• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

Back to sleep after hypo

Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
K

kezza

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Had yet another hypo approx 3am. Not unusual and was ok after downing 1/2bottle of lucozade. However when this happens it takes forever for me to get back to sleep afterwards. Wandered if this is a common problem or is it the fact that i drink lucozade to correct my hypo. If so any other suggestions.
 
It's hard for me to say really. I've been doing the 3 am testing thing for a couple of weeks now - not using alarm, but I seem to naturally wake a little around this time. I test myself, and if hypo then have a couple of jelly babies and a cereal bar. It takes me an absolute age to get back to sleep. I think it is partly due to the fact that I have to be reasonably alert/awake to do the test and respond to it, so getting back to sleep is that much harder than if I'd just turned over and closed my eyes again. I'm not a fan of fizzy drinks, so have never tried lucazade. Maybe the fizziness is upsetting your stomach a bit? I've heard a good tip is to open the bottle and let it go flat.
 
I tend to struggle getting back to sleep if I wake in the night regardless or the reasoncm so yes when awake from a hypo. I tend to find I kind of fight myself to go back to sleep if I've gone very low as I'm nervous of it happening again, that can mean I'm prone to over treating if I'm not really strict with myself!
 
Im the complete opposite (typical) If i wake up due to a hypo, i treat it, and if i feel my bg coming back up, il do another test just make sure its not lingering and then im out like a light :D

One thing i have noticed though (this is a bit weird!) if i cant get to sleep I know il be having a hypo later on (even if my bg are stable before bed and during testing while trying to get to sleep). it usually happens at around 1am (+/- 1 hour). So once ive been low i basically go to sleep straight away because the 'wait is over'

I have tried eating something at during these times but the morning bg is usually sky high and i can hardly bring myself to get out bed! Also sometimes when i cant sleep its just other things on my mind, so not always a hypo..
 
kezza said:
Had yet another hypo approx 3am. Not unusual and was ok after downing 1/2bottle of lucozade. However when this happens it takes forever for me to get back to sleep afterwards. Wandered if this is a common problem or is it the fact that i drink lucozade to correct my hypo. If so any other suggestions.
Click to expand...
Hi to prevent over correcting try those mini mixer cans of coke or 7up they contain around 15g of instant sugar. That was what I was told to get so that I didn't over correct a hypo. They are quite cheap too.
 
NO caffeine at night

I wouldn't use anything with caffeine to treat a hypo at night, assuming you want to get back to sleep afterwards - decaffeinated coke is available, but probably lemonade or something else is easier.
 
i find that if i go hypo i have no trouble sleeping afterwards. even if i wake up in the night with a hypo i can treat it then im out like a light again. i wouldnt recommend caffein to try to help, but also i find decaffeinated coke has little or no sugar to it. best drink i use is lemonade usually the traditional type as it tastes better.
 
Thanks everyone. Really lifts my spirits that people take time to reply. (From a new member).
 
Another way to treat the bypo might be to have something like a warm milky drink with sugar in it and a digestive biscuit. Warm milk and biscuits are supposed to relax you enough to make you sleep, and are more intersting than the lettuce leaves that so famously made Peter Rabbit go to sleep!
 
Don't use stairs and hot drinks when hypoglycaemic

If you're really hypoglycaemic, you don't want to risk falling down stairs, scalding yourslef with hot milk etc, all of which will take much longer than eating a few sweets or biscuits or having a sugary drink, that you keep stashed on your windowsill / bedside table etc - within reach, without having to get out of bed. Once hyo is corrected, sure, go and have hot milk then if you need help to get back to sleep.
 
Copepod said:
If you're really hypoglycaemic, you don't want to risk falling down stairs, scalding yourslef with hot milk etc, all of which will take much longer than eating a few sweets or biscuits or having a sugary drink, that you keep stashed on your windowsill / bedside table etc - within reach, without having to get out of bed. Once hyo is corrected, sure, go and have hot milk then if you need help to get back to sleep.
Click to expand...
Yeah I agree, plus milk and a digestive won't treat a hypo quickly enough. I used to over correct too - now I have a 200ml carton of orange juice when I am low - it's the right amount of carbs and also a portion of your daily fruit intake and no caffeine! Although I do find it's not great for your teeth - actually I think I might have to start another thread about that subject!
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top