Are There Any Newer Technologies To Prevent Hypoglycemia
We are lucky that in this day and age, we can predict hypoglycemia and prevent it through technology like continuous glucose monitors, explains Dr. Shah. Additionally, he notes that there are newer insulins available to help decrease episodes of hypoglycemia.
One of our roles as your doctor is to educate every patient about the self-management of diabetes and to create a personalized care plan, explains Dr. Shah. By self-managing your condition you will really feel empowered enough to take control of your health.
Dr. Shah is located at the Hackensack Meridian Health Medical Group Diabetes Center, part of Hackensack Meridian Health Medical Group. Call to schedule an appointment at the office in Old Bridge.
Our care network can help you better manage your health. Visit HMHMedicalGroup.org to find a practice near you.
The material provided through HealthU is intended to be used as general information only and should not replace the advice of your physician. Always consult your physician for individual care.
Resources
What Is The Somogyi Effect
A second possible cause of high blood sugar levels in the morning is the Somogyi effect, sometimes also called rebound hyperglycemia. It was named after the doctor who first wrote about it.
If your blood sugar drops too low in the middle of the night while you are sleeping, your body will release hormones in an attempt to rescue you from the dangerously low blood sugar. The hormones do this by prompting your liver to release stored glucose in larger amounts than usual. But this system isnt perfect in a person with diabetes, so the liver releases more sugar than needed which leads to a high blood sugar level in the morning. This is the Somogyi effect.
Why Is My Blood Glucose So High When I Wake Up
- 2 Minutes Read
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? For those of you with diabetes, this post tells you how to lower morning blood sugar.
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? For those of you with diabetes, this post tells you how to lower morning blood sugar.
Also Check: How To Fix Low Sugar Levels
Keeping Blood Sugar Under Control
Its not enough for those with diabetes to faithfully take glucose readings.
A person with diabetes , even when theyre not hungry, should not go long periods without eating.
Snack items should include fruit, nuts, salads and other foods with limited processing.
For many years Lucille Hughes has worked as a certified diabetes educator for inpatient acute care, home care, private endocrinology practice and outpatient diabetes education centers.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. Shes also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Top image: Shutterstock/ Hdc Photo
Severe Low Blood Sugar
As your low blood sugar gets worse, you may experience more serious symptoms, including:
- Feeling weak.
- Having difficulty walking or seeing clearly.
- Acting strange or feeling confused.
- Having seizures.
Severe low blood sugar is below 54 mg/dL. Blood sugar this low may make you faint . Often, youll need someone to help you treat severe low blood sugar.
People with diabetes may experience low blood sugar as often as once or twice a week, even when managing their blood sugar closely. Knowing how to identify and treat it is important for your health. Learn how to treat low blood sugar.
Read Also: How Many Grams Of Sugar In Almond Milk
Late Dinner Or Bedtime Snack With Carbs
Carbohydrates raise blood glucose levels. A high amount of carbohydrates, especially eaten late at night, can lead to morning hyperglycemia. Carbohydrates are in bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, sweets, fruit, and many other foods, as Harvard School of Public Health explains. Having multiple servings at a meal or late-night snack can lead to sustained high blood glucose through the night and into the morning, especially if digestion is slow.
High blood sugar may be linked to a late dinner or a bedtime snack with carbs if you check your blood sugar between 2 and 3 a.m. for a few nights and it is within range, but a little higher than normal, or if it is high and out of range.
Baby Carrots Cherry Tomatoes Or Cucumber Slices
Non-starchy vegetables are a great choice for a snack. They are very low in calories, fats, and carbohydrates, while offering plenty of vitamins and minerals.
These vegetables also provide antioxidants and a good dose of fiber to boost heart and gut health. For more protein, add a low-fat cheese slice to this low-calorie snack.
You May Like: What Raises Your Blood Sugar Levels
What You Can Do About High Morning Blood Sugar
Blood sugar control is the name of the game when it comes to managing diabetes, but what happens when you start getting unexpectedly high blood glucose values in the morning? High morning blood sugar can be an indication that something is not quite right with your blood glucose management program. Once you figure out the cause, you and your doctor can work together to figure out what to do about it to get your blood glucose numbers right back on track.
How Are You Sweetening Your Coffee What You Add To Your Cup May Affect Your Blood Sugar Levels
Whether you were recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or have been living with the condition for several years, you know how fickle blood sugar levels can be, and how important it is that they stay controlled.
Proper blood sugar control is key for warding off potential diabetes complications, such as kidney disease, nerve damage, vision problems, stroke, and heart disease, according to the National Institutes of Health . Plus, keeping your levels in check on a daily basis can help you stay energized, focused, and in a good mood, explains Lisa McDermott, RD, CDCES, a diabetes specialist with the Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network.
