Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Sleep paralysis or Severe low?

Last night I needed to correct my high blood sugar (214) before going to bed. This would be the first time attempting a new insulin sensitivity of 1:50 instead of what isn't working well anymore, I was 1:70 at night for years. I don't usually have to correct a high before bed. I am usually well in range (around 100 for me) So I set the alarm for Maddison's blood sugar check at midnight. At midnight Maddison was on the lower side of where we want her for sleeping so I set a temporary reduction on her pump for 30min and reset the alarm for an hour later.

I could hear the alarm clock blaring. I think my eyes were open, but I'm not really sure. I felt awake but I couldn't move anything. I also felt my entire body shaking, but in a panic I thought maybe Maddison was having a seizure as she slept beside me in bed. I kept trying to get up, thinking I had to get to Maddison. But I couldn't wake up. My whole body was numb, I couldn't feel anything or respond to anything my brain was telling my body to do. I was overwhelmed with something telling me to get up and drink juice, that I was low, but there was nothing I could do to get out of the semi-consciousness. I remember everything going black (falling back to sleep?) but I still felt the sense of shaking and I still thought Maddison was in trouble. That is the last thing I remember.

I woke up about two hours later and jumped out of bed in a panic because I knew Maddison hadn't been checked for too long. She was fine. I checked myself and I was now 240. Let me say, that never happens. If I give myself insulin I go down. I have never had a high that isn't brought down at least a little. But, I went up from 214 to 240 which makes me think that I had a bad low that I didn't wake up to and it caused a liver rebound. Or, was this coincidentally sleep paralysis? Either way, I am pretty freaked out. I have personally myself never had a problem with lows at night (that I am aware of!) I know some parents also say that their kids will spike highs after night terrors or nightmares. Maybe that is what happened.

When I was first diagnosed I refused to ever go to bed with active insulin from a meal bolus. I think watching my dad wake up at night to a low scared the hell out of me as a kid, even though I had no idea what that felt like at the time. So being newly diagnosed and feeling my first serious insulin low I swore to myself I would never go to bed with alot of active insulin on board. I think it took me a good two years to get over that. Finally with time came comfort and feeling secure in all my insulin dosings. One crappy night like last night can steal the feeling of security away from you. Having to correct a high blood sugar at night happens. You can't avoid it, though in the first few years I really tried exactly for this reason. I wonder if it was a dream? Was it a serious low or was it sleep paralysis? Was it really a nightmare based around my fear of Maddison having a seizure at night? Did it have anything to do with me? I don't know if I am more freaked out by the possibility I had a serious low or the thought of having "sleep paralysis" again in the future? I just wonder what really happened?

2 comments:

Scott K. Johnson said...

Scary stuff!

Anonymous said...

I just had the same issue, except when I was able to wake up I had a blood sugar of 54. Luckily, when I'm low my body wakes me up.

But, this time I think my body was trying to wake me up while I was in REM sleep. Thus, the sleep paralysis.

This was not enjoyable at all, a double whammy of low blood sugar and sleep stress.