Why Blood Sugar Can Be High In The Morning
You wouldn’t expect hours of sleep and fasting to leave you with high blood sugar. But elevated morning glucose may be more common than you think. Although it’s not a major problem when it occurs from time to time, consistently high morning levels need your doctor’s attention. Causes of Morning Hyperglycemia High blood glucose in the morning typically occurs due to one of three distinct causes: Dawn Phenomenon The “dawn phenomenon” describes high morning glucose that occurs due to a natural rise in hormone levels. During the early morning hours between about 4 and 8 a.m., your body releases hormones like cortisol and growth hormones to get ready for the day. For reasons experts don’t completely understand, your liver produces extra glucose in response to these hormones. People without diabetes secrete more insulin to handle the extra glucose. But for people with diabetes, blood glucose levels can rise too high. Increased blood sugar due to the dawn phenomenon is usually treated with diabetes medication. If you are on insulin, your insulin levels may need to be changed. The Somogyi Effect It’s possible to experience low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, while sleeping and not even know it. The potentially dangerous problem can occur for a number of different reasons—from not eating enough or taking too much insulin, to drinking too much alcohol. In some people, the body compensates for the hypoglycemia by producing a lot of hormones. This, in turn, causes blood sugar levels to rise. Not everyone wakes in reaction to low blood glucose levels. But being sweaty or having a headache in the morning can be a sign. If you suffer from the Somogyi effect (named after the scientist who first described the condition), your doctor may recommend that you eat a snack befor Continue reading >>
Why Is My Blood Sugar High In The Morning? Use This Chart To Find Out!
One Drop Guide: Why is my blood sugar high in the morning? Whatsone of the most frustrating things to deal with when you have diabetes? Waking up to a high morning blood sugar! You havent eaten, taken insulin, or moved for hours, so whats the deal? Well, there are actually some good explanations for those mysterious morning highs, and some steps you can take to prevent them. Check out the this mobile-friendly One Drop Guide Why is my blood sugar high in the morning? to figure out what the cause might be and what todo about it. Continue reading >>
Why Is My Blood Glucose Level Higher When I First Wake Up?
About 23.6 million people in the United States have diabetes. People with diabetes do not produce enough insulin, or their cells do not recognize insulin. Insulin moves glucose, your main source of energy, from your blood into your cells. Without insulin, glucose builds up in your blood and leaves your body through your urine. This means that your body loses its main source of fuel, which your body needs to function properly. If you have diabetes, you may notice that your blood glucose levels are higher when you first wake up. This can occur for a few reasons. Video of the Day If you have diabetes, you need to keep your blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible, says the Cleveland Clinic. This means monitoring your blood glucose levels at home. There are many serious problems that can arise from glucose levels that are too high or low, says the "Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.” These include heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease and nerve damage. According to MedlinePlus, monitoring your blood sugar will help you to see patterns in your levels, potentially alerting you to the fact that your levels are high in the morning. The dawn phenomenon is the name for high blood sugar levels in the early hours of the morning. The American Diabetes Association notes that this takes place whether you have diabetes or not, but it is especially noted if you check your blood sugar levels every morning. It is attributable to natural body changes that occur while you sleep. When you are in your deepest sleep, usually between midnight and 3 a.m., your body has little need for insulin. According to the Cleveland Clinic, any insulin you take during the evening causes your blood sugar levels to drop sharply at this time. Between 3 a.m. and 8 a.m., your Continue reading >>
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Blood Sugar: What Causes High Blood Sugar Levels In The Morning
There are two reasons why your blood sugar levels may be high in the morning – the dawn phenomenon and the Somogyi effect. The dawn phenomenon is the end result of a combination of natural body changes that occur during the sleep cycle and can be explained as follows: Your body has little need for insulin between about midnight and about 3:00 a.m. (a time when your body is sleeping most soundly). Any insulin taken in the evening causes blood sugar levels to drop sharply during this time. Then, between 3:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., your body starts churning out stored glucose (sugar) to prepare for the upcoming day as well as releases hormones that reduce the body's sensitivity to insulin. All of these events happen as your bedtime insulin dose is also wearing off. These events, taken together, cause your body's blood sugar levels to rise in the morning (at "dawn"). A second cause of high blood sugar levels in the morning might be due to the Somogyi effect (named after the doctor who first wrote about it). This condition is also called "rebound hyperglycemia." Although the cascade of events and end result – high blood sugar levels in the morning – is the same as in the dawn phenomenon, the cause is more "man-made" (a result of poor diabetes management) in the Somogyi effect. There are two potential causes. In one scenario, your blood sugar may drop too low in the middle of the night and then your body releases hormones to raise the sugar levels. This could happen if you took too much insulin earlier or if you did not have enough of a bedtime snack. The other scenario is when your dose of long-acting insulin at bedtime is not enough and you wake up with a high morning blood sugar. How is it determined if the dawn phenomenon or Somogyi effect is causing the high blood sug Continue reading >>
