dawn effect?

"Nancie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

How in the world can my BS go up during the night when all I have been doing is sleeping? How can
I prevent this from happening? Anyone with more experience can probably answer this... I am
concerned to say the least. Thanks so much

I think all newly-diagnosed diabetics ask themselves this question - I know I did! There's a
tendency to blame food for all wacky BG numbers; people don't understand how their BGs could be high
when they haven't eaten a thing. There's also a tendency for new diabetics to skip meals, figuring
if they don't eat, their BGs won't go up. Nothing could be further from the truth. One of the first
things my doctor told me was "Don't skip meals under any circumstances!"

Your body starts getting ready for the coming day sometime between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 a.
m. The liver releases glucose into the blood to fuel the cells. In non-diabetics, insulin kicks in
to keep the blood glucose at acceptable levels. In diabetics, there is either no insulin, not
enough insulin, or insulin resistance that allows the blood glucose levels to rise...and keep
rising. In many cases, the longer one goes without food once that dawn phenomenon kicks in, the
higher the BGs rise.

If you're type I, you may need an adjustment in your insulin to tackle the dawn phenomenon. If
you're type 2 on meds, perhaps an adjustment there is needed. Your best bet is to check with your
doctor. Sometimes a small snack at bedtime is enough to stave off the liver dump. This is something
that varies with every individual, so you'll have to play around with some carbs to see if that will
work for you. I've found that about 15 grams of carb at bedtime helps keep my FBGs in a reasonable
range (<110 is what my doctor recommends).

When were you diagnosed, and how high are your fasting numbers? If you just recently started
medications, you'll need to allow a few weeks for them to kick in. It took me about a month of Actos
and Glucotrol to bring my BGs down to acceptable levels.

Hope this info is helpful to you.

Karen Type 2 Dx 9/11/02 Glucophage 1000 mg. Glucotrol XL 10 mg.

Karen.... You ROCK - THANKS

i have been trying to figure this out since i was diagnosed (3 weeks ago)

"Karen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:Iu4Jb.719724$Tr4.1818182@attbi_s03...

Quoted message said:

"Nancie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

How in the world can my BS go up during the night when all I have been doing is sleeping? How
can I prevent this from happening? Anyone with more experience can probably answer this... I am
concerned to say the least. Thanks so much

I think all newly-diagnosed diabetics ask themselves this question - I

know

Quoted message said:

I did! There's a tendency to blame food for all wacky BG numbers; people don't understand how
their BGs could be high when they haven't eaten a thing. There's also a tendency for new diabetics
to skip meals, figuring

if

Quoted message said:

they don't eat, their BGs won't go up. Nothing could be further from the truth. One of the first
things my doctor told me was "Don't skip meals under any circumstances!"

Your body starts getting ready for the coming day sometime between the

hours

Quoted message said:

of 3:00 and 6:00 a. m. The liver releases glucose into the blood to fuel the cells. In non-
diabetics, insulin kicks in to keep the blood glucose

at

Quoted message said:

acceptable levels. In diabetics, there is either no insulin, not enough insulin, or insulin
resistance that allows the blood glucose levels to rise...and keep rising. In many cases, the
longer one goes without food once that dawn phenomenon kicks in, the higher the BGs rise.

If you're type I, you may need an adjustment in your insulin to tackle the dawn phenomenon. If
you're type 2 on meds, perhaps an adjustment there is needed. Your best bet is to check with your
doctor. Sometimes a small snack at bedtime is enough to stave off the liver dump. This is
something that varies with every individual, so you'll have to play around with some carbs to see
if that will work for you. I've found that about 15 grams of carb at bedtime helps keep my FBGs in
a reasonable range (<110 is what my doctor recommends).

When were you diagnosed, and how high are your fasting numbers? If you

just

Quoted message said:

recently started medications, you'll need to allow a few weeks for them to kick in. It took me
about a month of Actos and Glucotrol to bring my BGs down to acceptable levels.

Hope this info is helpful to you.

Karen Type 2 Dx 9/11/02 Glucophage 1000 mg. Glucotrol XL 10 mg.

"Scott" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Karen.... You ROCK - THANKS

i have been trying to figure this out since i was diagnosed (3 weeks ago)

Scott, I'm so glad I was able to help (and I'm so sorry you had to join our ranks). You can also use
a search engine to check out "dawn phenomenon" for more information. The more knowledge we have, the
better we can manage our disease.

You may want to check out the alt.support.diabetes newsgroup (if you haven't already) - that ng is
far more active than this one.

Karen Type 2