How To Improve Your Sleep With Diabetes
There is a connection between sleep and diabetes. Diabetes can cause sleep disturbances, yet adequate sleep directly benefits blood sugar management. If we're not getting quality sleep it can be a vicious circle. But I can give you some tips for improving your sleep.
How Much Sleep Do I Need?
Hi Everyone, welcome back to DiabetesEveryDay. Remember to hit the subscribe button, press like if this information is helpful, and comment below. I have a serious question which may be a bit personal … Are you getting a full night’s rest? Are you sleeping for 7-8 hours each night? A good night’s sleep is part of a healthy lifestyle related to diabetes management.
Getting a full night of sleep is a tough one for many of us... I know!
I know personally about this struggle and also from my patients who have diabetes-this one pertains to all of us, people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. So, know you aren’t alone. Research shows that there is a direct relationship with having diabetes and sleep disturbances. This relationship is with some of the symptoms of diabetes….. a below target or above target blood sugar.
Blood Sugar Readings and Your Sleep
Above target readings can cause you to get up more often to use the bathroom or make you feel dehydrated so you get up to get a drink, and then the cycle starts that you have to go to the bathroom more often. Remember, your body is trying to eliminate excess glucose through urine.
A below target blood sugar can wake you in a sweat, or shakiness, or dizziness. Maybe I should say we hope a low blood sugar will wake us up. I hope you know that lows can be extremely dangerous.
But there’s a kind of circle to getting or not getting good rest. Today I’m going to share why it’s important to get sleep, how it affects our blood sugar and some solutions to getting better sleep each night.
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First, understand that not getting good sleep puts our body into a state of low-level stress. This kind of stress increases insulin resistance, and the “stress hormone” cortisol actually increases blood sugar levels. This isn’t the same as emotional stress – you may be happy as can be, but if you’re only getting 4 hours of sleep your body is having a stress reaction. So, getting to sleep is directly related to managing blood sugar more effectively.
As promised, I’m going to offer a couple tips on what you can do to improve your sleep. It’s not for everyone, so do some research to see which one of these tips will work for you.
6 Tips For Improving Your Sleep With Diabetes
- Exercise after dinner and then take a warm bath or shower.
- Or take a warm bath or shower as part of your getting ready for sleep routine.
- Drink herbal teas as part of your winding down ritual before bed, I have a sweet slumber and a rooibos tea from the company Numi.
- Read a book in bed so you are already prepared to fall asleep – a relaxing book
- Create white noise in your room or tap into an app that is soothing and lulls you to sleep.
- Use an eye mask. I said no way to masks for years and then I tried an eye mask I got on an overseas flight and voila’, it worked for me! I hadn’t realized how light-sensitive I was when I slept. Using a mask helped darken the room for a good night’s sleep. I have upgraded from that airline mask to a weighted mask that combines a weighted head strap with module eyecups by Manta Sleep.
The great news is that we have a variety of things we can try and none of these ideas will affect your blood sugar except for getting a better night of sleep and improve your morning blood sugar. Hey, as a reminder, subscribe to my channel, press like and add your comments below. Until next time, cheers to your health and good night.
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