Monday, October 17, 2016

Diabetes Tell: Tired, But Can't Sleep.

After two weeks of for the most part - beautiful blood sugars - with some lows spattered in just for diabetes shits and giggles, I knew that diabetes would hit the fan sooner rather than later - I just wish it hadn’t hit the fan in the wee small hours of Monday morning.
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So am I the only one who can’t sleep when their blood sugar is starting to rise? 
OK, let me rephrase that: Am I the only one who goes to bed sleepy, but can't actually go to sleep because my blood sugar is unexpectedly/unknowingly rising? 
I’m sans CGM so it’s a good thing and I’m not complaining - OK, I am complaining, but  only because I’m in need of sleep and there’s only so much caffeine and water I can drink without my bladder exploding. 

I think it’s a little strange (and by strange I mean WEIRD - but in a good way,) that unexpected rising blood sugars in the middle of night - for the most part, don't allow me to reach full REM sleep - and FORCE me to check my blood sugar. 
 WEIRD, because normally high blood sugars make me tired and all I want to do is sleep - except when I’m actually trying to sleep. 
GOOD, because I’m so damn thankful that I have this as one of my “diabetes tells.” 
Here’s what went down and hoping you can relate: 
Last night’s dinner began with a beautiful bg of 91 and low in carb deliciohsness to boot. Things sailed smoothly - I checked two hours  after dinner and I was 160 - PERFECTO... until right before bed when my bg was 206. Not a big deal - I corrected and was ready to hit the sack by 11p.m.. 
Cut to 12:50 a.m. and yours truly tossing and turning. I finally grabbed my meter off the nightstand and checked - I was 220 and my less than 12 hour old site hurt. 
I didn’t feel like changing it out, but I did - and I gave another correction. 
Cut to 2:40 am and me still tossing and turning. 
You guessed it, I checked my bg AGAIN - and it was 269. 
I gave my self another correction of 1.8 - which was interrupted half way through by my insulin pump’s occlusion alarm.
YES, I STARTED TO PANIC, but I was too tired to actually FREAK.
And I silently reminded myself that I would have most likely slept through the occlusion if I hadn't been unable to sleep - YAY ME. 
I did the whole prime/rewind thing and the alarm went off, AGAIN. 
Tried a new battery and prime followed by rewinding a second time - same thing. 
My reservoir had been filled Sunday morning - it couldn’t be my insulin - maybe it was the tubing? I changed out the pump’s tubing and and it worked like a charm.
Then I finished the previously interrupted correction bolus - my head was a bit hazy on the math - I literally had to do the calculations with a pencil before I bolused. 
Then I waited until until my bg was going in the right direction before closing my eyes at 3:30. 

My alarm went off at 7 a.m., I hit the snooze button twice - thank GOD my coffee maker has a timer! 


This morning started off with a bang, followed by a 7a.m., bg of 155. 
After the early morning high blood sugar/occlusion escapades, I was more than cool with that number.
Monday was certainly a Monday from the get go - but things got done, blood sugars have stayed in range since 3:30 a.m., and I haven't once asked: IS IT FRIDAY YET? 
But I have asked for more coffee~ 

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I can definitely relate! Sleepless and restless nights plague me as well. Thank you for sharing your story. I'm sure there are many diabetics awake in the wee hours of any given morning.

Bridget said...

I thought it was just me this happened to! My problem is when my correction before bed isn't strong enough and I wake up at midnight or in the wee hours of the morning wide awake. This has only started happening to me recently, or it has been happening enough I have noticed a pattern. It's strange because during the day if I am high I could fall over and go to sleep. Well, I now know what to do I am wide awake at 2:30 am: check my sugar and take some insulin.