How Do I Treat Diabetes
Improve your lifestyle: Making changes in your day to day life can help reduce fatigue. Here are some lifestyle changes to consider:
- Lose some weight or maintain a healthy weight
- Engage in moderate to vigorous exercise multiple times a week
- Make healthy food choices
- Limit stress as much as possible and find ways to unwind
- Develop good sleep habits, such as regular bedtimes and no screen time at night
Manage your blood sugar levels: Monitoring your blood sugar levels regularly will ensure youre not experiencing the highs and lows that will negatively impact your sleep.
Seek professional advice: Be sure to check in with your diabetes healthcare provider to help you monitor your diabetes and determine if there are underlying conditions that could be contributing to fatigue.
Remember that feeling fatigue on occasions is normal when you have diabetes, but feeling exhausted all the time is not. Getting to the bottom of the issues contributing to your fatigue will mean you can get on top of staying healthy.
Preventing A Low Blood Sugar Level
If you have diabetes, you can reduce your chance of getting a low blood sugar level if you:
- Check your blood sugar level regularly and be aware of the symptoms of a low blood sugar level so you can treat it quickly.
- Always carry a sugary snack or drink with you, such as glucose tablets, a carton of fruit juice or some sweets. If you have a glucagon injection kit, always keep it with you.
- Do not skip meals.
- Be careful when drinking alcohol. Do not drink large amounts, check your blood sugar level regularly, and eat a carbohydrate snack afterwards.
- Be careful when exercising eating a carbohydrate snack before exercise can help to reduce the risk of a hypo. If you take some types of diabetes medicine, your doctor may recommend you take a lower dose before or after doing intense exercise.
- Have a carbohydrate snack, such as toast, if your blood sugar level drops too low while youre asleep
If you keep getting a low blood sugar level, talk to your diabetes care team about things you can do to help prevent it.
Low Testosterone In Prediabetes
In men, testosterone levels commonly decrease if overweight. Lower testosterone levels are known to cause tiredness and weight gain. Low testosterone levels also cause you to go to the toilet more often and can interrupt sleep. Hormonal levels in women during menopause also fluctuate and can be a common time for weight gain to occur.
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Is Stress Messing With Your Blood Sugar
Stress may raise glucose levels in your blood, leading to hyperglycemia and even diabetes. Learn how to control your condition.
Researchers have linked dozens of physical symptoms to stress overload, from fatigue to weight gain. You can add another symptom to that list: high blood sugar.
When youre stressed, your body is primed to take action. This gearing up is what causes your heart to beat faster, your breath to quicken, and your stomach to knot. It also triggers your blood glucose levels to skyrocket. Under stress, your body goes into fight-or-flight mode, raising blood sugar levels to prepare you for action, says Richard Surwit, PhD, author of The Mind-Body Diabetes Revolution and chief of medical psychology at Duke University in Durham, NC. If your cells are insulin resistant, the sugar builds up in your blood, with nowhere to go, leading to hyperglycemia.
We have no shortage of short-term stress in our livesfrom traffic jams to working long hours at a demanding joband our stress hormones, which were designed to deal with short-term dangers like fleeing predators, are turned on for long periods of time, even though were neither fighting nor fleeing. What were doing is stewing, which can cause chronically high blood sugar.
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No matter how busy you are, you can find ways to restespecially if you have diabetes. Heres how:
What Does Diabetes Fatigue Feel Like
Many people with diabetes experience feelings of exhaustion, lethargy, or fatigue from time to time. It could be caused by stress, hard work, or a lack of a decent nights sleep. But it could also be linked to having too high or too low blood glucose levels. Chronic fatigue, particularly tiredness after meals, is one of the common symptoms of diabetes.
Fatigue manifests itself in the following ways:
- Physical or mental lack of energy
- Difficulty in performing basic daily tasks
- Depression or mental fatigue.
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Eating Commercial Baked Goods Is Linked With Depression
Muffins, croissants, pastries, and other commercially prepared baked goods may taste good, but they may also trigger depression. Spanish researchers found that individuals who ate the most baked goods had a 38 percent higher risk of depression than individuals who ate the least number of baked goods. The researchers suggested the intake of trans fats may play a role. This type of unhealthy fat leads to inflammation and increases your risk for cardiovascular disease and heart attack. Its commonly found in commercial baked goods.
Trans fats were banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration . American food manufacturers have until mid-2018 to remove all trans fats from their foods.
You can read food labels to find out if the food youre eating contains trans fats. You can also focus your diet on whole foods that do not contain artificial ingredients like trans fats.
