Six Until Me.: Because I Got High.
Katie Janes Is A Star. | Main | My Glucose Meter Talks To Me. About two months ago, I woke up at around 3 am after a terrible nightmare. The dream was graphic and felt so real that it took me several seconds to realize it didn't actually happen. (I dreamt that I had run over my own cat in the driveway and was holding its twisted and bleeding body. Horrendous dream, and I woke up crying.) Once I was fully awake, I tested my blood sugar and saw "291 mg/dl" on the screen. Holy middle-of-the-night high. I dialed in a correction bolus and went back to sleep. I didn't think anything of the nightmare correlation until last night. I dreamt that my husband was murdered by the guy who lived next door to me growing up. It was a horrible dream!!! I heard the gunshot in my mind, felt the heat of panic, and the tears on my face were hot and real. I woke up with a start and reached for Chris, who was safe and asleep next to me. (The reason for this high was unknown, but it was a gross, sweaters on the teeth kind of high that made me want to pee and brush my teeth at the same damn time.) I don't usually have nightmares, and I find it odd that the nightmares I remember most clearly corrrelate very neatly with a blood sugar issue. Normally, my dreams slip away from me once I've been awake for a few minutes, and I rarely remember the entirety of them. But this nightmare, I can still taste. It was terrifyingly clear. I have heard about low blood sugars causing nighmares , but has anyone heard of highs doing the same thing? Posted by Kerri Sparling on August 7, 2008 12:20 PM | Permalink Continue reading >>
Nightmares And Diabetes | Diabetic Connect
I have been having terrible nightmares which started after I was diagnosed with diabetes. I don't take anything to sleep and I take my last insulin shot at least 5 hours before I go to bed. I was curious if anyone else has or had this problem? My nighmares are recurrent and very vivid. I also have these nightmares if I nap during the day. Any thoughts? Thanks, Angie I have been having recurring terrifying Nightmares. Anytime my blood sugar drops low while I sleep they occur. I believe that my right brain takes some control over my left side when this happens because of the vivid real images that do not make sense, but are expansive and memorable! I do not understand much of how it works, but I do understand 'Parallel' and 'Serial' port effects of the brain explained by a Doctor who The studied the brains of schizophrenic and stroke survivors. I have no idea, but I do believe my nightmares are have some of the effects described by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. Me to have worse nightmares aftr diagnosing ma dibetic.i am just 24 year old having dibetic for past 1.5 yrs nd I am controling by xercise nd diet. But on yst night (6-7-14). I had our tradional rice food ( I from kerala india , rice with curry is our traditional fud ) during night ( I used to skip those fuds max as part if ma diet ) . .nd had v bad nightmares like u mentioned. I slept only 1.5 hr. .I gussd I gone psychic im new the site but i thought i was the only one with these mess up problem i was diagnosed in 2011 at the age of 17 before i was diagnosed i have these nightmare that seems life like .but i couldnt move or speak then something scared me it felt like something was sitting on my chest nd then my heart was beating fast when i woke up i couldnt breath im tired of living like this Last week I got a couple o Continue reading >>
Can Low Blood Sugar Or High Blood Sugar Cause Nightmares?
Both low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) can cause any of a list of reactions in the body. Among these are sleep disturbances, which may manifest as nightmares. Hypoglycemia Hypoglycemia has many causes. We all require certain levels of glucose in our systems to maintain energy levels. For the non-diabetic, in the absence of certain disorders, this is generally not an issue, as the metabolic process automatically balances the levels of glucose and insulin in our bodies. For the diabetic, particularly one who is using insulin and/or other medications to manage their glucose levels, continuing balance might be more difficult to achieve. Some causes of hypoglycemia include an overdose of insulin; a dose of insulin combined with a skipped meal; a reaction to a combination of diabetic medications; exercise that isn’t factored into insulin dosing; or any of a number of other medical problems, including tumors and hormonal disorders. Once blood sugar drops below certain levels, the body releases epinephrine, signaling an emergency to the body. This in turn causes the symptoms experienced by those who have hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia does not only occur during the day. In fact, the onset of hypoglycemia during the nighttime hours is not at all uncommon. While it might be easy to spot the symptoms of a serious drop in blood sugar levels while awake (shakiness, sweating, confusion, blurred vision, tingling or numbness of the tongue or lips, lightheadedness or dizziness, among other symptoms), recognizing the problem during the night is more difficult, and potentially more critical. Nighttime onset of hypoglycemia can manifest as nightmares or crying out during sleep, excessive sweating, and confusion and irritability upon waking. It is critical to Continue reading >>
