. After that failed to work, I listen to mild music. It works much better. If you have some meditation or yoga music, turn the volume down to a murmuring and let it guide you to sleep. This type of music has natural sounds like streams, birds, etc. so if I focus on listening to the murmuring sound, I sometimes imagine myself in a beautiful place full of trees, birds, water and good air. Although I still woke up to pee, it makes things much better now.
 

Thanks for the info
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…