Friday, April 20, 2007

Inability to Sleep....

is this something that is synonymous with type 2 diabetes? It's 8 am, on a work-at-home day and I had to go wake him up. I asked if he was ok and he said, "Yes, I just didn't sleep last night." I asked if he was missing meetings and he said, "probably".

I know....not my disease, not my problem. But...if he loses his job....THEN it's my problem! aarrrgggghhhh!!!

So, is is a common thing with diabetics that they do not go to sleep until 3 or 4 am? I know he is in horrible pain. But on the other hand, I know he is not managing this disease at all. He does not even try to eat right. There's another whole bag of Dove chocolate on the top of his dresser and I watch it shrinking by about 1/4 per day. OK...maybe 1/3 and maybe this is the 3rd bag this week!

We have a treadmill and exercise bicycle....he can't use them as his hips hurt too much. He will guzzle diet soda by the bottle and I've read what that can do to diabetics. He just is not willing to change anything about his lifestyle habits and then gets so angry at the world, so depressed....and can't sleep.

I just wonder if other spouses have moved out of their bedrooms like I have in order to get some rest on their own. Yes...the only reason I've moved down the hall is that his inability to sleep was keeping me up all night long.

He also has restless leg syndrome. He flops his leg all night long which in turn flops the bed. He doesn't roll from one side to the other....he literally lifts his body up and flops back down. Which, of course, generates a huge tidal wave to my side of the bed. OK, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic here...but do you get the point? I will be nearly asleep and the bed will move with a sudden jolt.....and of course I'm back fully awake thinking I'm living in southern California and we just had an earthquake!

I'm also quite sure he has sleep apnea. He will totally quit breathing, then gasp for air. These gasps are so loud that they would wake me up as well. He refuses to even have a sleep test done. So, between the gasps, snorts, farts (nerves in the intestines are dying off), RLS, flops and bounces.....I really have had no choice but to start sleeping in the guest bedroom.

Sigh.

It's only been a couple of weeks now....and just today I am starting to feel a bit rested. I think with 2 more solid months of good sleep, I may be back to joining civilization! :o)

At least I feel good enough this morning to attempt to go out for a walk! Yeah! Just wondering how the rest of the spouses manage to get a good night's sleep?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stay strong - you need your rest and are need to take care of yourself first!

One little hint...DOVE now has a sugarfree product (i found at cvs) maybe you will benefit from less sugar in his body.

Komadori said...

Hi! I'm so sorry I've been offline so long and out of touch. I had finals come up and then things went crazy. My grandfather passed on, and so I went to Texas.

I have a lot to catch up on your blog. Hang in there, okay?

I have some good news, on my front. I've gotten my sugars to 99. Two weeks in a row. The nurse seems to think I've gotten things to turn around, but I'll need to do the 3-month hemoglobin test at the end of the month to be sure. :)

I've also lost 14 lbs since mid-March. :) I'm walking in the mornings and working out at the gym when I can.

Diabeteswife said...

Robin, this is just such wonderful news! Hurray for you!!!