Can Diabetes Affect Your Sleep Schedule?

Sleep is a basic health requirement for all of us, but it’s one that we most often overlook. It plays a critical role in the maintenance of both physical and mental health, with sleep disturbances and sleep deprivation giving rise to a wide range of problems. Getting inadequate or poor quality sleep on a regular basis can adversely affect heart health, brain function, hormonal levels, and various other bodily functions. Unfortunately, some physiological conditions like diabetes can make it harder to get good quality sleep. 

How Diabetes Affects Your Sleep

Studies show that diabetic patients are more vulnerable to sleep disturbances and insomnia, although the impact on sleep is not a direct one. Instead, certain diabetes symptoms and conditions like obesity that often accompany diabetes can interfere with sleep quality. 

Diabetic sleep disorders are often linked to some specific symptoms that may be poorly managed. These include high blood sugar levels, which can increase the need to urinate, thereby disturbing sleep at night. High levels of blood glucose can also cause dehydration and increased thirst, causing you to wake up to drink water. Poorly controlled blood sugar levels can also cause symptoms like dizziness and sweating, which can disturb or impair sleep quality.

The Link Between Diabetes And Sleep Disorders

Most individuals who suffer from type 2 diabetes are also plagued with sleep disorders. The most common of these are restless leg syndrome and sleep apnea. 

Restless leg syndrome (RLS): This condition is characterized by involuntary movement of the legs or an urge to move the legs because of discomfort. The condition, which is rather common in diabetes patients tends to surface in the evening or at night time and can therefore disrupt sleep or make it harder to fall asleep. The risk of RLS is higher in diabetes patients because of poorly managed blood sugar levels and diabetes complications like kidney problems and peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage in the feet). If you suffer from RLS, you should inform your doctor immediately, so that the condition can be treated effectively.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA): OSA is a condition in which a person experiences a sudden stop or break in breathing during sleep. This is the most common sleep disorder in diabetics, with one study noting a prevalence rate of 86 percent. The condition is seen to be more prevalent in people who are obese and overweight, as fatty tissue can obstruct or constrict the airways. If neglected, OSA can worsen over time and increases the risk of other complications, including heart disease. Treatments for OSA can be extremely effective, so it’s important to seek medical care as soon as possible if you believe that you suffer from the problem. 

Many diabetes patients also suffer from insomnia or difficulty falling asleep. This is most commonly linked to stress or anxiety and high glucose levels. Better management of blood sugar levels and the use of stress reduction and relaxation techniques can help to resolve this problem. 

Tips To Get A Good Night’s Sleep

Many factors affect a good night’s sleep. Most of them are related to the kind of lifestyle you lead. To lower your risk of insomnia and other sleep disorders, you should adopt the following lifestyle changes:

Maintain a disciplined schedule for meals and sleep. Irregular eating habits can cause blood glucose levels to fluctuate, increasing the risk of sleep disorders. A discipline schedule also reinforces your body’s natural clock or circadian rhythm, improving sleep quality. 

Incorporate exercise as a part of your daily routine. Daily exercise is known to improve sleep quality, but it’s best to include such activity earlier in the day. 

Reduce your exposure to bright lights and digital screens for a few hours before bedtime. Blue light from digital screens is known to suppress production of the sleep hormone ‘melatonin’, impairing sleep quality.

Practice meditation or have a hot soak before going to bed as these practices will help you relax and clear your mind, making it easier to fall asleep.  

While adopting these lifestyle changes will help to improve sleep quality, controlling your blood sugar levels is critical. Aside from the fact that poorly managed diabetes increases the risk of sleep disorders, failing to get good quality sleep can also make it harder to control blood sugar levels, leading to progressive deterioration of your health. 

References Link:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3703752/
2. https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/32/6/1017.abstract
3. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-health/lack-of-sleep-and-diabetes#:~:text=How%20Does%20Diabetes%20Affect%20Sleep,insomnia%20and%20next%2Dday%20fatigue.
4. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-and-sleep.html