Hypoglycemia Symptoms
Why a Short List Is Not Enough Hypoglycemia is a common side effect of using insulin, and it can also occur in people who take pills that cause the pancreas to release more insulin. Pills that have this effect include the oral drugs chlorpropamide (brand name Diabinese), tolazamide (Tolinase), tolbutamide (Orinase), glyburide (DiaBeta, Glynase, and Micronase), glipizide (Glucotrol, Glucotrol XL), glimepiride (Amaryl), combination drugs that contain glyburide, glipizide, or glimepiride (such as Glucovance, Metaglip, Avandaryl, and Duetact), repaglinide (Prandin), combination drugs that contain repaglinide (Prandimet), and nateglinide (Starlix). It is therefore important that anyone who uses one of these drugs know what causes hypoglycemia, how to prevent it, how to recognize it, and how to treat it. Often, however, the most education a person receives on the signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia is a handout listing its 10 most common symptoms. This is particularly true for adults. But, as any longtime user of insulin will tell you, such a list does not go far enough in describing how those common symptoms can feel, and it misses some important, albeit not-so-common, symptoms of hypoglycemia. This article attempts to fill in some of the blanks by describing what those common symptoms really feel like — in a variety of situations, including driving and sleeping — and by describing some less common symptoms. Once you (and your friends, coworkers, and family members) are better equipped to recognize hypoglycemia, you will be able treat low blood glucose faster and avert more severe hypoglycemia and its sometimes serious consequences. What is hypoglycemia Low blood glucose, or hypoglycemia, is a condition in which the brain does not have enough glucose to carry out its many Continue reading >>
7 Unusual Signs And Symptoms Of Type 2 Diabetes
1 / 8 What Are the Early Signs of Diabetes Everyone Should Know? Are you feeling more tired than usual? Are you super hungry and thirsty lately? Do you have to urinate more frequently? These occurrences could all be early signs of type 2 diabetes. More than 30 million people have diabetes, and more than 7 million of those cases are estimated to be undiagnosed in adults, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). When you have type 2 diabetes, it’s important to be diagnosed as early as possible, because untreated symptoms can lead to dangerous — and sometimes irreversible — consequences. These complications include damage to the eyes, nerves, and kidneys. Some common diabetes symptoms are fatigue, lethargy, confusion, nausea, and increased urination, says David Bradley, MD, assistant professor of endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. In addition to these symptoms, other early signs of type 2 diabetes include increased hunger and thirst, as well as frequent headaches and unexplained weight loss, notes Rachael Hartley, RD, CDE, a dietitian in private practice in Columbia, South Carolina. “The first signs of diabetes are usually mild changes, like feeling hungry all the time despite eating normal meals and snacks, dry mouth, and feeling tired despite getting adequate sleep,” she says. But those aren’t the only early signs of diabetes — there are several more unusual symptoms that many people don’t commonly associate with the disease. For instance, itching may be one of the signs you have diabetes. “High blood sugar increases the risk of skin infections caused by bacteria and yeast,” says Hartley. “Also, poor circulation and nerve damage cau Continue reading >>
Hypoglycemia And Dreams
Have you ever had hypoglycemia and a crazy dream to go along with it? Please leave your personal story in the comments below! A few years ago I woke after having a fast food restaurant dream. It all started at the Wendy’s drive-thru with my friend Michelle. We both ordered giant burgers, super sized fries and frosties. After we snarfled everything down we drove across the street to Burger King and reordered something similar to our previous indulgences. After all of that food consumed, I woke up wondering what the deal was with my dream. I quickly realized I felt low and I was, 55 to be exact. Funny thing is, we are both vegetarians and never eat at fast food restaurants! My brain was focused on getting some source of large carbs obviously… What makes us dream when we are low? Is it our brain cells deprived of the usual sugar bath that they should be soaking in? Hypoglycemia and dreams- I’m sure there is a connection. According to LankaNewspapers: “Low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, is another cause of vivid dreams. When the brain senses that glucose levels are low, it will do strange things to get stored glucose into the blood stream. One way it does so is through adrenaline spurts. If your vivid dreams are accompanied by a feeling of being wired (if, like me, you find yourself doing ninja kicks around your bedroom at those pesky alien invaders), it likely stems from a blood sugar issue. I solved my problem by adding more protein to my diet, especially before going to sleep. It keeps my glucose levels regulated throughout the night and I sleep much more peacefully.” Please share your thoughts on hypoglycemia and dreams by posting a comment below! The mention of “diabetic footwear” may just make you wiggle your toes or perhaps crinkle your nose. Unfurl your Continue reading >>
