Getting a good night’s rest is important to maintaining health, especially for diabetics. When you don’t get enough of it, your appetite increases, you become more insulin resistant, feel fatigued and have a harder time remaining active.
Insomnia can also become something of a cycle as high blood sugar levels make it difficult to fall asleep. When your glucose is high, you may feel uncomfortable, restless, and overly warm. All of these symptoms are able to keep you from resting well.
Ways To Reset Your Circadian Rhythm
Of course, plenty of other issues may also be preventing you from getting the rest you need to stay healthy. Sleep shift syndrome or time zones changes when you move or go on vacation are big problems in our modern society. Thankfully, if your bedtime has crept forward for some reason, it’s possible to get it back on schedule. Let’s find out how!
#1 Stick To a Set Bedtime
This may seem obvious, but it’s so easy to avoid going to bed these days. To fix your natural sleep rhythm, you need to start setting a hard and fast bedtime each day. It’s also important to try to wake up at the same time every day.
#2 Avoid Long Naps
If you haven’t been sleeping, it’s tempting to get a nice long nap in during the day. But this confuses your brain and makes it think that nap time is a normal sleep time. If you absolutely can’t stay awake, take a 20-minute power nap. This helps restore your mind and gives enough energy to keep going.
#3 Skip Late Night Dinners
When you eat at night, it kickstarts the body’s organs. The normal process of digestion can keep you awake and even cause indigestion or acid reflux when you lie down. Try to limit yourself to a small snack before bed if your blood sugar levels are low. Also, avoid drinking or eating caffeinated foods within six hours of your bedtime. It can give you insomnia.
#4 Try Melatonin
Rather than getting a prescription sleep aid, try taking a melatonin supplement. Your body produces this hormone to naturally trigger the sleep cycle. When you need to shift your schedule, taking the supplement in small doses may be able to help.
Whether you follow all or just one or two of these ideas, your nightly rest should improve as long as you stick to the effort.
[expand title=”References“]
Diabetes and Sleep. URL Link. Accessed July 24th, 2017.
How to Reset Your Sleep Cycle. URL Link. Accessed July 24th, 2017.
[/expand]
