Going low at night
I'm super paranoid about going low at night, I mean if I'm low during the day, I feel it, I get really shaky, but I'm awake right so i know it's happening! What happens if you become too low in the evening? Will your body wake you up from sleep to let you know somethings wrong?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jessica Kuddes on -
Yes. In my experiance, my body always wakes me up. When I go low at night I usually start sweating really hard and then my heart starts pounding. The adreneline wakes me up and I have always been able to take care of the low. From what I've seen, the body still reacts the same way.
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Permalink Reply by drrps3 on
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My body wakes me up, too. I sweat, and I usually have VERY strange dreams. Sometimes I feel like the dreams are on fast forward, too. If you sleep in the same bed with someone, your partner will even notice the sweating, which would be a sign to wake you up, also.
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Permalink Reply by Joe on
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Catherine, it can be dangerous, but typically for me my adrenaline will wake me up. It's the same reflex that makes you shakey and sweaty in a hypo during the day. I totally agree, my dreams get so wierd that when I first wake up I am often so confused that I don't realize I am low.
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Permalink Reply by Smartprofessor on
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Don't worry, Catherine. Two things happen. Either, as others have said, you wake up and although is is super-crappy when you are woozy and half-asleep and I tend to overestimate the carbs I need, it's ok.
The other thing is that you might not wake yourself up, your liver will dump its store of sugar into your blood and that will bring you up again. This might make you feel bad in the morning, for example you might have a headache. This happens eventually when you have daytime hypos and pass out as well. But it is best not to pass out.
Either way, you don't usually have any serious consequences. You say you have good warning signs so don't worry. The body is an amazing thing really.
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Permalink Reply by Penny R. on
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My son is 5 (diagnosed at 3). He has had plenty of lows during the night and he has never woken up for any of them. I found them when getting up to test his sugar myself. I usually test him 2-3 times during the night to make sure he doesn't go too low.
BTW your liver only stores so much glucose. If your stores have been depleted your liver is not going to be any help.
My best advice is that if you are worried then set your clock to get up around 2 or 3 to test and make sure you're not dropping.
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Permalink Reply by mollyjade on
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When I was little, I didn't wake up with lows. But by the time I reached jr. high I started waking up. Of course, it took me another ten years to realize I should just keep the juice by my bed instead of wandering downstairs to the kitchen.
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Your comment gives me hope that Riley will one day wake up himself if he is low.
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Permalink Reply by ruby on -
I have had some fits during the night, so became very paranoid about it and started eating more. Sometimes i have strange dreams about eating if my blood is low, very strange!
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Permalink Reply by Cody Turner on -
My dog wakes me up but I have woken up on my own from a low as well.
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If I have a low overnight I wake up. You still want to avoid overnight lows more than daytime lows for a couple of reasons. When you're awake, you might notice that you're having a hard time concentrating or you feel lathargic and you catch your low at 60 or 50. But when you're asleep, you probably won't notice it until you get to the heart pounding, sweating, adreneline low of the 40s. In addition to that, by the time you wake up, you have no idea how long your bloodsguar has been low so you have no way of knowing if your liver released some stored sugar and how much it released. This means that you're more likely to have a reactive high from an overnight low than from a daytime low.
But don't let worry about the occasional overnight low keep you from sleeping. Keep a juice box or some glucose tablets by your bed, and if you have reason to think you might go low overnight (extra exercise, a stressful day), set your alarm clock for 3AM and test.
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Permalink Reply by saundra barragan on -
My overnight problems used to be terrible highs, until we adjusted my night time dosage of Lantus. Now I usually don't run into unusual lows during the day. I have worked really hard to keep my blood sugars at 100 or lower all day long, while still eating all three meals. Last night was the exception to the rule for me. I ran low during the night and was feeling so miserable i finally got up and checked my blood sugar. It was only a 67 and i couldn't understand why my body had a problem with that, but obviously it did. My son had advised me to keep some saltine crackers on the bedside table and not grab something full of sugar. He said if I did I would bounce and then lose all the rest of my night's sleep. feeling miserable from that. and then have to treat that.. Whatever you use, you will see your body's reaction to it and make your own choices. If you truly worry about being too low at night, eat a small bedtime snack. And i do mean a small one. My favorite is a cup of that jell-o, sugar free chocolate pudding. It is small and only has 60 calories. I know it has 14 carbs, but it is chocolate ( or double chocolate) and has extra calcium. One or two units of Humalog can easily cover it or don't shoot anything else if you use the nighttime dose of lantus. The worst thing to do is to worry about something at night.. Your body will wake you if it needs something.
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Permalink Reply by Mollie on -
i completely disagree with some of the comments on this post. yes, Ideally your body will wake you...but many diabetics suffer from Hypoglycemia Unawareness(i am one of them) and our bodies fail us and do not 'wake' us during over night lows. In fact, i know one diabetic that even during the day she can feel fully functional and not realize that her blood sugar is 25mg---yes 25mg---
For newly diagnosed adults, Hypoglycemia Unawareness seems to be very uncommon...but it can happen and i dont think it is a subject that should be commented on by saying 'dont worry about it, your body will wake you'---My body does not wake me.
While Hyperglycemia can kill you slowly over time, one severe hypoglycemia episode can kill you immdediately.
The best advice i read on these comments was set your alarm for 2 or 3am and check your BS. Know your body, know yourself and be careful.
Mollie
T1 for 33 years
Animas Pump/Dexcom 7 CGM
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