A question recently came up regarding checking children's bs levels overnight and it got me thinking..... how may adults do night time checks? Please share!
Only if I’ve been having trouble with levels. But I wake up when I go low. Also I just got a CGM, so I feel pretty secure now.
I can safely rely on a low bloodsugar waking me up. So no, I do not check at night. when my parents started to give me control of my diabetes when I was around 15, I never did regular night checks again. They just don't seem to be worth the loss of sleep to me.
It’s weird, but I have absolutely no memory of my parents doing night checks, and I was diagnosed at 11. I remember going to diabetes camp at 12 and being surprised at the night checks. But then, I was always in the drivers seat, even from day one.
timmy thanks for sharing my son is soon to be 15 we actually rarely test him at night he has been know to throw his tester at me when i do, and he is a pretty sweet kid during the day! i feel "safe" in some way because we have seen his trends now for 4 years and he does not do competitive sports. i like how you said when my "parents started to give me control" sounds like us he really wants to run his own show so to speak but i think he likes knowing we are still on his team a delicate balance.... i so try not to hover!! thanks again i value your input. amy
not sure if that is good or bad, i am mother hen at heart learning to back off! with such indepence you had no choice but to own it, but did you feel supported? that is a big part of having a chronic condition knowing you are not alone... glad you are here!
No, only if I've been having problems or like recently when I had a big change (onset of DP when I'd never had it before) and felt the need to make major changes in nighttime basals. If my numbers are borderline low before bed, I'll just take a couple glucose tablets and stay up to make sure they are high enough before going to sleep. To me this is one of the joys of having a pump; there is relative security that the numbers will stay more or less steady overnight.
Jacob’s mom - I also am not sure if it was a good or bad thing 
I have always been very independent (like the time I told my mom when she said to hold her hand as we crossed the street, “I’ll hold my own hand!”, which I apparently did all the way across the street.) but looking back, I wonder if it was a heavier burden to bear than it needed to be for me. Neither of my parents have ever given me a shot, and I always did my own dosing and blood sugars. Who knows? I turned out okay, I think
I think it is important to know what is going on at night, but once I've done enough testing to know that my numbers are stable overnight, then I probably wouldn't bother except on nights that I happen to wake up. I'm kind of in the 'he can start making decisions' camp now. He can set his alarm and do his own night testing at 15.
it sounds like you turned out great! but when i here stories like this i just want to go back to that little girl doing injections and mother and love you like crazy! glad you have such a fighting spirit. indepence is a great quality but is also nice to be nurtured. hugs, amy
Yes, but I often naturally wake up anyway. I've been working on adjusting my midnight to 3AM basal rate. No matter when I last eat or what I do my levels rise during that time. As long as I wake up and catch it, I have a pretty good morning blood sugar. I've been gradually increasing the basal with okay results. I'm just afraid to make too many changes in a short time period.
Normally I don't check BG during the night. But when I'm not in "normal mode" I try to do the best I can being safe and studying how my BG tests are affected by a different lifestyle.
In the end the sleeping period is the longest we risk to leave unchecked. For that reason it's important to be sure everything is going ok.
The juice is worth the squeeze!
Yes. Whenever I awake at night, I look quickly at the CGM. If it is near the high or low limits or has alarmed , I do a fingerstick. Even good CGMs can be off at times. If it is in a safe range, I usually just go back to sleep.
I don't set the alarm to wake me up to test, but when I get up to go to the bathroom, usually 2am-3am I always test & give a bolus dose or eat glucose if neccessary.
I don't bother waking up in the middle of the night but, if I do, I check the CGM. The power of the parents of CWD who get up 2-3x/ night to keep an eye on their kids always amazes me. Before I started working out a lot, I would have insomnia several times/ month and just stay up all night, which was always unpleasant the next day and I'd test then but I'd also fiddle around with stuff and get it into line. These days I don't do much of that. I'm pretty flat at night and it's not worth it to me to bother getting up. If it's yutzed up, there's usually something I did behind it and I can try to do it better next time.
kim, i'm doing the same thing, trying to adjust basal between those hours while still on MDI. my body naturally wakes me up too as my BG's start to climb, or drop. I sweat either way, whether going high or low, it's just the shift in blood sugars and it wakes me every night. ugh!
Why don't you move your Lantus to another time? That way you could make it finish in a moment you are awaken and fully operative not in the middle of the night.
Also, if you find problems handling Lantus not lasting 24 hours and can't split it try Levemir instead. It lasts much less (12 hours) and lets you make 2 shots without stacking.
lotsofshots, i split my levemir but i have to do the same thing too, wake in middle of the night and take a shot. i have been taking a shot of bolus and 1 or 2 units extra of levemir in the middle of the night, as my levemir doses just don't last. this is again an area where a pump will and can help.
Sarah at what time do you take your 2 shots of Levemir? Ever tried Lantus?
Hi Rick, OH...I've tried everything and every combination it seems. I do 9AM and 9PM now. But I've tried many other combinations. It doesn't matter....at 12am and 12pm my levemir peaks and it's my lowest number, by 4 or 5 am or 4 or 5 pm my blood sugars start to rise. I haven't been able to figure out if I have DP or just not taking enough of levemir. It seems to only last me about 8 hours. maybe i just need more. I'm going on a pump, again, in a few weeks because I can't get my basal doses right..ugh! AND, i've gone from taking 13 - 14 units of levemir to now 18 (maybe 19) units of levemir, split dose just within the last few weeks. It's nuts! HA!