Will someone please explain Dawn Phenomenon to me?

I read a post that mentions it and I have never heard the expression.  I have been diabetic for five years.  I have tried several of the oral medications and my blood sugar just does not seem to regulate.  It seems like my other medications made a difference more than the food I eat.  Stress and worry seems to affect my BS as well as anger.  I do take Lexapro to help even out my upset feelings.  Right now I am on Glimepiride 4 mg and Januvia100 mg.  about three months ago I was changed to these from Glipezide.  I am due to have my 3 months A1c blood work done and from my readings it is going to be higher yet.

I am a Moderator of the breast cancer board.  My breast cancer seems to be fine, diagnosis 11 years ago, mastectomy.  My daughter found breast cancer two years after I did and last year she found lymph glands swollen which showed a recurrence.  Now she has learned that it is much worse.  So although she is not yet showing how ill she really is, her prognosis is not at all good.  This is the worst of my stress. 

I am also disabled and cannot walk or stand let alone exercise which is no help with the BS.  I am disabled because I got contaminated sutures during surgery for the breast reconstruction which in the end caused all my abdominal wall muscles to become infected and had to be removed.  I live with a hernia the size of twins at nine months pregnancy.  I wear four binders to keep my hernia stable so I can walk a little without too much pain.

I read posts here once in awhile but until lately my BS numbers have not been climbing like they seem to be now. 

Thanks for your help,

Mary K.

OK this is where the bedtime snack comes in? My doctor told me fasting too long causes the liver to increase sugar and I really needed to have a snack at night. The other night I ate bean soup (homemade with ham) and a salad with lots of veggies and an egg chopped up. I did not eat another thing all evening and in the morning my BS was 205 in one finger and 218 in another. It has never ever been that high in the morning and seldom that high after a meal. A few days later, I ate a piece of cake at dinner and then at bedtime I succumbed to a bowl of ice cream with butterscotch. The next morning my BS was 135. I get so confused. MK

The evening snack is sometimes used to prevent the Somogyi Effect. That's when the residual insulin in your system drives your blood sugar too low during the night, and your liver dumps too much sugar, causing a rebound high in the morning.

fergusc, as a T1, don't you have to keep a certain level of insulin in your system all the time? Keeping your heart and lungs etc going requires energy, even when you are sleeping.

You all sound so knowledgeable about diabetes! I am sorry to say I am not really good about counting carbs. I could do it, I understand what I am supposed to do but until lately my BS was in legal bounds. The times that it was high was when I was under greater stress. Then my insurance company decided I needed to use a generic blood pressure Rx and for some reason that really spiked my BS. I had no idea what was doing it until a diabetic friend asked if I was taking any new medication. I went back to Brand Only and BS resumed the normal numbers.

Next my mother who was 92 at the time got lost driving around Pittsburgh, PA where she lived at the time. She was refusing to move closer to my brother who lives 50 miles from Pit. I am in TX. So I worried about her and again the old BS went up. Finally we got her into an assisted living home without a car to drive. She'll be 95 soon and complains about living too long. She is in great health. Her short term memory is gone.

Then came the whammy about my daughter and the doc changed my diabetic medicines. Now the numbers are all over the place whether I eat a snack, eat carefully or just have whatever I want. I think my highest reading ever was 229 which is not bad compared to some highest numbers I have heard, but none the less I do not want to lose my eyesight, kidney function, etc. etc. My GP makes sure I have tests and see specialists for annual checks.

Sorry I am long winded and really am trying to figure out if there is anything I can do to keep on an even keel. One day I forgot to take my RX and the next morning my BS was in the 130 range. Makes no sense.

Thanks for listening, MK

hello, I am new - T2 for 20+ years. metres answered your question, gma, but one thing more - eat something small, like a little peanut butter with a couple crackers, 1/2-1 granola bar, etc. I think you might have eaten too much and had nigh nos. in the monring. Anyway, try eating just a little.
Sherilou

Sorry, try the plate method, where you take you 9" dinner plate, divide it in 1/2, then divide 1 side in 1/2 again. Your veggies go in the biggest part, your meat and potato (starch) in the other 2 parts.
Again, sorry.
Sherilou

Hi Girls

I just wanted to add one more thing to Sherilou's 9" plate theory.
That is what I was taught as well, 1/2 veggies, 1/4, protein, 1/4 starch, also we were told that the meat you chose should be no larger than the palm of you hand, and no thicker than you palm.
Which explains why the guys get a wee bit more to eat than we do

Take care,
Diane

metres

It's funny you should mention that- my daughter came with a friend for Christmas who offered to set the table. My 'good china' is circa 1950- a hand down from my mother. I pointed her to the china cabinet - about 5 mintues later she came and asked me where the dinner plates were. She thought the dinner plates were salad plates and the salad plates were dessert plates-

the size difference was amazing.

I have a nice set of Correlle for every day use, but we use the salad plates for our dinner and I use the dinner plates as serving platters. Some of my antique serving bowls are about the same size as the cereal bowls in my Correlle.

sandy