Hi,
We all know how we feel when we go low. I know. I get shaky mostly and feel as if I might pass out. The lowest I ever went was in the 30’s but I’m sure I’ve gone lower. One time I went so low I couldnt move to get my meter. I just called out for help.
Anyhow, my question is this: What happens if you go low while sleeping? I mean can you pass out while asleep? Would you wake up?
Amy:)
I just started taking insulin in November. Through a series of events, I think I am finally on the right track now, nearly six months later. I seem to be honeymooning in that both my basal and bolus requirements are dropping. As a result, I have been crashing every night for the past two weeks. It usually happens between 2 and 4 in the morning. I have really strange anxiety dreams (not something I usually have) where the setting is really, really wierd and then someone will start to chase me or threaten me in some way. Then I wake up and wonder what the heck was that. It’s when I cannot get back to sleep from physical discomfort that I realize its time to check the bg and start reaching for the glucose tabs.
As I am getting my basal levels closer to the right amount for me I’m not crashing as badly. I can measure by bg, pop a couple of glucose tabs and fall asleep within half an hour of them dissolving. I wonder what all that sugar is doing to my teeth!
Hi,
I never remember dreams at all. I guess your dreams are a sorta alarm to try to wake you up out of your sleep to take care of your low sugar. I just really wonder if we go too low and if awake we would normally pass out what would happen whiel asleep?
Hi,
I searched “9th grade english class” and got nothing. Could you direct me to it please. So what happens when you don’t wake up?
Amy:)
You could pass out I suppose, but your liver will eventually dump glucose and correct the low. You won’t feel very good and will have a roller coaster of a day. I have really vivid and fantastical (picture Captain Kirk on the Spaceship Enterprise) dreams if I’ve gone very low while asleep. The trick is trying to ‘get out’ of the sleep phase and help yourself which is entirely possible, and necessary. I’ve always woken up from a sleep low.
Wow, thats super scary. I’m just worried when my fiance goes out of town. I just dont know what happens when you go low and maybe dont wake up.
When I go low at night, I used to wake up no problem. Now I do not and I have to rely on the CGM for the alert. It works some of the time. But, even if it does alarm, I usually am so far gone I cannot recover. It is very scary. My feeling is that if you are new to insulin or have used it for only a few years, you do not have a lot to fear. If however, you have gone through that period and do not recognize lows, you really need someone with you,
Rick Phillips
You know come to think of it I did have a pretty strange dream a couple of weeks ago but I didn’t relate it to a sugar level. I dont remember if I was low that morning or not. Now Ill have to be aware of that. I asked this question this morning because during the night last night I sorta woke up, not by any means fully, not even half the way, but I did feel like I was low, shaky, but wasn’t willing or able to get up. When my fiance woke me up this morning I was 46. So I was right earlier and I wasn’t dreaming it.
Thanks,
Amy:)
Thanks Rick,
I definitely know when I go low, for sure. I agree it is scary. When you say “now I do not” you mean you don’t wake up? Or you dont go low? What is a CGM? I’m sorry, I guess I don’t know that much right yet.
Thanks, Amy:)
In my 11 years of Diabetes different things have happened to me when I’m asleep and I have gone low. Recently, I’ve woken up in the middle of the night and decide to check and I’m low, so I’m assuming my body knows when I’m low and is able to wake me up.
There have been a few other times though when I haven’t woken up-- my mom would come into my room, I’ve be covered in sweat and would not wake up, and she’d give me the glucagon.
Got it! That must’ve been some experience!!! You blog well, lol! Anyhow, I was diagnosed 10/08 and have only used a pen for both long and fast acting insulins. Couldn’t relate to the part of your story where you showed the 2 bottles of insulin at all. Before getting into an endo. my gp said I was Type2 and had me on pills. I got only slightly better I’m sure from the adjustment in my diet that I made.Pills had no effect. I averaged in the 400’s. My Dr. now wants me on the pump. How is the pump for you? Are you glad you got it?
Amy:)
OK I have been type 1 for 55 years. I have only EVER had one seizure and NOT woken up…it 99.9% of the time - wakes you up. I had lived alone for over 10 years and never had to worry about not waking up. It is so easy these days…with the pump you can so fine-tune your numbers and lower your rates at night…My seizure was Christmas Day/night, this year - I had over-corrected with a bolus. I was so tired and I had two glasses of wine. Yes, the liver does “dump” glucose into the blood stream but NOT much. A good rule of thumb is to always make sure your numbers are good before you go to sleep and make sure you are not alone. The feeling of going low is so horrible - how can you possibly sleep through it ?? My seizure awoke my husband because I was shaking the bed so much. Just test, test, test, and don’t worry - I have lived through many a “disaster” !!!
Sheila
I always wake up if it goes low. I see stars and lights with closed eyes like a 4th ( some of us 1st) of July. I have a few glucose pills on my night table and can usually chew them. You can also go down to the fridge not a good idea as you will eat way too much as there is not such thing as self control under emergency conditions.
Thanks,
Its good to know I would most definitely wake up. I had a half dream, I think I was sorta awake or aware, that I felt shaky, probably low but I wouldn’t or coujldn’t get up out of bed to check. Well, I woke up a few hours later and tested to a 46, which is why I wondered today about this.
Amy:)
Thanks,
My mind is eased to know I will wake up. I will put the tabs by the night stand, good idea.
Amy:)
Dear Amy.
What long term insulin do you used Lantus or levemir? I used a large shot of levemir at night it may just be a misperception but I think it may be less prone to making you go low. For the large shot in the morning I used lantus since it is cheaper and maybe a bit more effective.
You may also wish to have a “small” midnight (i.e before bed not necessarily at midnight) snack of something fatty like cheese or peanut butter to fill the liver in case you go low. Not totally sure if it is a good idea as eating at night is a good way to put on weight. I guess “small” is the key word.
i’ve found that over the years, my bg gets lower and lower when i wake up low at night. i used to be able to catch it in the 60s or 70s; now i don’t wake up until i’m in the 30s or 40s. usually i’ll wake up drenched in sweat, unable to move, but i’ll wake up my husband and slur that i’m low. i’m going to ask my endo for a CGM script so i can catch them before it goes down that much.
one time i was having a dream that my boss was knocking on my door telling me to test my blood sugar. well, that woke me up! lo and behold, my bg was somewhere in the 40s.
Amy,
Keep your meter & flashlight on your nightstand also.
Lows wake me up, too. I don’t go to bed below 100. Between 2-4 AM is a low time for non-diabetics, so it’s just a matter of not going too low for us.
well
i have (sort of) hypo unawareness
i wont wake up until its in the 30’s
the better thing to prevent unplesent accedints is to have asnack and TEST
leave some glucose taps or what ever you use to treat lows in hand(on your nightstand-not litterally!-)
and have a good night(aka"without lows)!
I’ve gone low a few times since my mate moved in with me, and its only thanks to him that I got up at all. i was very content to sleep and continue sleeping - but him pestering me to get up and then testing me when I hadn’t moved might well have saved my life (he got worried after my dog wouldn’t leave the room to follow him to get feed - something he never fails to do each morning).
Turns out I was mmol 3.1 (around 55.8), which is within the range that is to low for me by a lot (for me anything under 4 (around 72) means I’m crashing and not doing so well and don’t now it less I’m told to test or someone tests me).