Dawn phenomenon

I don't seem to be experiencing any dawn effect right now or I just have too much insulin over night.. I measured BGL 2.4 just after waking up. Usually I just have two slices of bread and a glass of milk before going to sleep and that's what I had now. Maybe a fruit would have a different effect and throw my glucose levels too high, but how to strike the middle of these two extremes, hmm. I'll start by lowering insulin.

When you fast, like overnight while sleeping, the liver puts out glucose and that's where that skewed reading comes from. I have had nights where I went to sleep at 96, slept through 8 hours with note even water, and woken up to bg readings of 140+.

Take your morning meds, eat your breakfast, and test a few hours later and it should be fine.

For Pete's sakes, Judy!  I'll bet you're frustrated.  I wouldn't check the fasting either.  It should be interesting to hear what the doctor says.  How's the blood sugar the rest of the day?

Do you take blood pressure meds?  There's a small part of a paragraph about effects on fasting blood sugar on Diabetes 101.

 http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/index.php

Okay, my BGl is officially insane. I've been noticing for quite a while that it seemed to be pretty much unrelated to what I do on a day-to-day basis, even though it's gone down overall since I got serious about diet and exercise.

So I've been prepping for a colonoscopy. Clear liquids since midnight Tuesday. I've had fat-free broth, water, diet green tea and ginger ale. I had one 10-ounce glass of unsweetened apple juice yesterday mid-day. My BGL hasn't gone lower than 94 (right after I went to the gym yesterday morning), and has been hovering around 105 the rest of the time. This morning it's 124!

Arrrrrrgh!

The scope went well, got a good report and survived the prep. I'll just follow up at my regular appointment, since my BGL has never been above what he considers acceptable. I just alway want to do better than acceptable. It's just amazing to me how our bodies don't always follow the rules!

LanieG said...
I hope the colonoscopy goes well.  (That would have my blood sugar rise just anticipating it!)  When that's over, will you be seeing your regular doctor or an endo to try to figure our what's going on?

Oh, C-scopes aren't bad. It's that gallon of dishwater that you have to drink that sucks!

lol, after 7 of the darn things I finally got the prep figured out this time. It wasn't fun, but at least I didn't throw up or end up bleeding and raw.

Wodin, get the prep very cold, then drink each glass quickly through a straw. The farther you can put that straw back on your tongue, the less you'll taste the prep. The goal is to bypass those taste buds as much as possible. I kept a second glass with very cold iced ginger ail, and took a couple of sips of ginger ale through a straw after each dose of prep. (Also with Trilyte, you only have to drink 1/2 of the gallon, and that helps.)

As for the "results" part, forget the wet wipes and baby wipes. Blot gently with TP, then wash gently with a washcloth and warm water. Then apply Aquaphor or other ointment.

Good luck!

Apparently I have stumbled over something that really seems to work, at least for me. Dawn Phenomena is elevated fasting blood sugar that seems to lower later in the day.

I began taking supplemental chromium years ago with no noticeable effect on fasting blood sugar. The two safest forms are chromium picolinate and CHROMATE (chromium polynicotinate). My regular Rainbow Light multivitamin already contains 200 mcg of chromium polynicotinate. Most studies indicate that up to 1,000 mcg or one milligram is the extreme safe long term upper limit.

Adding extra chromium polynicotinate to the 800-1000 limit did not help at all. But when I would simply take 200 mcg capsule right before bedtime it makes my fasting blood sugar plummet the next morning. By all accounts 200 mcg is well within safe limits for someone not on meds. I take a total of 400 mcg daily if you also include the chromium in my multivitamin.

I am pre-diabetic so I am not taking meds (yet). You must consult with your doctor if you are on meds because chromium can definitely interact with insulin and other diabetes meds. The way chromium supposedly works is to make your insulin more efficient. I think it can induce insulin shock if you are not careful.

Don't know what to say!  Eat right, get some effective exercise......   What else can you do? 

Could dawn phenomenon be worsened by eating late night suppers? Eating dinner earlier in the evening lowers fasting BGL for the next morning.

Post Edited (BabeintheWoods) : 6/18/2011 8:08:27 AM (GMT-6)

I'm glad for the improvement.  I wish you knew why there's an improvement!