High sugar levels at bedtime

[davemufc]

Just joined the forum,have been type 2 on medication since 2000,in the last few days my levels have been between 15 and 20 at night for no reason,not eaten anything naughty,the only change being I had a flu jab on Thursday but no other changes ,I take 2 x 850 mg met formin and 2x40mg glicazide plus one 10mg jardiance,my recent hba1c was 56

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hello @davemufc

Welcome to the forum!

Sounds like you’ve been getting OK since your diagnosis, and 56mmol/mol (7.3%) is a pretty reasonable protection against long-term complications.

Those BGs are very high for overnight readings really though, so it looks like something has changed recently. Do you check before and after meals to see how different foods affect you?

Illness and stress can elevate BGs of course, but I didn’t see any difference after my flu jab personally.

Might be worth reducing your carb intake for a while to see if you can get your BGs back into range a little?

 

[davemufc]

Hello @davemufc

Welcome to the forum!

Sounds like you’ve been getting OK since your diagnosis, and 56mmol/mol (7.3%) is a pretty reasonable protection against long-term complications.

Those BGs are very high for overnight readings really though, so it looks like something has changed recently. Do you check before and after meals to see how different foods affect you?

Illness and stress can elevate BGs of course, but I didn’t see any difference after my flu jab personally.

Might be worth reducing your carb intake for a while to see if you can get your BGs back into range a little?

Hello @davemufc

Welcome to the forum!

Sounds like you’ve been getting OK since your diagnosis, and 56mmol/mol (7.3%) is a pretty reasonable protection against long-term complications.

Those BGs are very high for overnight readings really though, so it looks like something has changed recently. Do you check before and after meals to see how different foods affect you?

Illness and stress can elevate BGs of course, but I didn’t see any difference after my flu jab personally.

Might be worth reducing your carb intake for a while to see if you can get your BGs back into range a little?

 

[davemufc]

Thanks for your reply but nothing has changed recently,have no eaten since 6pm and did my sugars and it was 14.9,normal reading when I wake up is around 8 it’s all very strange

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Thanks for your reply but nothing has changed recently,have no eaten since 6pm and did my sugars and it was 14.9,normal reading when I wake up is around 8 it’s all very strange

My experience over the years is that sometimes things just change and need rejigging with no apparent cause. My T1 even changes with the seasons (warmer and cooler weather make a surprising difference). So I have to adjust insulin doses up a bit, then down a bit as the changes ebb and flow.

I think the 3 major contributing factors are food, activity and medication.

If you aren’t adjusting you’re own medication, then that leaves either adding activity, or altering food intake so that the meds balance better.

Checking immediately before, and again 1 or 2 hours after a meal can give you an idea of how much your BG rises after that collection of foods. Then you can adjust meals (usually by reducing carbohydrate the content) until the rise is only 2-3mmol/L.

That way, if you started at 6, you would only ever get to 9 - which is pretty ideal.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome

Can you give us an idea of what your daily diet/menu consists of? ie a typical ,lunch and dinner that you would eat.
... and what would you consider naughty? ie cake or sweets or a bowl of pasta or fish and chips?
Sometimes intolerance to carbohydrates changes over time and it may be that you have suddenly become less tolerant to them and need to eat a lower carb diet. Knowing what you eat already would give us an idea of where we could suggest you make adjustments.
It is also possible that you have an infection brewing and that has increased your BG levels.
Do you test before meals and then 2 hours after? If not, then start doing that and make a note of what you ate each time.

 

[Toucan]

Hello, and welcome to the forum.
I hope that the excellent information from Mike and Barbara, will help you find an answer to those evening Blood Sugar spikes.
As they say, testing before and a couple of hours after meals may give some clues. Monitoring can be a chore, but it is sometimes the only way to track down what foods are causing you the problem. Carb effects can be quite weird and even vary with times of day. For instance I can get away with eating some fruit at breakfast time, but in the evening, it really spikes my BS reading.

The other thing that helps me sometimes, if I have eaten something that I know will cause a spike, is to take some exercise. This will usually bring readings back down. Not too practical however to do that late evening, but I sometimes take a short brisk walk after supper which can help.
Very best wishes and I hope you get some good results soon, and it would be good to hear how it goes for you.

Kay

2012 Hb1ac 83
2014 Hb1ac 54
2017 Hb1ac 42
2018 Hb1ac 40
Taking 2x500g metformin

 

[SB2015]

Like Kay I find that a walk after a meal really helps me reduce spikes. However this evening it was very wet and cold outside and I opted out. The theory is good but the practice does not always work.