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How do you fix high morning blood sugar glucose levels?December 21, 2010 by Scott B. |
For me my morning blood sugar levels were always running high around 220 or so. That is a bad way to start the morning. If you were thinking about breakfast, well think again. It was gonna take about 1-2 hours for the Humalog to reduce my sugars to where they should be. By that time might as well wait till lunch to eat my first meal of the day. However as many dietitians will tell you breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it gets your metabolism cranking and gives your brain and body the jump start it needs to make it through the day. So this plagued me for a while and I had to figure out
I did my research and found the body has an interesting process it does around 6am. It’s called the Dawn Phenomenon. At about this time the body needs to wake up, since you have been sleeping for 8 hours your blood glucose levels are low. So to help you get up in the morning it releases Cortisol and sugar into your system. The Cortisol is a steroid from the adrenal glands, it’s the same mechanism used as a “fight or flight” mechanism. Release of this steroid helps get your body moving. For some it works better then others making them “morning people”. The sugar released from the liver helps power the body long enough to find other
The fix was really simple. First knowing that sugar is released in the morning told me that it would most likely be high without insulin. So it go me thinking. I am using a regiment of Lantus and Humalog. The Lantus is a 24 hour insulin. However it doesn’t always work 24 hours. So it turned out the fix was as simple as taking my Lantus at night, with a little snack of about 15-20g of carbs. This brough my mornings down to 120-140. Previously I had been taking Lantus in the morning with my Humalog. Another thing I think factored in was that Lantus and Humalog use the exact same delivery system, and I had heard that after about 40 units of Humalog the absorption rate is diminished, requiring multiple shots in different locations. So maybe that had some bearing and that the Humalog was blocking the Lantus from full effect, that I can’t say. With diabetes it’s a constant struggle to figure out the changes in your body and to use trial and error to improve your life style.
