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High morning readings - dawn phenomenon??

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C

Cleo

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
hi all
I have noticed that in the last week or so I have been walking up high (e.g..11- 14), although my bed time readings are within normal range. I have been on a split Lantus dose since January (8u in the morning and 10u at night) and it seems to have worked fine, well up until now!!.

I think the 'Dawn phenomenon' might be kicking in ?? My husband and I are wanting to start a family so I am really trying to keep everything under control. If anyone has any tips on how to deal with the dawn effect (if it is that?!) i'd be REALLY grateful. in any case I will start by testing at 3am tomorrow to see what's going on.

thanks for reading. x
 
Do you take your morning reading as soon as you wake, or after you have been up for a while? As I said in a previous thread, I take my reading and inject as soon as I rise, even though I may not eat for up to an hour. Obviously, you would need to find out the best sort of injecting/eating gap works for you. It would be worth doing some night testing to find out what is happening through the night e.g. are you rising steadily, or are dropping lower then rising? Pinpointing the timing of the rise is the key to tackling it 🙂 Pump users can set different basals, but on MDI you might have to increase your night basal if levels rise before you wake, or as a more extreme way of tackling it, having a small correction bolus if it is high before you wish to get up. Some people find eating a small protein snack at night can help reduce the DP effect. Also, I find my levels are better if I was boozed-up the night before, but not a long-term strategy to be recommended! 😱
 
thanks alan, thats really helpful !

I usually always test when I wake up and then have my breakfast.

I will most definitely test at 3am and maybe again 6am? tomorrow morning to see what is going on.

If it is a case of a steady rise, then I'll start by increasing my basal by 10%, I'm not overly enthused about taking a correction at night but if the initial 10% increase in basal isnt enough then I guess I'll go down the QA route !..

thanks again
 
There will come a point where you cannot increase you Lantus any further because it will send you low before you wake........do some testing and get to that point, then you know you have done all you can on the BASAL front......

Just repeating what Alan has said really, wake as early as you can, test your blood, and get something in your stomach.......

the digestion process alerts your liver to stop the glucose dump now that you have refueled......this will stop the increase throughout the morning at least...

getting on target numbers with DP is trickier, and for me personally, booze was the only solution.... I could get it in to single figures now and again, but never on target......

Its a combination of foods before bed, food when waking and insulin that can all contribute to a better number.........but it may never be perfect, unless your pumping.....
 
That one glass of red wine of an evening really can be medicinal you know LOL - but though it can work it isn't a long or even medium term strategy as it isn't a great idea to drink more than a very exceptional glass of anything alcoholic when you are preg.

How do your hospital feel about getting TTC/preg ladies on pumps?
 
trophywench said:
That one glass of red wine of an evening really can be medicinal you know LOL - but though it can work it isn't a long or even medium term strategy as it isn't a great idea to drink more than a very exceptional glass of anything alcoholic when you are preg.

How do your hospital feel about getting TTC/preg ladies on pumps?
Click to expand...

I think they are keen on putting pregnant ladies on pumps IF they dont have good hypo awareness. To be honest I only discussed it very briefly with my consultant a few months ago, but I have my next review at the end of august so will get more info then 🙂

sometimes I REALLY wish I could have just ONE diabetes free day ..... imagine the sense of FREEDOM you'd have !!! 😉
 
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