I’m looking at three right here. If you had to guess at a lifetime tally, how many hours of sleep has diabetes cost you?
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Scott K. Johnson
Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in April of 1980, I recognize the incredible mental struggle of living with diabetes.
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Geez… now that’s tough D-Math. And it’s a big figure. I’d have to say, just rough guessing, maybe 2 whole nights per year? Close to 29 years now… Um. (29, 2, carry the one…) Something like 58 hours of sleep??? Wow. Seems like a lot, and that’s probably a conservative number!!
The bs we deal with seems never ending. Like as soon as you think about all the issues we deal with another one comes to light. Sorry brother.
I think brushing my teeth makes me go low an hour later. The taste of glucose tablets mixed with toothpaste haunts my dreams. I hope you get some sleep.
oh my yes, I wonder that all the time.
I hope you are feeling better!
I always find these discussions interesting and totally foreign to my world. In 54 years as a T1, I can count on two hands the number of hours lost to D (during the night and the day.) It’s a non-issue for me. Always has been. I have slept all night, every night for decades. I don’t have a cgm; my one and only meter stays downstairs with all the food when I go to bed. I have never had a serious problem; never been hospitalized or in a seriously sticky moment that I couldn’t handle myself. And yes, I have tested at 2 am or 3 am but only when I’m coming in from work or play, not because I’ve woken up. I hear these stories and I’m always surprised because my experience is so different. I attribute it to the fact that I am disciplined about what I eat and I have a regimen that’s been so solid for so long. And sure, I know others have different experiences but it always amazes me when I hear those stories.
You are blessed, most of the rest of us battle highs and lows on a daily basis no matter how tight our regimen is.
Just curious – isn’t life rather boring when you’re perfect?
LOL.
How many hours, days, weeks or months of sleep I’ve missed in my 54 years of living with T1..I don’t have the foggiest. Although I can’t blame it all on my T1. Now that I’m in my Senior years some of those sleepless nights can be blamed on other issues that I have because of age. But the majority of sleeplessness can be blamed on my T1.
Oh my… I couldn’t even begin to guess. Pre-diabetes, we used to get about 8 hours of sleep now it’s 6 on a good night. There have been nights when combined I’ve had an hour of sleep, in 10-15 minute increments.
And of course they have all these reports on how not getting enough sleep will kill you faster, make you fatter, and get you sicker (yeah, bad grammar, I know).
It’s depressing. Thank goodness for naps.
I think about this a lot for my little guy as he grows older and leaves the nest one day. Right now, we can watch over him and hopefully keep him safe each night without him missing much sleep. On those nights we are up, I often think about all the others up too and say a prayer for all of them. I miss my sleep but know I have given it up for a good cause! Sending good sleep vibes your way!
I try not to think about it. I know what sleep deprivation does to me and I worry what it will do to my kids when Im not around to check them while they sleep. I can only hope that technology and science mixed with hope and promises will result in less sleep deprivation for my kids when they are on their own – and for all of my FWD (friends with diabetes).
I’m going to guess at least … a lot. And I can also guess that during those lost hours of sleep, the number of peanut butter sandwiches I’ve consumed in a panic are also numerous.
Very good question. 26 years years, 365 days, 2 nights a week on average of lows/highs with 2 hours a night spent testing and re-testing? Calculator says 5408!
Wow.
Ugh, what a drag!! As for your question, I have no idea. But between waking up to treat lows, waking up to correct highs, the many beeps of the CGM that have disrupted my sleep, and even waking up to wonder if I’m high or low . . . . . it’s a lot of sleep I’ve been missing out on. No wonder why I tend to dose on the couch after dinner! LOL
Hmm. Can we count the dreams/nightmares about D in that number, too? I’ve taken my CGM off (for about 4 wks now) just to catch up on sleep lost from all the beep beep beeping.
I reckon I’ve lost a whole nights sleep just this past fortnight or so!
Ha.. I seem to loose about an hour almost every night — give or take, yes sometimes I’m good all night, other I have to stay up a couple hours. I’ve been a diabetic for 15 years now, so 365X15= 5475 hours! OMG that is about 289 days I have missed of sleep… soon enough I will have missed an entire year of sleep JUST because I am a diabetic. Now you got me thinking of some crazy stuff!
Sheesh, that’s a good question. I wonder how many hours diabetes has kept Scott awake. He pays more attention to my G4 than I do. Can we multiply this questions x 2?
I think it has cost me ALL OF THEM. But I have seen so much good television.
I can’t honestly count…. I guess I have a bigger problem staying awake to treat lows at the beginning of the night more than waking up in the middle of the night low. This happens so often I tend to treat the chance of a low before it happens and then I am high all night losing sleep because my cgm is alarming or I have to pee because of the juice I drank. I would say my blood sugars start out lower at the beginning of my work week and the rise due to the stress of not getting sleep at the beginning of the week. I am not sure if that makes sense but either way it is more hours than I would like for sure.