It will be different for everyone. I get dawn phenomenon a lot, unless I starve myself. So even if I have a low carb evening meal (< 20 gms carb, vegetables) and have BG between 5 and 7 all night, my BG starts to climb at around 4 - 5 in the morning and will frequently go up to 12 or there abouts. I don't feel any different at all but there are several things to consider. Age, at 67 I get all sorts of aches and pains, so difficult to tie anything to any particular event. I think time since diagnosis is relevant, 22 years for me, so I might have become use to the feelings. Also, the length of time I had diabetes before diagnosis.
The eating thing can be difficult, the obvious sources of carb are easy to deal with, but it seems to take a while to discover the hidden sources of carb. Then there are sources of carb that don't seem to have the expected effect either and then that can differ from person to person.
I have recently been in hospital for day surgery and not only did the nurse think my BG of 11 was OK, I heard her say to another patient that his BG of 12 was OK. This was pre surgery for us both. Then, when I went to see my dad who is in hospital at the moment, they took his BG while I was there and said his BG of 12 was OK. I wish I knew where they get this idea from.