What Causes Fatigue In Diabetes
Why does too much sugar make you tired? With diabetes, tiredness can result as a result of several factors such as:
- Can insulin resistance cause fatigue? High levels of glucose in the blood, either due to a lack of insulin or due to insulin resistance, can have an effect on the bodys capacity to get sugar from the blood into body cells to meet a persons energy requirements.
- Individuals who are on stronger anti-diabetics including insulin might also experience tiredness as a sign of low blood sugar levels.
- Blood sugar testing is a great way to determine whether high or low glucose levels can be the reason behind fatigue.
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What To Know About Blood Sugar
Dr. Block tells us, “Blood sugar is what your body uses to process and produce energy. It is important to include healthy carbs in your diet like veggies, fruits and dairy to provide fuel to your body. Low blood sugar and skipping meals can cause fatigue.” McDermott says, “When we discuss blood sugar, we are talking about glucose in the bloodstream. This glucose is an energy source for our body. Insulin helps get the glucose into our cells to be able to be used for our daily activities, from using your brain at work to running after the dog. Increases and decreases of blood sugar throughout the day is essential for optimal functioning. Glucose fuels your brain and your muscles. We just want to keep blood sugars within a healthy range, both on the higher and the lower ends.”
Sugar Makes Me Sleepy Why Does This Happen And What Can I Do About It
Weve all experienced it before you had a few more slices of cake than you should and now you feel like you are going to fall asleep at any moment. When this happens, most people write it off as regular exhaustion. However, there is more to this phenomenon than meets the eye. If youve been wondering, why do I get tired after I eat? or Is it normal that sugar makes me really sleepy? We have all the answers to your questions in this article.
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The Importance Of Symptoms
Modern diabetes care is characterized by a strong focus on evidence-based, number-driven targets and outcomes. While this approach does have its benefits, it has shortcomings and limitations as well, one of which is that little attention is paid to the symptomatic well-being of the persons with diabetes. At times, in fact, complaints may be neglected, and symptoms sacrificed, to justify the use of particular therapeutic strategies or tools. A casual reading of modern guidelines suggests that the end-target is more important than the means . Understandably, such clinical judgment is bound to be met with patient dissatisfaction. One symptom which may be ignored in the quest for optimal numerical end-targets, is fatigue.
Stress And Blood Glucose Levels
When the body is under stress, the adrenal glands trigger the release of glucose stored in various organs, which often leads to elevated levels of glucose in the bloodstream.
For people with diabetes, this can be particularly problematic as they find it harder than non-diabetics to regain normal blood glucose levels after a bout of stress.
The common misconception with stress is that it is an emotional problem, often disguised as anxiety, worry, or depression.
However, the reality is that stress can also be physical, nutritional, and chemical.
For example, stress can be experienced as physical pain or illness, and can also be triggered by situations such as an accident, the death of a friend or relative or confrontations with other people.
Essentially, stress can be considered as anything that tends to change the control that you have over our body and our emotions
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What Causes Reactive Hypoglycemia
Diabetics often get low blood sugar when they take insulin or another antidiabetic medication that drops their blood sugar too low. Insulin, which is produced by you pancreas, is secreted when you eat. It helps sugar get into your cells where you need it for energy. Too much insulin causes blood sugar to drop too quickly. Once that energy source is used up, there is not enough blood sugar to replace it, and you get symptoms of hypoglycemia.
Reactive hypoglycemia is also caused by too much insulin. It occurs a few hours after eating. The cause is not completely known. It may be a developing failure to regulate insulin secretion that is a warning sign for type 2 diabetes. It can also occur after weight loss surgery, if food passes through your stomach too quickly.
How Does Blood Glucose Affect Sleep
Just as sleep affects blood sugar levels, blood sugar levels may also impact sleep quality. A study of people with type 2 diabetes found that those with higher blood sugar levels experience poorer sleep. Another study found that 62% of people with glucose levels in the pre-diabetes range are likely to have poor sleep, compared to 46% of people with normal glucose levels.
Researchers arent certain why increased blood sugar may be associated with poor sleep and more study is necessary to understand the relationship.
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Why Does Having Diabetes Cause Fatigue
Having diabetes changes your blood. Imagine someone without diabetes having blood that flows like water. Now imagine someone with diabetes having blood that flows like maple syrup. When the blood flows much thicker and slower, like syrup, it is harder for cells to flow through the bloodstream to provide energy and oxygen to parts of the body, including the brain.
Diabetes also causes inflammation, which sends messages to the brain that the body needs to take a rest in order to heal. When this happens, fatigue is going to be a problem.
One of the biggest reasons that diabetes causes fatigue is because of its complications. Organs such as the kidneys, eyes, heart, and the nerves can all be damaged because of diabetes. End stage renal disease, which is when the kidneys fail, can lead to low red blood cells. Low red blood cells, which is also known as anemia, can lead to fatigue. Studies have shown that people with diabetic complications such as nerve damage, heart disease, and kidney problems have increased levels of fatigue. The next section of this article discussed more things that can cause fatigue.