According to the American Diabetes Association , proper medication, effective meal planning, regular exercise, and regular blood sugar checks can all help you keep your levels within a healthy range. The ADA recommends blood glucose stay within 80 to 130 milligrams per deciliter before meals and below 180 mg/dL two hours after the start of a meal. Furthermore, the organization recommends getting an A1C test, which measures your average blood glucose over the past two to three months, at least twice per year if your levels are stable and you are meeting treatment goals.
You May Like: When To Check Blood Sugar
Shades Of Chia Pudding: A Diabetes Breakfast Revolution
What weve learned from over 75,000 people about making awesome chia pudding for breakfast: new recipes, new flavors, and how to overcome common stumbling blocks
Chia pudding has struck a resounding chord with diaTribe readers: over 40,000 people have viewed the original column, The Three-Minute Diabetes Breakfast That Changes Lives, and more than 30,000 people have now viewed our original how-to video on and .
As I shared in Bright Spots & Landmines, chia pudding is an awesome diabetes breakfast: little impact on blood sugar, super filling, three minutes to make without cooking, under $0.60 per meal, infinitely customizable, tasty , and yes even life changing. Simplifying breakfast which is almost certainly the hardest meal of the day for blood sugars can be transformative.
Over the past year, weve learned how diaTribe readers make chia pudding in their own clever ways. This article organizes more than 50 tips and tricks into a single, choose-your-own adventure guide to making chia pudding with new bases and toppings. Its like the Chipotle approach, but re-applied to my favorite breakfast: Chia-potle?
Why Is My Morning Blood Sugar So High
A complex array of factors affects blood sugar levels, including hormones, diet, and lifestyle.
Q: I have prediabetes and now eat minimal carbs and sugar. My doctor told me to monitor my sugar levels, morning and night. At night, two hours after eating, my sugar levels are between 112 and 130 mg/dL . But in the morning, my fasting sugar level is always higher than the night number. Why is that? What am I doing wrong?
There are a few reasons why your blood sugar may be elevated in the morning. First, its important to understand that certain hormonal changes that occur overnight may lead to high blood sugar levels in the morning.
Also Check: Can Hormones Affect Blood Sugar
Test Oatmeal Before It Hits The Trash
But.. before you toss that box of oats into the garbage can, you can try these tips to see if your blood sugar responds any better.
First, make sure you are not adding additional carbs to your oatmeal such as milk, honey, sugar, or dried fruit.
For extra flavor, try adding low carb additions like chia seeds or chopped walnuts instead. If you need some sweetness, you can add some stevia.
Next, keep the portion size in check. Ideally, you want to only consume about a half-cup serving cooked.
Lastly, the type of oats can make a difference so make sure you are choosing whole oats over instant. A packet of instant oatmeal has a higher glycemic index compared to the same amount of steel-cut oats. This may impact your blood sugar response.
Continue to check your blood sugars after consuming oatmeal to see your response and if the above adjustments make any difference. If blood sugar is rising , this is not a good food for you and youre better off eating a lower-carb breakfast.
How To Stabilize High Blood Sugar At Night
When your blood sugar rises at night, there are different actions you can take to tackle the causes and effects.
Drink enough
The symptom of increased urination is the bodys natural reaction to get rid of the excess amount of sugar in the blood. It is therefore important to drink enough to stimulate this process.
Exercise
It is very important to not do any exercise while your blood glucose level is too high . Instead it is advised to measure your ketones and have a low intensity work out or postpone exercise, depending on your measurements. This is recommended because there may not be enough insulin available to lower the blood glucose that is released during exercise. This can cause more frequent urination that can lead to dehydration. Especially when you lose more water from sweating and breathing during exercise. Furthermore, if the body is forced to burn fat for fuel, as is the case when insulin levels are too low, this can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis. Read on to learn more about this condition.
Dont overeat
Your blood sugar spike at night might be caused by eating too much food at dinnertime compared to the amount of insulin you inject in your body. When you do feel like a snack, consider measuring your blood glucose to see if it should be a snack with a high or low amount of carbohydrates. Read more about this in our food and diabetes guide.
Relax
Enough diabetes treatment
Diabetic Ketoacidosis
Recommended Reading: Is Sugar Bad For Neuropathy
Why Are My Blood Sugars High In The Morning
Heres a simple plan for diagnosing the source of high blood sugars in the morning.
It takes a little bit of effort, but you probably only need to do it a few times to diagnose the issue.
The Somogyi Effect is less common than dawn phenomenon. To diagnose either of these phenomena, scientists recommend checking blood sugar levels for several nights, specifically between 3 a.m and 5 a.m.
Compare these three glucose values and find the pattern:
- If your blood sugar stayed steady overnight, but rose in the morning, you are likely experiencing dawn phenomenon.
- If your blood sugar rose steadily throughout the night, your morning glucose highs may be the result of your diet or exercise choices , or a sign that you may want to adjust your insulin and glucose-lowering medication regimen.
