The Science Behind Morning Sugar Spikes
If your sugar levels are high when you wake
up in the morning, you may be experiencing what is called "Dawn
Phenomenon". This happens to more than half of people who suffer from
diabetes – and this phenomenon is accompanied by many unpleasant
symptoms that can even be dangerous. If this happens to you, you need to
know how to identify this syndrome, what causes it and how to treat it,
and we will explain all of this to you now.
What is dawn phenomenon?
Dawn phenomenon is defined as a condition where sugar levels rise
between 2:00-8:00 AM due to hormone secretion during sleep, including
growth hormones such as epinephrine and cortisol. These hormones raise
sugar levels, and this is a natural process designed to eventually wake
us up, but in people who suffer from diabetes this rise is stronger and
lasts longer than necessary, which can cause damage to the body.
These hormones affect insulin sensitivity
and increase blood glucose levels if insulin levels are not balanced.
Sometimes this happens immediately after getting out of bed and starting
to walk around, and this comes from the body's "understanding" that it
has woken up, and now it must secrete glucose from the liver to help
itself start the day. According to the level of sugar rise, you may
experience increased thirst or hunger, urgent need to urinate, headaches
or blurred vision. If not treated, you may suffer from problems with
vision, kidneys, heart, blood vessels and nerves.
What causes dawn phenomenon?
Usually there is no connection between this phenomenon and your diet,
but sometimes diet can worsen it, and more precisely – what you eat in
the evening hours. If you tend to eat close to bedtime or consume foods
high in protein or fat at dinner, all of this can raise your sugar
levels in the second half of the night. Protein and fat delay the rise
in blood sugar levels, so this may happen after you fall asleep. If you
inject insulin before the meal, you may go to sleep without noticing
that you need more insulin to keep your blood sugar in a healthy range
for you.
High sugar levels in the morning can also
be a sign of developing diabetes and insulin resistance, because of
which the body cannot respond properly to insulin. You may need to
change your drug treatment or increase the dosage. Another explanation
could also be the Somogyi effect – a condition where the cause of high
sugar levels in the morning is hypoglycemia (lack of sugar) that
occurred at night, for example due to taking insulin at night and
skipping eating a small snack. This signals the liver to release higher
amounts of glucose in the morning.
How to identify dawn phenomenon?
The safest way to identify this problem is with a continuous glucose
monitoring device (CGM). This device measures sugar levels continuously
and shows what happened throughout the night, which makes it easy to
identify fluctuations in blood sugar levels during sleep. If you went to
sleep with balanced blood sugar levels and they remained balanced until
around 3:00 AM, and then there was a rise, it's likely that you suffer
from dawn phenomenon. It is recommended to consult a doctor to
understand how to properly treat the problem.
How to treat and prevent dawn phenomenon?
There are several things you can do to deal with the phenomenon, but it
is recommended to consult with a doctor about each of them. One of the
effective solutions is an insulin pump, which allows you to program
several settings for different doses of insulin throughout the day. This
way it can provide the body with more insulin during morning hours,
when dawn phenomenon occurs. Other options include:
Avoiding carbohydrates at bedtime or close to bedtime
Doing physical activity in the evening hours to increase insulin
sensitivity at night
Starting the day with fitness exercises to quickly lower sugar
levels
Changing the time you take glucose-reducing medications or insulin
You can also start the day with fast-acting insulin that will help
you get back on your feet quickly
Summary
Dawn phenomenon is a common phenomenon that causes a rise in sugar
levels in the morning hours. This sometimes stems from eating habits,
which can be controlled, but in most cases this is a problem that is
difficult to control one hundred percent through healthy nutrition for
diabetics alone. High sugar levels in the morning are a sign that you
suffer from it, and it is recommended to consult with a doctor about
this to decide on continued treatment that will be right for you.
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