Ch 1: The night I had enough

How a 3am wake-up in a cold, damp bed changed everything, and why I started Cwtch Silk.

Let me be honest from the beginning. I am not a doctor. I am a researcher who looks for 

answers when my health or my child's skin is affected. What I found changed how I sleep for good.

As someone with Type 1 diabetes, I know my body can act on its own at night. When my blood sugar drops,  a condition called nocturnal hypoglycaemia, my body reacts with a stress response. Adrenaline rushes in to bring my blood sugar back up. One of the first things that happens is sweating.[1]

Living with Type 1 diabetes means my body sometimes acts on its own at night. If my blood sugar drops, known as nocturnal hypoglycaemia, my body responds with a rush of adrenaline to raise my sugar levels. This adrenaline often causes sweating.[1]

I cannot control this. It is not a choice I make. My body is simply doing what it is meant to do. Research in PLOS Medicine found that people with Type 1 diabetes are much less likely to wake up when hypoglycaemia happens, so these episodes and the sweating can happen without any warning.[2]

When I wake up, I feel the aftereffects. There is a shock, a sudden chill, and a drop in temperature as soon as I wake, with damp skin exposed to the air and heavy, wet sheets around me. My body is still trying to adjust. Almost right away, the itching starts, spreading over already sensitive skin. Being cold, damp, itchy, and disoriented is a tough way to wake up at three in the morning.

“I cannot stop the sweat. What I can change is what happens after it.”

For years, I slept on cotton sheets, different weights, thread counts, and brands. They were all advertised as natural, breathable, and good for the skin. Yet every morning, I had the same problem. Cotton is very absorbent. It holds moisture against your skin instead of moving it away, so after sweating, you end up lying in damp sheets. The fabric stays wet, your body cools down faster, and your already sensitive skin stays in contact with moisture. This is exactly what causes itching and irritation.

There is also the environmental question, but I will talk about that later. For now, I want to share what I learned about silk.

Silk is unique among natural fibers because its protein structure is very similar to human skin.[3] Its fibers can absorb moisture and quickly move it away from your skin, unlike cotton, which holds moisture against your body. A 2019 study in Textile Science showed that silk moves moisture much faster than cotton. Simply put, when you sweat on silk, the moisture moves away. On cotton, it stays put.

For anyone waking up after a nocturnal hypoglycaemic episode, this difference matters. It is the difference between waking up cold, damp, and uncomfortable, and waking up in bedding that has already started to manage the moisture. Silk does not cling, does not trap cold against your skin, and does not make sensitive skin feel worse.

“Silk does not stop the sweat. It changes what the sweat does to you.”

I want to make it clear, as any good researcher should: silk is not a treatment for diabetes. It will not stop nocturnal hypoglycaemia or replace your glucose monitor or insulin routine. But for those of us who deal with blood sugar swings at night, for women going through menopause, for parents of children with eczema, and for anyone whose skin needs extra care, your bedding is not just a luxury. It is a health choice.

That is why I started Cwtch Silk. It did not come from a boardroom, but from a 3am wake-up, a problem-solving mindset, and a lot of research.

Next: Chapter 2 – The morning mirror. We will look at dry skin, sleep lines on your face, and how your pillowcase might be affecting your skin every night.

References

[1] Schultes B, et al. (2007). Defective awakening response to nocturnal hypoglycemia in patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus. PLOS Medicine. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0040069

[2] Schultes B, et al. (2007). Defective awakening response to nocturnal hypoglycemia in patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus. PMC / NCBI.

[3] Silk fabrics modified with photothermal phase change microcapsules for personal thermal management. (2024). International Journal of Nanomedicine, PMC.

www.cwtchsilk.co.uk  ·  contact@cwtchsilk.co.uk  ·  Swansea, Wales