I have type 2 diabetes and wonder why my blodd glucose levels will rise overnight. I have lost over 50 lbs, am working out and eating better than I have in my life and just don't understand this rise in levels. For ex: last night my blood sugar was 77 at about 9:30 pm and this morning it was 147. I didn't get up and raid the fridge or eat anything after my reading (or for quite a while before the reading)...what's going on!!!! Thanks
Optional Information: Person's Gender: Female Person's Age: 54.5
Welcome to Just Answer it is my pleasure to help you
excellent question
let me first ask you are you taking insulin?
yes, I take lantus. I was on 140 unit and now I'm not sure what my dose will be but I am around 20 units. I also take glipizide and 1 , 1000mg metformin a day.
ok
for most diabetic people the most common reason for high blood sugar is inadequete insulin before dinner or bed time
however there are 2 well known phenomena that would cause the high morning blood sugar
they are called dawn phenomenon and somogyi phenomenon
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. Between 3:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., your body starts to increase the amounts of counter-regulatory hormones (growth hormone, cortisol, and catecholamines). These hormones work against insulin's action to drop blood sugars. The increased release of these hormones, at a time when bedtime insulin is wearing out, results in an increase in blood sugars. These combined events cause your body's blood sugar levels to rise in the morning.
while somogyi phenomenon is a pattern of high morning sugars preceded by an episode of hypoglycemia (with no symptoms). Your blood sugar may drop too low in the middle of the night, so your body counters by releasing 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.
that would explain why you have high blood sugar in AM
to know exactly which one is causing that you may check your blood sugar between 2-3 am for several nights
if low then usually somogyi is the cause
if normal then dawn phenomenon would be the cause
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Experience: US Board Certified Physician