- If your blood sugar dipped low in the middle of the night, you may be experiencing Somogyi effect.
The best option is to use a continuous glucose monitoring system . This will give you an entire nights worth of blood sugar values, making it easy to identify what direction your blood sugar moved while you slept.
The Oatmeal Health Halo
Oatmeal is one of those foods that seem to have a health halo around it.
A lot of health providers give their patients generalized snippets of diet advice and eat oatmeal is a popular one.
Many talk about it as if it will magically cause us to be healthier once we start eating a bowl every day. But for individuals with type 2 diabetes, this advice can be disastrous, as eating oatmeal can cause blood sugar to rise.
Why?
To put it simply, oatmeal is a high carbohydrate food.
You May Like: What Happens When Blood Sugar Is Too Low
Asprosin Keeps Home Fires Burning
The team found, asprosin is one of the hormones, that tells the liver to produce sugar.
It turns out, asprosin is one of a multitude of adipokines i.e. chemicals produced by fat cells.
And in those blessed with lots of fat, asprosin levels are elevated, since fat cells going about their business, pump the stuff out.
This in and of itself is not a problem.
How Can High Blood Sugar Levels In The Morning Be Controlled
Once you and your doctor determine how your blood sugar levels are behaving at night, he or she can advise you about the changes you need to make to better control them. Options that your doctor may discuss depend on the cause of the morning high blood sugars.
For dawn phenomenon:
- Changing the timing or type of your diabetes medications
- Eating a lighter breakfast
- Increasing your morning dose of diabetes medication
- If you take insulin, switching to an insulin pump and programming it to release additional insulin in the morning
For Somogyi effect:
Read Also: Can High Blood Sugar Cause Vertigo
What Causes High Blood Sugar Levels In The Morning
Commonly known reasons why your blood sugar may be high in the morning include high-carb bedtime snacks and not enough diabetes medications.
Yet two lesser-known reasons may be causing your morning blood sugar woes: the dawn phenomenon and the Somogyi effect. These causes of high morning blood sugar levels are a result of body changes and reactions that happen while you are sleeping.
Battle Your Morning Blood Sugar And You Can Tackle The Rest Of The Day Easier
Youll find that your blood sugar levels during the day are much easier to handle when you tackle the morning levels. This is when you will find your levels are at their highest and most dangerous. Its completely normal, but that doesnt mean you should have to put up with the side effects.
Its important to follow a routine. Once youve got your morning schedule in order, it will all fall into place no matter what youre doing or where youre going.
Your diet is the most important thing to change. You want to focus more on protein, fiber, and healthy fats. Get rid of the carbs, especially on a morning. They will only send your blood sugar levels soaring.
Focus on eliminating stress on a morning, and you will find your glucose levels will even out better. Meditation and exercise are both extremely beneficial for this. If you want to work both together, consider taking up yoga on a morning.
With more protein on a night and a better nights sleep, you will find your morning glucose levels arent as high as they once were. From there, they will be easier to manage.
Recommended Reading: What Foods To Eat To Keep Blood Sugar Low
Treating High Morning Blood Sugar
A blood sugar high in the morning “can be tough to treat, acknowledges Amori, but with the help of your medical team, you can try different approaches. Talk with your doctor about these strategies:
Adjust your pump. If youre testing high regularly and you use an insulin pump, you might be able to program it to help manage your morning highs.
Check blood sugar before bed. Granted, many people have morning high blood sugar after an acceptable blood sugar before bedtime. Even so, “don’t go to bed with high blood sugar,” cautions Amori.
Take basal insulin. Taking basal insulin at bedtime could help, but be sure to clear any changes in dosing with your physician before you try it.
Adjust medication. If in fact your high morning blood sugar is a rebound response to a low blood sugar level while youre asleep, you might need to change the dose of any medication you take in the evening that could be causing low blood sugar. Talk with your doctor about whether your medication schedule should be adjusted to treat morning highs.
Have a healthy pre-bed snack. For those experiencing the Somogyi effect, a healthy mixed snack of protein and carbohydrates could help prevent your blood sugar roller coaster at night. Amori advises working with a registered dietitian if youre not sure how to fit a pre-bed snack into your daily diet.
Easy Before Bed Routines For People With Diabetes
Managing diabetes whether you have type 1 or type 2 is a full-time job. Your condition doesnt clock out at 5 p.m. when youre ready to take a break. You have to maintain your blood sugar checks, medication, exercise, and eating habits all day to keep your disease under control.
In fact, you should be mindful of your diabetes all the way until bedtime. Before you set the alarm and settle in under the covers each night, here are a few bedtime to-dos that will help you get more control over your diabetes and sleep more soundly.
Also Check: What To Do About High Blood Sugar In The Morning