For some people living with diabetes, blood sugar can drop or rise overnight, interrupting sleep. Difficulty sleeping can also affect your insulin. But there are things you can do to manage blood sugar at night and improve your sleep.
Managing diabetes — whether you have type 1 or type 2 — is more than a full-time job. Juggling blood sugar checks, medication, exercise, and eating habits are all part of managing your blood sugar.
In addition, your condition doesn’t clock out at 5 p.m. when you’re ready to take a break. In particular, managing your sleep is important because lack of sleep can increase insulin resistance, which can raise your blood sugar.
In other cases, your nighttime blood sugar levels may also drop. This can be
That said, lifestyle changes and habits can help your blood sugar levels stay stable overnight, and certain strategies may also help improve your sleep.
Before you set the alarm and settle in under the covers each night, here are a few bedtime to-dos. They can help you feel more in control of your diabetes overnight and sleep more soundly.
Regular blood sugar checks are a big part of managing your diabetes. You may already be checking your blood sugar at different times of the day, including in the morning before eating, before all meals in general, and 1 to 2 hours after a meal.
If you start to notice that your blood sugar is often above or below target before bed, there are things you can do. Talk with your doctor about managing blood sugar at this time of the day.
Here are some steps that may help lower blood sugar in the evening:
- Change the type, timing, or dose of medications or insulin.
- Eat dinner earlier.
- Decrease the amount of carbohydrates in your dinner meal or bedtime snack.
- Increase the amount of protein at your dinner meal or bedtime snack.
- Get out for a walk or do another activity after dinner.
On the other hand, if your blood sugar is too low before bed, you can try the following to stabilize it:
- Eat a balanced dinner.
- If you exercise close to bed, reduce your long-acting insulin before you go to sleep.
- Eat a carbohydrate snack before bed.
What is a good blood sugar level at night?
The blood sugar goal at bedtime should be about 80 to 180 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).Testing at bedtime for at least 1 or 2 weeks can allow you to see some patterns.
When you live with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, you might experience something that experts named the “dawn phenomenon” or the “dawn effect.”
This means your blood sugar might spike early in the morning, often between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. It may be high even before you eat anything.
On the other hand, you can also experience something called nocturnal hypoglycemia, in which your blood sugar levels drop below
For this reason, it can be helpful to first find out more about what your blood sugar does overnight. You can use a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to monitor your blood sugar overnight, or you can check your blood sugar before bed, wake up around 3 a.m. to check again, and test first thing when you wake up.
For some people, low blood sugar overnight can cause a rebound in the morning. This is called the Somogyi effect. Checking your blood sugar around 3 a.m. will capture if your blood sugar drops at that time. Your body can release some stored sugar when this happens, causing a high blood sugar level by morning.
Insulin pumps may help keep blood sugar stable overnight. You can fine-tune your insulin dose delivery with an insulin pump to match the rise in blood sugar due to the dawn phenomenon.
If you take long-acting insulin or medications in the evening and your blood sugar is high in the morning, it’s possible that your dose isn’t enough to get you through the night. Talk with your doctor about how to adjust the dose.
Avoid caffeine if it’s a few hours before bedtime. Sources of caffeine include coffee, some teas, chocolate, and soda. Caffeinated foods and drinks are stimulants and can keep you awake.
For some people, having caffeine anytime in the afternoon makes it hard to sleep later. Pay attention to how caffeine affects you. Research also suggests caffeine may raise your blood sugar, at least in the short term.
Also, limit alcohol intake, especially if you find it affects your sleep. Note that alcohol can also raise or lower blood sugar levels.
On the other hand, combining it with diabetes medications like insulin or sulfonylureas can actually lower your blood sugar too much.
Exercise helps your body use insulin more efficiently. Activity can also be a way to reduce stress and settle your mind before bed.
Exercising, such as taking a walk, too close to bedtime, may impact how fast you fall asleep. However, this isn’t the case for everyone. Some people sleep fine after a workout before bed.
On the other hand, exercising in the evening may help keep your blood sugar more stable overnight. Just measure your blood sugar before you go to sleep to ensure it doesn’t go too low. Get to know your body and find what works best for you.
To optimize your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep, it’s a good idea to have a quiet, cool, dark, and comfortable room.
Set the thermostat between 60°F (15.6°C) and 67°F (19.4°C), which is the optimal temperature for sleep.
Lighting matters. Our bodies produce a hormone called melatonin, which helps you sleep. Light slows melatonin production. The more light exposure you have, the less melatonin you produce, and the harder it can be to fall asleep.
Dim the lights as it gets closer to bedtime. Close the shades and curtains in your bedroom so that the rising sun won’t wake you up in the morning. Consider installing room darkening or blackout curtains.
Noise can disturb your sleep, too. Move your cellphone to another room or put it in a drawer so that incoming texts and calls don’t wake you up. If you’re sensitive to noise, get a fan or white noise machine, or use earplugs to block out any unwanted sounds.
Many people in the United States do not get enough sleep. Experts recommend that adults get at least
Many things can affect your sleep. Nerve pain, frequent thirst, the need to urinate, and hunger can all keep you awake. If you have any of those concerns, it’s a good idea to talk with your doctor. One way to maximize your sleep hours is to get into a bedtime routine.
Just before bed, do something to relax your body and quiet your mind to prepare for sleep. Try the following:
- Take a warm bath or shower.
- Do some gentle yoga or stretching.
- Read a book.
- Listen to relaxing music.
- Try a guided meditation.
Keep the lights low. Limit your screen time. Screens emit a type of blue light that can stimulate your brain and make it harder to fall asleep.
If you can’t fall asleep right away, leave the room and read or do another quiet activity for 15 minutes, then climb back into bed and try again.
When you live with diabetes, what you do before bed can directly affect your blood sugar levels at night. These may become too high or too low. In addition, lack of sleep itself can increase insulin resistance and affect blood sugar levels.
But, developing certain habits in the hours before bedtime can help you improve sleep and blood sugar regulation overnight.
Part of this involves monitoring and managing your blood sugar, but there are also things you can do to improve your sleep, like avoiding alcohol before bed and engaging in relaxing activities.
