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Sleep Apnea
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Sleep Apnea/Diabetes

Posted by baydreamer7 on November 26, 2007 at 07:44:56:

Hi - posted an earlier message wondering if anyone had experienced the Dawn effect (high blood glucose readings) in the morning that might have been due to sleep apnea problems (I am diabetic). I was thinking that my pressure might have been off and that I may have been experiencing some events that would have caused stress on my body, thereby raising my morning glucose levels. Had a sleep test and my pressure is fine, but the doctor suggested I may be experiencing the Somogyi effect based on my symptoms. I had been waking after several hours of sleep with a racing, pounding heart, sometimes pain in my chest, and had trouble falling back to sleep. After research, I discovered that the Somogyi effect is when a diabetic's blood sugar drops too low during sleep and the body compensates by releasing glucagon and epinephrine which spurs the liver to produce more glucose. That would explain the racing, pounding heart and pain in the chest, as well as the high blood sugars in the morning. So, my sleep apnea was not the problem in this case, but I would still wonder if anyone has untreated sleep apnea or improperly controlled sleep apnea, if that would put stress on the body, thereby stimulating the body to produce extra glucose. Any time my body is under stress (sickness, or emotional distress), my sugars are high, so it would stand to reason that the body would be under duress if experiencing sleep apnea events or simply not sleeping well night after night.

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  • Sleep Deprivation due to Sleep Apnea and insufficient sleep are common and can present as insomnia, narcolepsy, or idiopathic hypersomnia. In infants and children sleep problems commonly present themselves as ADD or ADHD.


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