Nighttime Lows
Sometimes you might wake up in the middle of the night feeling kind of foggy, sweaty, or like your heart's beating a lot faster than normal. If this happens, check your blood glucose right away. You could be having a nighttime low.
If you are low, treat for hypoglycemia, tell your parents about it (they'll probably want you to wake them up), and remember to call your doctor the next day. Also, see if you can think of anything that might have caused the nighttime low. Did you eat less than usual at dinner? Were you more active than usual before bed? Do you usually eat a snack before bed, but forgot it the night of the low? Figuring out what caused the nighttime low will help you avoid having more in the future.
Parents get pretty nervous about nighttime lows, and with good reason. Because you're asleep and no one's around (unless you share a bedroom), it's easy for you to get dangerously low without anyone even realizing it. People slip into comas in the night because of nighttime lows. So, don't be surprised if you wake up in the middle of the night to find your mom or dad by the side of your bed checking your blood glucose. Lots of parents do this. They're worried you could be low, so they drag themselves out of bed at 3 a.m. to check your glucose.
It's easy to be annoyed by this at first. Particularly if you're older and doing a lot of your diabetes care on your own. Your first reaction might be, "Aw, Mom!" Try to remember that your parents just want you to be safe, and that if you did have a nighttime low, even you may not know it. So try to at least tolerate any parental nighttime checks.
If it really bugs you a lot, you might be able to strike a deal with your folks. Come up with a plan to keep them in bed, but still reassure them that you're safe. Maybe something like this: Tell them that you'll set YOUR alarm clock for 2 or 3 a.m. (whatever time they like), and you'll wake up and check your own blood glucose (keep a kit right by the side of your bed so you don't have to get up). If you're low, you'll treat appropriately, then go wake Mom or Dad to give them the results. They'll probably want you to come tell them the results whether you were low or not. And they may set THEIR alarm clock to come do a check if they don't hear from you by a certain time.
