After doing some reflection and planning in order to further lower my own HbA1C levels, one thing I found made a bigger improvement over others. Thinking about it now it makes perfect sense. What is it you ask?

This may seem like common sense, you might even say DUH, but it actually takes a bit more organizational skill to actually implement. Thought this will probably benefit the type 1 diabetic the most, it could be valuable for all.

Quite simply it could be one of the easiest ways for a diabetic to lower their HbA1C levels and keep their overall levels in check. Most of our glucose fluctuations happen over the course of the day as we move about, eat meals, exercise etc. But when we sleep we’re doing none of that PLUS you don’t have all the temptations throughout the day that would otherwise affect your glucose levels. (Unless you count those middle of the night snacks )

What this does is basically is give your body a guaranteed 6-9 hours (or however long you sleep) of regulated glucose level with little distractions.

So what does it take to do this? I think it is highly variable between one person to another, but these tips work for me:

• Bedtime Glucose Check – Checking your glucose levels at bedtime (which you might be doing anyway).

• Middle of the night alarm – If you find yourself having trouble, one thing you could do is set an alarm to wake up and test in the middle of the night. Just take note of what it was at, what you ate and what medication you took at bedtime to compare things.

• Adjust medication – Make sure the insulin you take (short or long lasting) will cover you during the night. It would probably be best to consult your doctor.

• Adjust your Food – Keep an eye on what you eat a few hours before going to bed. Depending on the type of foods you at, how many carbs/sugars/fats etc they contained, it could come back to bit you in the middle of the night even if your glucose level at bedtime was good. This would be a good place to consult your dietitian to figure out what will work best for you regarding dinner and evening foods.

• Find the balance – Each body is different and your will respond differently to the foods you eat and medications you take. This really is about knowing yourself and knowing your body. Knowing how certain foods affect you and what affect certain dosages of your medication will have on you. To make this work the best you’ll have to find the right balance to keep a balanced glucose level through the night.

Overall a pretty simple but helpful tip. Be cautious though not to over compensate for any one thing, or you could end up dipping into a bad low during your sleep and you definitely don’t want that.

Just remember the overall goal is this: When you go to bed, make sure you glucose level is where it should be and it stays there through the night until you wake up

• Type-1 diabetes don’t wake up from low blood sugar?
• Lack of Sleep Affects Diabetic Health
• 6 tips to improve your HbA1c & blood sugar levels
• HbA1C tests, the results and what they mean to you
• The Affects of Stress on Diabetes
• A beautiful sight……

This entry was posted on Friday, March 2nd, 2007 at 11:25 am and is filed under Diabetes Medication, Diabetes Tips, Diabetic Health, Glucose Management, Treatment.
.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.