What A Low Blood Sugar Feels Like
Have you seen the video going viral on Facebook right now where four amazing women with type 1 diabetes talk about what low blood sugar feels like? I love this video, and it inspired me to think about what a low blood sugar feels like for me and to put it into words in this post. I think this is particularly useful for friends and family who may not know or understand what it’s like. Please watch the video and consider sharing this post with your loved ones if you feel that it helps explain how you feel when you have a low. No compatible source was found for this media. What low blood sugar feels like Trying to explain a feeling is always hard, and trying to explain something as unique as the feeling of low blood sugar (or hypoglycemia) is even harder. The physical aspects of a low are easier to describe, so let’s start with those. I almost always feel the signs of a low blood sugar before it becomes critical. I’ll feel it when my blood sugar is around 60 mg/dl (3 mmol/l). I’ll start shaking a little, my cognitive function goes out the window, I get weak, and I typically start sweating (these are the most common low blood sugar symptoms). A cup of juice or 2-3 glucose tabs will usually get me right back to normal pretty quickly and I’ll move on with my day. But when I don’t catch my symptoms before they get severe, and my sugars dip lower, then that’s a whole other story. This rarely happens during the day, since I can catch them before they get this bad, but it will sometimes happen in my sleep. I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and know it’s bad if I’ve had a stress dream (things will move excessively fast in my dream or I’ll be caught in a loop of some sort), I’m sweating profusely, and shaking. And then there’s the feeling! It an urge Continue reading >>
5 Unusual Things That Drive Blood Sugar Through The Roof
back to Overview Of course, there are more than 5 things that send blood sugar soaring – that list is long! Ilka wrote about some things we often forget about, and I thought it would be good to take a fresh look at them again. Take it away, Ilka! Ilka Gdanietz: If I asked our team of diabetics what raises their blood sugars the most, I’d get as many different answers as there are people with diabetes on the team. Lots! Carbohydrates, a forgotten bolus … we know these things will shoot your sugar up quickly. The diabetes monster acts like a delicate flower sometimes, right? But there are also a bunch of things we never knew about, don’t think about in the moment, or simply forget. Here’s a small selection: Stress/excitement: You know the feeling. Whether it’s an appointment with the dentist, an argument with someone, or a jolt from a horror movie. Your body releases stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol that do not get along with blood sugar at all. Stupidly, stressful situations often occur unexpectedly, and it’s hard to react to the blood sugar spike fast enough. Additionally, stress means something different for each of us, and we don’t react the same to the same situations. In my case, for example, the sight of a nasty hairy spider is enough to make my blood sugar spike. Scott had the same thing when he saw a spider! Medications: Certain medications can increase blood sugar. These include, for example, beta-blockers, diuretics, or steroids like cortisone. Which meds may do what, the treating physician should know. This interaction is why it’s important to be thorough on your medication lists when at the doctor’s office or hospital. Caffeine: Yes, your beloved coffee can raise your blood sugar. Of course, the amount of caffeine ingested play Continue reading >>
High Blood Sugar And Nightmares??
Diabetes Forum The Global Diabetes Community Find support, ask questions and share your experiences. Join the community For the last couple of days I have struggled to get my BG down. It's my own fault I know why it's happened, how to stop it. Anyway, I corrected before bed, but still went to sleep with high BG with an alarm a couple of hours later to test and correct again if need be. But what I have noticed, is that when I go to sleep with high BG, I get really bad nightmares! With really complicated plots and then I wake up and can't get back to sleep. That can happen. For any reason, be it hi or low BS. I know I hardly dream anymore and no idea why. I find I have very strange dreams if my BS is high or low at somepoint in the night - I could go to bed with a BS of 6, have a fantasticly odd dream, and wake up in the morning knowing my BS will be high and find it is! I wouldn't say they were nightmares just really odd...............but may be thats just me! If my BS is pretty level all through the night I wake feeling I didn't dream or if I did nothing amazing. I just must be knackered all the time. I rarely remember dreams. I often have crazy dreams but never thought about any connection to my BS - will think about it next time! Is it possible it's the other way around though? i.e. the scary dream triggers adrenalin and a glucose dump which makes you high?? Is it possible it's the other way around though? i.e. the scary dream triggers adrenalin and a glucose dump which makes you high?? Almost certainly, I had a bad dream a few weeks ago and my wife woke me up, I went to bed in the late 5's and woke in the 9's, usually my bg levels won't fluctuate much more than 0.5 - 1.0mmol/l when asleep. I did think about it, and before I was diagnosed I used to dream a lot, and w Continue reading >>
