Varying blood sugar levels...

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

barnesd

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
HI
i was wondering why my Blood sugar levels vary so much each day. I have read various posts to try and ascertain whether I fall into any of the scenarios, but am a little confused.

I have been advised by my Diabetic nurse to take readings morninig and evening, which is fine. However, my evening reading, some 3-4 hours after i have eaten is lower than the next morning's reading. My morning reading is about 10 hours after the night before and I have not eaten anything. Why is it higher in the mornings and why is there such a discrepancy in the figures? For example my evening figure yesterday was 6.8 and this morning was 10.4. If someone could offer an explanation, I woudl be very greatful.

Regards

Dave
 
Dawn Phenomenon.
The liver starts releasing glucose in the morning in response to hormonal changes that occur in the early hours of the morning.
A lot of people with Type 2 diabetes cannot deal well with the rise and the result is elevated levels.

It's very difficult to control in people with T2D. Most of the drugs are not effective.
 
Hi, I get Dawn Phenomenon, it drives me nuts. I was 7 going to bed and 10 when I got up today. I think I am going to stick with a before evening meal BG reading. Try this and let us know
 
Many who are dietary managed struggle with getting morning reading down due the the infamous Dawn phenomenon or Foot on the Floor syndrome. It can sometimes help to take your reading before getting up out of bed.
It is also the last reading to come down for many people. Your evening reading looks good. However it is often more useful to do some strategic testing of your meals so you are gaining information which you can respond to in terms of adjusting your meals.
Testing before you eat and after 2 hours will tell you if your meal is tolerated if the increase is no more than 2-3mmol/l or no more than 8-8.5 after 2 hours.
Have a look at this link as it may give you some idea for meals which may suit you. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
 
barnesd said:
HI
i was wondering why my Blood sugar levels vary so much each day. I have read various posts to try and ascertain whether I fall into any of the scenarios, but am a little confused.

I have been advised by my Diabetic nurse to take readings morninig and evening, which is fine. However, my evening reading, some 3-4 hours after i have eaten is lower than the next morning's reading. My morning reading is about 10 hours after the night before and I have not eaten anything. Why is it higher in the mornings and why is there such a discrepancy in the figures? For example my evening figure yesterday was 6.8 and this morning was 10.4. If someone could offer an explanation, I woudl be very greatful.

Regards

Dave
Click to expand...
Hello Dave @barnesd,

As others have said there are 2 (unhelpful) normal processes that go on during the small hours or just after waking that result in a release of extra glucose from the liver's glucose store: Dawn Phenomena and/or Foot on the Floor syndromes. There are various medical explanations and not everyone experiences either or if they do not every day!

More interestingly, and why I'm commenting just now, the advice to finger prick mornings and evenings is of VERY limited value to anyone.

If you are happy to do some finger pricking then a structured approach can be extremely informative and beneficial. Without finger pricking you are completely blind to how your body is responding to any measures you might be taking to reduce your diabetes vulnerability.

The bottom line is trying to identify different foods that your body can tolerate reasonably well and those foods that end up producing more glucose than you can cope with. All carbohydrates end up getting converted into glucose by your normal process of metabolism, not just sweet sugary things. But each one of us is a little different to the next person and some people may find pasta is just unacceptable, where others don't - or porridge, or peas, or .... well you name it! So the testing structure allows you to concentrate on, say, breakfast meals first and find out what works for you; then for the time being just stick with one or 2 standard breakfasts that are fine for you. Likewise then focus on lunches, which for most of us can also become standard or repeatable good meals. Finally you can check out evening meals and try to nail down those that really are not great for you.

There is merit in getting a finger prick reading first thing everyday, to give you a daily reference point from after the long "fast" overnight. But other than a reading around 6 mmol/L telling you you are starting the day from a good place and by the next day your body has either kept you in a good place (unless DP has confused the results). But over time a trend will hopefully emerge letting you know that you are doing something right! Testing daily in the evenings can be much more variable, depending on what you've done that day as well as a legion of other things that might have influenced your BG by that evening (we humans are complicated!!)

Anyway, good luck with all of this. It's not easy!
 
barnesd said:
HI
i was wondering why my Blood sugar levels vary so much each day. I have read various posts to try and ascertain whether I fall into any of the scenarios, but am a little confused.

If someone could offer an explanation, I would be very grateful.

Regards

Dave
Click to expand...
It happens regularly to me, too. I've never been able to figure it out and have long since given up trying. Also, if you took a reading from all six fingers you'd most likely get six different results anyway. I log all my waking and post-meal readings in a spreadsheet as it's the trend I'm interested in, in particular any upward trend that suggests my control might be going awry.
 
harbottle said:
This paper summarizes the research into T2 diabetes and DP:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Thirty Years of Research on the Dawn Phenomenon: Lessons to Optimize Blood Glucose Control in Diabetes

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

It's quite interesting, but it does seem that the only success at treating DP in T2s is with a basal insulin shot. This emulates the natural suppression of sugar production in the morning.
Click to expand...
Thanks, nice confirmation on the basal effect. As a type I I've blocked the DP using basal but I have to inject it very late or it peaks at the wrong time. However, the Foot on the Floor Syndrome is now stronger so ...ho hum.
 
Jasmin2000 said:
Thanks, nice confirmation on the basal effect. As a type I I've blocked the DP using basal but I have to inject it very late or it peaks at the wrong time. However, the Foot on the Floor Syndrome is now stronger so ...ho hum.
Click to expand...
Note that the paper refers to T1D manging their diabetes using a pump so the basal refers to short acting insulin which is adjusted at different times of the day. It is not referring to long acting insulin which is injected.
This may be different for the t2d referenced in the paper.
 
Jasmin2000 said:
Thanks, nice confirmation on the basal effect. As a type I I've blocked the DP using basal but I have to inject it very late or it peaks at the wrong time. However, the Foot on the Floor Syndrome is now stronger so ...ho hum.
Click to expand...
I jab 1.5-2units of fast acting insulin as soon as I wake up and before I even sit up let alone get out of bed, to deal with Foot on the Floor. My levels will rise by up to 6mmols if I don't preemptively hit it with fast acting insulin ASAP. I inject my morning Levemir (basal) at the same time, but it takes a good hour to get going and by then my levels would be in double figures and it would take ages for them to come down, so that 1.5-2 units of bolus tackles that liver dump until the Levemir kicks in.
 
rebrascora said:
I jab 1.5-2units of fast acting insulin as soon as I wake up and before I even sit up let alone get out of bed, to deal with Foot on the Floor. My levels will rise by up to 6mmols if I don't preemptively hit it with fast acting insulin ASAP. I inject my morning Levemir (basal) at the same time, but it takes a good hour to get going and by then my levels would be in double figures and it would take ages for them to come down, so that 1.5-2 units of bolus tackles that liver dump until the Levemir kicks in.
Click to expand...
A familiar picture but I've only just reached the step of preemptive injections so good to hear I'm not alone in this.
 
Welcome to the forum @barnesd

Sorry to hear you’ve been getting an annoying overnight rise in your levels. Hopefully it’s reassuring to hear that it’s not just you!

Some folks try a late night low-carb snack (with some protein and healthy fats) to try to keep their liver happy in the small hours, with differing levels of success - so that might be worth a try?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top