Waking up at 3 a.m to check blood glucose?

Isobel94

Well-Known Member
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71
Hi all,

I'm type one and I'm on novorapid and lantus. I would like to know what the deal is with waking oneself up at three in the morning to check how the lantus is working? What is it exactly am I trying to check?

Sorry but I don't like to torture myself unless there's a good reason ;) Have tried it recently and just fell back asleep again...

Thank you!

Izzy.
 

kendod666

Well-Known Member
Messages
51
Isobel94 said:
Hi all,

I'm type one and I'm on novorapid and lantus. I would like to know what the deal is with waking oneself up at three in the morning to check how the lantus is working? What is it exactly am I trying to check?

Sorry but I don't like to torture myself unless there's a good reason ;) Have tried it recently and just fell back asleep again...

Thank you!

Izzy.

It is to check for a phenomenon called Somogyi, where a blood glucose drop in the night causes your body to produce hormones that raise your blood sugar by morning.

All without you knowing.

If you have low levels in the night a small snack before bed or reduction in lantus might be called for.

Stops you going hypo in your sleep without your knowledge.

No need to be done every night though :)

Once in a while I would say.
 

Isobel94

Well-Known Member
Messages
71
Thank you kendod666, not having hypos in the middle of the night, rather trying to get a lower blood glucose result in the morning by increasing lantus without causing a low blood sugar at 3 a.m (not the most pleasant of experiences). I find I'm usually up around 8 mmol/l in the morning, thought it would be better to have it at 5-6 mmol/l. Also trying to curb insulin resistance in the morning.

'Tis going to be a long night... and I shall wake up at eight with the blood testing kit open beside my pillow, as what happened last time... with no result as I just opened it at 3 a.m and fell back asleep :lol:

Hopefully tonight will yield better results...

Izzy.
 

noblehead

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Isobel94 said:
Hi all,

I'm type one and I'm on novorapid and lantus. I would like to know what the deal is with waking oneself up at three in the morning to check how the lantus is working? What is it exactly am I trying to check?

Sorry but I don't like to torture myself unless there's a good reason ;) Have tried it recently and just fell back asleep again...

Thank you!

Izzy.


Unless you suspect that your basal insulin is wrong and it's causing high or low bg then there's no reason to test, if this is the case then I would recommend you test more frequently than just three, I test at 1, 3 and 5am to see a pattern emerging, it's worth having a few nights sleep disturbed to get your basal insulin right so you can get a good nights sleep knowing your levels are fine :thumbup:
 

Isobel94

Well-Known Member
Messages
71
To noblehead, I must say you're a trooper for getting up so much during the night!

If I'm having real trouble I might consider waking up at intervals alright, I'll cross that bridge when it comes to it! :D

Thanks a lot, much appreciated.

Izzy.
 

iHs

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,595
A good way to make yourself get up in the night is to have a hot drink before going to bed so that you can get up and use the loo and at the same time, do a bg test.

Now that I use a pump, sometimes during the night I need to check my basal rates out and used to set some alarms up on my mobile and stuff the phone under my pillow..... but got up to do one bg test and then when the alarm sounded again for another hour, I just turned it off meaning to get up but drifted back to sleep, so not good really.

I got it sorted though by setting the alarms on the mobile and putting the phone on the floor so that I'd have no option but to get up to turn the alarm off and then go to bathroom to do a bg test.

Good luck.... you'll find out what goes on with your bg levels while you're asleep. I was quite shocked at how low my bg levels went from midnight to 3am and why I always needed to eat a snack before going to bed with Lantus and also Levemir
 

Isobel94

Well-Known Member
Messages
71
I suppose whatever way you can pull yourself up out of bed, do it! Though the situation can be worsened when you have your partner beside you in bed, groaning at the obscene 3 a.m alarm... mind you, I really don't blame him :thumbdown:

Once I spend a few sleepless nights jabbing myself in the finger, usually two or three, I'm sorted :wink:. I find I don't have to have a snack before bed myself. In fact I have my last meal 2 hours or more before I take my Lantus. Levimir or Lantus I wouldn't imagine would require a snack before bed as it's a background insulin i.e it'll keep you balanced, maybe it had something to do with your Novorapid? I found that I avoided evening lows by reducing my Novorapid at dinnertime, but then that's a whole other story. Could have been you needed to reduce the Lantus/Levimir.

Falling asleep with the finger pricking thing in your hand... how glamorous ;)