Parents Of Children With Diabetes
If your child has diabetes and shows symptoms of hypoglycemia, itâs important to check their blood glucose level with a glucometer. If this is not possible, it is best to treat them as if they have hypoglycemia by giving them carbohydrates to prevent symptoms from getting worse.
Your child should have a safety plan in place for when they are not in your care, such as when they are at school, friends homes, or daycare. The plan should include whom they should talk to if they are not feeling well.
Talking to your child about their diabetes and the symptoms to be aware of helps keep them safe. When your child is aware that how theyre feeling is related to their blood sugar levels and diabetes management, they can learn to both self-identify and verbalize or signal to their parents when they need treatment.
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Bottom Line On Diabetes And Stress
Clearly, stress can have a huge impact on your diabetes outcomes. But all of this is not to say that the medications youre taking arent playing a role in your glucose fluctuations. If your medications are poorly matched to your food intake, they can absolutely be the cause of glucose highs and lows.
Still, dont discount the fact that stress, in your system, has the same impact as sugar. It needs to be respected by people with diabetes just like any other sugar. Its impact needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and dealt with especially as weve entered into a new era of record stress and stressors.
Why A Lot Of Refined Carbs Make You Tired
Ever wonder Why does pasta make me sleepy? Excessive processed carbohydrate intake will lead you to feel sluggish. A common question asked is, why do carbs make me feel tired?. When you eat simple carbohydrates, the sugars from the food enter your bloodstream and change the way that blood sugar levels are controlled. This hormonal response is what keeps us alive by releasing insulin to take excess sugars from our bodys cells or tissues where it can be used for fuel but eating too many carbs in one sitting can negatively impact this process.Talk to a nutritionist to reduce your carb-intake to a recommended amount . Its important to note that not all carbohydrates have properties that make you feel sleepy. Carbohydrates like legumes, whole grains and fruit are not directly linked to feeling tired.
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Type 2 Diabetes In Older Adults
Your risk of type 2 diabetes goes up as you age because your body can become resistant to insulin and your pancreas might not work as well as it used to.
Diabetes is more likely to cause complications in people 65 and older, especially heart attacks, eye problems, loss of a leg , and kidney disease.
How Is It Beneficial For Me As A Person With Diabetes To Reduce/prevent Fatigue
It is beneficial for someone with diabetes to reduce and prevent fatigue because it can lead to a happier and healthier life and less diabetes complications in the future. Fatigue can cause lack of motivation which can lead to a person not taking care of themselves. For an individual with diabetes, not taking care of their body can lead to complications that aren’t reversible. These include:
- Poor circulation
These complications are big problems and can lead to a very difficult life. It is much easier to keep fatigue to a minimum or eliminate it all together.
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Optimizing Blood Sugar Levels Can Improve Cfs/fibromyalgia Symptoms
Posted October 19, 2011
People with chronic fatigue syndrome often have difficulty regulating blood sugar , resulting in low levels in some CFS patients and elevated levels in others.
Low Blood Sugar
Low blood sugar levels are often caused by adrenal exhaustion. This is because when you’re under stress your adrenal gland pumps out cortisol, triggering the pancreas to produce glucagon and, in turn, raising your blood sugar. If your adrenal gland is exhausted, cortisol production is reduced and your blood sugar can drop too low.
Symptoms of low blood sugar include:
High Blood Sugar
Several factors can trigger high blood sugar levels. These include:
In any of these three conditions optimizing blood sugar levels and insulin sensitivity can improve CFS/FMS symptoms.
If you have low blood sugar, I recommend reading my article on Adrenal Exhaustion.
If you have elevated blood sugar , I recommend reading my article on Treating Diabetes Naturally.
How To Manage Your Stress Levels
Some forms of stress cannot be managed, especially if they are not frequent in nature such as a one-time traumatic event or an accidental injury. Other types of stress, such as taking care of family, work stressors, or any other day-to-day stressful situations, will likely be there permanently or semipermanently. These types of stressful events are the ones that need to be managed as best you can.
To do this, you can proactively plan ahead. This means being prepared for the regular stressors of life and managing your time, reading self-help books, or minimizing the source of stress as much as possible. Calming exercises such as yoga and meditation have also been proven to reduce stress levels. You will also want to avoid indulging in unhealthy behaviors such as overeating. It may seem comforting at the time, but it will not help to relieve the stress you are experiencing.
Setting realistic and manageable goals is also a big stress reducer for those with diabetes. Instead of focusing on a large and vague goal such as losing weight, setting a goal of walking for at least a half-hour every day on specific days of the week will be much more achievable.
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