According to Laura Hieronymus, MD, vice president of health care programs at the American Diabetes Association, “Fatigue is a symptom of hyperglycemia (high blood glucose). When blood glucose levels are too high, the body is not processing glucose as energy; therefore, tiredness or fatigue may occur.”
Many people with diabetes will describe themselves as feeling tired, lethargic or fatigued at times. It could be a result of stress, hard work or a lack of a decent night's sleep but it could also be related to having too high or too low blood glucose levels.
Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of high blood sugar. In people with diabetes, it is referred to as diabetes fatigue. Many people with the condition feel tired all the time regardless of how well they sleep, how healthily they eat, or how much they exercise on a regular basis.
If hypoglycaemia isn't treated promptly and your blood glucose levels drop low enough, you may become drowsy or even lose consciousness. Most people with insulin-treated diabetes notice that the symptoms of hypoglycaemia change and become less obvious the longer they live with the condition.
feeling or being sick. abdominal (tummy) pain. rapid, deep breathing. signs of dehydration, such as a headache, dry skin and a weak, rapid heartbeat.
If you get less than 7 hours of sleep per night regularly, your diabetes will be harder to manage. Too little sleep can: Increase insulin resistance.
Taking metformin can cause vitamin B12 deficiency if you take it for a long time. This can make you feel very tired, breathless and faint, so your doctor may check the vitamin B12 level in your blood. If your vitamin B12 levels become too low, vitamin B12 supplements will help.
Because the sugar stays in your blood, your body doesn't get the fuel it needs. As a result, it begins burning fat and muscle for energy, which can result in unexplained weight loss. The most common types of diabetes are Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
What is diabetes burnout? Feeling burnout because of diabetes can be different for everyone, but it can mean you stop taking care of yourself and your diabetes. For some people, this means skipping insulin doses or not taking your tablets. Some describe it as hitting a wall or giving up.
A pilot trial in FM found that low-dose metformin produced significant improvements in pain, fatigue, morning tiredness, stiffness, anxiety, and depression.
The dawn phenomenon
But if you have diabetes, you may not make enough insulin or may be too insulin resistant to counter the increase in blood glucose. As a result, your levels may be elevated when you wake up. The dawn phenomenon does not discriminate between types of diabetes.
The symptoms you experience won't exactly match those of another person. However, the most common diabetes symptoms experienced by many people with diabetes are increased thirst, increased urination, feeling tired and losing weight.
More serious side effects are rare. They include severe allergic reactions and a condition called lactic acidosis, a buildup of lactic acid in the bloodstream. The risk for this is higher among people with significant kidney disease, so doctors tend to avoid prescribing metformin for them.
Metformin may have an adverse effect on renal function in patients with type 2 DM and moderate CKD.
"It's likely that risk factors which lead to diabetes also cause napping. This could include slightly high sugar levels, meaning napping may be an early warning sign of diabetes," he said. But proper trials were needed to determine whether sleeping patterns made a difference to "real health outcomes".
If you have diabetes and find yourself feeling the urge to take small naps during the day, don't dismiss it as just the usual tiredness. Sleep disturbances are quite common in persons with diabetes and must not be ignored.
Best and worst time to have dinner for diabetics
People with diabetes should eat dinner between 8 and 9 pm. Eating close to bedtime or late at night must be avoided.
Mild high blood sugar
If your blood sugar levels are consistently higher than your target range (usually 11 mmol/L to 20 mmol/L, and 11 mmol/L to 14 mmol/L in children), you may have mild symptoms of high blood sugar.
These are some signs that your type 2 diabetes is getting worse. Other signs like a tingling sensation, numbness in your hand or feet, high blood pressure, increase in appetite, fatigue, blurred vision, trouble seeing at night, and more shouldn't be overlooked.