Lack Of Sleep And Blood Sugar

gobbly2100 · #1 (**permalink**) 03-11-2008, 06:08 PM

Hey,

I have been noticing I am running higher recently and I just wondered if being worn down due to lack of sleep could cause me to have high blood sugars?

I seem to get very little sleep lately and I just wonder if it is affecting me blood sugar.

I have a habbit of napping 3 or 4 times throughout the day and night instead of having a full 8 hour sleep.

Any thoughts on this?

Jan B · #2 (**permalink**) 03-11-2008, 06:24 PM

I just know that when not resting properly, everything is harder. Good rest is critical to your whole body, including your brain. It looks like you found (saw other post about pumping) some information that lack of sleep does indeed affect blood glucose. I agree that it makes sense . . . thinking about dawn phenomenon also. Imagine having 2 or 3 mini dps!!

gobbly2100 · #3 (**permalink**) 03-11-2008, 06:33 PM

Yeah I just posted my answer there, I have now read just how important sleep actually is, not all of us take it seriously enough but reading all the stuff on the internet I now feel that I want to make sure I am getting my 8 hours a day.

Well I hope it solves the issue I am having, off to bed right now lol

Jan B · #4 (**permalink**) 03-11-2008, 06:36 PM

Good for you. Sleep tight!

BlueSky · #5 (**permalink**) 03-11-2008, 06:38 PM

Apparently you really need to get that "slow-wave" sleep to maintain your insulin sensitivity. I have noticed blood sugar levels going haywire during stressful periods, and I suspect it is largley due to sleep deprivation. Here is an excerpt from an article on it :

Quote:

Deep sleep, also called "slow-wave sleep," is thought to be the most restorative sleep stage, but its significance for physical well-being has not been demonstrated. This study found that after only three nights of selective slow-wave sleep suppression, young healthy subjects became less sensitive to insulin. Although they needed more insulin to dispose of the same amount of glucose, their insulin secretion did not increase to compensate for the reduced sensitivity, resulting in reduced tolerance to glucose and increased risk for type 2 diabetes. The decrease in insulin sensitivity was comparable to that caused by gaining 20 to 30 pounds.

Previous studies have demonstrated that reduced sleep quantity can impair glucose metabolism and appetite regulation resulting in increased risk of obesity and diabetes. This current study provides the first evidence linking poor sleep quality to increased diabetes risk.

"These findings demonstrate a clear role for slow-wave sleep in maintaining normal glucose control," said the study's lead author, Esra Tasali, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center. "A profound decrease in slow-wave sleep had an immediate and significant adverse effect on insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance."

Lack Of Deep Sleep May Increase Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes

Jill-O · #6 (**permalink**) 03-12-2008, 03:08 AM

I'm sure a lack of sleep can cause higher numbers, because it causes stress and stress makes my numbers much higher.

Gary_W · #7 (**permalink**) 03-12-2008, 03:58 AM

This is very interesting. We have a 6 year old and a 20 month old, and (for reasons including various bugs and the phases of the moon) one or both are waking up at least twice on your average night. We very occasionally get a night where they both sleep through but we're talking once a fortnight here.

As my wife currently has a bad back, it takes her forever to get out of bed. Consequently, when the youngest wakes up and screams, I'm always the one that goes at the moment as (if I left it to my wife) our eldest would wake up due to the noise by the time she got there. It's been this way for 6 months now. I must say I'm pretty shot to bits for the most part, and I've certainly struggled more with my control than I did the middle part of last year when everything was perfect. I actually cope with too little sleep reasonably well. It is broken sleep that kills me off...

Enjoy your sleep, Shane! If you go down the route of children in the future you'll look back on it with fondness

Gary

notme · #8 (**permalink**) 03-12-2008, 09:13 AM

Absolutely! Lack of sleep drives my blood sugar crazy. I just flew home from vacation and was without sleep for almost 24 hours. My blood sugar was in the 200 range almost the entire trip.

Get some sleep! Try melatonin if you are having a hard time sleeping.

Gary_W · #9 (**permalink**) 03-13-2008, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by notme

Absolutely! Lack of sleep drives my blood sugar crazy. I just flew home from vacation and was without sleep for almost 24 hours. My blood sugar was in the 200 range almost the entire trip.

Get some sleep! Try melatonin if you are having a hard time sleeping.

I know lots of folks in the States that use Melatonin all the time, but I'm led to believe you can't get it legally in the UK... I must say I tried it last year after a 13 hour flight and it worked a treat. I was vaguely alive the next morning as opposed to an oblivious jetlagged fool as is my usual at those times.