Diabetes And Sleep: How High Blood Sugar Steals Sleep Time
It’s probably far from obvious, but your diabetes could be the reason that you’re having trouble sleeping. Type 2 diabetes affects nearly 30 million Americans—and the numbers are growing. Though most of us are aware that the disease has a serious impact on a person’s diet and blood sugar, fewer are familiar with the many related health woes that diabetes can cause—and how they can negatively impact sleep. Take a closer look at the surprisingly intricate relationship between diabetes and sleep—plus how people with the condition can get a better night’s rest. Diabetes and Sleep: A Vicious Cycle? The relationship between diabetes and sleep is complicated, and experts still have a lot to learn about how the whole thing works. What they do know? How much sleep you get could play a role in whether you develop type 2 diabetes in the first place. First, there’s the growing connection between sleep and obesity. Being overweight is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. (Believe it or not, up to 90% of people who are diagnosed with the disease are also obese.) What’s more, evidence shows that there are several ways that skimping on sleep could lead to weight gain: When you’re zonked, you don’t have the energy to exercise. Research suggests that people who stay up late spend more time sitting than people who wake up early. Feeling tired means you’re less likely to make healthy food choices, too. When you’re exhausted, pizza or takeout just feel easier (and more tempting) than a big kale salad. Staying up late means more time to eat. People who stay up into the wee hours at night have been found to eat 550 more calories than those who go to bed early. Lack of sleep messes with your hormones. Sleep deprivation causes your body to pump out more of the stre Continue reading >>
5 Nightmares You Don't Know Until You're Diabetic
Hey, remember when everybody was freaking out about Ebola, because of an outbreak that killed more than 10,000 people? Well, diabetes kills 1.5 million people a year worldwide, more than 200,000 of them in the U.S. And you're probably never more than a few dozen feet away from someone who has it -- there are 30 million diabetics in the U.S. alone. In other words, for something most people consider too boring to even think about, the scale of the epidemic is mind-boggling. The U.S. alone spends an astonishing quarter of a trillion dollars a year fighting it. Or to put it another way, diabetes sucks a thousand bucks out of every single man, woman and child in America, every year. We previously debunked the myth that sugar causes diabetes, and when we talked to someone with one variety of the disease, we learned about the parts of the experience you never hear about. He says ... 5 The Disease And The Treatment Can Both Send You To The Emergency Room Comstock/Stockbyte/Getty Images Our diabetic, Zach, once woke up in the middle of the night starving, his legs feeling near-paralyzed. His memory of the incident is hazy, but the next thing he knew, he was on a kitchen chair wearing only his boxers with an empty jar of raspberry jam on the table -- he'd eaten nearly the entire thing with his bare hands like fucking Winnie the Pooh. Oh, bother. When he tested his blood sugar, it was 45 (the normal level is between 80 and 100). Anything below 70 is hypoglycemia, yet even after eating an entire jar of what is essentially pure sugar, his blood sugar level was still near emergency levels. If we're being completely honest, it's remarkable that he ever even woke up to eat that jam. By all rights he should've died in his bed. So this shit can get serious, is what we're saying. "Wait," Continue reading >>
Embarassing Questions: Does Eating Sugar Late At Night Cause Nightmares?
Juliette BordaFrom Health magazineQ. Does eating sugar late at night cause nightmares? A. No. But drinking alcohol or caffeine, which can disrupt sleep, might. Same goes for eating fatty or spicy foods before bed, which can cause indigestion, leading to fitful rest and possibly scary dreams. (We dont know why disrupted sleep can bring on nightmares.) There is one connection between sugar and nightmares: Low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, can trigger temporary brain-chemistry changes, which may cause strange dreams. If youre hypoglycemic (telltale signs include shakiness, sweating, or confusion), its actually important to eat a bedtime snack to maintain your blood sugar level through the night. Try some yogurt with granola or a graham cracker with peanut butter; both snacks contain carbs to boost your blood sugar, plus protein to keep it from crashing. Continue reading >>
Bad Dreams And High Blood Sugar....