Managing Morning Blood Sugar Highs: How To Treat The Top 3 Causes
A high blood sugar reading first thing in the morning can throw off your whole day — and signal a chronic problem. Despite their best efforts to control their blood sugar levels, some people simply wake up with elevated blood sugar. Starting your day this way isn't just alarming: If it becomes a pattern, high morning readings can make it difficult to achieve your long-term diabetes management goals. Whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, a morning blood sugar high can be due to several causes. But with a little detective work and the help of your diabetes care team, you can isolate the cause and take steps to correct it. Here are three common scenarios: 1. The Dawn Phenomenon This occurs during the night while you're asleep and the body releases stress hormones. This phenomenon usually occurs between 3 a.m. and 8 a.m. and involves growth hormone, cortisol, and adrenaline, which trigger the production and release of glucose from your liver. The end result of this chemical cascade is an increase in blood sugar. “These hormones are designed to get us up and moving in the morning,” says endocrinologist Renee Amori, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the division of endocrinology at the Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia. While everybody experiences these natural changes in hormone levels, in people with diabetes the body may not adjust appropriately. This can lead to higher-than-normal blood sugar at the start of the day. Testing for these elevated first morning blood sugars is one way to diagnose people with type 2 diabetes. 2. The Somogyi Effect High morning readings can also be caused by the Somogyi effect, a rebound response that occurs when the body overcompensates for a low blood sugar reaction at night. If you take blood sugar–lowe Continue reading >>
How To Fix High Morning Blood Sugars (dawn Phenomenon)
There are various possible causes of a high blood sugar level in the morning: The Dawn Phenomenon which is a natural rise in blood sugar due to a surge of hormones secreted at night which trigger your liver to dump sugar into your blood to help prepare you for the day. Having high blood sugar from the night before which continue through the night into the morning. Reactive hyperglycemia which is also called the Somogyi Effect. This is when a low blood sugar in the middle of the night triggers your liver to dump sugar into your blood in an attempt to stabilize your blood sugar. Why Are My Blood Sugars High in the Morning? There is a simple strategy for diagnosing the source of high blood sugars in the morning. Test your blood sugar before bed. Test your blood sugar in the middle of the night. Test your blood sugar in the morning. It takes a little bit of effort, but you only need to do it a few times to diagnose the issue. TheSomogyi Effect is less common than the Dawn Phenomenon, according to an article published by The Polish Journal of Endocrinology. To diagnose either of these phenomena, scientists recommend checking blood sugar levels for several nights specifically between 3 a.m and 5 a.m. or using a continuous glucose monitoring system (CGM). Many healthcare practitioners are now offering the use of a loan CGM for a few days which can be helpful to observe nighttime blood sugar activity. How to Fix High Blood Sugars in the Morning The Dawn Phenomenon refers to a surge of hormones excreted by your body in the early morning hours. These hormones rise each night around the same time to prepare your body to wake. Basically, your body is starting the engine, releasing some fuel, and prepping to go for the day. The Dawn Phenomenon occurs in all humans regardless of whet Continue reading >>
Blood Glucose Levels High In Morning & Low After Eating
You may be puzzled by a high blood glucose reading in the morning despite going to bed with a good reading the night before. Or your postmeal blood glucose may be lower than the reading before you ate. Unusual blood glucose fluctuation can be frustrating for diabetics and is affected by many factors. Keeping a good record of your diet, medication and blood glucose can often help you solve the mystery. Video of the Day If you consistently wake up with higher blood glucose levels despite being compliant with your meal plan, this could be a condition known as the dawn phenomenon, states the American Diabetes Association. Dawn phenomenon is a a sudden rise of blood glucose levels 10 to 20 milligrams per deciliter in the early morning between 2:00 and 8:00 a.m. It is caused by an increased release of hormones such as cortisol, glucagon and epinephrine while your body is preparing to wake up. These hormones increase insulin resistance and stimulate your liver to release glucose, causing blood glucose levels to rise. Insufficient insulin or medication, excessive carbohydrate snacks at bedtime or high-fat meals at dinner may also cause blood glucose to be elevated in the morning. To rule out if your high blood glucose is due to dawn phenomenon, your endocrinologist may ask you to eat a low-fat, carbohydrate-controlled dinner, maintain your usual physical activities and check your blood glucose around 2 or 3 a.m. for several days. Your doctor will help you determine if you have dawn phenomenon and adjust your medications accordingly. If the fluctuation is due to food, your dietitian may alter your meal plan and may suggest that you skip a bedtime snack or change the type of snack to a lean protein, modify your dinner or add some light exercise after dinner. When you wake up with Continue reading >>
