A Good Night’s Sleep

I miss sleep.

You know, those nights where you don’t sleep too heavily, but not too lightly either. Those mornings where waking up just feels natural, and you genuinely feel refreshed.

For me at least, those kinds of days don’t happen often enough.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m up chewing down glucose tabs at 2am every morning, or battling highs either. I’ve made a lot of gradual changes to my routine over the past year or so. Eating enough to fuel myself properly, experimenting with sleep apps, continually improving my blood glucose and going to bed at a fairly consistent time each night. While all of those things have definitely helped me to sleep and feel better, I still feel as though there’s some kind of secret sleep code that I haven’t yet managed to crack.

I think it’s moreso that I don’t ever get a break from thinking about diabetes. Ever. When I’m ready to go to bed at night, I still spend some time thinking about what my blood sugar is and where it’s likely to tread through the night. If I’m bordering the 4 mark, I’m wary of heightened insulin sensitivity and lows throughout the night. If I’m bordering the 8 mark, I’ll be contemplating a correction.

I still spend time thinking about what time I’ll be waking up in the morning, and what adjustments I’ll need to make to my basal pattern and insulin to support that. This week, for instance, I’ve been starting work an hour earlier than normal. It’s not a huge difference, but it still takes some planning and prep work before bed. I’m already noticing differences in my BG pattern just from starting my day an hour earlier (hello, lows!).

The first thing I think about the moment I stir in the middle of the night is my blood sugar. For much of the past nine years, that’s meant reaching for my meter, inserting a test strip and pricking my finger. With CGM, I’m lucky enough to simply swipe left to view the Dexcom widget on my iPhone. I’m so grateful to be in a place where, most nights, that number is grey. Which is Dexcom-speak for in range.

But I’m still thinking about diabetes. Diabetes doesn’t sleep just because I am.

If there’s one thing that I truly long for in lieu of a cure, it would definitely be a good night’s sleep.

There you have it. My first diabetes awareness post for diabetes month, and it’s not even November yet.

5 Comments

  1. Pat Keating

    Hi Frank, I’m tired everyday. I can’t ever remember bouncing out of bed. Because I have to take fluid tablets I’m also peeing half the nite. 😜🤣

  2. Oh my goodness, yes to every word of this. You speak so well to the fact that Type 1 sleeplessness isn’t always directly connected to a bad night of BGs; it’s more the constant nature of it all. I was diagnosed with Type 1 at age 9, and my memories of sleeping well are very faint indeed. You are not alone, Frank. Thank you for reminding so many of us that we’re not alone, too. May we all persevere with joy!

  3. Hey I was so interested to read your blog post just now, I thought it was only me that had really poor quality sleep sometimes. Like you say there is no switch off point for not thinking about diabetes or how your BGs were during the day. Its exhausting some days particularly if you dont have a decent amount of sleep.

    Something I have been doing lately that has really helped reduce the worry factor of living with Type 1 is to go for regular floatation sessions as quite honestly you cant worry in there. I have recently learnt though that neither my CGM nor pump like that much salt so I take them both off and the whole experience drops my BGs which can be handy, but after that my whole approach to diabetes is calmer. Give it a go if you get the chance 🙂 A great post, thanks for sharing.

  4. Hi Frank, i completely agree, its been a while i haven’t had a long stretch of sleep. Since my son Aadam was diagnosed with Type 1 #Diabetes when he was four years old. He has never let his #T1D come in his path. To us he is no less than a #superheroe. As a T1D #parent I would advise you all to help your T1D child to lead a happier, healthier lives by giving them constant encouragement, learn what you can about diabetes, and make sure that your #child eats properly, exercise, and stay on top of his blood sugar control every day. http://bit.ly/2Wyyg8o

  5. […] I miss sleep. You know, those nights where you don’t sleep too heavily, but not too lightly either. Those mornings where waking up just feels natural, and you genuinely feel refreshed. For me at least, those kinds of days don’t happen often enough. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m up chewing down glucose tabs at … [Read more…] […]

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