I am always curious to hear/read what other PWD do when it comes to the daily ins and out of diabetes management. I've been wondering, do you keep sugar of some sort next to your bed or do you walk to the kitchen to get your sugar fix in the middle of the night (if you have a low blood sugar)? It sure does make it more convenient to roll over and eat a cinnamon roll at 2 am as opposed to walking all the way to the kitchen. Did you think I was serious about the cinnamon roll bedside (wink wink, oink oink!)?
Here are my feelings on keeping "sugar" on the nightstand next to me at night, I tend to get really lazy about eating or drinking it. I fall back asleep and whatnot not following up correctly with my sugar level. The reason I prefer walking to the kitchen is because I will sit out there 15-20 minutes in the upright position and wait until my sugars are back to a semi-normal safe sleep range.
So, I have never kept sugar bedside for this reason (I get lazy in bed, that sounds bad I know), I make myself stumble down the hall (like a drunkard would)... why am I thinking of weekend at Bernie’s? haha.
How about you, do you prefer to keep sugar next to your bed or walk to the kitchen?
Thanks for taking the time to respond. It's much appreciated.
I always have a snack or glucose tabs in my bag. Most often my bag is 10 to 15 ft from me. I don’t worry much about night time lows because well I work 3rd shift. As for going low while I am asleep, it happens not often and usually wake up in the 55-65 range. I should worry more but it has yet to become a problem for me.
I recently switched from glucose tablets to Smarties. I have a plastic container filled with them on my headboard (I have a bookcase headboard).
Years ago, I used to keep them in the kitchen then one night I came downstairs when I was really low and had a bad fall (that was even before neuropathy). I started keeping them in the bedroom after that.
I prefer to keep glucose tablets on my nightstand for the ‘oh gawd, I can’t drag myself out THERE, blaaaaah’ lows where I just feel like absolute crud. Other times I get up, test, and grab a juice box…but then I wake up the bf, and he’s a grumpy guy if you wake him up, haha.
I have a small fridge with DanActives in it. Also mini Yorks. Once I had a roll of Lifesavers on my nightstand, woke up to find them nibbled upon. Mice? We set mousetraps, now keep stuff in the fridge or the nightstand drawer. Hate glucose, but have the glucose liquid in the drawer also. I think we got all the mice.
I keep a bottle of glucose tablets in my nightstand drawer. I started on insulin when I lived in Guatemala and my bedroom was upstairs (ah living in a third world country where I could actually afford to rent a house, not just an apartment!). The staircase was not only cement but had this weird drop off of about 3 feet if you didn’t take a sharp curve (hard to describe). So I started keeping them in my drawer. Even now that I’m back in an apartment, if I get awake enough to walk out to the kitchen, I tend to have trouble going back to sleep. I also carry my meter into the bedroom when I go to bed to read at night and I like to take my bedtime blood sugar while I’m still up and reading so if I have to treat up or down I have time to check the results. I don’t actually retest my blood sugar after a low because for me 2 glucose tabs if I’m in the 50s or 3 if I’m lower always work and get me up to a reasonable number. But I also like having my meter by the bed in case I wake up feeling weird and want to test during the night. (Can you tell sleep is important to me? I was even more crazy about it when I had to actually get up and go to work in the morning!)
I keep a juice box (15 gms.of carbs) in my nightstand. I have a 2 story house and don’t think I would like to make the trip to the kitchen in the middle of the nite. My cats like the idea of the crumbs in the hall, they would be happy to polish them off.
I very much dislike glucose tabs. Therefore, I keep them next to my bed for nighttime lows. I am less likely to overeat when I don’t like what I eat Sometimes I pour myself a little extra juice when I’m low just to savor the “forbidden” food and am prone to high rebounds. Side note: I am terrible at the 15 minute retest during the day; it is non-existant in the middle of the night.
I keep a tubeful of decoritive icing in my nightstand. If I go low in the night it’s there. Some advice a paramedic gave me years ago that I still do to this day. I mean think about it icing is made out of sugar and sugar stops a low so…
Two years ago when I really started having a problem with lows, I apparently passed out & woke up sitting on the couch - I had blood all over my shirt. I apparently either fell or walked into something. I ended up with a black eye also. Low walking is dangerous!
I have 15 gram apple juice boxs. Currently there are four boxes in the drawer. Two are empty due to a low 56 a couple of nights ago. The other two are full ready to go!
My stubbling challange (similar to your hallway challange) is trying to get the little straw into the top of the juice box. I also keep my meter at my nightstand. I have a sliding dimmer light so I can read my meter. Gosh I wish the meter people would invent a back light for my meter so that I can stick the strip in correctly and be able to see the reading without turning on the light I installed a sliding dimmer for the light on my nightstand. The light wakes my husband up gently, enough to ask me, “are you OK”?
The glucose tabs really gross me out. I did recently purchase some smarties to put in my desk at work and for back up in my purse. …opps so sorry we are discussing the nightstand thing.
Danny, I am afraid that your dislike of mustard may throw a wrench in our friendship! I have at least 5 kinds in my fridge.
Okay, here’s my beef with sugar free drinks - I SWEAR they make me crave sugar more! I am an seltzer kind of girl! (bonus: the husband thinks that seltzer is disgusting and leaves it alone…similar to your feelings about mustard, I’m sure!).
I used to use those little juice boxes but had the same trouble with the straw! I would get so frustrated and upset that I couldn’t get the straw in the hole that we had to find another plan. I now always carry fruit snacks with me during the day…but again, we digress off the nightstand topic
Sometimes I pour myself a little extra juice when I’m low just to savor the “forbidden” food and am prone to high rebounds. Side note: I am terrible at the 15 minute retest during the day; it is non-existant in the middle of the night.
I have at least 5 kinds in my fridge.