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So tired....

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Redkite

Redkite

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Parent of person with diabetes
Really struggling with the night testing at the moment. I've fallen into bad habits of dozing off on the sofa when I'm waiting up to do a midnight check, and ending up not going up till 3 or 4am...then the alarm goes off at 6.45 on weekdays so not much proper sleep.

Last night I made an effort, checked him just before midnight, went to bed setting my alarm for another check at 4. The snooze went off about six times before I finally managed to get up - would have been so easy to give in to the craving to go back to sleep.....but so glad I didn't because he turned out to be hypo, 3.4. Sound asleep of course, he never wakes when low, which is the scary thing. So I roused him for some lucozade, and then had to keep myself awake for another 20 minutes to wait and retest him and make sure he'd come up. After that, I couldn't for the life of me manage to get back to sleep :(. It's a lovely sunny day today, but I feel utterly wiped out :(
 
Gosh Redkite that must be so hard! can you treat yourself to an afternoon nap to recharge the batteries do you know what may have caused the low?
 
He is always unpredictable at night, but there were contributing factors yesterday. We'd allowed a cannula to go into a third day (normally change every two), and paid for it with a 20mmol when we were out at a show. Managed with injection pen till back home, but possibly some insulin stacking went on, because when the cannula fails you can never be sure how much, if any, insulin actually got through. He could have been low for hours by the time I checked him. Wish he had full time sensors.
 
Redkite sorry that you're having such a difficult time. Big hugs xx
 
It must be tough, so I hope you've managed a catnap or at the very least a bit of relaxation on the sofa today. You'd think given the number of youngsters who experience night time lows they'd come up with something more sophisticated to help, or at the very least offer CGM to youngsters. I will stop ranting and just say I hope you have a much better night tonight 🙂
 
Aw Redkite that is really hard for you, broken sleep is the worst. I hope things settle down with your son soon, do you have to do this every night ? Not having experience with a diabetic child I dont know anything about it....Tintin
 
Thanks KookyCat and Tintin. Just as bad last night - feel like a zombie this morning 🙂

Tintin, here I am moaning when you truly know the meaning of being exhausted. How are you getting on with the dialysis? Do you feel better for it?
 
Hi redkite, I totally sympathise with you, I do the same every night as you checking Harry, as one minute he can be high and needs correcting or the next minute is low and needs waking to give him a biscuit.

I often find myself needing a strong cup of coffee in an afternoon at work to keep me going !!

No matter what I do on the pump, changing basal rates etc, I cannot get it right. The hospital team, tell me to be confident enough not to test, but thats just a joke.If they had a diabetic child I dont think they would say the same somehow.

I hope you managed to catch up a bit with your sleep.
Helen
 
I hope you manage to get a good run of great levels, and some well-deserved sleep soon. Not only are you struggling with sleep, but the anxiety about how your son is doing must also be very draining, hope you manage to catch up on some shuteye very soon.
 
Thanks everyone. I've said it before and I'll say it again....in the next life I'm coming back as a cat, the true experts on sleep and relaxation! 🙂
 
Hi, wow I got 4 hours solid sleep last night, only to be woken up with a blockage and reading of 22 !! Not sent him to school today as had rugby training and didnt want him to have a hypo , with me not knowing how much insulin had gone through prior to the blockage, plus the big correction.

Just when you think things are going great !!!

:(:(
 
Always something - it's a conspiracy to rob us of sleeeeep! Hope tonight is better 🙂
 
Hi Redkite, sorry I only just got back to forum today . Have things gone any better last night ? You really must get some sleep, you will start to feel absolutely terrible if this goes on. Tiredness is exactly the same for anyone who experiences it, luckily since I started dialysis and my aneamia finally went away I am feeling much better energy wise. Dialysis went wrong on saturday and then yesterday as well. But I will get there, thank you for asking...Tintin
 
oh My, what a struggle you are having. I hope it gets better soon.
Can I ask, do you do night checks EVERY night? If my daughter goes to bed with reasonable levels, we all sleep through. If they are a bit high, I may check an hour or so later, but other than that, I dont do checks. Should I??
She does tend to wake when low and has just started coming through to us when high too, so I suppose I rely on her waking.
I wouldnt be able to function if I had to do night checks every night forever!
Hats off to you!

Lynn
 
I don't know how you do it redkite ..... I was diagnosed aged 19 so don't have much experience with managing type 1 in children.
He's very lucky to have you !
Good luck with it all and hope you get more sleep soon 🙂 x
 
Thanks Cleo 🙂. Is your little one letting you sleep through the night yet?

Lynna - yes I do test every night. His overnight levels have always been volatile, and there are the factors you can't predict, such as growth hormones. He never wakes up when hypo, and I've found some pretty low ones! Bottom line is - there are cases of children having died from undetected nighttime hypoglycaemia, and I can't risk that. As for being unable to function - that is frequently the case! And as a single Mum I've nobody to share the burden with unfortunately.
 
Cleo said:
He's very lucky to have you ! 🙂 x
Click to expand...

I agree! Roll on CGM as the norm. I have weeks of night-time hypos, which leave me frazzled. I sympathise 100% Redkite. I hope you've managed to catch up on your sleep.😱
 
Redkite said:
Thanks Cleo 🙂. Is your little one letting you sleep through the night yet?
Click to expand...

what does sleeping through the night mean ??? I have completely forgotten what thats like ! 🙂

I do a dream feed around 10.30 /11pm and then feed him again around 4am…… he tends to wake up around 2am but manages to settle on his own….its very tempting to feed him to sleep but then he'll never learn how to fall asleep on his own ! 🙂

i have learnt in that in general, if you try to take any short-cuts it will just back fire on you at a later stage ! 🙂)
 
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