Why Blood Sugar Levels Rise Overnight
get the scoop When you go to bed, your blood sugar reading is 110, but when you wake up in the morning, it has shot up to 150. Why does this happen? To understand how blood sugar levels can rise overnight without your eating anything, we have to look at where glucose comes from — and where it goes — while we sleep. During the day, the carbohydrates we eat are digested into glucose and absorbed into the bloodstream. Some of this glucose goes to the liver, where it is stored for later use. At night, while we are asleep, the liver releases glucose into the bloodstream. The liver acts as our glucose warehouse and keeps us supplied until we eat breakfast. The amount of glucose being used is matched by the amount of glucose being released by the liver, so blood sugar levels should remain constant. what is the dawn phenomenon? A rise in blood sugar level between approximately 3 A.M. and the time you wake up is called the “dawn phenomenon.” The liver is supposed to release just enough glucose to replace what is being used, and insulin works as the messenger to tell the liver how much is enough. But if there's not enough insulin (as with type 1 diabetes), or if there's enough insulin but it cannot communicate its message to the liver (as with type 2 diabetes), the liver starts to release glucose much too quickly. In addition, levels of hormones such as cortisol begin to increase in the early morning hours, which can contribute to altered insulin sensitivity. The result? Blood sugar levels rise. This is why blood sugar levels can go up between the time you go to bed and the time you wake up. what can you do about it? You might be able to make changes in the timing of your meals, medications, or insulin injections to help prevent dawn phenomenon. First, keep a detailed rec Continue reading >>
Why Do I Have High Blood Sugar Levels In The Morning?
Some people experience very high blood sugar levels in the morning. But what implications does this have for a person's health? There are two main causes of high blood sugar in the morning, the dawn phenomenon and the Somogyi effect This article explores these two causes of high blood sugar levels in the morning. It also discusses what risk factors may cause people to experience them and gives practical advice around how to better manage blood sugar levels. Contents of this article: The dawn phenomenon The dawn phenomenon has to do with natural body changes that occur during the sleep cycle: Midnight - 3 a.m. While most people are sleeping, their body has little need for insulin. During this period, however, any insulin that may have been taken during the evening causes the blood sugar levels to drop off drastically. Between 3 - 8 a.m. The body automatically begins to dish out stored sugar (glucose) in preparation for the upcoming day. In addition, hormones that actively reduce the body's sensitivity to insulin are also being released. During this time period, counter-regulatory hormones are being released. This can interfere with insulin, which may lead to a rise in blood sugar. These include growth hormones, such as: cortisol glucagon epinephrine These events are all happening simultaneously as bedtime levels of insulin are beginning to taper off. Each of these events ultimately plays a part in causing blood sugar levels to rise at "dawn" or in the morning. Who the dawn phenomenon affects Although people with diabetes are generally more aware of the dawn phenomenon, it actually happens to everyone. However, it affects people with or without diabetes differently. Typically, people who do not have diabetes tend not to notice these high blood sugar levels in the morning. Continue reading >>
Controlling The Dawn Phenomenon
Do you wake up with a blood glucose level that’s higher than when you went to bed? You might wonder how this could be. Is this “dawn phenomenon” serious, and what can you do about it? Our reader Mishelle commented here, “I don’t eat [much] during the day. [I take metformin morning and night.] My blood sugar is still too high in the morning…sometimes 125–140ish.” How can Mishelle’s glucose levels go up if she didn’t eat anything? She probably has a mild case of dawn phenomenon. Her glucose is going up from sources other than digested food. Some of it is produced by the liver from stored starch and fatty acids. Livers that produce too much glucose are one of the main ways diabetes causes high blood glucose levels. Other organs also produce small amounts of glucose. This is called “gluconeogenesis” for you science freaks out there. Organs do this to keep blood glucose from going too low at night or other times of not eating. From about 2 AM to 8 AM, most people’s bodies produce hormones, including cortisol, glucagon, and epinephrine. All these hormones increase insulin resistance and tell the liver to make more glucose. The idea is to get you enough glucose to get out of bed and start the day. The whole process is apparently started by growth hormones. Everyone has a dawn phenomenon. Otherwise they’d be too weak to get breakfast. But in people without diabetes, insulin levels also increase to handle the extra glucose. People with diabetes can’t increase insulin levels that much, so their early morning blood glucose levels can rise dramatically. Experts disagree on how many people have a dawn phenomenon. Estimates range from 3% to 50% of Type 2s and from 25% to 50% of Type 1s. Is dawn phenomenon a serious problem? It can be serious. According t Continue reading >>
