There are several nighttime signs of diabetes you should know about. Recognizing what your body is trying to tell you is important because many people miss these signs, which can cause more damage to their organs, especially the kidneys. The following article discusses the nighttime signs of diabetes you must know about during your diabetes management journey.
15 Nighttime Signs of Diabetes
We often ignore the signs and symptoms that our body is constantly trying to tell us about. The following 15 nighttime signs of diabetes are important to understand and recognize. If you experience 7 to 10 or more of these symptoms, it could be an alarm that you should not ignore. It is highly recommended to consult a healthcare professional to identify the underlying cause and address these early warning signs before they potentially develop into more serious health problems.
Getting Up Frequently at Night to Urinate
This is one of the most common nightitme signs of diabetes. If you get up frequently at night to urinate, it is called nocturia. Why does it happen? It happens because you have too much sugar in your blood. Your kidneys filter the blood, so your body naturally tries to get rid of the excess sugar, which is toxic. Another reason is that wherever the sugar goes, water goes with it. So, while it gets rid of sugar, it also gets rid of your body fluids, which can make you dehydrated.
Excessive Thirst
Because you’re diabetic, you’re going to be dehydrated. So, you’ll constantly need water to stay hydrated. But another thing to realize is that when you’re diabetic or have high blood sugar, you’re also naturally going to retain sodium. So, if your body is going to hold this salt, it also needs more water. And so, you have this feedback loop where you’re drinking all this water. You’re urinating excessively, which then creates dehydration, causing you to drink more; this keeps going around. When you’re getting rid of this water, you’re also getting rid of potassium, magnesium, and calcium, etc. But for some reason, you retain more sodium.
Restless Leg Syndrome
When you’re deficient in vitamin B1, you build up a lot of lactic acid in your muscles because your muscles don’t get enough oxygen, and they become very fatigued. So, you don’t want lactic acid buildup in your muscles. When you’re sleeping, you’re going to feel very restless, and you’re not going to have enough oxygen in your legs, so your legs are just going to feel restless and active.
Another connection to restless legs is a magnesium deficiency, which you may experience with high blood sugar. Without magnesium, muscles can’t relax and stay calm. It’s a B1 and magnesium deficiency because you are consuming too many refined carbs. So, you can take a lot of B1 and temporarily feel better, but unless you really get rid of sugar, it just keeps coming back. Do not ignore one of these nighttime signs of diabetes.
Peripheral Neuropathy
It can feel like burning on the bottoms of your feet. It can be pain, numbness, or any kind of weird sensation in the bottoms of your feet. The reason it gets worse at night is that you’re lying flat, which increases blood pooling and creates a little more pressure on the damaged nerve endings. The remedy for peripheral neuropathy is twofold. One is a vitamin called benfotiamine, taken with alpha-lipoic acid. It’s a really powerful combination.
Cramps in Your Lower Legs or Feet
When there’s too much sugar in the blood, you may experience cramps in your lower legs or feet, which can create a magnesium deficiency. If you don’t have enough magnesium, calcium starts building up inside the cell. Calcium is all about muscle contraction, not muscle relaxation. Magnesium is more about muscle relaxation. So, you get this imbalance of not enough magnesium and too much calcium in the wrong place – you’re going to get cramping in your lower legs or feet. Magnesium glycinate is recommended because it also helps you sleep.
Excessive Sweating at Night
Excessive sweating usually occurs on the face, neck, or upper body. It is very different from sweating or hot flashes caused by menopause. This is different: you’re sweating at night for no apparent reason, even if it is not necessarily too hot. This happens because the blood sugar problem puts you in a fight-or-flight state. This is called sympathetic dominance. It’s part of the nervous system that is more of an adrenaline-type stress. Because adrenaline is activated, you start sweating more as a compensation mechanism. So, when you have this blood sugar issue, your body is under more stress. This can also happen with low blood sugar.
Sleep Apnea
This is a situation when you don’t have enough oxygen because there is some type of obstruction in the back of the throat or sinuses. This is a classic diabetic symptom. It usually occurs because you have a lot of insulin circulating through the body. Doctors never measure it, but it is related to something called insulin resistance, where the body is trying to protect you from too much toxicity from glucose or sugar. Because insulin controls this whole process, it can create insulin resistance, and the door gets blocked. But, of course, the problem is that you gain a lot of weight because you have this compensating excess amount of insulin, which is a fat-promoting hormone.
Hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, occurs because your body wants to get sugar out of your bloodstream, and it does so with insulin. When insulin levels are high, it pushes blood sugar down. So you may wake up in the middle of the night with low blood sugar. One big problem with that is the activation of adrenaline. You wake up in the middle of the night with this, like, stress-hormone activation.
You might also have an elevation of another hormone called cortisol, usually between 2 am and 3 a.m. In fact, right in the early morning, when the alarm clock is going to go off, that’s when you can sleep the best. This release of sugar is also accompanied by your liver producing sugar in the early morning. You just need to get on a low-carb diet for a period of time, probably longer than you think, to correct it because sometimes it takes 6 to 8 months. But many times, it’s not coming from the diet; it is coming from the liver just making too much sugar because you ate the wrong foods for many years.
Delayed Sleep
Because of high sugar levels, the body delays the release of melatonin. You will be lying down at night, waiting to fall asleep, but you just can’t fall asleep easily.
Gastric Reflux
Gastric reflux, or GERD, is a condition where you have to kind of sleep on this wedge or prop your pillows up because the acid is regurgitating from a valve in your esophagus. This happens because a blood sugar issue is affecting the autonomic nervous system. This controls the body’s valves, including the valve at the top of the stomach. So, you’re losing control. One of the best solutions for gastric reflux would be the low-carb ketogenic diet as a necessity, but also consuming two meals.
The first meal in the morning, the second meal at lunch. The reason that’s going to help you is that you may be getting the same calories, but they’re in the first part of the day, not the last, because your system is so slow. If you eat too late, things just kind of pack up.
Nightmare or Vivid Dreams
These are usually related to a neurotransmitter problem because you’re very deficient in vitamin B1. The one big thing that depletes you of B1 is consuming too many carbs or even being a diabetic. Consuming vitamin B1 could definitely resolve this problem.
High blood Pressure
You might experience high blood pressure in the middle of the night. This is called non-dipping. Typically, when you go to sleep, things slow down: pulse rate and blood pressure, etc. That’s called nocturnal dipping, but with diabetes, it’s called non-dipping. It doesn’t happen. Blood pressure just starts going up. You might not even notice your blood pressure, but you’ll just feel awake.
Heart Palpitations
This happens primarily because of a lack of electrolytes, i.e., a deficiency in potassium and magnesium. You would benefit greatly from a good electrolyte powder with high levels of magnesium and potassium.
Teeth Grinding
The activation of the fight-or-flight response of the sympathetic nervous system puts you in a state of stress while you’re sleeping. Your jaw muscles tense, and you grind your teeth.
Headache
When you wake up in the morning, you have a headache. This usually happens because you’re dehydrated, and your brain needs enough fluid to prevent pain and pressure. Remember, it is not just about drinking more water. You need these electrolytes with it.
Conclusion
Nighttime signs of diabetes such as frequent urination, excessive thirst, restless legs, sweating, cramps, sleep problems, and morning headaches may sometimes be linked to high blood sugar problems. However, these symptoms can also have other causes. If you regularly experience several of these signs, especially if you have diabetes or risk factors for it, consider checking your blood sugar and discussing your symptoms with a healthcare professional. Early recognition and proper diabetes management can help reduce the risk of complications and protect your overall health.