D.D. Family Kidney/Pancreas transplant recipient Ok...well I went to bed last night with a blood sugar of 7.3. This is normal for me and I usually wake up at around 6.5....only last night I had a really horrible dream and was crying my eyes out in my sleep. I was so stressed and upset. Anyway when I woke up at 9am I tested my blood and it was 14.2! I just wondered if anyone else ever noticed a rise in their morning blood sugar after bad dreams?! It seems the only explanation and it's annoying because there's nothing I can do to stop it happening!!!! I suppose it can explain it. it is known that stress affects BS alot, and as you were so upset, i bet it did make a difference..... make sure you think of nice things right before you fall asleep - that should help having nice dreams instead of nighmares I had a horrible dream last night. In fact it woke me up, my heart pounding and my breathing was faster than normal. I wasn't sweaty nor did I have a hypo feeling so I didn't get out of bed to check my bs level. I've never had a night time hypo. So I went back to sleep and went right back into that same stupid dream. I did this 3 times during the night. It's so frustrating and sure makes for a sleepless night. But when I got up this morning my fasting was 107. I guess if these dreams keep up I'll start getting up to check. Who knows, maybe my reading was higher than normal. Every time I've checked in the middle of the night I'm usually in the 130's. Since my site change on Sunday my readings have been higher than normal anyway but not high enough to warrant changing it. They have mostly been 120-140 during the day. I may go ahead and change it out today early just to see if the numbers come back down. This sure can get frustrating at times. Continue reading >>
Blood Sugar And Sleep Problems: How Blood Sugar Levels Impact Sleep
November is National Diabetes Month and Alaska Sleep Clinic is dedicating this month’s blog posts to raising awareness for diabetic complications and how they correlate with sleep disorders and overall tiredness. SLEEP PROBLEMS AND SNORING MAY PREDICT DIABETES Studies have shown that individuals who consistently have a bad night's sleep are more likely to develop conditions linked to diabetes and heart disease. Loud snoring sleepers (many of whom may have sleep apnea), compared to quiet sleepers, double (2x) their risks of developing certain types of metabolic syndrome(s); including diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure. This likelihood also increased dramatically to 80% in those who found it difficult to fall asleep and to 70% for those who woke up feeling not as refreshed. Blood Sugar and Sleep Problems Sleep can affect your blood sugar levels, and your blood glucose control can also affect your sleep. It’s a vicious cycle. As the amount of sleep decreases, blood sugar increases, escalating the issue. Lack of sleep has been shown to increase blood sugar levels and the risk of diabetic issues. Higher blood sugar means less long-lasting fat metabolism in the night and even less sleep. Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine found that people who slept less than 6 hours a night had more blood sugar complications compared to those who received 8 hours of sleep. HIGH BLOOD SUGAR - HYPERGLYCEMIA Sleepless and restless nights hurt more than your mood and energy; it is a form of chronic stress on the body. When there is added stress on your body this results in having higher blood sugar levels. When researchers restricted people with type-1 diabetes to just 4 hours of sleep, their sensitivity to insulin was reduced by 20% compared to that after a full nig Continue reading >>
- Diabetes and Sleep Apnea: How Sleep Affects Blood Glucose and Diabetes
- World's first diabetes app will be able to check glucose levels without drawing a drop of blood and will be able to reveal what a can of coke REALLY does to sugar levels
- Poor Sleep And Diabetes: The Worse You Sleep, The Higher Your Type 2 Diabetes Risk
6 Things Your Dreams Can Tell You About Your Health
The last time you woke up from a dream, you may have wondered why exactly you were back at high school, standing in front of your locker, unable for the life of you to remember the combination. When it comes to dream meanings, most of us expect those visions to reveal mental health truths, whether they be feelings about a life event, relationship or simply a memory. But after recent research highlighted a potential link between acting out dreams and a common form of dementia, perhaps there is more we can learn about our physical health from our dreams. The research, presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, found that men with a risk factor for dementia with Lewy bodies, in addition to what’s known as REM sleep behavior disorder, are five times more likely to have this type of dementia. The same sleep disorder has also been linked to Parkinson’s disease, symptoms of which are similar to those of dementia with Lewy bodies. Anecdotally, some say that dreams have predicted cancer, alerted a patient to tuberculosis or even warned of a heart attack. There’s little — if any — scientific evidence that certain dream symbols can be interpreted to predict any real health symptoms. But there is some concrete proof that more dreams, stranger dreams or recurring dreams could have important meaning when it comes to your physical health. You Have A Fever If you’re the type to ignore the signs that you’re under the weather, maybe a freaky nightmare will prove the point. Being sick can trigger nightmares, according to the Mayo Clinic, especially if your illness is accompanied by a fever. If you weren’t paying attention to what your body was trying to tell you before, the morning after that weird nightmare is the time to tune in! Stress Is Gett Continue reading >>