4 December 2012why Is My Blood Glucose So High When I Wake Up?
It doesn't seem fair, does it? You haven't eaten anything all night and you still wake up with high blood glucose! What is going on and how can you lower it? For those of you with diabetes, this post is for you! Basics Your body strives to keep blood glucose (BG) within a safe range, but with diabetes the balance is disturbed. The insulin your pancreas produces might not be sufficient to cover your BG lowering needs. As well, the insulin it does produce might not be handled properly by target body cells. And to make matters worse, your liver might be on glucose production overdrive. All of this results in your body's failure to control BG overnight as well as after meals or snacks. For more basic information about diabetes, please be sure to read my article, Diabetes Basics at MyNetDiary's library. Dawn Phenomenon Due to normal daily changes in our body's release of hormones during sleep and wake cycles, BG typically starts to rise in the very early morning – starting about 3 AM - and continues to rise as the morning progresses. For folks without diabetes, insulin production simply increases and takes care of the rising BG. However, for folks with diabetes, unless there is medication on board to cover this early morning rise, BG will eventually rise out of target range by the time they wake up. The classic pattern is to see BG within target range at both bedtime and during the middle of the night, and then see a high fasting BG. If you have noticed that your fasting BG is creeping up over time and is no longer within target range despite sticking to a carb controlled eating plan and taking your diabetes medication as prescribed, then it might be time to talk with your doctor about your diabetes medication. The type, dose, and/or timing might need to be adjusted to bet Continue reading >>
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- Postprandial Blood Glucose Is a Stronger Predictor of Cardiovascular Events Than Fasting Blood Glucose in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Particularly in Women: Lessons from the San Luigi Gonzaga Diabetes Study
- Lower Blood Sugar Naturally to Prevent High Blood Sugar from Leading to Diabetes
Why Is My Blood Sugar Level Higher In The Morning?
Diabetes Forum The Global Diabetes Community Find support, ask questions and share your experiences. Join the community Why is my blood sugar level higher in the morning? I was diagnosed with T2 three weeks ago, and I'm on 3 x Metformin tablets a day. I've cut down on carbs and sugar (lost 7lbs!), and I've managed to get my blood sugar levels down to between 5 and 7 (it was 14 on the day I was told I have diabetes). However, I've been finding that my blood sugar levels are higher in the morning than they are when I go to bed, e.g. it was 5.5 last night but 6.4 this morning. Is that something that I should be concerned about? Don't worry about it too much. I have the same problem. At the start my fasting levels went down but then they started to rise and be fairly erratic in the morning. They've continued like that but my HbA1c is absolutely fine. As long as glucose levels are lower most of the time the morning ones don't mean much and 6.4 is not too bad anyway. unfortunately docs seem to think FBGs are stable and indicative but they are not. I've had FBGs between 4.8 and 6.9 and I can't work out much of a pattern as to why they vary. Alcohol the night before tends to lower it as liver is too busy dealing with alcohol to make glucose but it's not recommended as a way to lower it! Continue reading >>
Why All The Morning Highs?
