overnight blood sugar rises

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posted by nickyh
on 3 Mar 2016 at 21:59

Started the 800 cals diet three days ago. Have been taking Novorapid am and pm before dinner. Lantus long-acting after dinner. Blood sugar has been low 5.0 – 6.00 so have omitted the Lantus. Blood sugar in morning rising to 12 and 14.00. What is the best way to deal with this please? I am determined to stick to the 8 week program and get off the meds (also have 1000mg Diabex after dinner).
posted by Bill1954
on 4 Mar 2016 at 08:03

This is a common thing known as the dawn effect.
It happens to everyone, not just diabetics, simply put, your liver releases stored sugar into the bloodstream round about 4 am to get you ready to face the new day.
As diabetics, we don’t produce enough insulin to handle the sugar so we get the dawn effect.
I found that having a fatty snack about an hour before bed helps a lot, I use full fat greek yoghurt and berries.
Try it, can’t hurt.
posted by nickyh
on 4 Mar 2016 at 22:10

Thanks Bill1954. I understand the dawn effect but when the rising occurs during the day despite exercise and usual insulin I am concerned that this regime will not work for me. Is it just a matter of persistence? I find it very difficult to deal with b.s. above 8. Also have no energy and definitely a fuzzy brain (more so than usual).
posted by Cherrianne
on 5 Mar 2016 at 05:46

Hi Nicky,
Given that your blood sugars keep on rising during the morning, I’m wondering about you stopping your lantus. Did you do this under advice or by yourself?
Is your GP/ diabetes nurse on board with you doing the diet? It might be better to check with them and review the best type of insulin for you if your diet has changed quite radically.
Lantus works by stopping the liver releasing stored blood sugar so you probably wouldn’t have experienced the dawn effect previously. Hopefully these spikes are due to your liver now being able to rid itself of the stores of sugar.
Depending on over what period your blood sugar rises ( ie: is it during the time your short acting insulin should be working), you might have to temporarily slightly increase your morning novo rapid until you’re sure you’ve exhausted all the stored blood sugar. Best to do this under guidance though, and with some frequent blood sugar monitoring to ensure you don’t have any hypos. Blood sugars in the 12-14 range will leave you tired and fuzzy headed. All the best 🙂