How Does Stress and Sleep Affect Diabetes

Overview

You’ve probably sacrificed your sleep for your work, to talk to someone, or just to complete your favorite series. But what you don’t know is that getting less sleep could be a contributing factor to diabetes or make it worse for people who have diabetes to handle their blood sugar levels.

Over 101 million (1 in 10) people are currently affected by diabetes in India; a 2019 study shows that India has become an epicenter of childhood diabetes and death. In 2020, there were about 700,000 deaths all over India just because of diabetes and related complications. The most common form of diabetes is type 2 diabetes or diabetes mellitus. It is a chronic disease that develops due to insulin resistance.

Diabetes and sleep are directly connected, and many people with type 2 diabetes experience poor sleep quality or insomnia. Over 41% of women and 32% of men had insomnia. The good news is that it is reversible; all you have to do is maintain a good diet, a proper sleep schedule, and exercise on a day-to-day basis.

Sleep and Diabetes: Understanding the Link

As it normally happens, if you have any disease, the thought of that disease might keep you up at night, but in the case of diabetes, it is a bigger problem than that. Going too many hours without food or water can also cause your blood pressure to reach dangerously low levels. People with diabetes sometimes have too little or too much sleep, causing an irregular sleep pattern.

When the blood sugar level is high, the kidney overcompensates by producing more urine and giving you a restless night. Disruption in between sleep can also cause severe headaches and loss of energy due to lack of sleep. You might experience sweating a lot or irritation because of low blood sugar levels.

The person could be suffering from the dawn phenomenon, where the individual wakes up with a higher blood sugar level. You might experience increased thirst, headaches, and blurred vision. Having this condition might lead to higher blood pressure (hyperglycemia) than usual.

Can Stress Cause Diabetes?

Here's the interesting part: lack of stress and sleep about diabetes can make things worse. Stress can exacerbate the effects of insufficient sleep or, even worse, can lead to the secretion of cortisol and adrenaline. That means stress and diabetes don’t go together. These 2 hormones are known as the ‘Flight or Fight Hormones,’ but in this case, these hormones promote insulin resistance in cells.

The Reciprocal Relationship Between Sleep and Diabetes

While diabetes impacts your sleep, poor sleep and stress also affect diabetes. They aren’t the only causes, but they play a significant role in worsening the condition. Having less than 6 to 8 hours of sleep can promote the root cause of the problem and can lead to diabetes. Research shows that people who sleep 5 hours daily have a 16% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who sleep 7 to 8 hours. Those who sleep only 3 to 4 hours have a 41% higher risk.

Having 7 to 8 hours of shuteye is not just about diabetes. But it’s necessary for metabolism, memory, concentration, or whatnot. Sleep is important for every task your body performs. While stress may override every single function in your body, not having enough sleep can have severe side effects like adenosine buildup in the brain, dementia, or even worse, death.

It has been found that irregular sleep patterns might lead to higher blood pressure, damaging your blood vessels, and obesity. Many times people suffering from insomnia might take a dangerous route, like getting on sleeping pills, which would later become addictive. Withdrawal from these tablets can throw the person into bouts of insomnia and depression, later leading to hallucinations.

Sleep Disorders with Diabetes

People with diabetes suffer from 2 types of sleep disorders, which are restless legs syndrome (RLS) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). A person doesn’t need them if he suffers from diabetes, but having diabetes increases the risk of having these syndromes.

OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA

Sleep apnea is a common issue for people with diabetes. It happens when your breathing stops and starts repeatedly while you sleep. A 2009 study found that 86% of people with diabetes also had sleep apnea, and 55% of them needed treatment for it. People with type 2 diabetes are more likely to have sleep apnea, often because they carry extra weight, which can block their airways. Common signs of sleep apnea include feeling tired during the day and snoring at night. If it runs in your family or if you're overweight, you’re at a higher risk. To help with sleep apnea, try to maintain a healthy weight for your body. You might also need a special mask that helps keep your airways open during sleep.

RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROME

Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) makes you feel like you constantly need to move your legs, especially at night. This can make it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep. RLS may be linked to low iron levels. Risk factors for RLS include:

High blood sugar levels
Kidney issues
Thyroid problems

If you think you might have RLS, see your doctor to discuss your symptoms, especially if you’ve had anemia before. Smoking can also trigger RLS. If you smoke, consider a smoking addiction program to help you quit.

How to Fix Sleep Schedule

While it is pretty hard to juggle between your diabetes and insomnia, it’s not impossible; what you just need is a little bit of good sleep, a proper diet, some exercise, and focusing on what you don’t have to do because it’s much more important to know what you don’t have to do. These tips will be for both daytime and nighttime. How many people will think that:

Many people consume alcohol to get a good night’s sleep. Well, they might think that alcohol helps them cope with stress; it’s damaging to the point it makes your sleep apnea worse and gives you very low-quality sleep, making you have frequent wakings.
Keeping an eye on your daily calorie intake and avoiding any trans fat intake like fried or frozen food.
Make a dedicated diet chart with the recommendation of your doctor and dietitian.
Rather than using over-the-counter sleeping pills, use ayurvedic herbs and fruits like kiwi, cherry, chamomile tea, ashwagandha and shankhpushpi.
Taking melatonin supplements might help you to fall asleep and also make your sleep quality better.
Take a light dinner like boiled chicken, boiled egg whites, or boiled fish; for vegetarians, you can take salad or leafy greens like spinach.
Avoid any stimulants like tea, energy drinks, taurine-based drinks like Red Bull, or coffee 4 hours before bed.
Sleeping every day at the same time provides you with a sleep schedule.
Research shows keeping a room dark and cold (optimal temperature: 19oC) provides the best sleeping environment.
Keeping your screen time low and getting natural sunlight helps you release cortisol and melatonin at balanced levels while also maintaining your circadian rhythm (sleep cycle).
Research shows that listening to tunes like binaural beats might help you with your sleep quality.
Maintaining physical activities and meditation releases a plethora of dopamine, helping you to fall asleep quicker.

Conclusion

Essentially, diabetes and sleep are frenemies. You can't ignore one without rattling the other. Bad sleep makes for bad diabetes; diabetes can keep you awake. But the prescription is pretty basic: Get on a sleep schedule, eat well, lay off the caffeine late in the day, and sleep cool and cozy. Think of good sleep as your secret weapon against the blood sugar blues. So show a little love to your pillow, avoid any midnight snacks, and let sleep do its magic. After all, even superheroes need a good night of rest to keep the villains—like diabetes—at bay!