Sometimes diabetes doesn’t make a lot of sense. Think of those mornings when you wake up to find your blood glucose looking as if you’ve been up all night eating cookies. What’s up with that? You’d think that not eating for those seven or eight hours would give you lower blood glucose, right? Such morning highs are common in people with diabetes, but one of the reasons has a particular name: the dawn phenomenon. The dawn phenomenon is a natural rise in blood glucose between 4 and 8 a.m., which happens because of hormonal changes in the body. All people have the “dawn phenomenon,” whether they have diabetes or not. People without diabetes would never notice it happening, as a normal body’s insulin response adjusts for this. However, because people with diabetes don’t have normal insulin responses, they may see an increase in their fasting blood glucose. This is primarily because people with diabetes produce less insulin and more glucagon than they need. The less insulin produced by the pancreas, the more glucagon the pancreas makes as a result. Glucagon, in turn, signals the liver to break down its storage supplies of glycogen into glucose. This is why high fasting blood glucose levels are commonly seen in patients with type 2 diabetes. The effects of dawn phenomenon vary in each person, and your blood glucose may be higher on some mornings than on others. But not to worry—there are steps you can take to get those numbers down and start your days more comfortably in your target blood glucose range. Treatment for dawn phenomenon depends on how you treat your diabetes. If you take insulin, you may be able to adjust your dosing so that peak action occurs closer to the morning rise in your blood glucose. If you have type 2, diabetes pills provide options as Continue reading >>
Why Is Blood Sugar Highest In The Morning?
Many people with diabetes find that their fasting blood sugar first thing in the morning is the hardest blood sugar to control. In addition, they find that if they eat the same food for breakfast as they do for lunch or dinner they will see a much higher blood sugar number when testing after breakfast than they see at the other meals. The reason for this is a normal alteration in hormones experienced by many people not just people with diabetes. It is called "Dawn Phenomenon." What Causes Dawn Phenomenon? The body prepares for waking up by secreting several different hormones. First, between 4:00 and 6:30 a.m. it secretes cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. You may recognize these as the hormones involved in the "fight or flight response." In this case, their job is more benign, to give you the energy to get up and moving so you can find the food your body needs for energy. To help you do this, these hormones also raise your blood sugar. After a long night's sleep, the fuel your body turns to to get you going is the glucose stored in the liver. So after these stress hormones are secreted, around 5:30 a.m., plasma glucose rises. In a person with normal blood sugar, insulin will also start to rise at this time but many people with diabetes won't experience the corresponding rise in insulin. So instead of giving their cells a dose of morning energy, all they get is a rise in blood sugar. Not Everyone Experiences Dawn Phenomenon Researchers who have infused different hormones into experimental subjects have found that the trigger for dawn phenomenon is a nocturnal surge in growth hormone. If they block the growth hormone, blood sugars stay flat. This may explain why some people, particularly older people, do not experience a rise in blood sugar first thing in the mor Continue reading >>
Why Is Blood Sugar High In The Morning?
Here you'll find info about why blood sugar is high in the morning, along with tips and resources to lower those numbers! A while back I had a client sending me her blood sugar charts every few days and on those charts she always made some notes if she had questions. Every time she sent them through, I noticed she had 3 big question marks (???) against her morning blood sugar results. And on another morning when her morning blood sugar levels were high at 160 mg/dl (or 8.9 mmol/l). She had written: I don't understand. 97 mg/dl (or 5.5mmol/l) last night when I went to sleep. I didn't eat anything because I didn't feel well. Humm… I was also over in one of the online diabetes groups I'm involved in today and this message popped up. I'm struggling with my morning BS number. When I went to bed around 11PM my BS was 107. I'm waking up with my BS between 120 – 135. I did put two pieces of string cheese next to my bed and when I woke up around 3am, I ate one. Since I was told to eat protein at night. When I woke up 3 hours later my BS was 130. I didn't want to eat anything large since it's so close to 140 (my goal is to keep it below 140). So I had 1 piece of toast (sugar free wheat bread) and just a tiny bit of peanut butter. I checked it an hour later and it was 161! What am I doing wrong? Do these morning situations sound familiar to you? Are you constantly questioning: Why is blood sugar high in the morning? I mean, logically we'd think that it should be at it's lowest in the morning right? Well don't panic, there is a reason for it, so let's explore why morning blood sugar is often higher. And at the end, I'll also point you toward some resources to help you lower those levels. Why Is Blood Sugar High In The Morning? Although it would seem logical that your body would Continue reading >>
